Outlook on '14 Class and Recruiting Question
Freep link warning.
It's nice to see Wilton Speight taking the Shane Morris role for the '14 class, but I found this quote interesting:
“After this crazy day settles down, I’m going to try to get coach (Al) Borges on the phone, and I want him to get me a list of who they’re targeting and who I need to start working on, because I plan on this class being the top recruiting class they’ve had in awhile. Every day, (I'll) contact as many guys as I can, build friendships and draw trustworthy relationships,” he said. “I think they’re taking 16 (players). Put together a group of 15 guys and myself to be as close to perfection as possible.”
Which leads me to a few questions I'd the MGoCommunity to take a stab at. First, why such a small class? With him in the mix, plus Ferns, and hopefully the McDowell and Hand tandem, that leaves only twelve spots. Also, how do you think our recruiting compares to that of Ohio in terms of raw talent and addressing areas of need?
February 7th, 2013 at 5:33 PM ^
*innuendo about my garden hose here*
February 7th, 2013 at 9:38 PM ^
February 7th, 2013 at 1:19 PM ^
February 7th, 2013 at 1:36 PM ^
I think our two early commits are up to the task.
@wiltonspeight welcome to the class man, gotta shoot me your number in a DM. We still have a lot of recruiting to do. #GoBlue #Team135
February 7th, 2013 at 2:29 PM ^
Recruits who commit to Michigan early and then proceed to become Michigan Men Hype Masters >>>
February 7th, 2013 at 9:25 PM ^
Do you guys honestly think this is any different than what the commitments of any other school are doing? All these kids are doing the same thing at every school. Some of you act as if you started following recruiting yesterday.
February 7th, 2013 at 1:26 PM ^
Virginia is looking pretty good these days. I hope to get Hand from Virginia......
February 7th, 2013 at 1:40 PM ^
It is unlikely, but I would also like to get Brown and Blanding from Virginia.
February 7th, 2013 at 9:30 PM ^
Blanding's a great player that the Michigan coaching staff likes a lot. I think they will push for him. Right now, he's a pretty heavy Virginia/FSU lean, but things can always change. He wants to commit very early...as in this spring, so Michigan better act fast if they want to get in the game. I'm less plugged into the Brown recruitment.
February 7th, 2013 at 1:44 PM ^
synergy between your pic and the subtext of your comment
February 7th, 2013 at 2:12 PM ^
+1 is not nearly enough for what you caught there. Well done, Tripp.
February 7th, 2013 at 7:06 PM ^
February 7th, 2013 at 1:36 PM ^
i usually trust Magnus tracking at http://touchthebanner.blogspot.com/
the 16 number comes from guys who have no eligility left (and includes gardner). it does not include 5 redshirt juniors who may or may not be asked back for a 5th year (one of which is jake ryan, who i assume gets asked back, the others are Paskorz, Ash, Wilkins and Furman). there will likely be a few more leave-earlies, defections, injuries, disciplines, dropouts, etc. (hope not) before the number of schollies is final.
the low numbers are because there are 27 commits this year and 25 from the previous year, which are two pretty big classes. that means that there are only 33 spots for seniors and juniors.
February 7th, 2013 at 1:34 PM ^
PLAYMAKERSSS PLEASEEEEE
February 7th, 2013 at 1:37 PM ^
I imagine the recuriting will indeed be more selevtive this year because of the smaller class size (although through attrition it will likely be more than 16). So we should focus on really high quality guys. I expect the class to resemble the top 16-20 of this incoming class- so essentialyl all 4-start type guys. If we could pull in 20 four-star plus type players this cycle we should for the next one- hopefully a little more elite/5-start talent- but that is a hard task for any proram.
I love how we have another QB taking the lead with recruiting. QB are leaders on the field- nice to see that starting for the second year in a row on the trail!
February 7th, 2013 at 1:50 PM ^
Once again the coaches have raised the bar in early evaluation/early offers. By signing day of the previous year we already have the majority of our offers out, and our qb lined up.
Also: It's a pretty safe bet our class will grow to 20+
February 7th, 2013 at 1:44 PM ^
I can answer one of your questions.
"First, why such a small class?"
Answer: Math
February 7th, 2013 at 1:50 PM ^
February 7th, 2013 at 1:54 PM ^
14 schollies left now ferns and speight
i'm sure a couple attrittions will happen
FYI to Speight -- need Wide Recievers
February 7th, 2013 at 2:06 PM ^
In regards to the OP's last question. I think Ohio's class may have a bit more top to bottom talent, but not by much, and our class is much more well-rounded. I wouldn't trade our class for theirs, thats for sure.
February 7th, 2013 at 2:19 PM ^
i don't think it's fair to bust this guy's chops. like it or not, irrational exuberance is often on display from a lot of people on this board. i remember when sua cravens mentioned michigan, people starting saying "if we get cravens and X...". same with joe mathis. the worst example was reuben foster. i mean, the fact that people started mentioning that kid as if he might come here, really just crazy talk.
February 7th, 2013 at 2:41 PM ^
There is no comparison between the Reuben Foster and Dashawn Hand situations. Foster, who had already displayed some flakiness in his recruitment, first mentioned us a month before signing day after obvious pressure from UM commits he roomed with at the All-American game. He clearly was just saying what the cameras wanted to hear, and no one took it too seriously. However, Hand listed us in a firm top 5 a year before his signing day, seems to have more of a head on his shoulders and isn't simply responding to pressure from talking heads to drum up publicity.
Clearly two distinct scenarios, and it is reasonable to treat Hand as a serious recruit. It is very early, but I would expect us to receive an official visit from him in the fall or winter.
February 7th, 2013 at 2:51 PM ^
sure, treat him as a serious recruit -- i'm down with that. but this all started when the OP essentially assumed Hand + McDowell are coming when he stated (paraphrasing) "that leaves only 12 spots". i see no basis for making a casual statement that assumes either much less both of those guys are coming. if you put McDowell at 50% and Hand at 25% that leaves us with 12.5% chance of getting both guys. in other words, odds are not with us, so why make the casual statement that assumes both are coming?
February 7th, 2013 at 3:54 PM ^
but playmakers should be a #1 priority. 16 linemen in 3 years is a solid base, but playmakers on the outside need to be there as well.
February 7th, 2013 at 9:54 PM ^
You need Linemen every year, on both sides of the ball. And not just 2* or 3* fillers.
February 7th, 2013 at 3:56 PM ^
February 7th, 2013 at 6:09 PM ^
Thomas
Lewis
McCray
Butt
February 7th, 2013 at 7:25 PM ^
Suppose I were to say, "in spite of the Speight commitment, I will only truly be happy with a spate of commitments on President's Day weekend 2012." With which word does Speight rhyme?
February 7th, 2013 at 8:25 PM ^
February 7th, 2013 at 11:03 PM ^
This class was supposed to be 20-21...no more than 23. Things happened, we got 4-7 more scholarships to pass out.
February 7th, 2013 at 11:41 PM ^
Michigan fam show some love to @drizzygetbusy01 #1 receiver in '14 need him running routes in #thebighouse #followhim
This was tweeted by Wilton Speight. He's already going after Drake Harris. Good to see him doing his best. Would be very nice to get Drake in a winged helmet.
February 8th, 2013 at 1:34 AM ^
I really hope this doesn't result in a bunch of 30-50 year old men following Harris....