Honestly, how do we recruit against UCLA?
If Mora stays put, he and Coach Harbaugh are going to be fighting over a lot of the same recruits for years.
Both: top public universities in the US, 30K+ students, academic peers, former NFL coaches in their prime, both named Jim, huge stadiums
UCLA pros: palm trees, girls (33% Asian, which some kids are into), weather, Hollywood, surrounding wealth on another level, Mora has a flashy Manhattan Beach mansion I'm sure he shows off to recruits, Snoop Dogg's and P Diddy's kids are on the team ("cool" factor)
UM pros: historical success, Harbaugh's personal university connection, success and high profile status
We have our biases, but I think we know what most non-affiliated teens find more alluring. UCLA's newfound momentum is not good for us.
February 5th, 2015 at 10:01 AM ^
We'll need to start winning bigger games than them.
February 5th, 2015 at 10:28 AM ^
I have a crazy idea...
How about having the coaching staff spend more than one month getting to know the recruits before they have to commit?
February 5th, 2015 at 10:44 AM ^
BLASPHEMY!!!! How dare you come here and be rational and use common sense?
February 5th, 2015 at 10:52 AM ^
that whatever is torturing us at the moment will torture us forever. People commit suicide because of this.
Let's see how things shake out down the road.
February 5th, 2015 at 10:56 AM ^
The worry warts around here need to, as Aaron Rodgers put it to his fan base earlier this year, "RELAX!"
February 5th, 2015 at 11:42 AM ^
@GoBlue - your post isn't a reply to MaryStreet. I get it, though. You want people to see your post right away.
February 5th, 2015 at 12:16 PM ^
You're both right.
February 5th, 2015 at 10:39 AM ^
I wouldn't worry about UCLA....they have had a nice little run under Mora while USC was under sanctions, but this is a flash in the pan. UCLA isn't in the same league as Michigan. They are USC's little brother, but have had the upper hand of late much like Michigan State. I graduated from the top academic high school in Los Angeles (1/4 of 250 students went to Ivy league schools). 23 went to Michigan, 25 went to USC, 0 went to UCLA. UCLA is not our competition on a yearly basis.
February 5th, 2015 at 11:23 AM ^
Just curious which HS you attended. I live in Manhattan Beach and I know Mira Costa is a pretty good public school. I mentor a boy that goes to New Roads HS and it seems they have a pretty high level of academics as well.
February 5th, 2015 at 11:31 AM ^
...with a great volleyball program too! I graduated from Harvard-Westlake School. They are the Wolverines.
February 5th, 2015 at 11:45 AM ^
I'm within walking distance of Mira Costa. They also have a fantastic badminton team, FWIW.
February 5th, 2015 at 11:58 AM ^
'sup neighbor.
February 5th, 2015 at 3:30 PM ^
in Redondo Beach, but I guess that still makes us neighbors. My wife is freaking out trying to figure out how to get our son into Mira Costa. Actually, I'm the one freaking out trying to figure out how we can afford a house in Manhattan Beach... RUHS is just so damn far from us and MC is 3 blocks away, and is a higher rated school.
February 5th, 2015 at 11:58 AM ^
ahhh yes, great school.
February 5th, 2015 at 11:07 AM ^
Winning big games will help but Michigan winning is the cure all.... I think Winning big games will happen naturally with JH...
As for Mora, he has shown no pattern of sustainable success.. Personaly, I think he has plateaued already... Heck, wasn't UCLA suppose to be a great team this past year? Look what happened? I believe he could win here and there but can't sustain winning tradition even with great recruits.. Just no track record of it... I am not worry as long as JH does what he preach and the work comes out on the field..
February 5th, 2015 at 10:01 AM ^
How do we recruit against them? It's easy, WIN GAMES.
February 5th, 2015 at 10:01 AM ^
winning games will help, which Harbaugh will give us.
February 5th, 2015 at 10:02 AM ^
Win
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February 5th, 2015 at 10:05 AM ^
UCLA is not a peer of the SEC and ACC schools with crappy academics and dull students. UCLA might as well be clone of UM...located in Southern California.
February 5th, 2015 at 10:14 AM ^
ACC has: Duke, UNC, Ga. Tech, Virginia, Pitt. All really good schools.
February 5th, 2015 at 11:21 AM ^
Respectively, as in crappy schools in sec, cheesy schools in ACC. But i would be remiss not to point out the SEC exceptions to crappiness - Vnady, UF and to a lesser extent UGA.
February 5th, 2015 at 10:13 AM ^
...with a fraction of our bannered history and fan interest
February 5th, 2015 at 10:03 AM ^
Success. Once we start winning they will come.
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February 5th, 2015 at 10:03 AM ^
Move our campus to Southern California.
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February 5th, 2015 at 10:03 AM ^
Let me put it this way. All of those top prospects that UCLA signed, Mora had been recruiting them for over a year. Harbaugh almost beat Mora out for some of those kids in less than a month of recruiting. I'm not worried.
