Friday Recruitin’ Talks Big Tackles
Brian is out sick so this is my first shot at one of these. I’m not as plugged in as the other guys so if I missed something important leave it in the comments. Mostly this is going to be Army Game practice stuff.
No Blind Siding
Michigan target Chuck Filiaga, with normal-sized humans [U.S. Army All-American Bowl, via USA Today]
Let’s start with the good news: Crystal balls to Michigan are still flying in for 4* TX OT Chuck Filiaga, who’s a 6’6/335 pound shot at a starting left tackle that Michigan desperately needs. Filiaga will be at right tackle during the Army Game because his team is full of LTs. His decision, between Michigan, Oklahoma, and Nebraska is scheduled for noon.
Even if Filiaga enters the fold, Michigan is not done recruiting potential tackles. Next likeliest target, 3* OT Mekhi Becton, told Maize and Brew that Michigan remains “definitely high on my list.” Michigan also make the top three for AL 3* OT Toryque Bateman, though grades and the likelihood of other commits coming/sticking makes that seem unlikely now.
Obligatory Najee Section: We are linebackers
You have been a good recruiting follower so you’ve so far managed to refrain from watching the parade of ankleless linebackers following 5* CA RB Najee Harris to various endzones. The recruiting industry is finding him just as slippery. We are now officially past the Flight Aware segment of the recruitment and on to Flight Plan Aware. 247’s Bart Simmons first wrote yesterday that Army Bowl people said they’re flying Harris back home after the game, but then said a source told him Harris had requested a change to the wrong Birmingham:
Per a source, Harris has requested a flight change — asking to land in Birmingham now, instead of back home in California (Oakland). That would put the running back on Alabama's campus by Sunday evening at the latest as an early-enrollee, ending a dizzying back-and-forth between Alabama and Michigan that's worn on for months.
I maintain that you should ignore virtually everything until Harris is literally on campus at one school or the other on Monday, since that is quite apparently his preferred method of announcement. Bama people seem confident, Michigan people seem confident. Rivals had their national analysts weigh in, with votes going 2-1 in favor of the Tide. Harris has denied everything. Look closely at anyone new in your freshman seminar Monday.
Willie Being Silly?
The last round of interviews from San Antonio with MS 4* OLB Willie Gay have convinced reporters that LSU now leads Michigan and Mississippi State for what would be the first life form to ever escape “the Sip.” For their part LSU is taking Gay’s sudden interest very seriously, with Tigers linebacker commit Patrick Queen rescheduling his official to coincide with Gay’s. Sam Webb confirmed that LSU is the stated leader…
"Really all of my schools are even. LSU has probably got a little bit high, a little bit. I don't know where I'm going to go yet but LSU has moved up a little bit higher."
…but reported that Gay’s family is still heavily favoring Michigan, and this doesn’t sound like someone who’s moved on:
"They didn't move down,” he said. “When I went to Michigan it was like, perfect. Everything I ever wanted in a school… academics, I feel like I was at home still (and) the weather wasn't that bad to me. I was cool with the cold weather. I loved it."
Gay called the report that LSU leads “kind of accurate.” Call me a homer but I think this one has a lot of elements of a guy who’s messing with reporters. Michigan does still have to weather an official visit to down-the-street Mississippi State in addition to that to LSU on the 20th. I doubt it’s done.
Wille a Will? Possibly relevant, according to SEC Country LSU is recruiting him at WLB:
LSU is courting Gay as a WILL linebacker to help pad the team’s depth at a crucial position.
If you remember your Wisconsin previews, Aranda’s 3-4 has a WILL that’s a second middle linebacker—think Mike McCray’s job—so no they’re not trying to make him Vince Biegel, but neither are they calling him a slot overhang guy. Michigan has made it clear he would play the multifarious Peppers SAM spot.
Thinking
Possibly unrelatedly, this got tweeted:
Y'all gotta think... a kid will press one school to then choose the other for the surprise ... just think
— Tarik Black (@LetmeRockk_) January 5, 2017
Big Nose Tackle Options are Shrinking
You would think if there is only one word in the English language that an uncommitted prospect can put before “Michigan” to erase any doubt about his intentions, it’s “F---.” Well, 5* GA DT Aubrey Solomon dropped just that particular bomb this week in a Periscope to fellow former Michigan commit WR Jeremiah Holloman (now a 4* UGA commit). A day later Solomon apologized on twitter to Michigan fans.
