Clark: UM and UCLA are "neck and neck..." "I don't think anyone is leading right now."
A lot of nice comments out of Clark regarding Michgan and his visit. I had not realized he has never been to UCLA to visit so the fact they are "neck and neck" is a bit annoying in relation to a school he has now visited 3 times and was a former commit. Of course it can just be posturing but it sounds like it's wide open from here between the 2 schools. He visits UCLA later this month and then Harbaugh does an in home visit after. I am sure Mora will go calling immediately after Harbaugh too. Sunds like Clark connected well with young Harbaugh as well which is important considering that's his position.
Fun comment below - considering how hard Harbaugh has worked at previous jobs:
"It's crazy, he's really intense, and you really like that," Clark told MLive on Sunday. "He grew on me a lot. I didn't know what to think at first, I wasn't sure what he'd be like. But once I left, he really, really grew on me. He's the best coach I think I've sat down with. I just think he's awesome."
And once he arrived, Harbaugh's message for him -- and the rest of the recruits on campus this past weekend -- was pretty clear. "He said, taking this job, he can't fail," Clark said. "He said he can't fail, because he cares way too much about the city, about the University of Michigan and he's going to work harder at this job than anything he's ever done in his life. He's committed into turning Michigan back into the best program in America, and I really think they'll get there. I've never met a coach who is that competitive and that intense."
Sounds like UM employed the same strategy Mattison did with defensive recruits - splicing their HS highlights into college and NFL tape to show them how they can be used. I would assume this is getting pretty common across the college landscape (splicing HS tape into their college tape) but only so many staffs can show NFL tape and legitimately say "when I was in the NFL this is how I used X position."
From there, before attending Michigan's basketball win over Northwestern on Saturday night, Clark spent a great deal of time with Harbaugh and his offensive staff, notably new tight ends coach Jay Harbaugh.
Clark said he "really connected" with the younger Harbaugh, and added that the staff showed him multiple clips of how they used former Stanford tight ends Coby Fleener and Zac Ertz -- who are now both NFL players. Harbaugh also showed him tape of the way his offense used tight ends with the San Francisco 49ers, and spliced in clips of his own personal film from his high school career.
"That was pretty cool, they also showed me stuff I've done in high school, and then showed me stuff they've done with their tight ends," Clark said. "There's a lot of similarities there, which was pretty cool.
Drumroll...
He says he won't take any other visits, and as of now, Michigan and UCLA are the two schools holding his interest. Is there a favorite?
"Right now, it's neck and neck," Clark said. "I'm not really too sure what I'm going to do. The visit to UCLA is really important, I've never been on the west coast. "So we'll see what it's like. I don't think anyone's leading right now."
January 19th, 2015 at 8:01 AM ^
This will be the hardest decision I have ever made
— Chris Clark (@Clark8Chris) January 19, 2015
Life needs to slow down
— Chris Clark (@Clark8Chris) January 19, 2015
Excited to chill with @JoshuaJ45 and @josh3rosen this weekend at ucla
January 19th, 2015 at 8:21 AM ^
Kid seems to love the limelight...and the limelight never slows down. Either embrace it (as he seems to) or get off of twitter/facebook/etc. and take a step back.
January 19th, 2015 at 8:29 AM ^
or Don't follow him...I never get why people get pissed about what recruits say when you, in fact, saught them out
January 19th, 2015 at 9:18 AM ^
You made a valid point, but it was relevant to the post you responded to...
All he was saying is "if you don't like the attention...take the necessary steps to get away from the attention."
It's a valid point. Signing Day is 3 weeks away. If it was REALLY that BAD. Stop tweeting, going on facebook, and talking to the media for 3 weeks. Ask folks not to text you for a few weeks or stop replying to your texts altogether.
...or sit down with your family and make a selection if that's what you prefer.
The point is, he (and any recruit) can take a few steps to slow things down if they wanted. Tweetng and doing interviews and giving reactions probably isn't the best idea if it's TRULY bothering you.
