What recruit not committing to Michigan hurt the most in recent years
December 14th, 2011 at 8:24 AM ^
Yes, he did visit. And yes we were in his top 5. Though I'd venture to say we were closer to the "5" than the "1".
December 14th, 2011 at 8:53 AM ^
Actually, he loved Loeffler. Michigan was his 2nd choice, albeit a very distant second. Had he been at Michigan, he would have definitely smoothed the transition from Carr to Rodriquez. He would have been a great fit in Rodriquez's offense.
December 14th, 2011 at 3:28 PM ^
Interestingly enough, it was Greg Mattison who recruited him to Florida.
December 14th, 2011 at 7:33 AM ^
Nick Perry.
Our defenses sucked during the RR years, but having a dominant pass rusher from the edge would have helped tremendously.
He's doing very well out in LA.
December 14th, 2011 at 7:46 AM ^
It wouldn't have mattered which defensive back(s) we got over the last few years, Tony Gibson would have made him suck.
I hate to say it, but Pryor was the biggest difference maker. We probably would have made it to a bowl game in 2008 with him at the helm, because our defense wasn't EXTREMELY horrible that season. You have to figure that we would have beaten Toledo (lost by 3 points), we might have beaten Utah (lost by 2), and we would have had a good shot at beating Purdue (lost by 6).
And even if we didn't make a bowl game in 2008, it would have happened in 2009. A sophomore Pryor would have been superior to a freshman Forcier.
I don't mind too much that Pryor didn't come to Michigan because he's a complete and utter jackass. Coaches can make a difference, but ultimately, it's his parents/home life that made him that way. Even with a better atmosphere at Michigan, Pryor would have found a way to embarrass himself.
December 14th, 2011 at 8:02 AM ^
Because he is fat, lazy and takes some plays off?
I'm OK with not getting him if he did not want to be here, you can't win every recruiting battle and Ohio (not Bobcats) is the school he grew up with. I get it. Ohio is always going to get great players.
But we targeted him and spent a lot of time and energy in his recruitment that could have been spent elsewhere. That always pisses me off.
Ohio is recruiting as if it has assurances that NCAA is not going to drop the hammer, which also pisses me off.
December 14th, 2011 at 8:07 AM ^
USC recruited in a similar manner in the 2011 class AFTER its penalties were known. I highly doubt Ohio State is going to avoid significant punishment.
December 14th, 2011 at 9:05 AM ^
We could have been putting more time in on someone we really needed like another DT, OL or WR
December 14th, 2011 at 10:16 AM ^
Wes Brown would have been a great pickup for UM, and he would have kept the Good Council pipeline open.
December 14th, 2011 at 2:19 PM ^
Not getting a GC kid in 2012 is not going to close the pipeline completely. We are showing early interest in some 2013 GC kids and they have several D1 prospects again.
December 14th, 2011 at 8:02 AM ^
It is going to be a battle to get Isaac .. He is a stud. His offer list is going to be huge, and we have to make a strong push and keep on him. We cannot afford to lose out on one of next years top 10 backs. The reason why Dunn was such a big loss is our lack of depth at RB. Losing out on Dunn means we need Rawls to step up in a big way next year.
December 14th, 2011 at 8:50 AM ^
Or, you know, rely on those guys who ran 1,000+ yards this year. Rawls needs to develop for sure, but he's not critical to next year.
December 14th, 2011 at 8:10 AM ^
BARKEVIOUS MINGO.
I just really wanted to be able to say that name every week. Its effect on my quality of life would have been noticeable.
December 14th, 2011 at 9:56 AM ^
That, and Mingo is really, really good at a position we kind of definitely need.
December 14th, 2011 at 8:11 AM ^
Surprised nobody has mentioned Sam Bradford yet. Where LC apparently never returned his phone call and consequently thought we weren't interested...?
December 14th, 2011 at 8:18 AM ^
Jelani Jenkins
December 14th, 2011 at 8:25 AM ^
Is that a joke? Or am I thinking of the wrong dude? (the kid who went to, I believe, UF and got booted, then went to some no-name school and now is still looking like a first round pick)
December 14th, 2011 at 8:42 AM ^
You're thinking of Janoris Jenkins, the cornerback from Pahokee. Jelani Jenkins was a 5 star linebacker from Good Counsel (Same high school as Blake Countess) who also went to Florida.
December 14th, 2011 at 9:25 AM ^
Jelani was a class of 2009 linebacker.
Janoris Jenkins was a class of 2008 corner who got booted
December 14th, 2011 at 9:44 AM ^
I think I read somewhere that Janoris Jenkins has been tearing it up at a lower level (FCS?) and is a good looking NFL prospect.
December 14th, 2011 at 9:55 AM ^
He is at D2 powerhouse North Alabama
December 14th, 2011 at 11:16 AM ^
...at North Alabama after getting the boot by Muschamp is that North Alabama's HC is Terry Bowden. It's become the refuge for student-athletes transferring from FBS schools.
