Yet Another Da'Shawn Hand post
Since Da’Shawn Hand is the topic of the last 24 hours, I thought I would share my experience. A friend of mine is his position coach. He got Da’Shawn as a freshman and has worked with him to help him become what he is today. Now my friend John Harris, is passionate about his job. Any guy that is still cool with you after you date his sister is a good guy. His goal in life is to get kids into college. In the years he’s been coaching, I have seen him work just as hard for his D-III kids as he has worked for Da’Shawn. DH is an unbelievable kid. He’s intelligent and mature and is a happy, fun guy. He doesn’t smoke or drink, doesn’t get involved with the wrong crowds. His idea of a good time? Him and his cousin lifting and watching film. He’s a hard worker, he doesn’t read the stuff written about him, he just focuses on dominating at the next camp, and his final season.
John, knowing I was a Michigan fan, asked me to drive into the depths of hell for The Game. I warned him that I was going to wear a “HAIL” shirt. We negotiated, that I would not wear it in the facilities, but out on the field only. These terms were agreed upon and accepted. We get there, and the police were non-cooperative with the coaches, and we ended up parking a mile away and having to walk to the stadium. It was cold as shit too btw. The coaches (except Urban) were walking around, talking to all of the recruits. I’d like to say this, despite the stupidity of Jeremy @ 11W, Da’Shawn isn’t an attention whore. He understood that Ohio was playing in their bowl game, and the coaches were busy. Even still, the coaches made it a point to take us down to talk to Urban. I couldn’t help but show him my shirt and he laughed. I told him I was rooting for him when Florida beat Ohio in the NC game, and he smirked, and said “we really took it to those guys huh?” (He also mentioned that he was approached by Brandon for the UM job)
Walked out to the stadium, in front of the student section and of course they all screamed and yelled at me as is expected from Ohio fans. Da’Shawn and his cousin were sitting with Jalen Hurd (who is going to be a stud btw). Everyone around me was very cool, we all had fun joking with each other, and no one was disrespectful. I was the only person in the whole section, standing with my hands in the air when Denard broke through that “tackle” on his long td run. In the second half, they left and went back inside and I watched the rest of the game. Without getting into too much of what really happened, they hung out with a few players and I don’t think they got along well. Kinda like meeting someone and thinking “ehh…I don’t need to be their friend.” And as Da’Shawn has stated, when you have EVERY school in the country fighting for you, you have to nitpick to eliminate them. On the ride home, I didn’t talk bad about Ohio, but I did have the UM fight song on repeat, and I did talk mention a few things about the school. So in March, we went up to UM for a visit.
As a fan, this was unreal to me, to have the opportunity to see what it’s like having the red carpet rolled out. I am originally from Michigan, but I went to U of Richmond…but to see how the school presented themselves made me proud. ALL of the coaches were cool, they all took time to speak with him. There was a huge focus on academics and for a smart kid like that, he was very interested. Brady Hoke is one of the coolest, down to earth people I have ever met. Mattison did his Ray Lewis dance for Hand, with Beyonce in the background. He also knew more than a few Rihanna songs. Lewan and Hand had a good talk, Devin was around (and has a magnificent singing voice btw…singing the Victors) . One thing John and Hand noticed was how after practice (it was the first day of spring ball) the players hung out around the field. No one was in a rush to leave, they chatted, they talked to Mrs. Hoke and Mrs. Mattison, hung out with the coaches, Brandon, and the other recruits. The “family” atmosphere…is very very real. Ferns came out just to hang out with Da’Shawn too, and they hung out with some players that night. Denard was there (getting worked out by the Patriots) and they had a good talk as well. And seeing his eyes when he walked through the tunnel into Michigan Stadium was priceless.
Now as far as the future goes, I couldn’t tell you where he ends up, I can tell you he enjoyed Michigan and hated Ohio and that’s good enough for me.
You are the man! Thanks for the info yesterday, but that almost got me MgoKilled by Mgoflames. Keep in his ear and GO BLUE!!
You should win some type of award, or at least 1,000,000 mgopoints for putting yourself on the line!
I posted it on here without asking for his permission to divulge such info, so I was sort of out of line. None the less, it ended up being pretty epic and really funny.
i enjoyed that, thanks.
worth reading.
Everyone duck for the Brandon/Urban thing.
Great story!!!
The title should be "Da'Shawn Hand post to read if you're only going to read one." Can't remember the last time I read an MGoBoard post this long and never once thought "tl;dr."
I was thinking ts;wm.
Uh, the pics aren't rendering for some reason.
Anyone else having this problem?
And I could never see nor would want to see urbz at Michigan. So thank God he didn't take the job.
Yeah the pics are broken red x's for me too
and choose "open in new tab"
Page cannot be displayed...assuming it works for you? Very odd.
account. I have Dropbox so maybe that's why I'm able to see them.
Edit. Whoops. As Brian stated exactly two posts below. Redundancy is the spice of life.
Do look at the pics. While they don't display for me either, they are all good pics . . . ticket to The Game, picture of the Game, Hand and coaches with Hoke & Mattison, and Hand with Denard.
