TomVH: DE Noah Spence Update

Submitted by TomVH on

It was made clear by Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon that he wanted the football team to be defensively focused. The new coaches have already exemplified that with how they finished up the 2011 class, and now with the offers that are being sent out for 2012. 

One of the bigger name prospects on defense for 2012 will be Noah Spence (6'4", 245 lbs), a defensive end from Bishop McDevitt High School in Pennsylvania. Spence already has over 18 offers from the likes of Florida, Notre Dame, Penn State, and USC. These verbal offers have been extended before the McDevitt coaching staff was even able to send out his highlight tape. "We're having a little trouble with our system, but we'll try to get the hard copy DVD out in the next couple days, we'll email it to every program in the country probably next week," said Head Coach Jeff Weachter. "Michigan hasn't gotten it yet, but I'd imagine they will offer once they do, everyone else has. He's almost 6-foot-4 now, he runs a legitimate 4.5 forty, and his first two steps off the ball are the fastest I've ever seen from a high school kid." 

The process has just started for Noah, but it's already become hectic for him and his family. They are already in the process of researching each school to find out more about what they have to offer. "He's wide open right now. He and his family are right now researching schools football wise, and academically. They're going to try to get out to everyone that offers in the spring and summer, then try to narrow it down in the summer," Coach Weachter said. "He comes from a great family, he's very respectful, he has a 3.6 GPA, and he does things the right way." With 18 offers now, and a high GPA it's safe to say there will be plenty of schools for Spence to choose from.

Coach Weachter said it was still too early to tell which schools have the upper hand, but again Michigan's hire of Greg Mattison may end up helping them. "(Noah's) dad has done a lot of research. I haven't talked to him about Greg (Mattison) yet, but I'm sure his dad knows. I know Greg from Notre Dame and when he was at Florida. He's definitely someone I trust. First, he's a good person and he does a great job recruiting. We enjoyed him when he came here to McDevitt," said Coach Weachter. While Michigan will have to battle it out with other top programs, it helps to have that first foot in the door. 

Comments

Wolverine0056

February 10th, 2011 at 2:03 PM ^

I really hope we start seeing some strong interest from some of these high profile recruits for this next class. It would be nice to get on a fast, strong start for the class of 2012.

TomVH

February 10th, 2011 at 4:55 PM ^

No, in a situation like Ifeadi, he runs track which is something that keeps him from keeping a lot of weight on. He has the frame that he could add on enough weight to play DE, he just hasn't ever been in a college style conditioning program so he weighs 215 right now.

He would probably play OLB/DE in a 3-4, but Michigan has told him they'll run a 4-3 and want him as a DE.

jsquigg

February 10th, 2011 at 3:52 PM ^

These are the kids Michigan has to start landing.  I hate to be Mr. Obvious but unless we can fill our defense with more than one impact player at a time we will continue to struggle in the big games.

JT4104

February 10th, 2011 at 6:19 PM ^

I just ask for guys who can tackle in the open field....that's not much to ask is it. I dont ask for my usually..thought it is nice to finally be able to comment again. I missed all the recruiting day threads...

jethro34

February 10th, 2011 at 9:13 PM ^

So often myself and other M fans I know assume M has no shot with 5 star guys unless they went to Pioneer and have a poster of the Big House on their ceiling.  And yet, UM is often mentioned as a school many 5 star guys are at least interested in early on.

I don't always buy the hype about rankings, and guys like Kevin Grady, Will Campbell, and JT Turner have soured me on assuming huge success from 5 star players, but the fact is having a handful of them means you can strike out on one (or heaven forbid he's above average and plays the position fairly well instead of superb - we could have used plenty of above average on D the last few years) and still have outstanding talent on your team.

As a study, if you look at Rivals Depth Charts (yes, I know they're horribly flawed) and look at the stars earned by the listed starters as recruits, you will see a desparity that cannot be ignored.

Comparing UM to OSU, because that's the thing to do, not only was OSU far more experienced, which certainly helped them, and better coached, but their starters as incoming recruits had a collective 85 stars, compared to UM's 75.  For comparison sake, that would mean if 20 of the 22 spots were equal, the difference was 2 five star guys for OSU lining up against walk-ons.  But, in reality, it was 10 spots on the team where OSU had a definite qualitative advantage over UM.  That's huge.

So UM needs to be not just in the coversation, but one of these teams that gets commits from at least 2 five star recruits every year, followed by no fewer than 10 four star recruits.  Otherwise, the talent simply isn't there to be an elite team year after year, because at least 10 other teams are netting those recruiting classes.