recruiting

Brian,

It's probably too early to have much of a take on 2009 recruiting at this point but MSU's two recent RB "commitments" got me to thinking... For as long as I can recall, UM has dominated in-state recruiting. In the past it hadn't been that big a deal because the state would produce about one bigtime recruit each year and maybe a couple other decent ones if we were lucky. Here's how I remember it off the top of my head (UM commits in bold, others in red):

98 Drew Henson

99 TJ Duckett

00 Charles Rogers

01 Ernest Shazor; other notable - Kelly Baraka

02 Gabe Watson; other notable - Drew Stanton (was he in this class?)

03 LaMarr Woodley; other notables - Doug Van Dyke (Purdue), Jake Long, Jim Presley

04 Will Johnson; other (sort of) notables - Morgan Trent, Roger Allison, Alex Mitchell [correction, Mitchell was the top prospect in the state. Allison was like 8 or 9. -ed]

05 Kevin Grady; other notables - Terrance Taylor, Antonio Bass

06 Brandon Graham

07 Ronald Johnson (USC); other notables - Dionte Allen (FSU), Joseph Barksdale (LSU)

08 Nick Perry (USC); other notables - Boubacar Cissoko, Dann O'Neill

09 William Campbell...

Basically, that's major pwnage from 98 until 06 (Duckett was an MSU legacy and Rogers was from Saginaw, and a shady prima donna). But in more recent years, as the State of Michigan has been producing more topflight talent, UM's grip on in-state recruiting has loosened. Normally this would only be mildly bothersome and written off as aberrational (such were my thoughts in 07 and w/re: Perry this year).

But with the coaching/offensive philosophy change, I wonder what's going to happen as we move forward. Simply put, certain offensive players won't want to go to UM anymore -- e.g. dropback passers, certain WRs, and bigger RBs like Edwin Baker and Larry Caper in the 09 class. Maybe that's not such a big deal. A quick look back shows that the only guys UM would have missed out on over the last decade or so are Henson, Duckett, Grady, and Johnson, two of whom they lost anyway. And indeed, the biggest fish of 09 has already committed to UM (though he's a defensive player). But here's what I worry about:

UM used to offer every in-state player who was any good, regardless of position. With the spread, however, more thought is put into personnel that "fits" the offense. That's fine, but it's my belief that such emphasis on fit will eventually hurt UM's place in the in-state recruiting. Obviously, MSU will never surpass UM in the long run but now there is much more opportunity for them to gain momentum in any one year.

Look at this year -- they already have commitments from two of the (arguably) best players in the state. It doesn't matter that UM didn't really want those guys because it sets up the illusion that "something special" is happening at MSU. Such an attitude is completely unfounded but could spread to other recruits. Then, all of a sudden, guys who should be UM locks might [stupidly] start looking at MSU as a viable option. And if MSU is able to get something going, then what stops other (read: better) schools from getting in there too. Just look at what USC has done the last few years. Frankly, I am uncomfortable with other programs thinking they can come in and try to get recruits that in the past would have been Blue all the way. I prefer the old design, where MSU knew its place and was content with nothing better than UM's scraps; and where other schools knew not to bother because all of the bluechippers were pegged for UM.

Anyway, that's a super long email. I'm actually not too panicked about any of this because it's probably not a huge deal. But I just wanted to see if someone else had an opinion on these concerns. What do you think?

Best,

Mark Bilski

UM '01

Mark points out one of the hidden costs of moving to the spread offense: a partial withdrawal of the boot Michigan placed firmly upon State's neck after the Charles Rogers class. The instate dynamic now returns to something like the days when John L Smith was running his crazy, sometimes crazily effective, spread offense and Michigan was running the pro-style attack it adopted in the late 80s. Certain players who were Not A Fit for Michigan but pretty good prospects in their own right found an attractive instate option under the mad hatter. Similarly, State now has free reign to nail down Michigan's new Not A Fit prospects -- quarterbacks with a tendency to chew their cud, Caulcrick/Hunt style mashers, and uninterestingly slow tight ends -- without interference from big brother. Call this the "Better Fit Effect."

How big of an effect is it? Eh... the results of Michigan State's better-fit haul under JLS: QB Keith Nichol, a top 100 QB who liked the idea of being the next Stanton and committed to MSU his junior year. (JLS would be fired before Nichol signed his LOI; he decommitted and went to Oklahoma.) That's, like, a guy in four years. Off the top of my head I can't think of a single other player State picked up because of the divide in offensive philosophy. Heck, Antonio Bass was a top 50 recruit who wanted to play quarterback and he still chose Michigan.

