Sam Webb Re: Damien Harris and George Campbell Status
Sam Webb updates the status of George Campbell and Damien Harris in the Detroit News. The status is much better for Harris than Campbell but Michigan is not out for either of them. Campbell insists Michigan's record had nothing to do with his decommitment because he feels he'd be part of the difference. The reason was that none of his family had visited Michigan and they felt he made a hasty decision. He's not sure if he will take an official visit to Michigan, but he hasn't ruled it out. He will make the decision when he has talked to more schools.
There have been other stories on Harris so I won't go into the details here. It does say that his mom feels the process will lead right back to Michigan.
January 24th, 2014 at 1:58 PM ^
i think it's likely we take 2 RBs in 2015, one now and a spot open for harris.
January 24th, 2014 at 2:05 PM ^
is definitely one of those guys you make room for no matter who you have committed. Nuss may or may not look at Weber the same way.
January 24th, 2014 at 1:59 PM ^
I hope Harris' mom is right, and he finds his way back to Michigan.
January 24th, 2014 at 2:03 PM ^
is a no-brainer. Just take I-75 all the way and he should be golden - he should be there in about 5-6 hours depending on traffic conditions. Problem solved!
January 24th, 2014 at 2:05 PM ^
That was pretty good.
January 24th, 2014 at 2:15 PM ^
there may be a flaw in my argument if Harris doesn't have his driver's license yet. Anyone know the legal driving age in Kentucky?
January 24th, 2014 at 2:16 PM ^
I think it's 12.
January 24th, 2014 at 2:17 PM ^
Damn you and your millisecond head start
January 24th, 2014 at 2:27 PM ^
are confusing the legal driving age with the legal consent age in Kentucky.
January 24th, 2014 at 2:31 PM ^
...for handguns?
January 24th, 2014 at 2:47 PM ^
That's the age to marry your first cousin.
Funny story: In North Carolina, you can marry your double first cousin (first cousin on both sides) if she's 12 and pregnant. I love North Carolina, but its marriage laws are straight 19th century.
January 24th, 2014 at 4:16 PM ^
I'm gonna need a cite for this, hawss.
January 24th, 2014 at 5:48 PM ^
My bad--either the law changed or my memory isn't what it used to be. It's 14.
January 24th, 2014 at 4:30 PM ^
January 24th, 2014 at 3:33 PM ^
You have to be 15 to drive.
January 24th, 2014 at 2:19 PM ^
LOL That's funny.
January 24th, 2014 at 4:35 PM ^
Exciting part is the drive through Ohio...
January 24th, 2014 at 6:32 PM ^
there is nothing ever ever ever ever exciting about Ohio. You shut your dirty whore mouth!
January 24th, 2014 at 8:46 PM ^
January 25th, 2014 at 12:45 PM ^
Driving north through that state to Ann Arbor, just north of Findly about 1:00 AM. Was driving the legal 55mph in the right lane when two 18 wheelers came up behind me. One passed in the left lane the other on the shoulder. It was a scene straight out of Trains, Planes, and Automobiles.
January 24th, 2014 at 2:01 PM ^
January 24th, 2014 at 2:45 PM ^
I don't know if that's really fair to him. Recruiting's a long process and he didn't get the head start with these guys that other schools' coaches did. If he gets them, I see that a definite plus in his book but if he doesn't, it's not automatically a minus.
January 24th, 2014 at 3:57 PM ^
If he doesn't get them back, I don't think its a negative at all. I would like to think that its a no-lose situation being able to get them back. My hope is that his reputation as an OC leads these top-rated recruits back into the fold and gives Michigan as good of a shot at getting them as anyone else. THEN, the Michigan Difference takes over...
And the six months is just a wider window to be able to recruit 2015 players, enough time before NSD for that class.January 24th, 2014 at 3:32 PM ^
Michigan's problem isn't recruiting. Its that they are just plain mediocre on the field. And since they don't play a game for seven months, there's nothing that Nuss can do between now and then to fix it.
He can sell his offense, and sell Michigan turning it around (again...who's getting dizzy?), but that's only going to be good enough to get into a recruit's ear. To seal the deal, they've got to win on the field.
January 24th, 2014 at 3:45 PM ^
I wasn't necessarily identifying what Michigan's problems are, I was only saying that if Nuss is as good of a recruiter that we've hyped him to be, he could get one of those guys back. If neither of them come back, as was identified, it isn't a negative at all.
But I agree, results on the field is the best recruiter we can have. However, don't read too much into what I was saying. I wasn't commenting on his coaching, just the power of his reputation as a recruiter.
January 24th, 2014 at 4:42 PM ^
I got your point, but given the state of Michigan's program (the on the field part) I don't think there's much the best recruiter in the world could do over the next six months. There's just very little that they can legitimately sell over that time span.
They might be able to reel in some high three star or low four star type recruits, but I think any high rated recruit is going to hold off and wait to see the on field product. And since its going to be a small class, I don't think Michigan will persue those lower level recruits that hard.
So like I said, I doubt much happens in the next six months.
