Fox Sports article - "Jim Harbaugh's culture at Michigan is beginning to pay off on the recruiting trail
This article caught my eye - it focuses on football recruiting at Michigan under Harbaugh and where it is today - with some perspectives from recent commits in the '24 class.
It's about a five minute read. https://www.foxsports.com/stories/college-football/jim-harbaugh-culture-at-michigan-is-beginning-to-pay-off-on-recruiting-trail
The article is pretty straightforward, and for those who follow recruiting closely - there's not a lot of "new news" - but, it does capture what's been happening recently.
Enjoy.
If we get Aaron Scott Jr. from my hometown of Springfield, Ohio it might just crush Bucknut souls.
Indeed. And I know the Glenville, OH CB we were trending well with early looks to now be a heavy OSU lean, but if he somehow went Blue as well…
watch out! Coolers full of poop would be flung across the streets of Columbus!
I'm from Urbana, OH... right up the road! And, I would absolutely love to see it happen!
No kidding...my father was a science teacher at Urbana HS through the '50s; they moved away just before I was born but both my sisters went to grade school there.
Mo Douglass is the head coach at Springfield; some of you might remember him as the coach at Trotwood-Madison (Roy Roundtree, Mike McCray, Michael Shaw, Brandon Moore).
He’s built an absolute powerhouse … but just can’t beat St Edward! 😠
NOOOOOOBODY!
Four years ago, I thought the world I imagined under Harbaugh was never coming. Now it is here so quick and so always that I am really really confused.
Michigan is 25-3 in the last two years. Michigan has outscored OSU 87-50 in that time period. Recruiting appears to have been just fine.
Having Coach Partridge back in the fold is another godsend for us. Everything is coming up Michigan Wolverines!
Partridge can recruit, yes.. but didn't alot of them end up leaving? Solomon, Mitchell, etc. Maybe it was the Brown defense they didn't like. I do have a concern of player retention because he has had a high number of transfers, but it could have been coincidental.
In (everyone's?) defense, he left too.
If he was instrumental in their coming here, and then he left, is it shocking that some of them also left? If he’d stayed around, maybe they would have, too.
I somehow doubt that Patridge's recruiting predisposed to his recruits leaving. I would suggest........a coincidence, at best.
I do recall seeing some posts that touched a bit on the type of recruits we had on the roster then, that overall team character was no quite what it is today. As that part of the team dynamic has increased, I'd have to think it also affected some players' choice to stay/transfer.
"There's only one thing I hate more than lying, skim milk, which is water that's lying about being milk." --Ron Harbaugh
I don't want to "throw shade" - however, this little video concerns me greatly. And, what is my concern - milk is good, chocolate milk is better. SO, my wish would be that Harbaugh would be chugging chocolate milk - instead of the standard flavor.
My recommendation is - RBGH free whole, chocolate milk...
Gotta drink the chocolate milk for the protein after practice. Barwis secret sauce.
Is it the culture, or is it winning? Not that the two aren't interrelated... but still.
Winning culture?
Yeah, I was hoping the article would hit on the culture of the program.
It really just highlights the commits.
When we started winning, and the recruits weren't coming, I was steady on this board reminding everyone that it would be a two year process. You build relationships with guys as sophomores. So the kids that were committing during and after that '21 season ('22 class) were gone and the '23 class, the juniors had already established relationships with coaches and teams. But that got us in the door with sophomores ('24 class).
Now this last year kept us there and I think we'll have a GREAT '25 class because of last season.
Which is why I think this season is so pivotal. Beat OSU, win the B1G again...and dammit, win a National Championship...and you'll have an elite '26 class. Meaning, 3 elite classes and a good chance for sustained success for the foreseeable future.
I'm excited for this year, because, IMO, this is the year that could be the start of a Michigan "dynasty." It was Bama/Clemson...then Bama/Georgia...win it this year and it can be Georgia/Michigan. We are that close to something that special. I truly believe it. But we have to take that step this season.
Seems like saying it's because Harbaugh's "culture" is somehow established is trying to generate an interesting angle out of thin air. The culture has been here since 2015. Beating OSU twice and going to the CFP twice have not. Pretty obvious why recruiting is on the uptick
I definitely agree, but I think it also helps when you bring in kick ass recruiters like Moore, Clink and Partridge. Long gone are the days of Michigan having poor recruiters like Pep and Drevno.
And Dudek. I can't believe that guy was recruiting coordinator.
*Sad Ralph Wiggum waving goodbye gif*
And possibly Mr Cheeseburger Tattletail...
And Weiss!
We beat OSU in 2016 in every way possible but for the ref clown show and absurd bad luck. The narrative of Harbaugh would have been much different earlier had we made the playoff that year (the Iowa loss actually screwed us just as bad).