Michigan State's already got at least one guy from the BFE this year: the instate QB named Maxwell, a true water buffalo sort. If Carr and Co. were still around Maxwell might be holding out for a camp offer or something; with Rodriguez he knows the chances of picking up an offer are none and none. Depending on what you believe about Larry Caper and Michigan's Jonas-Gray-like interest in him, he might be a second.

So at most it appears to be a couple kids here and there. Defenders and offensive linemen won't care. Fast little bastard wide receivers and dual-threat QBs will pick Michigan if Michigan is interested. Traditional wide receivers will probably be unaffected. Running backs will split based on perceived fit and opportunity. Michigan's ceded the lumbering sorts that make a power running game go. Okay.

The instate recruiting swing because of a better offense never materialized under JLS despite the same split between offensive philosophies, and it won't happen under Dantonio -- or if it does, it won't be because of the spread and shred.

There's another salutary factor here: the past three years have provided an unheard of bumper crop of recruits. Michigan has the two top-rated backs in-state (for the moment, at least) and Michigan doesn't even have to leave the State to find the guy who turned in the fastest 40 time at the Army All-American combine. That would be Will Campbell's Cass Tech teammate Teric Jones.

This is the third year in a row that Michigan will be pursuing a half-dozen plan A recruits within state borders. That's a remarkable turnaround from the 2006 class when Michigan had little interest in anyone other than Brandon Graham until they turned up a few prospects at summer camp, or the 2005 class when Michigan swept the three top-100 guys and then grabbed Chris McLaurin and Carson Butler as late sleeper sorts, or 2004, when Michigan again swept the top three and then got picky because future immortals Carl Grimes, Dwayne Holmes, and Justin Hoskins were the next three kids in the rankings. In the past it was extremely important for Michigan to lock down the two or three real in-state blue chips; now they can miss a few and still find the 6 or so kids instate they usually do.

That's the long way of saying I'm not particularly concerned. State's exploited a one-time window provided by the staff switchover to good effect; now that a young, energetic, and exciting Michigan staff is building relationships in the state things should return to normal.

Hi Brian,

I know I wrote to you about our gymnastics team once before. At the risk of being terribly annoying, I have to try just one more time because I think this is worth mentioning. Our gymnasts continue on undefeated, even after facing the #1 team in the country last Saturday.

"The University of Georgia women's gymnastics team came into Michigan's Crisler Arena on Friday night as the three-time defending NCAA champion and the No. 1-ranked team in the GymInfo national poll. The Bulldogs went home with a 197.6-196.95 loss to the No. 4 Wolverines." mlive.com

I am a recent alumnus of the University of Michigan. I was raised in the Wolverine tradition of academic and athletic excellence. I have extreme pride in not only our football program, but in all Michigan sports. This gymnastics team is no exception. They are OUTSTANDING this season and have been outstanding for as long as I can remember. Since I am also a Pats fan, I'm a little wary of planning a parade while my team is 15-0, but isn't that an amazing accomplishment? I can only hope the best is yet to come at the Big Ten and NCAA Championships. Let's give these fine young ladies the recognition they deserve.

Go Blue,

Jessi Ferri

Indeed, it is. I linked the gymnastic team's accomplishments in the sidebar but they deserve a broader hearing. Heck, their fans are getting harassed for being too rowdy when they go on the road (for a given definition of "rowdy"); non-student basketball fans could learn a thing or two from them.

Their next home meet is at 6:00 next weekend, the 22nd. This is an unfortunate overlap with what will hopefully be the hockey team's shot at the CCHA playoff crown, but the Big Ten championships are the next weekend at 2. Bound to be less depressing than the basketball team.

This next one is a reference to the home video footage of the 1959 OSU game posted in this space a couple weeks ago. I wondered what the students were assembling with their placards; I got a pretty cool reminiscence of Michigan football of old:

The "Polarbear" 1959 Michigan-Ohio State footage brought back some pleasant memories. That game was during my junior year. I was in the student section on November 21^st, 1959, hoping for but not really expecting a Michigan win. In those years Michigan had sunk to a second-tier B10 program. In the late 50s and early 60s, Wisconsin (B10 Champion in '59), Iowa (B10 co-Champion 1960), and Minnesota (NC 1960) were among the first-tier teams. In 1959 M finished 4-5, but the Buckeyes did even worse, at 3-5-1.

