All freshmen.
Depth next year is going to be green.
Normally that would be true; however, with the way the portal is expanding each year, depth in the future will be more about you can recruit out of the portal rather than home grown high school recruits.
We may already be there. I must get 2 new portal alerts on my twitter feed just for Sparty every day.
Why do you have portal alerts setup for Spartoons?
This really goes against what Michigan is mostly doing. I realize they have gotten 3-4 dudes out of the portal annually but they have been relying on NILing their home grown talent mostly. Now many of these guys won't be sticking around long enough to wait their turn to be a home grown talent.
This era sucks.
Question: What is the optimal recruiting strategy in the age of portal given that a limited amount of NIL is available.
- Is it optimal to have a relatively small class of 4-5 stars, spending a good chunk of the NIL money on each recruiting class? Then using the small amount of NIL left to bring a group of proven 3 stars.
- Is it optimal to have a relatively large class of 3 stars, spending very little? Then, going to the portal aggressively the following year to bring in proven players. At the same time letting some of those 3 stars know that they should be looking elsewhere.
- Other suggestions?
At that point, you need a salary cap expert to help you determine the correct spend based on what you need. I assume positions will get ranges for NIL and you fall into the range or another team takes you by paying more. It would be the craziest thing to get some NFL front office person to set up your "salary" structure and assign the value to positions. You either have the most and pay the most or you moneyball it better than anyone else.
Employing a salary cap expert supposes both that there's a cap, and that agreements must be honored.
At this juncture neither is true! On either side...
Not to mention a salary cap does absolutely nothing to limit NIL. You can’t limit or restrict the ability of the players to make money for the use of their name, image and likeness. That’s the whole premise of the court rulings.
Honestly, does HS recruiting matter much anymore and if so, does anyone feel an intrinsic connection to the current team or players?
I’m happy the players have more freedom and opportunities to profit from their NIL but I feel after Team 144, we can probably go ahead and remove any reminder of the phrase “Those who stay will be champions” from the history books. It’s basically Latin in terms of relevancy nowadays.
Latin is used in science, medicine and law. It graces public buildings, money, and crests of universities. Latin is relevant just not in a traditional sense.
Thanks, Max…
April 30th, 2024 at 11:03 PM ^
Yes. The vast majority of transfers seem to transfer somewhere they already have a connection in which an assistant or head coach has moved to. Recruiting, even in the age of the portal, is still largely based on relationships that begin to be built while a player is but a middle-teenager.
Yes, there are some that are strictly about NIL, but for the most part you can usually find a previous connection.
Great question and one that programs like Michigan will continue to wrestle with. We will never be like OSU that till do everything it can to maximize spending at all levels. We have to be smarter and operate in a Money ball kind of way.
I have to question whether OSU's approach this year is sustainable? They will always recruit well because of their base and reputation, but what they spent this off-season is not sustainable.
Seems like the LB corps is shaking out a little more clearly.
We only start 2 LBs and really only 3 get pt. And yet we bring in 3 and sometimes 4 LBs every year. Do the math
Is the answer 12?
Can I get a read back on the question before I answer?
Yes of course…but you can’t use google.
I was told there wouldn't be any math.
There is one LB in the last class.
247 is showing 3, plus one transfer.
Beasley is gone.Ludwig is a special teamer.
Both Mason Curtis and Cole Sullivan are LBs. The degree to which they end up as LB/EDGE tweeners will depend on their development over the next two years.
Also Ludwig is a FB/H-back a la Bredeson
Beasley and Sullivan in the 24 class. Plus Barnham. Mason Curtis was a HS LB who might be and edge but who know yet.
Bridgeman and Moore in 23. Plus Hausman. And that doesn't account for Hewlett and Ismail, who they seem to still be figuring out positions for.
Hewlett is an ILB and Ishmail is an EDGE based on weight gain, snaps in spring game, etc
Beasley, Bridgman, and Moore are gone. Michigan is going to have to hit the portal for some depth.
I read your comment "There is one LB in the last class," since it ommitted "left" as to be one that was debating whether UM was bringing in 3-4 LB each class.
They have been bringing in 3-4 each class, and since they only really play 2 at a time like the other poster said, this is what's gonna happen.
Beasley transferred my guy.
I'm aware, my guy.
I was supporting Jtre1212s comment about how UM brings in 3-4 LB a year
Lol does it count if the player doesn’t last the semester Chief?
Yes?
That's getting more into the realm of existential, pal...
April 30th, 2024 at 11:53 PM ^
I'm seeing a Jungian thing here, buddy...
I wonder if that's a Harbaugh versatility thing. Seems like, depending on exact body type, you can plausibly switch from LB to just about any non-OL position on the field. We've seen EDGE, TE, RB, and S happen. Maybe Harbaugh thinks if you get a bunch of LBs they may be able to fill holes elsewhere as needed.
Seems to be one or two young kids leave and they all talk to each other and more follow suit like it’s a genius idea.
Reminds me of when Charles wanted to leave so Lloyd called his Mom and Momma Woodson set Charles straight.
Not enough parents are willing to tell their kids “WTF are you thinking?!”
I mean this is the second year in a row where freshman have been recruited over by transfers.
One of the biggest reasons I'm opposed to using them for anything more than depth or surefire starters. And then sparingly.
We got a kicker and might get a guy back who wants to be a wideout. Unless some QB comes along who is darn good, I would prefer to stand pat. There are guys who've been waiting patiently in the DB and Oline rooms. I think we'll be fine.
This is the thing that is disappointing.
Granted we are not inside the practices but this kid seemed talented, and unless you just got blown past by kids in your class or behind, it would seem you would want to develop in the system and become a better football player.
I don’t see him walking into a major program and getting immediate playing time but I guess we will see.
I guess we will see indeed.
We can't possibly know the depth chart of 100+ college football teams, or their NIL offers, or whether the player would rather be closer to home after all (Moore is from Colorado, linked to Nebraska at one time iirc).
When Waller departed the day after showing some skill at the Spring game I was pretty sure NIL was the motivation. But with Moore, there are multiple reasons he might want to head elsewhere.
There are lots of major programs that dont have one LB as good as Rolder/Hausmann/Barham with 2-3 years of eligibility. Garbage time until 2026 at the soonest sounds super shitty.
Wouldn't be so sure about that. On the last audible podcast, Bruce Feldman said there are a lot of instances where it's the parents or agents or others who are pushing the the kid to go maximize NIL elsewhere.
Gotta think either 1 of 2 things is happening:
- Players don't like BJM and/or want to play for someone who actually recruited them
- Cole Sullivan is dominating in practice the point where these guys don't see any point in sticking around
- They brought in the #5 ranked linebacker in the country (PFF) who has two years of eligibility remaining
I'm not sure how bringing in Barham would impact freshmen and RS freshmen leaving. Especially since, if the practice reports are true, I don't see how he sticks around after this year
He isn’t staying both years.
Barham sounds like a potential 1st round pick. Certainly sounds like a talent to go day two and get paid.
I suspect BJM is liked enough by players - he's a crack recruiter and has gotten kudos at UM and UT from former players as a good guy. But I do suspect some of these young guys don't see basically anyone left on the staff they know and probably want a chance to play somewhere else. I also have a sense that UM wasn't super happy with some of these guys given who they've targeted in the portal, and while that sucks it's better now that guys can move on instead of being buried for 3-4 years.
I do think recruiting at UM is in a weird spot with the staff turnover and they'll need to figure out what they're looking for under Wink and target those guys in this cycle or they're going to have a hole in the roster in a year or two.