Who will the 2016 linebackers be?

Submitted by Skunkbearcat on

After today's game, a lot of people have been commenting that our linebackers were too slow, couldn't tackle, and couldn't keep pace/do anything against the physical Ohio State defensive front. We have a bunch of senior Hoke guys that graduate. Who is going to replace them, and are they going to be any better?

acnumber1

November 28th, 2015 at 9:09 PM ^

From 

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2014/02/07/foote-says-michigan-needs-to-recruit-from-the-ghetto-blames-university-for-gibbons/

In Foote’s mind, if a recruit meets the minimum eligibility requirements, the Wolverines need to recruit him. Essentially, Foote said Michigan needs to ease up on its academic standards for players and bring in individuals who are desperate to succeed on the football field and who play more physically. Foote even said if he were a coach he would look into players from the ghetto because he said he knows that players from the ghetto are invariably motivated.

Right now, Foote said, Michigan is recruiting the wrong guys.

“I know Michigan,” Foote said. “I grew up in the ‘90s watching the brand of Michigan football. I was also there, and even after me. We don’t have NFL talent. That’s proven. The draft will tell you that. When I watch it, these guys are not violent. They’re not tough, hard-nosed football players, and I don’t care about these five-star, four-star, threes, no. Screw that. That’s philosophy. I don’t care about that. You need to get a recruiting coordinator or hire a service to break down this film and these players. We’re getting the wrong talent in there.

“These guys are not violent,” Foote continued. “Change up your recruiting style. And now that there’s more of an academic approach, understand and tell your fans, ‘We’re not going to be able to compete with SECs year in and year out, and every now and then we’re going to be toward the middle or the bottom of the Big Ten. The best football players are not your best students. Understand that, Michigan.”

schreibee

November 28th, 2015 at 11:03 PM ^

Stanford just gave up 36 points to ND - including getting absolutely gashed on the rush options that killed us today - and WON THE GAME!!!

SO - maybe there is something to this theory that you just need to be the team that scores the most points?!

Playmakers make plays people!

Frank Chuck

November 29th, 2015 at 12:49 AM ^

When Urban Meyer took a year off (i.e. retired), he visited Oregon.

The spread he runs is not the same spread he ran at Florida. Here's a good article about how he adapted the spread to make it more like Oregon's version.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/college-football-playoff-ohio-state-o…

It's titled "Ducking the Bucks: Inside the Evolution (and Oregonification) of Urban Meyer's Ohio State Offense.

JayMo4

November 28th, 2015 at 9:20 PM ^

This is what fans of good academic schools always say when their teams are playing poorly.  This is what ND fans said every year, then Kelly shows up and they play for a title and are about to play for another one if they win today.  Suddenly the smart kids are OK at football after all.

We can't recruit everyone, but can get way more than our fair share of good players.  There are several schools out there that have lower academic standards than us that we are outrecruiting anyway but are outperforming us on the field.  Some of that is the ratings are imperfect, but a lot is coaching and development.

 

 

Oh, and remember Harbaugh going 12-1 with Stanford - whose academic requirements are stricter than ours will ever be?

Give it time.  These are Hoke's guys.  Maybe, just maybe, JH and staff have a better eye for talent than he did.

NJWolverine

November 29th, 2015 at 2:44 AM ^

I think it has less to do with how physical you are and more to do with reading the play and seeing the ball.  I don't see any players on the roster with this ability (Hoke recruited the classic downhill LBs and DEs where this doesn't matter).  It will have to come through recuriting.

Also, I don't think lowering academic standards is the solution because it causes follow-on problems like players not being able to graduate.  We have an Ivy league type Schlissel now who doesn't want to see standards slide and he's said that numerous times already in public.  Another issue is that it's not sustainable.  I have a good ND friend with deep ties to the university (basically his entire family went there), and he tells me the base is very divided now over Kelly even though he's had success on the field due to the academic issues. 

If there's one guy who can convince good players who care about academics to come here, it's Harbaugh. 

west2

November 29th, 2015 at 9:21 AM ^

Hate to say it but what a stupid comment by Larry Foote.  We all know what he is saying and sorry I just cannot buy an idea that categorizes certain "players" from certain areas.  I remember when Paul Hornung made a similar comment about the players that ND was getting after a blowout loss to a rival.  It appears that he wants Michigan to go after the criminal element that is more "violent" as Foote suggests.  Maybe we should require that they be in a gang for a year or two.  Meyer has caught many a team and coach with his brand of spread.  It is very difficult to defense when he has NFL talent on the field.  Remember this is essentially the same group of players that just won the NC and are clearly a better team than their performance against sparty.  Sparty just caught them on a day with a slow field and the buckeyes just had a down game. Sparty is having a cinderella season that won't be repeated again for a decade.  Michigan will get there but these types of games were inevitable in the first year or two.    

CarrIsMyHomeboy

November 28th, 2015 at 8:32 PM ^

What's the recruiting class project at this position? Unless at least one of them are plug-n-play types, I think we'll have a similarish defense next year. Wicked in the front (assuming full health) and back but a hidden liability in the middle.



Fortunately MSU and OSU lose way more than we do this offseason. It may be harder for teams to take advantage of our liability then.