Anyway, a couple things still stand out about that game, which the Wolverines won 23-14. First, the limited substitution rule was in effect, which meant that many of the team members were two-way players. Michigan QB Stan Noskin played safety when M went on defense. During that '59 game Stan intercepted a pass in the end zone that was otherwise a sure Buckeye TD. It was a game-changing play: maybe not quite up to Charles Woodson standards, but it went a long way toward preserving the Michigan victory.

Second, before each game the stadium staff would set up wooden folding chairs along both sidelines. I don't remember who was supposed to sit in them, but there they were, neatly lined up on either side of the player's benches. At one point during that '59 game Woody, clad as always in his white short-sleeved shirt and his blue cap, became so frustrated with what was occurring on the field that he picked up one of those folding chairs and flung it about 15 yards down the eastern sideline, toward the north end zone. Fortunately no one was injured.

As far as what the card section was supposed to display in that film, I can't help much. I recall that the efforts to organize and to implement the card section were at best only partially successful. Few students were really interested in holding up cards during the game when they could be drinking and socializing. In 1959 the rules regarding what liquid refreshment one could bring into the stadium were lax to nonexistent. Beer-filled coolers were not uncommon; some students would even bring gin and vermouth into the stadium and enjoy a martini or two during the game. It was a different time.

There's also this:

The placards were done by the students in the Card Section. Ran from about the 20-30 yard line. If you were a Freshman ( as I was that year), it got you seats on the 20 as opposed to behind the goal post. You flashed cards during half time. I do not remember when they stopped but I was in it for 3 years. As I recall, we won that game in Bump Elliott's first year. It went down hill for the team after that until the 1964 team that went to the Rose Bowl and if not for a 1 point loss to Purdue ( Bob Griese), we would have won the National Championship.

Ron Grabois

The general conclusion is "who knows what's on the damn flashcards? Let's have a martini." Word.

Recruiting summaries start tomorrow.

Braylon's going to shoot you. No. Seriously.


Don't make Shegos joke... don't make Shegos joke... check.
(Via.)

Gentleman Joe. Joe Tiller's just pissed because he can't move snake oil:

According to coach Brady Hoke, [Ball State commitment] Briggs Orsbon was offered a scholarship by Purdue Wednesday morning after Michigan stole WR Roy Roundtree from Purdue. However, Orsbon had already sent in his LOI.

Oh, so ethical, Joe.

Meathead, strike! I neglected to put Bret Bielema on the list of Big Ten coaches who had gone "avast!" and pirated recruits away from conference foes. Also, helpful readers pointed out Zook's fevered recruitment of cornerback Boubacar Cissoko before and after Carr's retirement and his boarding of the SS Hawkeye to plunder RB Jason Ford. This brings the total count of Big Ten coaches who know nothing of any "gentleman's agreement" in the Big Ten to nine, and essentially ten since Indiana temporarily picked off Jerimy Finch from Michigan.

Congratulations, Lake The Posts: if anyone picks off a Northwestern recruit your indignation can be righteous. Everyone else should probably check themselves.

What was I talking about? Oh, yeah. It's frickin' amazing the sort of rationalizations people will go through when it comes to Most Favored Team. For an example, see this morning's post where I'm like "we can still get Pryor!" Also:

We've seen how University of Wisconsin football coach Bret Bielema doesn't take no for an answer in recruiting by the way he's convinced prospects who had committed to other schools to change their mind and play for the Badgers.

That persistence apparently also works when it comes to assistant coaches.

Herein Bielema's "persistence" in continuing to recruit committed players is framed as a positive character trait! This is the same paper -- based in Wisconsin, natch -- that published the thousand-year-old man's silly thing about how Rodriguez is going to get run out of the conference on a rail because of his swashbuckling ways.

It's a coach's responsibility to do right by the kids he recruits; opposing coaches can go swing.

Re-rebuttal. Black Shoe Diaries' response to this blog's Friday post on the recruiting ethics, or lack thereof, at Penn State already got smoked in its own comments by an alert Michigan fan:

The small lie: "While his former team was playing in their bowl game he was sneaking into the office to shred documents."

The truth: While Rodriguez was discarding documents, it was a workday about a week before Christmas, and he was cleaning out his office in full view of an office full of people, none of whom found anything unusual in what he was doing.