So: we’re done? Not quite. Sam said on his segment today that Michigan is still after him hard, which WTF?
I guess there are two ways to look at it: On one hand perhaps Aubrey was consoling a friend who apparently got pushed out of the class by higher-rated receivers. The other way to look at it is “What is literally the last thing you want to hear from a guy Michigan is recruiting?”. The likelihood of Option B is the likelihood this is officially happy trails. If you’re holding out for the sympathy words excuse, Michigan still has a lot of ground to make up.
That leaves Michigan’s hopes for a guy who can instantly spell Mone next year down to just UT 4* DT Jay Tufele. While Ohio State was a major factor earlier in this recruitment, lately the sense has been that hometown Utah has moved ahead of both Midwestern rivals. Michigan’s former director of player personnel Tony Tuioti leaving to become DL coach at Fresno State could not have helped the Wolverines’ chances. However Tufele told Sam at the Army Game practices today that at least distance won’t be a deciding factor:
“It was never a factor,” he reiterated. “For me going away or going home… it’s either one. It’s just at the end of the day it is going to be wherever best fits me… that’s where I’m going to go.”
While painting the picture of a Ryan Glasgow-like player, Sam noted the relationship with Bryan Mone. Official visits to USC and Utah loom for a now-crucial recruitment that could go a lot of ways. Scout…uh scout Brandon Huffman also chimed in on why Tufele’s a big deal:
Through the first part of the week, Tufele has been the MVP of the defense. He's yet to lose rep in the one-on-ones and when he went against the East interior offensive linemen during Tuesday's practice, he was beating them repeatedly just as he was the O-linemen for the West team. Tufele has a cat-quick first step and grown man strength. Tufele is considering BYU, Michigan, Ohio State, USC and Utah.
While BYU and USC are probably placeholders, Michigan has at best as good a chance as the other two, which equals not a great chance.
At least our scouting works. Once again solid Oregon commit Rutger Reitmaier is making everybody’s lists for top performers at the Army practices. 247’s Bart Simmons’s East team update depressingly mentioned two names familiar to Michigan fans this cycle as standout defensive tackles: Reitmaier, and OG prospect Tedarrell Slaton, who’s expected to commit to Florida. Slaton was also the largest prospect in attendance, weighing in at 363 lbs.
The Sabanification of Georgia is Not a Good Development
After leading for a year for AL 4* WR Nico Collins, suddenly it appears Georgia has made it a game. Wiltfong:
A source close to Clay-Chalkville Top247 receiver Nico Collins told 247Sports this week he thinks Michigan and Georgia are on top.
He added he thinks will be the Bulldogs and not the Wolverines that ultimately sign the four-star recruit.
That would indeed be an upset of greater magnitude than turning around Isaiah Wilson, since Collins made multiple visits to Michigan on his own dime. He’ll announce on national signing day.
The Dawgs showing some bite on the recruiting trail after Kirby Smart’s first season ended 8-5 in the Liberty Bowl has caused some people in our community to wonder what’s going on down there. The answer is that it was far more extraordinary that Richt had Georgia at merely Lloyd Carr level in the Age of the SEC. Georgia is twice the recruiting ground of any other SEC state save Florida, and in-state rival GT is less of a threat than Michigan State is to us. Plus, Athens is gorgeous, admittedly as nice a town/campus as Ann Arbor; I can personally attest that their gameday atmosphere is unreal. And Georgia's not a bad school either.
I’m sure some Bama stuff is going on there, but the real reason they’re a threat to Michigan now is because Michigan has chosen to invade SEC territory and compete against the best the SEC has to offer.
