February 6th, 2018 at 1:59 PM ^
There's communication transfers due to staff turnover, there's the slow pace of offers because the class was supposed to be smaller, there's the worse record on the field...there's many reasons that you shouldn't have expected another top 10 class, this class was always going to be in the teens. Is it lower than we'd like even for the circumstances that were known? Sure. We lost Friday due to negative recruiting about Partridge (which ended up being unfounded. OSU playing dirty? Never!). Ruckert and Tyreke Smith (I think you're referring to) were always OSU leans, we didn't even recruit Smith very hard. NPF was a five-star from Florida, we don't get a lot of them so I don't get why people are in their feelings about him.
Partridge has been the best recruiter on staff since he has been on staff, he hasn't gone anywhere or fallen off. Wheatley killed the Detroit area but we didn't miss on any Michigan recruits that we wanted this year, so his loss has not been an impact on the recruiting trail to this point. Drevno was a higher rated recruiter last cycle than Fisch.
We just weren't going to have a top 10 class this year. We have made good hires/appointments in the department. We're going to have a top class again next year. It's fine.
February 6th, 2018 at 8:37 PM ^
February 6th, 2018 at 11:20 PM ^
UM has the richest college football history if you go back to 1900, but today's recruits don't care about that. In this century and for the current recruits' lives, UM is decidedly a mediocre program. The last time, UM was relevant on the national stage was 2006 when the current recruits were 6 or 7 years old.
February 6th, 2018 at 2:07 PM ^
2016 - #8
2017 - #5
2018 - #17 (currently)
February 6th, 2018 at 2:46 PM ^
The 2016 class was not top 5. It was barely top 10. #8 overall, and that class has already lost several of its members.
February 6th, 2018 at 3:05 PM ^
According to 247's own rankings, they were top-five classes:
2016: 5
2017: 3
According to the the 247 composite, they were top-ten:
2016: 8
2017: 5
February 6th, 2018 at 4:20 PM ^
February 6th, 2018 at 5:26 PM ^
Look at the point differentials between #4 and #8 of the 2016 Composite Rankings. If you can look at that and tell me that the recruiting difference was anything other than a "standard deviation" in point differential then you need to learn to read into numbers better. Everyone who remembers that recruiting class praised the work Harbaugh did that year, and we got almost all of our top targets that we were in on towards the end.
2016 was a really good class, 2017 was a little bit better, 2018 was a Clemsonesque dip, and 2019 is a sign of great things if they can hold onto the work they've already done. You can be disappointed in how this class ended - that's fine. But if you don't look at who is already "committed" in 2019 and choose to do Harbaugh's previous two classes a disservice, then you're just cranky.
February 6th, 2018 at 6:03 PM ^
February 6th, 2018 at 1:31 PM ^
This is a stellar example of recency bias.
"The staff is not good at recruiting."
Maybe you could make this conclusion if 2018 recruiting results were your only metric. The 2016 and 2017 classes, on the other hand, do not support this conclusion. As others have suggested, the 2019 class also look likely to be great.
I absolutely agree that we have underperformed in recruiting this year -- just as we did on the field. Does this mean that the staff is not good at recruiting? Maybe, but it could also be bad luck (among a number of other factors).
This take ignores the three-year data in favor of a single year's worth of data.
February 6th, 2018 at 1:35 PM ^
on the whole i think is misplaced and fairly ignorant but i think its totally fair to complain about the offensive line recruiting in particular OT. They may not have a single quaity starting tackle on their entire roster and that is fair to judge harshley until proven otherwise especially since this has been an ongoing issue.
February 6th, 2018 at 3:33 PM ^
Overall, I have little concern with our recruiting with two positional exceptions:
I don't understand why we can't (or don't) land an elite level running back. A run-heavy style with a big name coach at a blue blood university, you'd think you'd have guys waiting in line to play here, yet we are amassing an army of generic 3-star ball carriers. I love them all and I'm sure they will all lead us to multiple national championships, but I'm blown away that we have yet to land a high-profile back in 3 full recruiting cycles (with a debatable asterisk for Kareem Walker).
And Offensive Tackle. Seriously guys. It's wide open. Nobody wants it?
The rest? QB, WR, TE, D-Line, LBs & Secondary have had their fair share of hits and currently look to be adequately stocked for the future.
February 6th, 2018 at 2:33 PM ^
To be fair, why not rely on recency bias when there isn't a large enough sample size of recruiting classes from which one could draw a statistically significant conclusion?
Just sayin'
February 6th, 2018 at 5:33 PM ^
February 6th, 2018 at 1:34 PM ^
Just can't agree with that.
Results on the field are the single biggest recruiting tool any program has. We could have Tom Brady himself personally visiting every recruit on our board and the OSU guys would just yawn and say "score board" and still take their pick.
Our coaches recruit very well considering they can't point to a whole lot of results in terms of bowl wins, conference championships, playoff appearances, WINS OVER OSU.