If you tell a small lie like like that to bolster your story, what else might be false?

An excellent question. Ironic, then, that BSD's post is titled "Success With Honor." It individually debunks each of the questionable recruiting hijinks cited here earlier, none of which I think is particularly compelling. It amounts to empty public relations, something JoePa specializes in.

The prime Shaw complaint:

I can't hold it against a kid for changing his mind, but I can hold it against him for the manner in which he does so. All indications were that Mike Shaw was going to Penn State right up until signing day.

Uh...

Even after he made an official trip to Michigan the Penn State insiders didn't seem worried.

"I am visiting another school" is an indication the kid's verbal is less than solid. Heck, Penn State should have known for a solid month that Shaw's verbal was shaky, as he announced($) he would visit Tennessee and Michigan on January second. Solid verbals do not visit other campuses. The Penn State "insiders" lack of worry is the only data point to offset the fact that Shaw made an official to another school that had a scholarship offer out to him and then immediately went off the grid, refusing to speak to anyone from reporters to coaches.

I know JoePa is old and addled (and JayPa is young and addled) but this is not a solid verbal even to applesauce eaters, and Penn State should have been making other plans. Hell, Penn State ended up three commits short of a full class and had a crying need for RBs and WRs, they should have been looking for kids anyway. Applesauce is delicious, though.

The main point: Black Shoe Diaries has no goddamn idea what went on in the Shaw recruitment, because no one did. Shaw didn't say anything to the media for the last month of his recruitment. We do know that Penn State was directly informed on January second that Shaw's verbal was not secure (yes, even if he said "I'm 100% to Penn State" or whatever empty boilerplate he provided). If Shaw announced his decommit in a dickish fashion (which he did, for the record), that reflects on Shaw, not Rodriguez. Michigan called the kid and asked if he would like to be recruited. He obviously said yes, and found a place he'd rather go to school.

Suggestion: deal, because this guy...

...came here to wear wizard hats and move snake oil, and he's already wearing the goddamn hat.

The best idea. I referenced this in my Fanhouse post on the wizard hat thing, and now Vijay has fleshed out what may be the best idea ever for an early signing period. The issue at hand through the lens of the Roundtree commitment:

this is exactly why we shouldn't have an early signing period. Roundtree described a Michigan offer as a dream come true. He said he always wanted to play for Michigan. He got the offer, he gets his chance, and that's a happy ending for Roundtree. If he committed to Purdue, changed his mind and then decided to play for Michigan, it's the original commitment to Purdue that was a mistake, not his change of destination. Put Michigan's and Purdue's views aside, what Roundtree wants is to be at Michigan.

An early signing period does not prevent kids from making mistakes, it locks them into their mistakes. Instituting an early signing period to prevent kids from changing their minds is like keeping families together by outlawing divorce.

Word. Vijay's s olution is an early signing period, as many coaches are advocating these days, but with a twist:

Allow recruits to sing a non-binding LOI any time from, say, July 1st leading into the senior year. Once they file the letter, their scholarship to that school is secure, and in return for that guarantee, the recruit agrees to have no contact with coaches or recruiters from other schools and not to make any official visits to other campuses. It also has the benefit of preventing other coaches from calling recruits who filed these papers (contacting them would be a violation). But, if a kid were to change his mind, he could simply file paperwork to rescind the NBLOI, at which point it's like he never filed one, and recruiting is back on.

He explains the advantages of such a system in further detail at IBFC; I am 100% sold. The NBLOI solves most issues with persistent recruitment of kids without restricting their ability to change their minds. The only change I would make is to forgo the idea of an early signing period entirely and just allow any recruit to sign a NBLOI after, say, June.

Explication. Kevin Quick was dismissed from the hockey team suddenly; we now have an explanation:

Sources said the defenseman stole a credit card, used it as a personal piggy bank and spent thousands of dollars.

I read somewhere -- where, I don't remember -- that his roommate, Carl "Bork" Hagelin, was pretty upset about the situation, so it was probably his credit card. (Via Kukla's Corner.)