Scouting Updates on Committed Recruits
Sam Webb did a feature this morning on WTKA on the Michigan guys he’s watched and spoken to down in San Antonio, and while I couldn’t get the Audioboom recording to work MGoUser ColelsCorky kindly summarized it on our board. Among tidbits in there that weren’t mentioned already, Ambry Thomas looks like an early contributor, Deron Irving-Bey is unrefined but also Young Taco-like off the edge, and Tarik Black has been a “revelation.” Huffman’s scouting report agreed on the last:
The Michigan commit has consistently made plays all week and impressed with his smooth route running for being a bigger framed kid. He has shown good, reliable hands and ball skills as well.
Sam and Josh Newkirk caught up with Black on Wednesday and asked him to name his (homer) pick for top cornerback he’s faced, which offers us a nice segue into MI 4* CB Ambry Thomas:
“I’m not being biased or anything like that cause he’s a Michigan commit. But I do think he’s the best corner out here.”
Adding: “He’s a technician, a long ranging guy and has a lot of speed. You've got to work him to get open.”
Another Michigan recruit who could challenge for early playing time, DE/DT Donovan Jeter got a new eval from Brian Dohn, and it sounds like one of those that could accompany a ratings bump:
Final Thought: Jeter offers position flexibility, which is a great thing for a staff and a player. He can be a defensive end, particularly on the weakside where he can use his length and quickness in his first two steps, or he can add weight and strength and move inside. His body can easily handle 290 pounds, and keeping his quickness is not a concern. His hand speed will also allow him to be successful on the interior of the defensive line.
At 6’6/261 Jeter seems large enough to be in the mix for some standard-down spelling of Chase Winovich as a more Taco-shaped WDE, or Rashan Gary’s backup at SDE immediately. Since Gary is expected to take off some of Hurst’s load at tackle this year, the Anchor position has plenty of snaps available.
The Distant Future 2018
After talking up SEC football 6’6 NJ TE Elijah McAllister told Steve Wiltfong he grew up a Michigan fan and that Michigan has been in contact. I may have posted that just for this quote:
“I liked the SEC culture, everyone is great down South. Growing up in New Jersey, a lot of fast-moving people, not everyone is nice. Down South everyone is nice.
MGoBlog’s official Southern correspondent BiSB reports that “Bless your heart” is actually Tennesseean for “F--- you!”, but as we noted above that doesn’t necessarily mean they hate you.
January 6th, 2017 at 9:20 PM ^
I don't think it's whining. If Smart, a 2nd year head coach whose best coaching experience is being Saban's lap dog on defense, and Georgia, a 7-5 team, win every single recruiting battle against Harbaugh, a proven winner, and Michigan, a top 10 team, yeah I'll think something fishy is going on.
January 6th, 2017 at 10:19 PM ^
Your assuming that every recruiting decision is based solely on wins and losses and coaching pedigree and that's just not true. Look no farther than us! After a 7-6 year when we were blown out by Kansas State in the bowl game and had Brady Hoke as coach.... our class included...
Jabrill Peppers #3
Drake Harris #67
Bryan Mone #111
Mason Cole #127
That was a down-trending program in a non-talent rich state. The state of Georgia, this year, on the other hand has 33!!!! composite 4* players...http://247sports.com/Season/2017-Football/CompositeRecruitRankings?Inst…
LSU, Auburn, Texas A&M, Notre Dame, and Tennessee occupy the 7-11 spots on recruiting rankings and none of those programs are doing vastly better than georgia, so I don't really understand why it's so hard to get that Georgia is doing well recruiting.
That being said, I hate georgia.
January 6th, 2017 at 10:33 PM ^
And I think all those programs, except maybe Notre Dame, are dirty as hell. That's my point. Georgia used to be clean under Richt IMO, now they're as dirty as the others.
You can talk about our 2014 class, yeah they had Jabrill but they also finished 20th in the rankings, nowhere near as well as Georgia is doing.
January 7th, 2017 at 10:34 AM ^
You're running into a couple problems.
1. Small sample size for decisions that have an irrational component. This is currently, what, two battles Michigan may or may not lose with Wilson and Collins.
2. The curse of the longtime lead with no commitment in Collins' case.
3. I guar-an-damn-tee you every single southern. Coach is united in negative recruiting Michigan to the hilt. That may suck but it's within the rules and while it doesn't provide a specific advantage for a school, it is certainly a problem for Michigan.
