Moe Greene

May 19th, 2011 at 8:55 AM ^

Now we only need ONE more thing to happen and the circle will be complete.

And we all know what that is. Come the ides of October, the heralds will sing a different tune entirely.

/ F Sparta. Athens RULES

jethro34

May 19th, 2011 at 8:57 AM ^

It really, really is more fun being an M fan this year.  I was pretty sick of hearing about William Gholston and Lawrence Thomas the past couple years. 

I'm still curious how State's "national recruiting" is going to pan out.

Tater

May 19th, 2011 at 11:10 AM ^

I see this is regression to the mean.  Football is easier to trace, because MSU has had so little success.  The last time MSU has been successful for any great period of time was when they were building de facto SEC teams before integration.  Since the late 1960's, MSU has been an example of extended mediocrity with flashes of competence.  Their latest "flash" is just about over.

If you take long term results in basketball, a very good argument can be made that Tom Izzo's performance at MSU has been an aberration, too.  It's just lasted longer than most aberrations do because it has taken so long for Michigan to dig out of the Ed Martin hole.   Hopefully, Michigan will soon return to its status as THE destination school for talented instate basketball players, and MSU will return to its customary position: second-best.

a7ooz2225

May 19th, 2011 at 1:47 PM ^

I would say they should recruit better nationally this year (at least in terms of outside of Michigan) simply because many of the top-rated kids in Michigan are already taken. It will definitely force them to go outside of the state more than usual, or to take kids in Michigan that are not rated as high. I agree with the general sentiment that they will always have a hard time recruiting "nationally" though, just thought I would give a different look on the situation.

MgoblueAF

May 19th, 2011 at 9:02 AM ^

He makes a good point, though, that we still have some work to do out-of-state to make this a great class. We've virtually drained MI of all of its assets, and with the core established, it's time to go to the next level.

MGlobules

May 19th, 2011 at 9:08 AM ^

ouch? Just give us an ouch. Fess up. We have mussed your perm. We haz fried your grits. 'Scape now while you can, like Mr. Nicky did.

FreddieMercuryHayes

May 19th, 2011 at 9:16 AM ^

My favorite part of this in state recruiting dominance is how all of a sudden the in-state talent is just not good this year.  Ross is too short, Richardson is too short, there's no 5 star, blah, blah, blah.  I've been enjoying a lot of shadenfreude the last few months, as well as some ridiculous after the fact justifications.

profitgoblue

May 19th, 2011 at 9:20 AM ^

Last season everyone was talking about this year's prospects in the state of Michigan being very good (best in a long time).  Is this still true?  In other words, I'm wondering whether Michigan getting the top kids from Michigan is even more impressive this year than it would be in normal years . . .

 

TrueBlueinVA

May 19th, 2011 at 9:36 AM ^

I think the whole recruiting Michigan thing is awesome....When you watch the games and it lists the starting line-ups almost every school has their main core of bodies recruited from their respective state....But Michigan was always a scattered bunch from around the country..Now saying that, i think it is impressive to steal a kid from the west coast or some other state that is a blue chip type player and sell them on Michigan....but I love to see the recruits from the state of michigan stay in Michigan...I guess my love for Michigan football is ovewhelming but if i was from michigan and held a scholarship to UofM, I would not even think about bolting to Alabama, Tennessee, Notre Dame, USC....Cheers To the best State in the Country!!!!!!

jtmc33

May 19th, 2011 at 9:38 AM ^

Texting one of my Sparty friends and told him "we picked up another 4-star in-state.  That's 8 UM commits with MSU offers.  0 MSU kids with UM offers."

His response was "Let's see how many of them actually sign in February."

This is the type of retort we are getting from Sparty?   Wow - you can almost see him with his head down, staring at his phone, thinking for a few minutes of what to say before half-heartedly typing his response.

 

Grahambino

May 19th, 2011 at 10:51 AM ^

was when they said, The one instate commitment for Michigan State, Riley Bullough from Traverse City St. Francis, was not offered a scholarship by Hoke and Michigan."

 

Seriously, you win the big ten championship and you can't get one freaking instate recruit from the clutches of Michigan?   Epic Fail. Muahahaha.

jmblue

May 19th, 2011 at 11:36 AM ^

While I think it's awesome that we're beating MSU for these recruits - and I'd be a little nervous about this if I were a Spartan - talking trash about recruiting is pretty lame.

MSU has bragging rights in football right now.  It sucks, but that's how it goes until next season.

Tater

May 19th, 2011 at 11:55 AM ^

I checked out RCMB to see the meltdown, and they are producing such gems as:

"... the 20th best player in Ohio is as good as the 4/5the best in Michigan this year..."