Quick's dismissal, though unfortunate, isn't that damaging as long as the rest of Michigan's defensemen remain healthy. Michigan planned on bringing in potential first-round pick Brandon Burlon from the St. Mike's program that's provided Andrew Cogliano and Louie Caporusso in recent years, but didn't have any money available and thus couldn't sign Burlon to a LOI. Now they've got a slot for him even if Mark Mitera decides to return for his senior year. If Mitera leaves Michigan will bring in near-walkon Greg Pateryn, who's had an excellent year in the USHL and finds himself ranked 162nd in the CSB rankings. Either way Michigan should be seven-deep again on D in 2008, a welcome change from poor JJ Swistak and Danny Fardig taking shifts.

Yost Built has your Saturday recap, a frustrating 5-5 tie against the Redhawks. Michigan fans are paranoid about the refereeing when linesmen aren't setting up 2-on-1s by tripping Mark Mitera.

The three-point weekend still moved Michigan into first place in the CCHA, RPI, and Pairwise with three weeks left in the regular season. Michigan has a one-point edge in the standings but is going to have to finish with a blaze of wins if they expect to hold on:

• Idiotically, the first tiebreaker is league wins instead of head-to-head.
• Both teams have two games against mediocre Ferris State left and two games against one of the CCHA's three terrible teams (10th place Lake State in M's case, 11th place Ohio State in Miami's), but...
• Michigan's other two games are against Michigan State. Miami's are against last-place Western.

It's hard to see Miami dropping more than a point or two the rest of the year. Michigan may have to sweep State in a Munn-Joe weekend to lock down a banner.

This? A thousand-year-old man from Madison declares that Pryor is down to Ohio State and Penn State:

The nation's number one recruit, quarterback Terrelle Pryor, has removed Michigan and Oregon from his short list. That leaves only Ohio State and Penn State.

This causes fretting.

I don't buy it. First of all, this guy's named "Fritz." You can never trust guys named Fritz. Second of all, there are a thousand people who are trying to get in contact with Pryor and only a few of them have been around for any length of time. If anyone was going to get a scoop like this it would be one of the guys from the major recruiting sites, probably Bob Lichtenfels. Lichtenfels was the guy who got to break the Rich Rodriguez story because Pryor called him, and over the past week or so he's been the voice in the wilderness claiming that Penn State had a much better shot at this than anyone realized.

This guy is named "Fritz," is from Madison, does not quote Pryor, and makes silly Tiller-esque assertions about how Rodriguez has "offended the whole conference" and is now in deep trouble.

We're coming after you Rodriguez! We didn't really care about the outcome of our sporting contests against you, but then you picked off recruits in the exact same fashion we all do. Now we're going to try to win! See how you like that!

Credence level: low. Yeah, it's in a newspaper. So is Drew Sharp.

Bear with me. I've got a weird feeling. I know there are a ton of data points out there from Pryor's coaches to his friends to his dad pointing places other than Michigan. You've read these in newspaper and on website from sea to shining sea. The expectation is and has been for months that Pryor will pick Ohio State, and I basically believe the conventional wisdom.

But... but... but. This blog has noted a few rumblings in Michigan's favor:

• A report from College Football talk that M feels it has Pryor in the bag.
• That Buckeye fan who sat next to Jerome Bettis and reports that Bettis said Batch told him Pryor was headed to Michigan. (That guy, by the way, posted a picture of himself (or someone, at least) with Bettis in what's clearly Detroit Metro.)
• A Western Pennsylvania report that Pryor's actually going to M that was emailed to me.

There is a fourth item, though this one has a lot of internet super-sleuthing to it: in my perusals of various Penn State and Ohio State message boards looking for any semblance of information about the Pryor recruitment I stumbled across a guy who claimed to be the classmate of another dual-threat four star quarterback. He duly informed a group of opposing fans that this quarterback had been told by Pryor himself that he was going to Michigan. Some digging revealed that this guy had 100 or so posts on the message board, most of them generically positive posts about Penn State. The exception: a note sometime in January about Star Jackson, a four star dual threat quarterback who signed with Alabama, visiting Michigan the same weekend Pryor did. Jackson never took that trip, and since this guy's Pryor-to-M post claimed a mutual official visit was how the two knew each other his story doesn't entirely check out.

HOWEVA, both Pryor and Jackson were in San Antonio for the Army All-American game. So maybe this guy, who I believe is really the high school classmate of Jackson and a Penn State fan, just misremembered his details or got it wrong without screwing up the heart of the issue -- OMG PRYOR M. I'm really paranoid about hoaxes, but this seemed on the up-and-up. Why would this guy post Star Jackson news with only tangential relevance to Penn State on a PSU message board, and how many people would remember the exact content of their claimed insider info a month later when they put up their scammy post on a premium Penn State message board? And in-between could they put up a dozen convincingly innocuous posts from the perspective of a Penn State fan? These things all seem unlikely, so I add it to the pile.

