M-Wolverine

April 17th, 2012 at 1:18 PM ^

Will Campbell is a nice cherry pick example, but I bet you can find just as many 3* guys that were recruited that are big time contributors. Just because they got one right doesn't mean anything more than a broken clock being right twice in a day.

Now if you want to show some data that on the majority of recruit rankings they're not only right, but more correct than most major coaching staffs, that might prove something. One player doesn't.

Lanknows

April 17th, 2012 at 1:46 PM ^

Every site is going to have their share of hits and misses, and so are coaches.  My point was to counter the idea that 'the coaches like him so you should do' assertion.

As I don't have evidence for sites over coaches, you don't have any for coaches over sites.  I happen to side with the coaches argument, in general, but that is beside the point.

BoFan

April 17th, 2012 at 5:04 PM ^

Our coaches factor in a kids character to their internal evaluation. That's why kids like Gedeon and Levenberry get a bump and others kids get dropped. Also Gedeon and Levenberry both have raw scores of #80 from Espn which puts them at the same level at the Espn #119 recruit who is also rated at 80.

WolvinLA2

April 17th, 2012 at 12:18 PM ^

Yes, that is very Debbie Downer of you. Also, not rally based on anything.

None of those guys are even on the fringe, so saying they'll get jumped is pretty bold. Also, I'm sure some of our other commits are close, so they might be ones doing the jumping. It's very possible a guy like Butt, or Shallman or Gedeon has a good senior year and sneaks into that group.

ish

April 17th, 2012 at 12:10 PM ^

number of ESPN 150 prospects committed to each school:

- michigan: 11

- texas: 7

- alabama: 6

- florida: 6

- osu: 5

- georgia: 5

- A&M: 5

- auburn: 4

- USC: 3

- FSU: 3

- OU: 3

- penn st.: 3

 

 

MLaw06

April 17th, 2012 at 12:10 PM ^

I don't know why some of you guys are sulking... 11 out of 150 so far is amazing.  Look at the past years... nothing like this and we won the sugar bowl.  This class is pure potential!!!

detrocks

April 17th, 2012 at 12:12 PM ^

15 of out of the 17 recruits received at least a 4-star rating.   The only recruits below that are Hill and Shallman.   Hill is the #6 TE/H-Back, while Shallman is the #1 FB, so a nice showing for them even as 3-stars.

turd ferguson

April 17th, 2012 at 1:18 PM ^

This struck me, too. I'm not surprised that Levenberry isn't here, but I am surprised about Poggi.

One thing to remember more generally, though, is that this list is much smaller than the Rivals 250, Scout 300, and 247, uh, 247.

wolverine1987

April 17th, 2012 at 12:52 PM ^

who rated you "trolling," and mine above as well. I meant that the SEC is the most prominent football conference (to the national media) in the country so a team moving to that conferfence might get a bump in attention from top recruits. But even if I meant that the SEC cheats in recruiting, that wouldn't be trolling either. I just don't get some people....

Wolvercane

April 17th, 2012 at 1:11 PM ^

and they brought up an interesting discussion point about the lack of African-American Head Coaches. Ryan Clark of the Pittsburgh Steelers was a guest host and he brought up a very interesting point that at many top schools, the Recruitting Coordinator is African-American since they are able to relate to potential prospects from impoverished much better. Skip Bayless (surprisingly) brought up a good case example of Vanderbilt, which hired James Franklin, previously the Recruiting Coordinator at Maryland, and the success it brought Vanderbilt in the past year both in recruiting and on the field results. 

Perhaps Texas A&M is experiencing something of this affect as well with Kevin Sumlin as their Head Coach. 

Wolvercane

April 17th, 2012 at 1:28 PM ^

I said at many, not all. And Michigan is one of the select few programs that will rarely have trouble recruiting, no matter who is here. The traditional and facilities Michigan has to sell makes it very easy for us. 

Now for programs on a secondary tier, like Vanderbilt (usually doormat to the SEC) and Texas A&M (little brother to Texas), it gives them an advantage over their peers as well as a joker in their hand to compete for some elite recruits with the big boys. 