Georgia has always recruited well, has a lot going for it, and there is still excitement around the program, let's at least give them a couple years of being underwhelming before we break out the bagman thing.
January 6th, 2017 at 7:19 PM ^
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January 6th, 2017 at 7:51 PM ^
They have a tremendous advantage over most schools..
January 6th, 2017 at 7:57 PM ^
Actually 17 of their 22 high school commits hail from Georgia. Smart is fencing in the state like Harbaugh is doing. They have 12 of the top 17 players in the state currently committed, with more expected.
Thanks Seth for some objectivity on UGA. Richt hugely underachieved there. My daughter goes to UGA. It is a great place.
January 6th, 2017 at 6:47 PM ^
It's time to start turning over rocks to find a DT.
January 6th, 2017 at 7:05 PM ^
January 6th, 2017 at 8:24 PM ^
Also I think we actually have 2 or 3 good tackle prospects in this class - if you still count Herbert. The issue is that none of them are good options as Freshmen, they are the normal "2 years of building and see what you have" types. Sam Webb said (so take it through Maize glasses) that the only 2 sure fire Freshman LTs he has seen this year is Filiaga and the kid we lost to 'Bama. Even Wilson - who could be a passable LT this year on athleticism alone - needs a lot of technique work.
January 7th, 2017 at 1:03 AM ^
I mean, kind of an unsavory fellow, I guess, but he's still an alum.
January 7th, 2017 at 1:03 AM ^
I mean, kind of an unsavory fellow, I guess, but he's still an alum.
January 6th, 2017 at 7:11 PM ^
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January 6th, 2017 at 7:21 PM ^
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January 6th, 2017 at 7:23 PM ^
January 6th, 2017 at 7:33 PM ^
...and it concerned me a little. You don't hear about RT's moving to LT as often as you hear about the other way around.
Concern gone after the quote in the paper.
Left-leaning team
Left tackle is Chuck Filiaga’s position, but the Aledo lineman said he’s a right tackle for Saturday’s game.
“We don’t have any right tackles or right guards. We have seven left tackles,” Filiaga said. “So they’re spreading us out. It’s a good adjustment to show colleges your athleticism, that you can play both sides.”
January 6th, 2017 at 7:53 PM ^
I'm not to worried about WR depth for the next little bit here. I would certainly love to have a 6'5" receiver, but if Nico goes somewhere else, we still have McDoom, Crawford, DPJ, and Black that look like legit playmakers.
As far as Najee, I'm hopeful but not too confident. Would definitely be nice to get a difference maker like him, but the focus should be all out press on Tufele. We need DT depth, and it doesn't look like Solomon is very pro-Michigan at this point.
January 6th, 2017 at 8:25 PM ^
January 6th, 2017 at 9:49 PM ^
January 6th, 2017 at 9:55 PM ^
January 6th, 2017 at 10:52 PM ^
Solomon is not coming here. If this isn't clear by now, some will never be convinced by any recruit ever prior to an official announcement.
January 6th, 2017 at 11:48 PM ^
January 6th, 2017 at 11:51 PM ^
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January 7th, 2017 at 12:01 AM ^
January 7th, 2017 at 12:04 AM ^
January 7th, 2017 at 9:29 AM ^
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January 7th, 2017 at 12:16 AM ^
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January 7th, 2017 at 12:55 AM ^
January 7th, 2017 at 1:51 AM ^
January 7th, 2017 at 2:55 AM ^
January 7th, 2017 at 1:44 AM ^
Wow so the bagman of Georgia told you this. Yep they just let you in on this secret so you could post it on a U of M blogging site. I wonder if Georgia offered DPJ, because what you are saying is if they really wanted him he would be going to Georgia. Most of Georgia recruits are from Georgia and it seems to me they should win those battles. I know we have recruits in this class Georgia offered so whatever and Collins is from the state next door. Any kid who feels he is NFL material and would rather be coached by Kirby "douchebag" Smart instead of Harbaugh is a fuckin fool, incentives or not.