We now have a decent-sized pile, do we not? And with that pile and the idea that maybe Ohio State is not Terrelle's first choice does this statement from the Terrelle-father seem different?

Craig Pryor also told his son that playing immediately might not be the best way to make progress. He said it wouldn't hurt if he sat back and watched while he tries to learn to read defenses.

"He's not worried about playing right away," Craig Pryor said. "It will give him time to learn and adjust to the speed of the game."

The quote says something on Terrelle's behalf that makes it seem like we're out, but the paragraph before it implies that when the two Pryors were having their disagreement the elder was specifically combating the idea that he should play immediately. This interpretation of the passage means we're in, so in, and Pryor's dad is arguing against Michigan, not Ohio State.

Much has been made of Pryor's desire to stay relatively near Jeannette because his father is wheelchair-bound (why this would make a couple extra hours in the car more unbearable than it would be for someone with full use of his legs is unclear), and the father's objection appears to be the holdup here, right? Columbus and State College are almost the same distance away from Jeannette -- State College might be 30 minutes to an hour closer. It's Ann Arbor that's the relative outlier.

And then there's Charlie Batch, beloved ex-Lions quarterback, fellow Washtenaw-county-ite, and gentleman of distinction:

Asked if his regular presence causes some discomfort among those vying for Pryor's attention, Batch said, "I'm welcomed in some situations. In some situations, I'm not. And those situations that I'm not, that's why I'm here."

Again, one could read this as Batch repeatedly saying "no funny stuff" and perpetrators of funny stuff being put off. Pryor brought Batch in around November, after his Ohio State official visit, and he has not been to Ohio State. According to the OSU Scout site, a "friend"($) accompanied him. Pryor's coach on friends:

"Terrelle is the person that must make the decision, no one else" Batch said. "He's the person who has to be happy where he'll spend the next three or four years. His friends have to realize that."

Batch is the pointman on the Pryor recruitment and he hasn't been to Columbus. Has he even met Tressel? I find it difficult to believe Pryor has to import Batch to be the bringer of sanity and said bringer would sign off on a place he hadn't been.

I've been trying to let go of this wild hope that maybe we'll get the guy, and am fully cognizant of my inherent bias towards the belief that Michigan's still in play. But I can't. What it comes back to is motivation and bias. The Ohio State insiders who have been proclaiming Pryor an Ohio State lock forever are locked into that belief until it's forcibly shaken from them. These random guys on message boards, if you believe their third-hand stories, are breaking bad news to their respective fanbases, and in some sense are more reliable.

Do I actually think Pryor will pick Michigan? Not really. Lord knows the internet led me astray during the Michigan coaching search. There's also considerable pessimism from what's left of the Michigan insider community.

But... I ju st have a weird feeling, is all. I've displayed my cards; judge for yourself.

And you only delay your doom. Whiffing on Pryor would be unfortunate, but not devastating. Michigan will lure an OMG shirtless dual-threat quarterback next year.

Russell Shepard is the next next Vince Young, but was presumed a Texas lock. Texas, however, has already taken a commitment from five star quarterback Garrett Gilbert. Shepard in the aftermath of his junior-day visit to Texas:

Shepard said the situation at Texas opens up his recruitment for other suitors.

"I would say Texas is still up there, but Michigan is really at the top of my list, especially if they don't get (2008 top recruit) Terrelle Pryor," he said. "I feel like I could go there and play right away. I'm also looking at Florida and LSU. Both of those schools have pretty good depth-chart situations for me."

The "situation" at Texas: two more years of Colt (albeit only one of relevance to Shepard), then a morass of highly-rated quarterbacks including five-star dual-threat John Chiles and five-star pocket passer Garrett Gilbert, who committed a few days ago. The rest of that article has Shepard quotes about just wanting "a shot" at quarterback and being fine with moving as long as he gets that shot... whether Texas can realistically provide that with four QB candidates on the roster or committed is up in the air. It does sound like Shepard really wants to go to Texas, but...

Slot receiver Martavious Odoms is the 24th member of Michigan's recruiting class:

After delaying his college decision for four days, Pahokee standout wide receiver Martavious Odoms finally made his college choice.

