Michigan offers [greyshirt] DT Brady Pallante. Per Tremendous: very likely on the verge of adding a new commitment

Submitted by a2_electricboogaloo on

Steve from Tremendous (and now 247) just posted an article on a new offer Brady Pallante.

 

#Michigan is very likely on the verge of adding another member to the program (VIP): michigan.247sports.com/Board/59424/Mi…

— Steve Lorenz (@TremendousUM) February 18, 2013

He's an under the radar recruit at the moment, and it doesn't look like he has any offers at the moment.  I'll trust the coaches on this one, especially with their familiarity with d-linemen.

The article can be read here (half paywalled, half open).

 

Edit 1: Hat tip to icefins26 and THE INCREDIBLE HOKE, in pointing out that this may be a greyshirt scenario, at least according to this earlier (but deleted) tweet from Tremendous.

@TremendousUM: Barron Collier (FL) DT Brady Pallante has been offered a greyshirt scholarship by #Michigan. Story upcoming.

I guess we'll have to wait and see to tell whether this is a normal scholarship offer or not.

Edit 2: H/T to detrocks on the WolverineNation article (link here).  The story confirms that he is in fact a greyshirt offer, and not a standard offer.

Jeff09

February 18th, 2013 at 9:58 AM ^

I don't know much about evaluating players. Would someone who does post on what he does well/poorly based on highlights? They look pretty good to me at first glance

Roy G. Biv

February 18th, 2013 at 11:56 AM ^

This is a curious, shrewd and somewhat tantalizing bit of news. Curious in that a 2014 guy would agree to a "greyshirt" so early in the recruiting cycle. A shrewd move by Hoke & Co. if they are taking a guy who's a M lock and deferring the scholarship since he'd redshirt anyway. Tantalizing is the confidence the staff must have in some of the high-profile targets signing on that they would take this course of action.

EGD

February 18th, 2013 at 1:10 PM ^

This is a good point.  

As of now, M only has 16 spots for the 2014 class.  With normal attrition, we are still looking at a class no larger than 20.  Perhaps if M had another half-dozen scholarships to give out, Pallante would have gotten a normal offer.  But with only 16-19 spots, the staff is presumably saving them for higher-priority recruits.

We might be able to just wait until 2015 and sign another player of comparable ability to Pallante.  But if we did that, then the player redshirts the '15 season and isn't available until 2016.  By taking Pallante as a grayshirt in 2014, maybe we have him available and ready to contribute a year earlier.  

Personally, though, I think M's history of turning wrestlers into effective defensive linemen suggests Pallante is going to be a good player.   

kicknback1

February 18th, 2013 at 12:01 PM ^

 

As has been stated many times in this thread, our coaches definitely know that they are doing in evaluating defensive line talent. They also know what they want in regard to toughness and character. In reading the articles about Pallante, it's clear to me that he has those traits.

"Barron Collier's Brady Pallante didn't so much as win the Class 2A state heavyweight wrestling title on Saturday night as he earned it.

Two weeks ago after he lost in overtime in the 2A-District 12 finals to his archrival, Fort Myers' Fequierson Charles, a crestfallen Pallante talked about leaving nothing in the practice room if he hoped to beat Charles the following week at the regional championships.

Pallante worked out three times a day that week while doing his roadwork at night. He beat Charles in triple overtime to take the region crown"

"Pallante says it is such an honor to be offered a scholarship to UM. As a kid, he grew up dreaming of playing for the Wolverines."

BostonWolverine

February 18th, 2013 at 12:07 PM ^

My cousin is graduating from the same high school as Pallante this year. They're friends. I asked my uncle what he knows. Here's what he said:

Pallante has an incredible work ethic. My cousin is a touted baseball prospect, so my uncle knows hard work when he sees it. Pallante is also arguably the best wrestler in the country. He's also a great kid.

This move is intriguing to me.

YoOoBoMoLloRoHo

February 18th, 2013 at 12:35 PM ^

Hoke of Rob Renes or he has potential to plug the middle in short yardage.

He is not a top tier talent at this point, but the greyshirt puts him 2.5 years from his first season and his supposed work ethic means a whole of lifting in his future.

Strategically, he is also a good kid from Florida that could help us build a recruiting base in the area.

boliver46

February 18th, 2013 at 2:18 PM ^

Stays low, uses hands well...lots of power.  Plenty of times saw him drive his blocker back several feet right off the punch.  Textbook technique.

CitizenKane

February 18th, 2013 at 3:33 PM ^

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back to the "Urban will kill Hoke in recruting, year in and year out" statement. Who is this guy? omgcodysigned. I'm not even sure that can be used as a username. I would call you sir, but instead I will use, Boy. Boy, did you pay attention to recruiting this year. Ohio and Us virtually were evenly matched in recruitng and this is Michigan coming off an 8-5 compared to Ohio coming off a 12-0. If we had played Gardener vs NEB, or if Shoelace hadn't gotten hurt, and won that game and beat Ohio, and ND, and SC, which were all very close, we would have passed them unanimously in all of the recruiting services. Somebody take this guy's dimebag from him.

Bo Knows

February 18th, 2013 at 4:12 PM ^

Kid seems like the ideal nose.  If he comes in as part of the 2015 class then he'll be 3 years behind Pipkins.  I think the kid could be valuable in goal line situations at the very least.

JTrain

February 18th, 2013 at 5:00 PM ^

I think maybe we need to let the guys who have been coaching football forever (Hoke, Mattison, etc) decide this stuff.

wolverinestuckinEL

February 18th, 2013 at 5:37 PM ^

I'm definitely a "trust the coaches" type, but this seems strange.  Its just that the kid has another season of football, so the two most likely things to happen are:

1.  He has a great season, receives other offers and Michigan has to decide whether to match those scholarship offers.

2.  He has a meh season, maybe picks up some low level offers and Michigan takes him on as a grayshirt.

It just seems strange to offer him even a grayshirt option so early in the recruiting cycle, I could understand if he was a 2013 kid who showed great raw skills or maybe played at a small school somewhere off the beaten path.  But it seems like if this kid shows promise UM will have to pony of a scholarship offer in order to keep him coming here.  I guess maybe its their way of saying we like your potential but we have a small class so this is our way of showing our interest?  

Cold War

February 19th, 2013 at 12:00 PM ^

As I understand it, the kid pays for his freshman year of school and goes on scholarship the following year, so he counts against the next year's class.

Cue corrections.

Magnus

February 19th, 2013 at 8:48 AM ^

I'm late to the part (had a busy weekend), but I would like to echo what Space Coyote said.

It would be great to get huge guys who can stay low AND move well, but those are rare.  Otherwise, you have to manufacture success.  If a William Campbell clone came along at Cass Tech, you would all be rooting for Michigan to recruit him.  But he had a mediocre career, because he couldn't stay low and he didn't go hard every play.

Pallante has great technique and leverage.  What he lacks in size and athleticism, he'll make up for in other areas.  Mike Martin was somewhat similar, but probably a better overall athlete.  Regardless, I see Pallante as a two-down defensive tackle who can hold the point of attack against the run, and then you might pull him in third-and-long situations.  I see no problem with a grayshirt offer at all.