Sinsemillaplease

April 17th, 2012 at 12:17 PM ^

who on earth is Christian Hackenburg? You'd think after hours of pouring over recruiting nonsense one would at least know the name of the apparent best pocket passer in the nation. I guess it's a result of having the QB scholarship taken care of so early.

CasBMW

April 17th, 2012 at 12:19 PM ^

He's the best OL prospect IMO of the commits we have. Congrats to Gareon Conley. Rivals has Levenberry @ 15 I believe. And ESPN doesn't consider him top 150?? Thats a large gap.

RBWolverine

April 17th, 2012 at 12:22 PM ^

I think that makes ESPN the highest on our class of all the services.  Amazing to have 15 four stars, including 11 in the 150.  I'm sure someone will find some reason to complain, but I can't see any.  Love seeing them so high on Conley.  He and Lewis are a quality pair of corners in this class.  Also amazing to have all five of our Oline recruits in the top 150.  That's a virtually unheard of Oline haul.  

Looking at our rivals, OSU will certainly have a quality class and MSU seems unlikely to have any 150 players.  But their three best recruits (Powell, Reschke, and Jones) don't seem to have been rated yet.  I don't think they'll be in the 150, but any of the three could be a four star and it wouldn't surprise me.

Love this class.

Lanknows

April 17th, 2012 at 12:59 PM ^

The level of weight given to recruiting rankings is getting out of control.  It's one thing if it's a bunch of recruiting junkies commenting, but when actual recruits are celebrating their class ratings in spring - It's gone too far, to the point of being a potential detriment.

I follow recruiting.  I know the rankings, in aggregate, are relevant.  I want high quality kids and recruiting rankings are decent indicators.  But once they commit...they're coming to Michigan and our coaches want them...who cares how recruitniks rank them after the fact?

For my taste, there's way too much self-congratulating and back-slapping going on for high school kids.  These kids (and many fans) are treating recruiting rankings like they're meaningful titles.  They're celebrating, and I think it might be dangerous.

I'd rather our commits get ranked lower by high profile services like ESPN.  I'd rather they get a chip on their shoulder and come in with something to prove.  I think that's part of why schools like Boise and Wisconsin have had success lately, and to some extent MSU as well. The 'little brother' thing was funny, but - it's dangerou to put on airs (even if deserved).

By no means am I saying these recruits doomed to fail. I think they'll do great, but that's independant of ESPN's opinion.  I will say that it makes the coaches job much harder if the players are coming in feeling like they don't have to prove themselves.

 

 

MN Go Blue

April 17th, 2012 at 1:07 PM ^

I will say that we have the right set of coaches and the right environment at Michigan to prevent that from happening.  The only message they will recieve from the coaches as incoming freshmen is that if they want a spot they have to earn it.  Nothing is given to these kids.  They know that and it is what they are signing up for when they commit to Michigan.

Lanknows

April 17th, 2012 at 1:17 PM ^

I agree that our coaches have done almost everything right, and I'm very happy with that.

But some guys come in with attitude and motivation issues that no coach can fix - and we've already seen some guys depart who aren't willing to put in what it takes (Barnett and Posada come to mind.)  I suspect recruiting hype can play a role in these situations.

Nothing is given, but some kids expectations don't always reflect that.

sheepdog

April 17th, 2012 at 1:21 PM ^

Im pretty sure Nick Saban would disagree with you.  Seeing that they have finished in the top 3 for recruiting classes  for the last 6 years, and won 2 MNCs, I think a team full of elite level recruits do just fine.

Lanknows

April 17th, 2012 at 1:49 PM ^

but they're not elite because ESPN says so, they're elite because they play football.

Pissed off with talent > complacent with talent > pissed off without talent

Recruiting rankings don't affect talent.  They can affect attitudes.

denardogasm

April 17th, 2012 at 12:50 PM ^

I view that as a big positive for this class.  The fact that the order of our commits in the rankings is so different for every service, along with the fact that the services obviously don't want to put out the same rankings as each other, tells me our class is very solid across the board.  Once you're in the top 150 things become a whole lot more subjective because there's not a whole lot separating those guys.  With all the hype Lewis got during the Adidas Invitational, I thought he was going to get a huge bump, and the fact that Conley is ahead of him just makes me even more excited about this DB haul.  Same goes for the OL.