How will Hoke take advantage of this?
If there can ever be a best possible consolation for going 1-9 against the arch-rival, this has to be it. We're the good guys, and OSU now the obvious villains. I laugh as they console themselves with their wins. Kind of like a kid consoling himself on passing an exam he was caught cheating on. You cheated, do you just not get it? "But see? I passed!" Sigh.
All OSU wins last year will be vacated (0-9 vs SEC still in tact aaaaaw yeah). Pryor will be done, leaving him 2-0 vs UM and 1-0 vs OSU in terms of sinking their program. Fair balance there. Now comes flux, interim tags, heavy sanctions, reduced scholarships, more bad press, and more good times for us. But let's not kid ourselves - OSU won't skip after this year, bringing in a deluxe coach, sanctions be damned. USC is indicative - elite recruiting classes despite heavy sanctions.
This is also a very deep year in terms of Ohio recruiting talent, and we have a new coach who is showing himself along with his staff, to be epic recruiters.
The recruiting stars will, never, ever align themselves this well for us for one year, in our lifetimes short of winning another N.C.
So I ask, should Brady just be Brady in recruiting these kids? I.e., I see a coach who is just too good a guy to use every neg recruiting bullet in his shiny new holster. Or should he do what 90% of other coaches out there would do, and pull out the anti-OSU neg bat with a wink and a smile to bring home the best Ohio has to offer?
Brady being such a good guy looks good to me, and will get us enough recruits, but after 1-9, I personally would do anything and everything in my power, short of compromising my integrity, to get these good recruits to the good guys. Just curious how Hoke will use this unprecedented new ammo.
We don't need to negative recruit, especially not now. We have a good product, and what OSU is going through is very public. We wouldn't tell anyone anything they don't know, and it would just make us look bad. Stick to our guns and we'll be just fine.
I don't think Hoke and staff are going to use negative recruiting tactics, but I expect that they will take full advantage of what is going on at osu.
I'm willing to bet that Danny Hope goes at it a different way.
Is negative recruiting for us.
Oddly, I don't think "Don't go there, they give you sweet cars for free" has as much swing with highschoolers as you think...
He doesn't have to negatively recruit. TSIO situation speaks for itself.
I think negative recruiting would only be effective for guys who are choosing between us and them. At that, I would hope that Hoke and co. have enough ammunition in terms of the position of our program, with the ability to once again become a national power, to not need to sleight the Bucks to win recruits. There are too many good things about Michigan to spend time talking about other universities (if you can call that place one) at all.
It shouldn't be a hard sell for Brady. "Son, do you wanna play for Michigan, or do you wanna play for a team that will under probation and _____ sanctions for your entire playing career?"
Also, what makes you think TP will even be 2-0 vs UM? $1 says he didn't just start cheating this past season
it seems that there are a good number of top DLinemen who're up for grabs between Michigan and Columbus. Does Hoke rearrange his positional needs to stock up this year on DLine? now it seems like we have a shot at not just Pipkins and Jaleel Johnson, but also Jarron Jones said if he liked a school better than PSU he'd go there and he visits Ann Arbor this summer, and the coaches are pursuing Aziz Shittu earnestly, and Sheldon Day is likely back in play now too. We have 3 DE's and are favored for Wormley but now there are other Ohio DE's who might be ours for the asking. Tom Strobel might be leaning away from Columbus now, Adolphus Washington, and Se'von Pittman, and Greg McMullen, and Odenigbo might all be more open to Michigan than before and I have to think the coaches will change their recruiting scheme some from all of this. They're already allegedly talking to Kyle Kalis. Lots of butts for Hoke to look at and lots of kids to touch out there.
Whatever Coach Mattison wants to say to recruits and their families is fine with me.
The events taking place right now are beginning to make me think we have a realistic shot at doing some big things next year. Our schedule, plus what should or could be a very beaten down OSU team at the end of the year has me feeling maybe we could play in the first B10 championship game. I know it's still a reach but at the very least an OSU win is looking more probable than ever. That win ladies and gentleman will be the nail in the coffin for OSU.
The only way they beat OSU is if the "new players" involved in the tat scandal (according to an unidentified ex-employee of the tat hole) is suspended for the year. They could boot the tat 5 today and OSU would still be the favorite.
That is true but a freshman QB on the road in AA, facing a competent DC, I kind of like our chances.
Tressel was/is held in high regard amongst Ohio HS coach & players. Any negative recruiting would be a bad strategy. Plus, it's unnecessary. These kids are well aware of what is going on in Columbus.
that negative recruiting really turns prospects off on your program, and considering how well Hoke & Co. have been doing on the recruiting trail, I don't expect anything to change in their methods
Never interfere with an enemy while he’s in the process of destroying himself.
I don't think Hoke will ever go the negative recruiting route but now is sure not the time for that.
I'm sure he'll target Ohio kids (and, this year, Ohio State commits) more agressively than he ordinarily would have (and there's certainly nothing wrong with that), but I don't think his pitch will change. There's nothing he could tell them that they haven't already heard.
If I'm Hoke, this is my pitch: "(First name of recruit, let's call him Adolphus or Se'Von for fun), the one point I think every recruit should consider in regards to Ohio is this. You might be offered a hook-up anywhere you go, whether the program is behind it or it's some booster acting on his own.