"...scum is using firesale tactics to get kids..."

Or, the most ludicrous of all:

"The offer to Richardson was strictly for relationship purposes..."

They are making excuses and contradicting themselves at a rate that is amazing, even for Sparty.  The gist seems to be that if Michigan "wins" the recruiting battles, they didn't really win, and that Sparty's one shared Big Ten Championship during the Dantonio "era" is the be-all and end-all of college football.

There are a lot of games that scare me this year, but MSU is one game I am sure is going to work out in Michigan's favor.  The RCMB meltdown should be epic.  It might even be enough to stop their owner from begging people to "try the 7-day trial" for 247.

 

wlubd

May 19th, 2011 at 11:58 AM ^

My favourite Sparty line is that they are a "national recruiter" now.

Number of commits they have: 4

Number of commits from outside of Michigan and Ohio: 0

Combined number of offers those commits hold from Michigan, ND and OSU: 0

Right. "National Recruiter"....

Token_sparty

May 25th, 2011 at 11:45 AM ^

We actually teach our players to play well- which is why we have kicked your tail the last three years.  Crow about recruiting all you want- those 4- and 5-star recruits got posterized by walk-on Blair White for three years running.  Want to trade QBs?  I love Denard Robinson, don't get me wrong, but pretty much nobody recruited Kirk Cousins, and I wouldn't swap them in a heartbeat.  You guys keep harping on the 'Sparty Noooo' theme in recruiting, and we'll keep actually teaching our guys how to play.  By the way, I'm still laughing at 5-star Will Campbell- how's that working out for you, LOL.

dahblue

May 25th, 2011 at 12:03 PM ^

We actually teach our players to play well- which is why we have kicked your tail the last three years.

Wrong.  State beats us the last three years because we made a large mistake in hiring a head coach who, despite his best efforts, was not the right fit.  Hopefully, the last three years provided enough Spartan joy to last a lifetime, cause the run is over.  I'm sure it must sting though...you have you best year in ages and still can't interest any top recruits in giving a shit about your program.  You can't even keep your Farmington kids anymore.  If that's what happens after a good season; imagine what'll happen after you play a varsity schedule this year.  

p.s. Will Campbell is a junior.  He's not done.

bacon

May 19th, 2011 at 9:44 AM ^

"You got the man in there, (defensive coordinator) Greg Mattison. He's the reason why they're doing so well. Kids don't think about things we did. They talk about relationships and going pro. A lot of people want to play for Mattison because of his NFL (Ravens) connection."

Sparty's NFL "connections" (ie. plaxico, Charles Rodgers, Greg jones) just not gettin' it done.

MichLove

May 19th, 2011 at 9:46 AM ^

It is amazing how quickly a feel around a program can change with one move. This staff has cleaned up so far on the trail and put a whole new faith in the program. I am more excited for the start of this year then I have been in a while and I don't think I am the only one who feels this way.

Keep up the great work Hoke and Co. and of course, GO BLUE

MGoCooper

May 19th, 2011 at 10:07 AM ^

This translates to the field! Don't get me wrong, players with the talent and character that these kids have, it can't help but not translate. All the same, I can't stomach any more consecutive losses to Sparty or the Suckeyes.

DesHow21

May 19th, 2011 at 10:22 AM ^

But keep in mind that every one of these guys are slated to red-shirt and make an impact sometime after 2-3 years. 

Sparty really competing with us in recruiting the last 3 years is still going to hurt come this October. 

michgoblue

May 19th, 2011 at 10:34 AM ^

This is a great point.  These recruits - who do not arrive until after the 2011 season, are really going to help us in 2014, 2015 and 2016 when they are in their 3rd, 4th and 5th years.  But, none will be here in 2011 and only a few will play in 2012 or 2013.

As you pointed out, our recruiting (combined with some attrition) over the past few years still puts MSU in a strong position against us this coming year. 

That said, I think that we will still field a team that will have too much talent and experience at key positions for MSU to beat us.  Just about our entire offense will be back, and I personally think that Denard, running some sort of hybrid pro-style / spread / shotgun / wildcat / power I will be just about impossible to stop, except for perhaps the most elite defenses (Nebraska and OSU will still scare me).  As for our D, we will not be perfact, but our players will be far better coached in thing like, um, tackling, covering, angles, not lookin confused and playing football.  We will also not field any true freshmen, which will make a huge difference, nor will we be running the insanely-stupid 3-3-5. 

Basically, what I am saying is that I totally agree with your point that this recruiting dominance is a long-term reason for excitement, but it will not help us come October 2011.  However, I still think that even with Sparty's brief recruiting dominance over us, we are going to stomp them this year.