That's not Hand with the coaches. But you are right -- great pictures. I especially like the picture of the Shoe from behind the Ohio bench. I don't go to 11W so I've never seen something that upclose.
The one with Denard is great. Anyone else notice the socks and sandals combination? Denard pulls it off, and still no laces!
He's trying to embed direct from DropBox, which apparently doesn't work. imgur would.
Here's an album with the four images in the order they were linked to in the post, in case a mod wants to edit the links.
Canzior -
Can you let Hand know that if he commits to Michigan, I will personally solve the issue of our nation's debt, rescue all endangered species, bring back the Chapelle Show, and convert the entire world to renewable energy.
I'm serious. I can do all these things, but specifically won't if he doesn't come to Michigan.
So is this good news for Michigan or Alabama?
Well done... I'd be interested if you could elaborate on the discussion with Urban on Brandon discussing the M job with Urban.... many don't know this but Urban had an opt-out in his prior contracts to coach ND, OSU, or MICHIGAN.
Denard has Under Armour sandles on in that picture. So i guess we can now say that Adidas can't make a proper sandle along with bad uniformz.
/that guy
Excellent first MGoBlog read of the morning.
...Richmond grad is very comforting. Even more comforting would be if you don't contribute financially to Michigan athletics in any way.
No fan will ever get his favorite school in trouble for interacting with a recruit unless it was a coordinated effort with the coaching staff. Thinking otherwise is naive. The NCAA can't even bust schools that blantly flog the rule book but you won't stop telling everyone that they are violating rules by contacting recruits. Fans shoudn't contact recruits not because they will get their school in trouble but because it is sleazy.
...contact. Going on recruiting visits to schools is on a different level than tweeting or even coming up to a kid after a HS game and saying that you hope he chooses your favorite school (neither of which I recommend).
Also, tell me in where in my post above I accused the OP of violating any rules? It appears to me that it's likely he does not fit the book definition of a booster because he's not an alum and he's likely not a season ticket holder or athtletic dept contributor. If he were (and just so we're clear, I don't think he is), there might be an issue.
We boosters (if you're an alum, you're a booster) should all be aware of the potential negative impacts that our actions could have on our beloved program. I'd prefer to trade my opportunity to bask in the glory of a highly recruited HS kid for the certainty that I'm not screwing over my alma mater. But that's just me. And if that means I'm riding a high horse, so be it.
Good day to you, fine sir!
He has a pre-existing relationship.
...relationship with the kid's coach, not with the kid. Not the same thing. That said, as I mentioned in my previous post, I don't think the OP is a booster and I haven't suggested that he is.
Seriously. Awesome post, and I would give just about anything to have been with you on those trips.
Great post. That's quite the experience.
Great post. That's quite the experience.
Such a great post, it had to be said twice.
We either need to front page this, or stick it back in the regular topics. Nobody reads Diaries, for whatever reason.
that picture with denard is the first time i've seen Hand smile in a picture?
story, thanks. Sure hope he goes Blue, but if not - I'll be a fan of his througout his entire career. Seems like an all-around good dude.
We are dealing with a lot of recruits who rock tennis shoes with khakis... This is the opposite of off the field issues.
Hmm.. I stand corrected. Wilton Speight is a thug.
Ha - I just thought it was funny to say that a recruit who wears khakis and tennis shoes must by definition be an upstanding character. I don't think there are any clothing choices that would confirm such a conclusion.
On the other hand, I do think there are clothing choices that might indicate poor character: say, shirts that say "cop killer," or "fuck Jews," or "you say tomato I say fuck you."* Or a Borat-style unikini.
*I worked at a warehouse one summer and a guy wore this shirt to work. It's probably the only shirt in the genre of 'bitchy/self-centered things in large font on my t-shirt' that I've ever found funny.
I knew from Allin4Blue or someone else that you were the connection to Hand. You gave us an excellent, informative post. I think many of us would really like to hear more about what happened with Hand and other recruits during the 2nd half. Also find it fascinating that the police messed up so badly with parking for your party (although that was good for Michigan.)
Regarding Urban Meyer, Brandon, and Michigan, I remember when I first came to MGoBlog, there were more than a few people, Brian Cook the proprieter included, IIRC, who were pining after Urban. I believe this was back before he was at Florida. I still think he's a good coach, although I really like what we have with Hoke, Mattison, Borges, and the rest of the coaching team.
I would like to hear more about your interactions with Hand, and your take on him (although, you've given a pretty good picture already, with your comments on what he considers a good time.)
I'd also love to hear anything you can tell us about Juwann Bushell-Beatty.
So what you're saying is that if Hand commits, it's all your fault. Alright, nice.
Thanks for sharing. And that professor deserves some sort of awesome bonus if Hand commits.
That's a pretty good life mission. Cheers
Also, I want Denard's v-neck tee.
"Mattison did his Ray Lewis dance for Hand, with Beyonce in the background. He also knew more than a few Rihanna songs."
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