Odoms, a two-time South Florida Sun-Sentinel Super 11 selection, is headed to the University of Michigan.

Odoms signed his National Letter of Intent around 1 p.m. Sunday and is faxing it to Ann Arbor around 2 pm.

Odoms is another little fast bugger, a four-star to Scout and three star to Rivals, who picked Michigan over Miami (on a track scholarship quasi-offer), West Virginia... Notre Dame, Georgia and Florida? Um. That's what this Irish Illustrated article from way back in March says. I kind of doubt that offer list, but will explore more.

Highlights:



More info coming.

Update: Psych! I'm putting together profiles on all the recruits anyway, so I'll hold the expanded Odoms story until then, which should be sometime this week. Word to you, mother!

Radio. I'll be on WCBN around 7 tonight talking about the 2008 recruiting class, if you're interested. 88.3 on your dial or WCBN.org.

Certain slighted folk are making much of Joe Tiller's claim that some sort of "gentleman's agreement" to not recruit each other's verbal commitments exists between Big Ten schools . Black Shoe Diaries:

Shaw led the Penn State coaches to believe he was going to be a Nittany Lion. ... I can understand a kid changing his mind. It happens. But when he first started having doubts he should have informed the Penn State coaches he was reopening his recruiting. How many kids did we stop calling after Shaw gave his pledge?

The other untold story here is that many insiders say the Big Ten coaches have an unwritten gentleman's agreement not to steal each other's recruits. Once a kid commits to a Big Ten school the other Big Ten coaches back off and stop recruiting the kid. Rich Rodriguez being new to the conference either has no knowledge of this pact or he blatantly ignored it as he openly pursued Shaw after he was committed to Penn State. So it appears RichRod is bringing more than just his spread offense to the Big Ten.

We'll get to the "gentleman's agreement" later. Now, let's flash back to February 4th, 2004, the day before signing day:

Blue-White Illustrated is finally reporting what most of us already knew was a foregone conclusion: former Panther recruiting class headliner Penn Hills Quarterback Anthony Morelli has reneged on his commitment and will instead sign with the Penn State Nittany Lions. ESPN just confirmed it. Ouch.

And how about January 25th, 2006?

Logan-El said he remained committed to Maryland while he took official visits to other schools. Despite this "commitment", Logan-El held a press conference in late January, just about a week before Signing Day, that was televised by ESPN at the ESPN Zone in Baltimore. He invited the Maryland coaches (they could not attend due to recruiting rules) and welcomed Maryland fans to attend. On television he put on a puppet show of sorts by holding up the hats of Florida, Tennessee and Maryland and saying why he liked each school but wasn't choosing them. Then he held up a picture of himself and Joe Paterno and committed to Penn State, causing a near riot at the Zone between his family and some very irate turtle lovers.

Logan-El knew he wasn't going to Maryland for weeks, if not months, but he strung the coaches along regardless. He used Florida, Tennessee and the Terps as well as ESPN to make a mockery of the recruiting process. And he ticked off his head coach, Charles Harley, in the meantime.

Logan-El was part of a Penn State class featuring nine layers who decommitted.

How about... uh... Wednesday?

Penn State looked as if it had a shot to sway Christchurch, Va., wide receiver Deion Walker and Cresco, Pa., tackle Corey Lewis from their original choices of Notre Dame and Illinois, respectively. But both players stuck with their initial choices.

Penn State fans should be the last to complain about anyone's recruiting tactics. I know it sucks to lose a kid, especially late, and it sucks double when the kid makes a production out of "pulling a shocker," but this is a rampant issue across college football. Over 200 recruits decommitted this year. Singling out Rich Rodriguez is sour grapes.

And what about the "gentleman's agreement"? Last year alone featured at least four intra-conference decommitments:

• Cedric "The Entertainer" Everson switches from Michigan State to Iowa on signing day.
• Jerimy Finch switches from Michigan to Indiana.
  
• Renaldo Sagesse switches from Illinois to Michigan.
  
• Quincy Landingham switches from Michigan State to Wisconsin.

This year opposing schools across the Big Ten battered at Michigan commitments in the wake of Michigan's coaching change. Boubacar Cissoko scheduled visits to Illinois and Penn State he didn't end up taking. Michigan State pursued every in-state Michigan commitment fervently, and long after each had publicly reaffirmed their decision. They continue to recruit 2009 defensive tackle Will Campbell despite his commitment to Michigan. Ohio State offered Michigan commit Patrick Omameh just before Signing Day. As noted above, Penn State was chasing an Illinois commitment. Some gentlemen.