It's not like he has TMZ following him around every day. It's also not like it's August and you're asking him to go months without social media.
If Clark wanted, he could absolutely so things down a little. But he's a teenager, and at times teenagers can be a little dramatic, so personally...I don't give a shit.
He'll look back and laugh once he feels the pressure of asking his wife to marry him, or trying to deliver a healthy baby, or trying to raise his first kid, etc.
If he wants his "One shot. One opportunity" moment, have at it. But the post was just saying, if it's really that bad...do what YOU can to mitigate the situation. If you have a horrible headache, don't go to a rock/rap concert and ask everyone to shut up. That sort of thing.
January 19th, 2015 at 9:52 AM ^
Thank you...it seems like a simple point.
January 19th, 2015 at 10:36 AM ^
Sought.
January 19th, 2015 at 11:13 AM ^
Not pissed..and I don't follow recruits on twitter...that's not my kind of thing. I get plenty of recruiting info right here on this blog.
January 19th, 2015 at 8:05 AM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
January 19th, 2015 at 8:09 AM ^
It's kinda scary to think about UCLA being a football powerhouse. They recruit the same kids UM does academic wise and style wise given Mora/Harbaugh's NFL pedigree. Our tradition can be cancelled out with their weather and girls...
January 19th, 2015 at 8:35 AM ^
There are beautiful people in Ann Arbor, too. You just have to look through the scarves and hats and mittens and North Face jackets.
January 19th, 2015 at 10:38 AM ^
North Face is sooo five years ago, Magnus. It's Mountain Hardware, Patagucci, and Arcteryx now. Get with the times, geez.
January 19th, 2015 at 11:13 AM ^
at Bivouac just in case? Would imagine a Northeasterner will have cold weather gear just the same.
January 19th, 2015 at 11:01 AM ^
Exactly - like opening a Christmas gift.
January 19th, 2015 at 10:55 AM ^
January 19th, 2015 at 12:23 PM ^
January 19th, 2015 at 3:30 PM ^
For all intensive purposes.
January 19th, 2015 at 3:42 PM ^
And since when have the blessings been in the sky?
Aren't they hiding or something?
January 19th, 2015 at 8:05 AM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
January 19th, 2015 at 8:13 AM ^
Can't we use a picture of Giselle and some of the other Michigan guy's wives and say "we may not have the quantity, but we certainly can get you the quality"?
January 19th, 2015 at 8:20 AM ^
I've been kinda working out lately.
January 19th, 2015 at 8:43 AM ^
Depends....
Are you a chick?
January 19th, 2015 at 8:57 AM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
January 19th, 2015 at 8:11 AM ^
January 19th, 2015 at 8:32 AM ^
January 19th, 2015 at 8:14 AM ^
Does anyone else feel like this weekend was hyped as a big recruiting weekend and it really hasn't paid off like I thought? I thinkk it is hard but the fan base needs to pull back the expectations that everyone is going to commit because Harbaugh.
I predict him committing to UCLA since he hasn't visited their once and they are tied with the school he has visited multiple times and was once committed to.
January 19th, 2015 at 8:38 AM ^
Yes, it was hyped as a big recruiting weekend.
Has it paid off like you thought? I guess not, since you obviously expected at least one commitment, if not more.
I don't understand this type of thinking. The staff just got hired in the last two weeks (roughly), and the guys who are visiting have one or two official visits scheduled for later this month. The majority of kids who have not committed by now are going to wait until after their official visits and/or National Signing Day. If a kid has waited this long to choose a college, there's a very good chance they're going to use up as much time as possible.
January 19th, 2015 at 10:15 AM ^
January 19th, 2015 at 9:45 AM ^
Meyer was able to get some big time recruits(Washington, Spence, Schutt, Camren Williams and Armani Reeves) in just his first year. So far, it doesn't seem like Harbaugh will be able to finish like that. I was at least expecting some higher rated QB's to show us some interest.
