Creating a pipeline

Submitted by brewandbluesaturdays on

So Finals are looming and the work is mounting. Which, in turn makes me hate school more and daydream/speculate about Michigan Football. Today in Wednesday Recruitin' there was a small tidbit on the idea of Ray Vinopal having success at M and starting a pipeline with Cardinal Mooney. But with additional guys like Tony Drake, the Pahokee boys, and Carvin Johnson are we potentially forming some sort of a super pipeline with all of their respective D-1 pumping high schools as well? All of these lower-rated guys from powerhouse programs could be our way in. I think it speaks well for a program like M to take a chance on guys from power programs that, didn't get looked at by the big in state schools. I see these guys becoming great ambassadors for the program at their high schools, giving us a better chance to bring in the higher rated guys from their programs. Could this be part of RR's strategy when goin for these lower-rated guys? Just fun speculation, I just liked the idea of 2 years from now being back on top and having a connection with all the studs from, Rummel, Skyline, Pahokee, and Cardinal Mooney. What do you guys think?

Blue_Bull_Run

December 9th, 2009 at 5:28 PM ^

So instead of finals, you're thinking about pipleliness to high schools? It's ok, I'm not much better at studying (as evidence by my response to this)

I don't know how much it matters. It probably helps a little, our recruiting shouldn't be limited by our pipelines. Similarly, I suspect Florida and USC etc will be able to haul the majority of recruits they want, regarldess of the fact that RichRod has been working on his pipeline there.

I miss Spring Lake

December 9th, 2009 at 5:30 PM ^

Good point. RR's a smart coach. I think he operates with multiple intentions. Getting hard-working players like Vinopal and Johnson, while at the same time creating a pipeline, is a win/win.

Magnus

December 9th, 2009 at 5:31 PM ^

I definitely think the coaches are trying to establish a pipeline. They've potentially done it with Pahokee (Odoms, Hawthorne, Smith, perhaps Ash) and Dr. Miller (Ricardo Miller, perhaps Demetrius Hart). We'll see what happens with Rummel, Skyline, Cardinal Mooney, etc.

michgoblue

December 9th, 2009 at 5:40 PM ^

In an earlier comment, I had opined that one of the reasons that our recruiting class was somewhat lacking in 4-5 star stud recruits was that RR needed some time to establish his recruiting pipelines, both in state and out of state. Given his differences in philosophy and background from Lloyd, it is likely that many of the prior M recruiting pipelines are no more friendly to RR than they would be to any other school.

That said, I do not think that RR would take crappy players for the sole purpose of establishing a pipeline, as those players would likely not see the field (hence, having little "pipeline building value"). So while RR may be somewhat influenced by the fact that these players may yield benefits down the road, I think that these are also players who he has identified as possible contributors to his system.

Tater

December 9th, 2009 at 8:19 PM ^

If I was recruiting any player already committed to Misdemeanor State, I would ask their parents if they want their kids spending the next four years in a program where over ten percent of the entire team just engaged in an organized criminal act.

I am hoping to see some decommits up there in EL.

Goblue89

December 9th, 2009 at 6:25 PM ^

I agree and like the philosophy. On a related note, I would like our scheduling to play into recruiting as well. I would like to schedule home and homes with teams from Texas/California/Florida. I like it would be beneficial for us to play a team like Rice or Baylor. I think this will also help with exposure.

Ezeh-E

December 9th, 2009 at 6:59 PM ^

I'm just glad he's coming to Michigan. If we get a pipeline: great. I know he's under-starred, but 2 star safeties have a way of being very good multi-year starters in the big ten. They don't put a star on brains, unfortunately.

Oh, and at this point, Carvin is a not-so sleeper prospect. I'm not convinced setting up a connection with the school is the primary reason why we want him either.

Zonereadstretch

December 9th, 2009 at 8:13 PM ^

"Ezeh-E;" couldn't agree more in regards to Carvin as evidence supported by the recent interest of LSU, but more importantly his high school has more so been a feeder; if you can call it that to schools like La Tech, Tulane, Kentucky etc over the past of couple years...not exactly a powerhouse program like Mooney or Skyline. Further reducing the likelihood we're taking Carvin for any other reasons outside being a great prospect that can help this defense in the future.

Blue Balls

December 9th, 2009 at 10:14 PM ^

to Cardinal Mooney High School. As a Michigan Fan, I would like to thank you Ray and thank Coach Rod. Being a parent, I say bravo to your parents Ray.If you think that you would have made it on talent alone, I'm sorry to say but I think your wrong. Some bloggers have pointed out, that there are better players available and Michigan is wrong for not selecting them over you-I say bullshit. While some might question your abilities on the field,no one can question your abilities in the classroom. Michigan is giving you the chance you earned. When Michigan selected you, Michigan Football just got better.

Franke8

December 10th, 2009 at 8:47 AM ^

I agree with GoBlue. In my own opinion I think the top 4 highschool football states, in no specific order, are Texas, Fla., Cali., and Ohio. If we pipeline with actual highschools themselves thats all well and good but I think we need to start building pipelines in all four of those states big time, which I believe Rich Rod and staff have really focused on doing. As far as Ray is concerned I'm glad to see we're going after more Ohio players, I've said it before.... A lot of the best players in Michigan's past have come from Ohio and it makes it all the better they beat OSU (Desmond/Woodson, we need to get back to that.