Gattis and his possible recruiting impact for 2019 and 2020
Unfortunately, there's a Penn State fan in my office. But it's been fun to gloat about the win this year and he's been insightful on how Gattis did in Happy Valley. The first thing he mentioned was how great of a recruiter he was and how big of a drop there was in their receivers this year after he left.
He also said to watch out for 5 Star WR Julian Fleming. Fleming is the #1 WR for 2020 and is #5 overall. He is from Pennsylvania which Gattis is obviously familiar with. Gattis is also the main guy who's been recruiting Fleming for Alabama.
A lot of people are mentioning Keilan Robinson as a potential flip from Bama, especially since Gattis was his main recruiter for Bama. But I would watch out for Fleming in 2020 as a possibility. When you consider that DPJ may be leaving early (and who knows with Collins or Black depending on how they play next year), the outside WR position will be a position of need for 2020.
I can only dream of the possibility of having Cornelius Johnson and Julian Fleming split out wide in the future.
NOTE: Michigan has already offered Fleming with Pep Hamilton as his main recruiter.
January 11th, 2019 at 10:01 AM ^
Is one of the Oak Park kids, the guy who was going to "do what's right for his family" when picking a school? If so, that explains why he's not too high on UM.
January 11th, 2019 at 10:36 AM ^
so that may explain one recruit, but all of them?
so is it a cultural thing at the school?
also, ND seems to be doing quite well at the school so 'bagman' doesn't seem to be the only answer.
January 11th, 2019 at 10:32 AM ^
This, of course, begs the question, do recruits change their interest in a school based on their allegiance to a recruiter or the program he represents? So, if Gattis were recruiting a kid for Alabama that Michigan also had interest in, as suggested here, and he was being recuited by a different coach, how does that affect their management of his recruitment going forward?
Obviously, given this change in status, you would likely have a better idea whether it was the person or the school that the recruit was tied to. I recognize this issue occurs a lot these days and every case is different with the campus and team environment almost certainly a deciding matter in most instances, but this does alter the situation for the kid and raise the old Seinfeld question, do we root for the kid in the jersey or the jersey itself?
January 11th, 2019 at 10:33 AM ^
Should be in a good position for Fleming with Gattis on board.
I think the implication here is that Pep is gone. Probably will take a QB coach job in the NFL.
Gattis should help regain some ground in PA, and make a few in-roads in Alabama and Louisiana.
Can't overstate how great of a hire this is from a recruiting perspective. We lose Washington and get a BETTER recruiter in return.
January 11th, 2019 at 10:38 AM ^
As good as the impact will be on recruiting, I can't overstate how great of a hire this is from a please-get-rid-of-Pep perspective.
January 11th, 2019 at 10:42 AM ^
Yes. Pep needs to go, and I don't care of people want to argue that he's not a bottom of the barrel "passing game coordinator".
January 11th, 2019 at 10:49 AM ^
We should be more excited about the wide receivers we have now vs the future, dpj black Collins damn!! 3 nfl caliber receivers, harbaugh needs to throw the damn football
January 11th, 2019 at 11:12 AM ^
It's far, far easier to have one PSU fan in your office than be surrounded by (mostly) OSU fans. Trust me on this one.
January 11th, 2019 at 11:36 AM ^
I would expect Nico to go early before DPJ goes early. Nico has had better production.
Not to say they both can't be gone after next year.
January 11th, 2019 at 12:00 PM ^
Fleming’s film is freakish. He looks like a stallion at a pony ride for kids. Gains like 20 yards on guys on 50 yard runs. There are some promising quotes up on 247 with him talking about the combination of Michigan and Gattis and his interest. Seems to want to stay in the Big Ten at this juncture.
January 11th, 2019 at 12:02 PM ^
It should be noted that Fleming came out and said that Gattis going to Michigan was "a program changer" following the announcement of the hire. He has been 100% CBd to Penn St for some time now but that dates back to when Gattis was still in Happy Valley and he was the lead recruiter there. Jumps to Bama and was his lead recruiter there as well so we can safely assume the two have a good relationship and he will take lead here. Hell, I wouldn't be shocked if they've already spoken considering less than a week ago Fleming was talking about setting up a time to visit us with his next visit.
Gattis can flat out recruit receivers, he's shown it at every stop he's been so this paired with Fleming's comments shows all signs pointing up here! Now all we need is proven results shown on the field and we could really start rolling. Go Blue!!
January 11th, 2019 at 12:13 PM ^
If Gattis does really well in the next couple of years, is allowed to implement his offense totally, is a great recruiter, is great with the players, assistance coaches, alumni, runs a clean program, etc, could you see Harbaugh going back to the NFL and Gattis becoming head coach?
January 11th, 2019 at 12:20 PM ^
I believe the biggest impact on recruiting is putting an offense on the field that lights up the scoreboard.
January 12th, 2019 at 8:09 PM ^
What about body blows?
Or my absolute favorite excuse from the RR era-the defense sucks because the offense "scores too fast".