Bowden has certainly assembled the kind of talent capable of winning a championship. In fact, UNA has become the ultimate destination for transfers.
The Lions' roster consists of 48 transfers, including 24 from Division I schools. The list includes Florida cornerback Janoris Jenkins, who is considered one of the best cover corners in the country, and Florida safety Bryan Thomas. There are five Florida State transfers on the roster, including offensive linemen Will Furlong, Brandon Davis and Antwane Greenlee and defensive end Jamar Jackson.
Offensive lineman Kyle Thornton came from Texas, linebacker Marcus Dowtin and strong safety Nick Williams came from Georgia, running back Demetrius Goode and defensive back Rod Woodson came from Alabama, running back Wes Holland came from Navy, while tight end Rashad Phillips and cornerback DeAndre Morgan came from North Carolina State.
December 14th, 2011 at 11:56 AM ^
Interesting. Thanks for looking that up. I believe we recruited Marcus Dowtin, and I'm certain we recruited Rod Woodson. That's a pretty good crew for being D-II.
December 14th, 2011 at 8:28 AM ^
I am going to throw away the Rich Rod years, since we were bound to lose in those anyway.
Kris Frost and/or Dee Hart would be easy answers if both didn't get hurt and redshirt this year. Because of that, I cannot say them.
I think the argument for Justin King over Morgan Trent on that 2006 team is too hard to pass up. That is what hurt us the most, as we'd most likely have been playing Fla for a Natty Title that year. And we all know how well we do against Florida in bowl games (hello Michigan's last 2 wins in bowl games).
December 14th, 2011 at 9:11 AM ^
I don't think having Justin King over Morgan Trent in 2006 would have made a huge difference. And we were trounced in the Rose Bowl, so I imagine we would have been trounced by Florida in the NC game, too. King hasn't exactly lit it up in the pros (2 career interceptions) and was a 4th round pick. Trent (1 career pick and a 6th rounder) hasn't been great, either, but the point is that the difference between a 4th rounder and a 6th rounder is not a certain berth in the NC game.
December 14th, 2011 at 11:08 AM ^
All good points that I was thinking about.
One counter argument re: The Rose Bowl - we held in for the first half, and then collapsed. Obvious rationalizations: any time a team comes within 1 game of the NC and loses - they won't play well in their next game, LC never was good on the WC against PAC10 teams, LC had a phenomenal record against Florida, etc. etc.
I think we have a shot of beating Fla in that game. We were 8 point dogs against the Might Tebow and beat him in 2008. OSU had all the momentum when Tedd Ginn returned that punt, but he hurt himself and they lost their best weapon (imagine in Fla had lost Percy Harvin in that game).
I dunno. Sour grapes. What if's. Whatever. The program is back now. That's all that matters.
December 14th, 2011 at 11:41 AM ^
I don't think the argument is for Justin King over Morgan Trent (unless they were competing for one spot, which I can't imagine, since Trent came in as a WR). It's for King and Trent, thus allieviating our glaring problem with cornerback depth.
December 14th, 2011 at 8:37 AM ^
Boom, I win.
And yes, KG was going to Michigan.
(Oh, and Tim Tebow for football, HANDS DOWN. Everyone would've ate that stuff up and had no problem had he been wearing a winged helmet and dominating Ohio for years).
December 14th, 2011 at 9:25 AM ^
Eric Lindros. Apparently Red almost had him.
December 14th, 2011 at 8:39 AM ^
The first battle we lost that I was pissed about was TJ Duckett. I wanted him bad. He was a man-child coming out of Kalamazoo. I lived a few blocks from his high school. Carr visited and tried his best but MSU won out.
December 14th, 2011 at 8:46 AM ^
RoJo!
Any status on him? There's still a chance, right?
December 14th, 2011 at 8:59 AM ^
I think Nick Perry and RoJo were the biggest ones toward the end of the Carr regime.
But if this thread is started about 9 months from now I think the answer might be Hankins. While we hope and pray that someone can play a decent DT for us next year he's going to be a 3-rd year starter for Ohio State after he really wanted to go to Michigan and the coaches slow played him for some reason.
December 14th, 2011 at 9:14 AM ^
RoJo was an undrafted wide receiver, and in his place, we got an undrafted cornerback. Both were upper echelon UFA types, but in the grand scheme of things...the RoJo-for-Warren tradeoff was basically a wash.
December 14th, 2011 at 9:33 AM ^
but your point holds
December 14th, 2011 at 11:47 AM ^
Hankins - RR's staff were underwhelmed with his conditioning. I'm not saying he's fat 'cuz I also need work in the conditioning area :)
He had all of 1 tackle and 2 assist in the game last month, plus 1 for loss, so I'm not concerned about him, it's not like he dominated. I am concerned about the Dline depth like everyone else, he would have helped.
December 14th, 2011 at 9:15 AM ^
without question. Our front 7 on D in 2006 was one of the best ever. It was on a Miami 2001 level. If we had Rojo and King commit (they were very close) and paired them up with Leon Hall, wow. That D would've been considered one of the best ever. Ohio State couldn't have spread us out and that defense would've killed Leak and Tebow.