There is no gentleman's agreement, just one oatmeal-loving old coot who will run to Tom Dienhart this summer and rip on the rest of the league "anonymously."

Coachin'. Rodriguez (and Lloyd Carr) reeled in 17 four-star players this year, which is more than Rodriguez picked up during his entire tenure at West Virginia. We know the results there. Elaboration:

Under former coach Rich Rodriguez, WVU's classes were generally rated from the mid-30s to the mid-50s. But the Mountaineers have won two BCS bowls in the past three seasons, have consistently been highly ranked and came within one win of playing for last year's national title.

"They've done a good job identifying kids from around the country that may get overlooked," says Bobby Burton of Rivals.com. "And they've done a very strong job of going into the South and getting speed guys, historically."

WVU quarterback Pat White, who is from Alabama, originally committed to LSU, which was interested in him as a wide receiver or defensive back. "Rodriguez had the right offense and told him the right things," Wallace says.

The 180. Michigan's gone from the most paranoid, information-hoarding program in the country to perhaps the least. Part of that will be a new coaching clinic held this spring:

Head coach Rich Rodriguez of the University of Michigan football team will host his initial clinic as a member of the Wolverine staff, conducting a three-day spring coaches clinic Thursday-Saturday, April 3-5.

Just 40 bucks, Dantonio. There's also going to be a seven-on-seven camp immediately following Michigan's traditional summer camp.

Rodriguez on other topics.



Rodriguez on yet further topics. Varsity Blue got to talk with Rich Rodriguez after his recruitment press conference:



The most notable content: yes, Michigan plans to have a spring game somewhere or other for the express purpose of getting the program publicity. Schwing.

There's also an interview with DC Scott Shafer; I don't want to steal all their content so you'll have to click through to see that.

Rodriguez on imports. He's giving it his best shot at assimilating into the Michigan hivemind:

Thirty members of the 1969 Michigan team visited with the current Wolverines during a team meeting Tuesday.

The message from the 45-minute session was simple: They understand the transition from one coach to another.

The 1969 team, after all, was the first under the late Bo Schembechler , and this year's team will be the first under Rich Rodriguez .

"They talked to them about, hey, they were in a similar transition 38 years ago with a bunch of new coaches and it was really neat," Rodriguez said. "Reggie McKenzie had me fired up, Dan Dierdorf , Dick Caldarazzo these guys were outstanding. They had everybody on the edge of their seats.

"It's amazing the parallels between that team and the team right now. If we could come even close to the success they had, I'll be happy."

There's also an event scheduled for sometime in the next couple months where Rodriguez has invited ever letter-winner back for a meet and greet.

Mealer. The local TV station in Toledo had a feature on local recruits signing that focused on Mealer; kid seems as upbeat as possible given what's happened to him over the past couple months. There's also a Rivals article on him.

(Via Genuinely Sarcastic.)

Slight chance of expansion. Michigan is, of course, waiting on PA QB Terrelle Pryor's probably-disappointing decision. But there's another recruit lurking out there who Michigan might pick up:

[FL WR Martavious] Odoms was the team's top deep threat this season and remains the area's biggest mystery. Blaze Thompson said Odoms is considering offers from Miami, South Florida, West Virginia and Michigan. A source close to Odoms said last week the race is really between South Florida and West Virginia, but that may have changed after Odoms visited Michigan last weekend.

"He hasn't decided yet - that's the God's honest truth," Thompson said. "He's torn. Each school has something to offer. He's been a UM fan for years. West Virginia runs the style of offense he likes, and so does South Florida. Michigan is going to start running it, and they don't have any wide receivers.

With Terrence Robinson, Michael Shaw, and Roy Roundtree in the fold Michigan's need for receivers of any sort (but especially in the slot) is no longer critical, but Michigan's going to be short scholarships the next couple years and Odoms is one of those little fast guys. Still seems like a longshot.

Vision quest. The Houston Chronicle has an article on Sam McGuffie's odd Signing Day sojourn:

"It was weird," [teammate and A&M commit Chris] Lathrop said. "He hadn't answered the door for anyone. He was doing exactly what everyone thought — sitting there thinking what school he wanted to go to.

"He told me 'My heart wants to go one way and my (head) is telling me to go another way.' "

I wonder which was which. (Via MSC.)