Hell, MSU can actually point to a lot more recent success then we can, and our coaches STILL outrecruit them. There are players on MSU's team right now that have B1G rings they can show off to recruits, and they still can't real in the occasional Jabrill Peppers, Rashan Gary, DPJ, etc...
Now, if you want to criticize our coaching staff's ability to put a product on the field that will line up and beat elite teams... well then, okay. That might be legit. I personally believe that it was always going to take 3 or so years for Harbaugh to get to that level, but I'll listen to the argument.
But saying our coaching staff "can't recruit?" That's a bridge too far for me.
February 6th, 2018 at 5:44 PM ^
February 6th, 2018 at 1:55 PM ^
If you're going to criticize Harbaugh's recruiting, at least get your facts straight:
"Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh and offensive line coach Tim Drevno visited him in Tampa on Tuesday."
That was on January 30—a week ago.
https://www.landof10.com/michigan/michigan-recruiting-football-nicholas…
February 6th, 2018 at 1:56 PM ^
Right because teams with inferior talent have NEVER beaten OSU with Meyer there.
Kirk Ferentz and Mark Dantonio say hello.
February 6th, 2018 at 3:59 PM ^
That's part of what sucks. We don't want to consistently be inferior to OSU and hope for an upset every year.
February 6th, 2018 at 2:32 PM ^
Over the last few weeks I've read about MSU, OSU, and now Alabama recruting in the DFW area. No sign of Michigan. Harbaugh is too busy spending his $7 mil and doesn't have time to recruit.
Actually, according to MGoBlog stars don't matter. Harbaugh should just fill each class with 20 kids from Michigan.
Urban Meyer must like not having any recruiting competition from UM.
February 6th, 2018 at 3:04 PM ^
February 6th, 2018 at 3:28 PM ^
Same with OSU and Meyer because Meyer couldn't recruit for shit his first year.
February 6th, 2018 at 1:24 PM ^
We suck again!!
In all seriousness, 2019 looks like it coule be a good year for the O-Line and recruiting in general. We have one OL commit in Rumler, who is highly rated coming out of OH. Weren't there rumors about Hinton being a potentional Tackle? 6'4 seems a little small for that position unless he's expected to grow another inch or two.
We need to have a good year on the field in order to get those elite guys. Time for Harbaugh and his staff to pick it up.
February 6th, 2018 at 2:03 PM ^
Hinton said he hates playing on offense. His brother is going to be a 2020 stud O lineman and hopefully one for the good guys.
February 6th, 2018 at 2:11 PM ^
That's right! His brother is a bigger guy. Thank you sir
February 6th, 2018 at 1:25 PM ^
February 6th, 2018 at 1:26 PM ^
February 6th, 2018 at 2:04 PM ^
Neil Patrick Farris
February 6th, 2018 at 2:48 PM ^
February 6th, 2018 at 4:33 PM ^
the #1 rated OT who Harbaugh would love to have but soon to be a buckeye.
February 6th, 2018 at 1:26 PM ^
Ah, well. Find some dudes. Coach them up.
February 6th, 2018 at 1:26 PM ^
February 6th, 2018 at 5:46 PM ^
February 6th, 2018 at 1:28 PM ^
Never thopught we had a good chane at NPF, shocking if Ohio State gets him, that will be terrible as their class is insane already.
What's the latest on Reese?
February 6th, 2018 at 1:27 PM ^
February 6th, 2018 at 2:03 PM ^
February 6th, 2018 at 2:06 PM ^
Wasn't Greg Frey NPF's main recruiter?
February 6th, 2018 at 1:29 PM ^
I hope we flip a 3* lineman from Syracuse or Ky, or something tomorrow... just so maizen can lose his mind.
February 6th, 2018 at 1:58 PM ^
You're so right. Hopefully we flip a lacrosse or baseball player
February 6th, 2018 at 3:05 PM ^
Well we already flipped a Missouri State basketball recruit, why not a lacrosse player while we're at it. He'll fit right into this craptastic recruiting class.
February 6th, 2018 at 3:21 PM ^
Michigan should go after a Montana State golfer imo
February 6th, 2018 at 4:16 PM ^
Sam Hubbard was originally committed to Notre Dame to play Lacrosse before getting flipped by OSU to play football.
February 6th, 2018 at 5:21 PM ^
Sam Hubbard was also a Top247 football recruit with offers from OSU, Michigan, Stanford, Notre Dame, and Miami among others.
February 6th, 2018 at 5:47 PM ^
February 6th, 2018 at 4:35 PM ^
was a lacrosse who flipped to the buckeyes. he was taught how to play football and will be a high draft pick.
February 6th, 2018 at 1:29 PM ^
February 6th, 2018 at 1:30 PM ^
February 6th, 2018 at 2:21 PM ^
February 6th, 2018 at 1:31 PM ^