January 7th, 2017 at 11:30 AM ^
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January 7th, 2017 at 1:00 PM ^
That DPJ is coming here because Georgia wasn't interested in the #1 WR? Not sure that makes sense. Kid turned down other schools.
January 7th, 2017 at 1:26 PM ^
every recruit. It's not smart. You'll turn a lot of recruits or their families against you that way and it may lead to you getting caught. Some recruits/families/handlers will let coaches know they are looking for something extra upfront. That ends a lot of pursuits right there when the coach won't play along.
If you're paying for players word gets around. Recruits who are interested will ask. Makes it easier on coaches.
January 7th, 2017 at 2:12 AM ^
Just some of the players offered by Georgia: Black, Ruiz, Singleton, Anthony, Jeter. They must have not really wanted any of those guys. Hey swami who are the Lions drafting this year?.
January 7th, 2017 at 5:46 AM ^
I have no reason to doubt you but is there a reason you can't add much more about "Georgia's choice"? There is some anonymity with being a blog poster.
I guess that would also rule out Nico in reference to who Tarik Black is talking about in his tweet.
January 7th, 2017 at 9:07 AM ^
January 7th, 2017 at 10:23 AM ^
I mean, are we speaking of financial choices here
January 7th, 2017 at 10:43 AM ^
"Unless Nico makes the same choice as Gary last year." Even Hackett publicly alluded to a Rashan turning down a pile of money from Clemson. The part that I'd like clarification on is the "not Alabama" mention...How are they different? Is Alabama THAT filthy?
January 7th, 2017 at 11:26 AM ^
January 7th, 2017 at 12:47 PM ^
Yeah, so how does Sarkisian have a long talk with Harris right after Kiffin is axed? Is it permissiable to talk if the recruit calls the coach? That's what I was thinking, but why would NH call Sarkisian out of the blue? I suspect someone told him to call, which is probably illegal.
Otherwise, don't kid yourself. Bama has bagmen like the rest of the SEC. I don't think they need to use them so much, anymore, with all the winning. But they certainly have a network.
January 7th, 2017 at 10:51 AM ^
January 7th, 2017 at 11:31 AM ^
January 7th, 2017 at 5:39 PM ^
So some questions I am willing to answer... The "rate" is always set by the market and just like any deal the elements can be anything you can think of. Money, cars, jobs, housing, clothes, food, Jersey #, playing time... the list is endless. Anything that a person or family could want.
How, is also an expansive answer. There are a ton of ways for things to exchange hands and not produce an easily followed paper trail. As technology changes this list grows.
As for how it works the only real information I have comes from http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2014/4/10/5594348/college-football-bag-man-interview
I was given specific numbers but I'm not willing to share. What I will say is I posted about Rashan Gary last year BEFORE Jim Hackett said anything public. It was being openly talked about by everyone in my office on signing day but like most things it doesn't mean anything if you can't 100% prove it.
January 7th, 2017 at 7:47 AM ^
January 7th, 2017 at 2:07 AM ^
I see where you are coming from, and agree with you, but for some reason people still view the SEC as elite to the B1G, even though outside of Bama, they have a handful of mediocre programs with non-elite head coaches. But, like I said people still view them as superior, and Georgia is going through that famous "honeymoon" phase with a new head coach. Kids are intrigued by a new head coach, because it makes a splash, and is news and being talked about, and gives hope to a good program. Georgia has been so mediocre for the past decade, that something like this hire has trigged these kids like Wilson and Nico to be interested. I highly doubt this will continue once this phase wears out and they are 7-5 next season. Granted they bring in the #3 class this year, and Smart was a hell of a coordinator, but the SEC will always just beat up on eachother, and Bama will always just rise to the top.
January 7th, 2017 at 3:13 AM ^
Nobody stays on top forever. At some point Bama will just have to settle for being less than elite.
I hope Clemson whups their ass.
January 7th, 2017 at 6:55 AM ^
January 7th, 2017 at 10:41 AM ^
I believe the phrase for that is "Minnesota nice." Strangely, negative cultural characteristics do exist outside of the Southern U.S. no matter it's status as the last remaining "safe" target.
January 7th, 2017 at 11:04 AM ^
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