That said, OSU moved to an air raid offense and we needed to adjust as Don Brown only understood all in man coverage.
The tables have turned and UM is now the team with a clear identity- so it’s OSUs turn to adjust…only this time we have both the system and player talent to compete with whatever direction they go.
Four tackles and a center isn't a clear identity?
Please don't forget the tight ends... yes, plural - up to three.
exactly - how different would the narrative been if that game had been called equitably.
IIRC, even the announcers were saying they couldn't believe the Buckeyes secondary wasn't being called for holding, PI, and numerous other infractions.
Though - the refs did call an infraction on Harbaugh for tossing his clipboard. It seemed the official said - "I call basketball games, and - in basketball, that's a foul." The only problem is - that official was actually calling a football game.
It was that way for years...
the covid season was an unmitigated disaster; at the time i said that drawing larger conclusions from literally anything that happened on or off the field was a fool's errand, and i still believe that, 100%. so, now i'm going to completely contradict myself.
i think that the failures of that team were in some part due to some disconnect in the team culture, or at the least there were failures of leadership in the locker room. has the culture changed significantly since that season? i think so...winning makes for a happy locker room and happier staff, obviously, but you definitely get the feeling that harbaugh and the players genuinely like being here, and genuinely like each other. is that "culture?" seems so, to me, in that it can be incredibly infectious.
it's fun as hell, whatever it is.
Yeah, the 2020 Covid season was the culmination of a years long buildup of, uhh... what's the word here? Bad taste? From the decline of Don's defense, the QB'ing that largely led to a mostly ineffective offense, and the seeming passivity (?) of the coaching staffs in the 2018-2019 seasons. Something broke after that 2020 season, though...
And boy are we glad it did!!!
NIL "signing" bonuses <<<<<<< Culture and NIL "retention" bonuses.
Having 32 players drafted in the past 4 years helps too. That's not counting all the UDFA's out there that found teams in some way too.
Let's be honest, it's the optics more than anything. Not to say that JH hasn't been planting the seeds but winning the B1G twice in a row (convincingly), beating OSU twice in a row (convincingly) and making it to the CFP twice (with less than stellar results) is now bearing the fruits of the program's labor.
Now that expectations have been set AND matched by the on-field product, it was only a matter of time until recruits took notice.
Honestly, what other coach would take his kids to the Pro Football HOF, the Rock and Roll Museum, the Holocaust Museum and the Smithsonian on a spring trip. Under Harbaugh there is indeed a " Michigan Difference" when it comes to team culture.
I am wondering what impact losing Biff Poggi will have on the team and Harbaugh. He seemed like a good fit for Coach and someone to counter some of him, which smoothed out some things.
He sure did. Jim has shown to need to have an elder. His father told him to tone it down awhile back and then it went the wrong way, and he seemed like he was on meds.
Then he held onto Don Brown too long, and I think Brown was a minor elder to him.
Then he had Poggi who ironically when he arrived (along with Weiss) things felt completely different, and program trajectory has gone straight up.
Great article. Thanks for sharing. Big proponent of culture. My guess is the players completely believe in the “why” and as a result self police the standards of the culture, which attracts strong like-minded student-athletes. Extreme ownership from the top down !
Recall that WINGDINGS called out our recruiting protocol awhile ago, I think it was when Dudek was in charge..... and that the time I thought if allowed we should pay WINGDINGS as a consultant to improve it. Now WINGDINGS is quite complimentary here, which is further proof, that my statement years ago, that we are entering an age of Michigan dominance in the rivalry.
Most feel that the culture is paying off... but not All.
What you did there…
I see it
This guy posts some of the dumbest takes on College Football ever. A couple years ago he was downplaying Michigan leaving them out of the top 25 when they were undefeated. So him saying anything is more of a misnomer than anything else.
Firstly, the OP’s linked article was not written by RJ Young.
Secondly, RJ Young leaving UM out of his top 25 occurred in August 2022, when everyone was undefeated (0-0).
What you mean to say is he left us out of his 2022 pre-season top 25 coming off our B1G Championship season and playoff berth.
But, yes, I agree, he’s a dumbass.
You're right. I was thinking of his pre-season rankings. Here's his Pre-season rankings from last year. He didn't do so hot.
"When Michigan was going head-to-head on the trail with Ohio State for so many years of the Harbaugh era, they were bringing a knife to the gunfight because they couldn’t win that game"
Finally selling jerseys in Ohio now, are they? (The veterans will get it).
Jerseys selling like hotcakes down South... lol.
Seriously, thanks to OP for the article post--fun read.
Thanks for posting. Fun to read.