"But the thing of it with Ohio is, should you ever choose to accept something, even if it seems really small but might be against NCAA rules, you're at a program that is being watched like a hawk. Local media, national media, and the NCAA itself -- they've all got laser vision on that kind of business happening in Columbus right now.
"As it happens, you could possibly have your name dragged through the mud and printed in derogatory ways and really have your private life interrupted, all for things that are aside from football. I know that the kids who do have to go through that, it's not fun for them, it's no fun for their families, and to be put in a position where the burden of the program's reputation falls on your shoulders to such a degree, it's unnecessary stress. At Michigan, we're not going to put you in those kind of rough spots or have you walk around the kind of landmines that are on their campus right now.
"Now, let's talk about bowls and the Big Ten Championship game. . ."
you aren't one of our recruiters
I'm sure my pitch is more realistic and relatable to today's recruits than anything a guy with a Frank Beckmann signature would cook up.
Wouldn't you prefer being an SEC fan?
You buy the myth many poor saps do that every player on the team they root for is 100 percent on the up-and-up in every way. You actually buy it, don't you?
Fucking sad.
I know it. Which is more than you can honestly say, though you can claim anything. Liars usually do. Nothing is 100%. There are exceptions, mistakes. But are there places that believe in doing things the right way, to the best of their abilities? Yup. Not all, probably not a majority. But they exist. Michigan is one of them. I know. Not as a fan. But as someone who has forgotten more about Michigan Athletics than you'll ever know. Find another team to root for. You'll be a happier fan when you find one that matches your "ethics". And save us hearing from you.
You're saying Hoke's pitch will be that AA is a better place to break the rules than Columbus? That kind of pitch would get the type of players it deserves and insult the ones we should want.
The rules will be broken. Stop being naive. This is the NCAA. Players break little rules all the freaking time that they don't even know are rules.
The question is how egregious it is and what the consequence will be if and when it does happen.
at all, do you?
I understand what goes on everywhere in college athletics far better than your old, naive ass ever will.
In your life, have you? No more Michigan's. Like I said, Nick Saban will take you as a fan. If you have any cash.
I will bet that Hoke's approach will be fully above-board and something like this:
"We're looking for guys that want to play for Michigan, and for all the things Michigan has to offer. Great education; great program; great team; great coaches. When it comes to Ohio, our only concern is how we're going to beat them on the field, not how they're running their program."
Well played, sir.
Fixed it:
"We're looking for guys that want to play for Michigan, and for all the things Michigan has to offer. Great education; great program; great team; great coaches. When it comes to Ohio, our only concern is how we're going to beat them on the field, not how they're running their program."
"Oh, and they cheat like MFrs."
If you think recruits care about programs cheating anywhere near as much as average fans on message boards care, you are sorely mistaken. If it affects them (not going to a bowl, ineligibility, being defamed) they care.
You guys that are assuming players must look at things from the exact same perspective that you do are making fools of yourselves.
his amazing powers to create cold fusion.
Don't you see - his gold poop caused this!
I hope we don't ever negative recruit. Negative recruiting works on recruits that have bigger egos than morals. We want student athletes that are humble and hungry to play for Hoke. Losing the right way>Winning the wrong way
Don't forget the part about them wearing v-neck school sweaters and sharing malts at the soda shop with their sweethearts.
Yep. If those personalities existed anymore, we'd take 'em. But they don't.
After your performance on this topic you should be thanking your lucky stars Bolivia doesn't exist anymore.
MGoPoints matter. They do. Especially to grown adults. Ya gotta believe me.
To judge that, wouldn't you?
My negging finger is getting tired.
They only need to be themselves. No negative recruiting.
The Michigan traditiona and excellent academics will do just fine in the recruiting arena. We need . . . .
Student-athletes with character, integrity and intelligence.
Exactly the opposite of characters like TP.
He barely recruits by talking Michigan Football. He talks to kids about life, family, all the good things that wouldn't interest a Pryor, but seem to interest a whole lot of kids out there right now. The OSU thing doesn't change how we do things; it changes how others think of OSU. We don't need to point it out, they can see for themselves. And when being a Buckeye doesn't look so good anymore, being a Wolverine is still great.
Tressel built a fence in Ohio. He really did. You can count on one hand how many Ohio recruits with OSU offers we have landed since we landed Crable & Burgess eight years ago.
The state has been DEEPLY indoctrinated in Buckeye propaganda and Michigan's uphill fight is not going to get easier overnight. That some of you actually think this tall order of changing the environment there will be accomplished without any negative recruiting (a tactic that is shown to work) toward OSU is simply another bit of astonishing arrogance.
We don't need to sink to the level of cheaters. This is Michigan damn it! We are arrogant for a reason.
Our arrogance has worked wonders for us the last 10 years. The last three in particular. There's simply no downside to it.
It's doing wonders for you, so you are making a good case. Though I'm not sure I want to be in your "our".
we can control for few of them. Comes down to how the young man and his family see the issue. They've got to be torn between M and OSU to begin with, which narrows the conversation to just a few kids. If they were leaning our way, maybe they fall. (Are they good students? Makes a difference.) Some might want to be part of getting OSU back on top.
The place where Hoke takes advantage, absent one or two extra players, is in getting M back to prominence while OSU struggles. If we snagged a couple of extra wins this year, that would help a lot.