January 24th, 2014 at 2:05 PM ^
which is good going forward. Hopefully,his guardian will let GEORGE make his mindup and not impede him.
January 24th, 2014 at 2:06 PM ^
Lookin good for Harris. I think we should get both Weber and harris for 2015 and let the 2014 RB situation sail. Campbell could be a program changer and we really need him.
January 24th, 2014 at 2:08 PM ^
but I'm still confident that Green's best days are still ahead of him. I think he has a break out year in 2014.
Because....2014.
January 24th, 2014 at 4:54 PM ^
And 2014 supports zone blocking.
January 24th, 2014 at 2:10 PM ^
a lot and believe that he and TVH are the most accurate sources out there for predicting Michigan recruiting outcomes, but I don't think there's a chance in hell that Campbell's coming back into the fold. Harris I'll buy, but not Campbell. I hope I'm wrong.
January 24th, 2014 at 6:50 PM ^
I get a feeling that he was swayed away from his family and has lost that desire to come here. Also, this makes me think it is more unlikely that he will want to play here because it sounds like he cares more about what his family thinks. I don't believe this is a bad thing necessarily. Some people are family people. However, if he was truely a Michigan fan his whole life and then all the sudden allowed his parents to change his mind about coming here, that tells me his parents probably don't want him that far away.
January 24th, 2014 at 8:21 PM ^
on several occasions since he decommitted, and once said "that ship has sailed" in his opinion. Knowing Sam, he'll always say there's a chance until a commit signs elsewhere, but he's made it clear he's not gonna figure Campbell will return.
January 24th, 2014 at 2:10 PM ^
January 24th, 2014 at 2:13 PM ^
He gave a verbal. It's meaningless.
January 24th, 2014 at 2:28 PM ^
January 24th, 2014 at 3:32 PM ^
Except for the silent ones.
January 24th, 2014 at 2:35 PM ^
Smash Williams verbally committed to Bama in the heat of the moment and eventually ended up at A&M. Anything can happen.
January 24th, 2014 at 2:43 PM ^
January 24th, 2014 at 2:55 PM ^
January 24th, 2014 at 3:11 PM ^
Smash committed to TMU (not Bama), but ended up walking on at A&M following his first year at Whitmore after having his DI scholarship offers pulled because of the fight he got into at a movie theater. (Granted, word was, the fight was over some white kids making racist comments towards his sister, so pretty understandable.)
January 24th, 2014 at 6:52 PM ^
January 24th, 2014 at 2:55 PM ^
...and now he's a doctor! Looks like Smash made a good choice.
January 24th, 2014 at 2:11 PM ^
at one time Harris, Campbell, Hand and McDowell all seemed like locks and now it seems as tho UM will be lucky to land one. I'd be curious, of those 4, who would be the most coveted if you could only choose one.
January 24th, 2014 at 2:14 PM ^
would be Hand. Top 10 caliber talent at a specific position of need (pass rushing DE). I get that McDowell could fit that mold as well so I'd have him #2 on the list, but since Hand was the better prospect I'd rank them as Hand, McDowell, Campbell and Harris. As much as I'd love to have Harris, I feel there's more need from a high-end talent perspective in the near term at DL and WR than at RB. After getting Green and Smith last year and having a realistic shot at Weber next year, Harris was (relatively) more of a luxury than the other guys.
January 24th, 2014 at 2:16 PM ^
You're skewing it by eliminating Peppers. I think if I had to chose one, it would be Peppers.
January 24th, 2014 at 2:21 PM ^
i figure Peppers was a no brainer as the top choose above any of those other guys but for me it doesn't lessen the degree to which is hurts if we are to lose out on all 4 of those other guys. Now if Pepper too would have decommitted... then we'd be breaking out the anti-depression meds.
January 24th, 2014 at 2:24 PM ^
While I like Peppers better as a potential gamebreaker than Hand, it could be argued that there was more of a position-specific need for Hand. It all depends on what you think of the existing group of DB's already on the roster. Personally, I think Michigan's secondary (for a change) isn't the biggest problem on defense. The D-Line has been a sore spot for the last 2 years and doesn't seem to have enough gamebreakers to really push through.
At least in the secondary, we've got two pretty experienced CBs in Taylor and Countess, and two young guys who seem to have good potential in Lewis and Stribling and got meaningful game experience this year. Sure they got burned on a few memorable plays but at least their positioning was pretty solid. They look like they can actually play tight man coverage without getting completely lost, so picture that technique mixed with more seasoning and some additional weight put on each of them as they become sophomores and juniors.
To me, choosing Peppers over Hand is all about how much you believe in Lewis, Stribling and Dymonte Thomas long-term. If you think only one of those guys will really pan out as a good-great player, then I can see where Peppers becomes more of a need than Hand. Otherwise, I still say Hand because who in the current 2-deep on the D-Line do you see as having the potential to truly create a consistent, organic pass rush? Frank Clark, maybe, and he's entering his last year anyway so he's not exactly a long-term solution to this problem.