Rumor: Chris Singletary is no longer with the program
There's a rumor floating around that recruiting coordinator Chris Singletary is no longer employed by the football program. One possibility would be that Chris Partridge takes over all the recruiting duties, or perhaps Michigan would hire someone else. For a little while, Partridge was contacting offensive recruits and Singletary was working with defensive guys.
There have been rumors floating around for a while. There have been questions about his ability to identify talent, and there have also been rumors that coaches within the state were not fond of his tactics.
On GBMW and some other boards I'm on, people seem to think he wasn't paying enough attention to details. (ex. a few kids did not get their BBQ @ Big House invites in the mail)
That is true from last year, and I think that's part of what has been contributing to some bad vibes with in-state high school coaches.
not have a secretary? I would think that a recruiting coordinator would have some staff to handle details like that.
April 30th, 2015 at 10:08 AM ^
According to MGoBlue, Singletary has (had?) two assistants on his staff including Bo's old secretary.
April 30th, 2015 at 10:23 AM ^
A singletary, if you will.
April 30th, 2015 at 10:32 AM ^
well played.
Yeah. 9.8 points per word (not counting the comma). That's gotta be some kind of record. METRICS.
April 30th, 2015 at 10:48 AM ^
That's his job.
Tim Sullivan from TheWolverine actually said that was false and that was a spin job put out there by the Hayes camp.
said rumors?
April 30th, 2015 at 11:34 AM ^
April 30th, 2015 at 11:34 AM ^
More sources behind paywalls are confirming this. A "mutual parting of the ways" in a presser forthcoming.
I wonder why the change. FWIW he's still listed on the Mgoblue website.
And his twitter account has not been changed.
That looks unusual.
Any ideas on the significance of this? Singletary has been with the program forever, right?
Six years as recruiting coordinator.
If it's true, I don't think it's extremely significant, because I'm guessing he would be replaced by somebody who's equally or more qualified. It's a bit of a temporary setback because he has already established contacts with a lot of recruits, but that's obvious for someone in his position.
Singletary was hired during the Lloyd Carr era, so he's been around now for at least parts of four administrations.
Interesting. I was under the impression that he was generally well thought of and competent at his job. But then again, I'm not entirely sure how involved his job is. I was under the impression it was more of coordination, paperwork, establishing contacts, etc., and not much with actually identifying prospects.
Well, I think Michigan has done a pretty good job of recruiting through all the coaching turmoil and such. I don't necessarily think Singletary is/was bad at his job, but I think everyone in the program is going to be held to a little higher standard now.
April 30th, 2015 at 10:54 AM ^
That's the impression I got as well......everyone is held to a higher standard. Personally, I hate to see someone lose their job but it sends a great message to the kids as well.....work, or lose your position.
...if the predominant impression the kids had of Singletary was of someone that wasn't doing his work. I'm guessing that's not the case.
I don't think it's that easy to predict what message other people will take from a firing--it depends so much on how it's handled. Brandon sent a lot of people packing during his time here and I don't think the message sent was positive at all.
April 30th, 2015 at 10:58 AM ^
is a good guy. He's certainly a company man. He was an agent before coming back to Michigan to work. He's a point of contact for coaches and escorts players around on their tours. That being said, when I went on tours with Hand, Burrell, and Settle I wasn't impressed necessarily with his presentation. Not because he didn't do a good job, but as a lifelong fan, there are things I would've mentioned or discussed that he seemed to gloss over or ignore. We had been there the entire day, and I told Coach Hoke and Chris that we hadn't heard the fight song the entire time we were there. (Devin Gardner was in the room, and was forced to sing...and he has a great voice btw, a deep, classic musical talent that was reminiscent of....I digress)
Chris is a good guy, but I don't think he was a difference maker.
Roy, on the other hand...is a dynamic recruiter.
April 30th, 2015 at 11:44 AM ^
April 30th, 2015 at 11:45 AM ^
I'm sure it will all be fine in the end. In Harbaugh we trust!
Magnus - if this is true do you think Finotti's role with the team will change/expand? II would think he would also be someone they could also plug into this role.
I think he *could* do it, but I don't see his role changing from what he was hired for within the last couple months. That would seem like a bit of an odd change of direction. My guess is that a brand new replacement for Singletary will be hired, perhaps a guy named Tom Van Haaren, who will regale recruits with cookie and cake recipes.
April 30th, 2015 at 10:00 AM ^
Then we would get a buckle up tweet as opposed to Singletary's bang bang. I like it.
April 30th, 2015 at 10:09 AM ^
Would he hug the recruits as well as us????
April 30th, 2015 at 10:19 AM ^
violation. A firm handshake is allowed but not a two handed handshake.
April 30th, 2015 at 11:28 AM ^
*hold
And yes, I would certainly think so...
Especially for in-state recruiting. Does Partidge take this role over if true?
Partridge has already been contacting offensive guys. With Harbaugh's demand of expanding the recruiting staff, I do not believe Partridge will pull double duty. I think Singletary would be replaced by another full-timer.
He'll have no problem finding another gig. Sam Webb is probably shaking in his boots, though.
talent and he may have disagreed with some of the evaluations and what was important. I believe it was Drevno who said they have never seen anyone with an eye for talent like Harbaugh and that he is great at evaluating all positions.
I do find it interesting that some coaches didn't like his tactics. I wonder what he was doing. I would guess that the current regime is much more in your face than the prior regimes. Did he turn them off recently or has it been going on for a while? Any idea Magnus?
that he's gone, Harbaugh must be the reason. He probably doesn't trust him as a talent evaluator and wants his own guy in that position.
It'll be interesting to see whether this affects Sam Webb's ability to get information. IMO, Sam is hands-down the best at what he does among the Michigan guys, but people have said that his primary source is Singletary.
My guess is that Michigan Football writ large understands that Sam Webb having insider info is a benefit to the team, since Webb is very savvy as to when and how to disclose information. He also connects well with recruits, their coaches, and their families, consequently reflecting well on Michigan by association.
Like you, I'm curious to see how it works out. But I think this coaching staff and athletic department "get it" and understand that having Sam Webb as a reliable insider source benefits the program.
Welp now we know Sam has an MGoHandle.
Sam's handle to be "Everyone Murders", but OK.
to their face how they really feel. They may be good at reading themover time but Sam may actually be beneficial in getting the recruits and talking to get their true feelings. I hadn't really considered that before.
April 30th, 2015 at 10:01 AM ^
Agreed - if it is common knowledge/speculation on the board that Singletary gives info to Sam, I am sure the Department knows and about it and condones it.
April 30th, 2015 at 10:36 AM ^
Screw everyone else, if WE can't get OUR information before everyone else and have accurate rumors to discuss on MGoBlog, my time on this site will be cut back significantly.
Yeah, I've heard this as well, but I think Sam also has other sources. I feel like he knows to much for just coming from one source. Brian has said that Sam can't/won't say half of what he actually knows either. And Webb is an ally to the athletic programs in a lot of ways. He doesn't let stuff out there the programs don't want out there when it comes to recruiting and stuff. So a smart program will use that to help themselves and keep the connection up.