December 14th, 2011 at 9:29 AM ^
that Rojo was a 2007 recruit?
December 14th, 2011 at 9:23 AM ^
A few years ago a top tier WR chose Oregon over us, I was shocked. You know what, I can't remember his name and haven't thought about again until now.
December 14th, 2011 at 9:31 AM ^
I had forgotten about him. He didn't become that good anyways
December 14th, 2011 at 11:23 AM ^
Nicely done Nick, you are right!
My point is it doesn't really matter all that much because a lot of factors play into whether a kid is successful or not. Colvin was a 5* recruit that really didn't do very much, 74 career receptions I just read. Dunn might be an all-american, but I think his chances for that level of success are less in Meyer's system, vs. Borges.
With Rawls, Fitz and Drake I think we're okay at RB. I'd still like another OL, CB and WR and lets call it good.
December 14th, 2011 at 9:32 AM ^
I'm going with Jonathan Hankins right now. Hankins would have been a serious tandem with Mike Martin, and would have also softened the blow we're going to take from Martin graduating. I'm worried about our DT's next year.
December 14th, 2011 at 9:43 AM ^
All the talk about Ohio having it all, yet, guys like Hankins and Gholston and other, go to OSU and are their best players, etc. Ohio may have the volume of stud players, but our quality is on par, but just fewer. I wonder if it correlates with population.
December 15th, 2011 at 9:06 AM ^
I have always said the same thing about Michigan talent. On par, just not as many recruits. Personally I think the sheer number of recruits comes from several factors. Michigan schools overall are not very large in population. ( average public school population around 700. I think that plays a role in the overall number of recruits. I also feel that population and the demographics hurt Michigan. We have one large city with surrounding suburbs. We have several nice size towns, but not nearly as many as ohio. Those 'towns' take football very serious in ohio. I often visit my friend who lives and works in a dump known as Findlay ohio and I laugh when I watch the news because they devote about 60 percent of the sports segment to hs football, 30 percent to ohio and about half minute to the browns, cavs, and any other bad team in ohio. Imo the basic demographics have a lot to do with ohio having more talent. Plus it helps osu that getting accepted to their 'public university' is like getting accepted to a community college. The standards are easy to meet, therefore you have entire families in which everyone has graduated from the same university. Call me hypocritical, but I think it's just low standards. Smart business though because they are getting their$. That's my rant. Take it for what it is.
December 14th, 2011 at 9:35 AM ^
Myron Rolle, kid would have been a perfect fit at Michigan.
December 14th, 2011 at 9:35 AM ^
I've seen us lose all kinds of great players (at least on paper) over the last 35+ years I've followed Michigan recruiting. A lot of them have mediocre college careers at other schools, so losing them doesn't matter at all. But, even the ones who end up good, you tend to forget about. It's always better to focus on the ones we got otherwise recruiting can drive you crazy.
That being said, I'll throw in Myron Rolle. A great 5* DB from New Jersey who we lost to FSU. He was a great student who wanted to study medicine. I never could understand given that, why he chose FSU over Michigan. Ended up being a Rhodes Scholar. Despite that, he seems to be doing very well and I'm happy for him.
December 14th, 2011 at 9:57 AM ^
For what type of medicine he wanted to study, FSU had the better program. Overall medicine school Michigan may have been the better choice but for his specific area of study FSU had the better program. My brother's best friend was in the same/similar program and had a few classes with him and said the kid was a total dork for medicine. Kinda funny how such a big nerd would be so good at football as well.
The same friend walked on FSU's football team as well but quit after a few weeks of being a human blocking dummy and not being able to lay a finger in anyone remotely close to seeing PT. The only reason he made the team was of his 4.0 gpa which looks good for team statistics and graduation rates. He said his final straw came when coaches would ask starters to do a certain drill/task and the player would respond to The coach literally saying, "F-you, coach. I ain't doin that sh!t." He couldn't believe some of the players on their teams.
December 14th, 2011 at 11:36 AM ^
Um wat?
If you are talking about Family practice/primary care with a sports med fellowship, I guess I can see that, but if you do well at a UMich residency, you should be able to take your pick of sports med fellowships as oppposed to a medical school that was recently created.
If you are talking about Ortho Sports Med, you're incorrect.
In addition to the Michigan teams, I know the Ortho staff have contracts with the U18 Hockey team out of the ice cube, as well as the US National Ski team for starters...
December 14th, 2011 at 2:03 PM ^
But I know the specialty he went to FSU for had the better program. Im sure the kid did his homework on the matter.
December 14th, 2011 at 9:41 AM ^
Not sure that we were ever really that close with him, but Markevious Bingo is an absolute monster now and has the greatest name in NCAA history.
December 14th, 2011 at 9:45 AM ^
I'm not sure which is better - his real name (Barkevious Mingo) or your interpretation (Markevious Bingo).