January 19th, 2015 at 9:50 AM ^
Harbaugh didn't have the luxury to recruit for like half a season like Meyer did when Fickell was still coaching...
January 19th, 2015 at 10:02 AM ^
We have to wait and see how things finish on signing day. I think Meyer ended up getting some of those guys late.
January 19th, 2015 at 10:20 AM ^
January 19th, 2015 at 10:07 AM ^
Fickell was coaching that team in a bowl while Urban was off recruiting an extra month that Jim does not have. At this point when Urban was hired he was already in week 7 of recruiting and had the time before Dec 15th when the dead period began. Jim hasn't.
Urban had been out of CFB for 1 year. He had all the relationships built. Jim as been out nearly a half decade and the type of guys Stanford recruited are not generally going to be the guys Florida did. So his past history draws from different caliber players and HSs.
OSU had a decade straight of success, much of it high level and then 1 down year led by an "interim coach". To 14, 15, 16, 17 year olds they were the dominant program in the Big 10 along with Wisconsin.
UM has sucked in the eyes of most HS players their entire lives that they have been aware of sports (which for most kids is 8 or 9). Certaintly thru middle school and HS UM has sucked in their eyes with 1 exception. (2011) If you are 17 years old all you know about UM is its "tradition", its the team loses to OSU almost every year in that big game in November, and your dad talks about how they used to be good. Be realistic.
January 19th, 2015 at 11:29 AM ^
January 19th, 2015 at 12:18 PM ^
Urban had the huge and practically unprecedented luxury of taking his pick from Penn State's class after it fell apart from the JoePa/Sandusky scandal. Without that he wouldn't have had 4 of those 5 guys on your list.
January 19th, 2015 at 9:58 AM ^
Crystal Ball has him at 67% Michigan and 6% UCLA. ND, OSU and NC are all a little higher than UCLA but Michigan is the clear leader to the consensus recruiting analysts.
January 19th, 2015 at 8:21 AM ^
January 19th, 2015 at 8:25 AM ^
He's a great actor, so I'll consider it very appropriate that he's leaving the cold, icy northeast and taking his final recruiting trip out west to be close to Hollywood for a few days.
January 19th, 2015 at 8:39 AM ^
I do not believe Clark is the "silent commit."
January 19th, 2015 at 8:43 AM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
January 19th, 2015 at 8:45 AM ^
I'm sure this sounds lame, but I'm not big on outing silent commits. If they wanted it to be known, they would make it public. But unless someone is pulling my chain, it's not Clark.
January 19th, 2015 at 8:59 AM ^
January 20th, 2015 at 1:48 PM ^
January 19th, 2015 at 9:02 AM ^
I can't help but think this kid might be a drama queen. As many times as he has switched his commitment and now he says UCLA and Michigan is "neck and neck". I'm sure he has an idea but he wants to keep the focus on himself and get more attention. His commitment(s) have gone from the East coast all the way to the West coast. I think if the European Football League was still operating he would probably commit to one of those teams overseas.
I'd probably be the same way but I have the luxury of living a dull uneventful life!
January 19th, 2015 at 10:05 AM ^
I think a recruit owes it to himself to see every school he wants and make whatever choice he feels he needs to make in order to put himself in the best possible position in which to succeed. Clark's very public and unceasing vacillations though appear to be an attempt to keep attention focused on him and to keep coaches calling him. I wish he would just shut up and make a decision. This kid has done jack shit at the college level, and it would be quite ironic if for all of this back and forth and attention seeking he turned out to be a run of the mill dud.
January 19th, 2015 at 9:30 AM ^
Clark probably wants to know who will be throwing to him. Michigan's issue right now is, who is our QB going to be?
January 19th, 2015 at 12:33 PM ^
January 19th, 2015 at 9:14 AM ^
What Mora can do to sway him. Even though there's the allure of coming in with the #1 QB, UCLA Tight Ends didnt catch a single pass last year.
January 19th, 2015 at 9:27 AM ^
January 19th, 2015 at 9:17 AM ^