February 5th, 2015 at 10:05 AM ^
Just gotta win more than them and send more kids to the NFL than them. Harder done than said. Kinda praying to the football gods that Mora Jr. leaves for the NFL soon. UCLA has everything to offer that Michigan does when they're actually good at football.
Weather + SoCal girls for 18/17 year olds aka the dream. Harbaugh will get it done.
February 5th, 2015 at 10:07 AM ^
My thoughts exactly.
February 5th, 2015 at 10:24 AM ^
Yes, but UCLA has really been consistently good in football since the Terry Donohue years of 70s-80s. I realize that Michigan's most recent glory years is ancient history to 18 years olds, but UCLA's truly is.
I know this was said partly in jest, but I sometimes think that people imagine a California campus to be full of students who look like actors from Beverly Hills 90210. I've been to UCLA 2x, and the kids there looked not much different than UM students (or at least UM students in the early Fall and Spring) -- a broad range with a lot of serious looking people who appeared to spend more time in the library than the beach.
February 5th, 2015 at 10:57 AM ^
Almost anywhere you live there's bound to be some good looking women. But it's the weather that the kids love. It's 60's/70's damn near all winter. Compare that to 4 months a year of warm weather in the Midwest and it's an easy choice for a teenager.
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February 5th, 2015 at 10:04 AM ^
Being in a cold weather state really seems to be hampering Urban Meyer.
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February 5th, 2015 at 10:04 AM ^
When we start dishing out beatdowns like Stanford did on USC, the rest of the country will start taking notice.
February 5th, 2015 at 10:15 AM ^
We will never ever be as big an underdog as Stanford was to USC the year Carroll got butthurt.
February 5th, 2015 at 10:04 AM ^
Seriously? This board is being overrun with drama queens.
February 5th, 2015 at 10:14 AM ^
So true... sad it's been that way for awhile. Hopefully winning will cure some of the drama!?
February 5th, 2015 at 10:15 AM ^
Ugh, double post.... winning cures that too I hear!
February 5th, 2015 at 10:33 AM ^
I think it's "post signing day letdown". Good thing there's bball tonight. Tomorrow we'll be talking about our W and weird guys.
Beat Iowa!
February 5th, 2015 at 11:45 AM ^
Locking in this comment. Suggest posbang if prophecy is true. But if you're wrong so help me...
February 5th, 2015 at 3:44 PM ^
If this hadn't become the norm around here lately. All the new posters have severely watered down the quality of discussion around here. I don't comment much anymore, because why?
February 5th, 2015 at 10:05 AM ^
UCLA has not done jack shit under Mora. They havent won the conference (I am not sure if they have even played in the pac-12 championship) or played in a "BCS" bowl. Real talk, this year was a bit of an anomoly with tons of head to head match ups, I really can't remember UCLA appearing too much on the recruiting radar (this is probably more a USC and Oregon problem than a Michigan problem)
February 5th, 2015 at 10:07 AM ^
They went the first year under Mora but lost to Stanford. They almost went this year but a loss the last week of the season to Stanford prevented them from making it.
February 5th, 2015 at 10:15 AM ^
Considering the smoking crater that was UCLA before Mora got there, I'm not sure I would sure I would agree he hasn't done jack shit.
February 5th, 2015 at 10:43 AM ^
I agree
February 5th, 2015 at 10:05 AM ^
The ways to negatively recruit UCLA are:
- football stadium is far from campus, so gameday environment sucks
- students don't really seem to care about football
February 5th, 2015 at 11:00 AM ^
The lack of enthusiasm does that for them. I attended the 1989 UM-UCLA game in L.A. While I was thrilled to be attendeding a Septemeber game in the Rose Bowl, a few things stood out. I wondered at various points of the game if I would be able to see the other end zone through the smog.
At kickoff, the only area that was filled was the Michigan section. The opposite end zone was so empty I thought they kept it closed for some reason. Halfway through the 2nd quarter, the the stadium started to fill in but it started to empty again late in the 3rd quarter.
I believe both teams were ranked at the time and I remember being so surprised at how ambivalent the UCLA "fans" were and how disappointed I would be with the game experience if I was a student. I can't imagine being a big time recruit playing in front of a fan base who would rather beat traffic than watch a close game.
Wolverine Devotee probably has the play-by-play but IIRC, Michigan scored a touchdown late in the game off an interception, recovered the on-side kick and nailed a field goal as time expired. Most UCLA fans who attended the game missed the incredible finish.
February 5th, 2015 at 11:10 AM ^
The overall enthusiasm is definitely a factor that separates the two schools.. Just hopefully that wins out over hot girls and the beach.
February 5th, 2015 at 10:06 AM ^
You attack them with enthusiasm unknown to mankind.
February 5th, 2015 at 10:06 AM ^
Win.
Also giving the staff more than a few weeks to recruit might help
February 5th, 2015 at 10:06 AM ^
LA doesn't do it for everyone.
February 5th, 2015 at 11:27 AM ^
Agreed. I would probably enjoy living in LA now(for a couple years until getting tired of sitting in traffic), but it's not really a place I would have wanted to go to college at. The Midwest isn't really a great place to live in general, but it's a perfect setting for the college experience.