Matt Godin Visits, Reacts
DE Matt Godin just got back from an unofficial visit to Ann Arbor, and I caught up with him to get his reaction. There was no commitment on this trip. Matt will take a little more time with his decision just to make sure it's right.
TOM: How was the trip?
MATT: I loved it. It was probably a 9 out of 10.
TOM: So walk me through what happened, and who you met. What made it a 9?
MATT: I came in and saw Coach Singletary in Schembechler Hall. That was my first time there, so I was blown away by that. It was awesome. Coach Singletary took me in to see Coach Montgomery, and I sat with him for awhile. He told me everything basically, how they would use me, the scheme and where they want me.
TOM: How do they want to use you on the field?
MATT: They said probably in the 5 technique, possibly playing around 290. They said that would let me stop the run, but I could still get some pass rush in too. [Ed.: This would be the strongside DE spot.]
TOM: Did you get a chance to meet with Coach Hoke and Mattison, too?
MATT: Yeah, I talked to Coach Hoke for about 30 minutes in his office. We talked about everything, and you can tell he doesn't take any crap. He's ready to bring Michigan back. He was basically telling me how they need defensive linemen, and they think I can help bring Michigan back. I talked to Coach Mattison before that, and he threw on the Ravens film to go over. It was funny because I brought one of my friends and he joked before hand that Coach Mattison would probably put the Ravens film on.
TOM: It sounds like the trip was a success then?
MATT: I absolutely loved it, a lot of it was more of what the coaches were saying and how they want to bring Michigan back. Also, at some schools you don't really see the players that much, but I walked in there and all the players were in the locker room joking around. It was a good experience, especially for my dad to be there. He's a season ticket holder for 30 years, and for him to see his son get a scholarship from the university he loves is great.
February 22nd, 2011 at 6:50 PM ^
...waiting for, Matt? Biggest no brainer, EVAR.
February 22nd, 2011 at 6:50 PM ^
Let the committ countdown begin...
February 23rd, 2011 at 12:19 AM ^
I think Tim might have a "Hello" post ready for Godin.
February 23rd, 2011 at 9:48 AM ^
by mistake a couple of days ago.
February 22nd, 2011 at 6:53 PM ^
He has to be Blue, especially with he dad being a season ticket holder!
February 22nd, 2011 at 6:56 PM ^
Sounds like he fell in love. Once again, we see feedback about how close the players are. Seems to really be having an effect on the recruits. Oh yeah and that film of Ed Reed and Ray Lewis doesn't hurt either, does it? Come on down, Matt. And bring Danny with you.
February 22nd, 2011 at 6:56 PM ^
I think Mattison took a job in the NFL just so he would have game film to show to impressionable 17-year olds, knowing that one day he would return from whence he came.
February 22nd, 2011 at 6:59 PM ^
About as positive as it gets. Little surprised he didn't commit on the spot. Thanks as always Tom.
February 22nd, 2011 at 7:00 PM ^
It sounds like this guy will be a wolverine before too long, I'm not too worried about it anymore.
February 22nd, 2011 at 7:04 PM ^
Stop playing hard to get Mr. Godin, you know you're going blue!!! Let's get this commitment party started!!
February 22nd, 2011 at 7:12 PM ^
This is his dream school.
But Matt... get in Danny's ear. Seriously.
February 22nd, 2011 at 7:15 PM ^
Come on and committ
Matt So we cant beat that team from OhioFebruary 22nd, 2011 at 7:33 PM ^
true blue though and though?
February 22nd, 2011 at 7:44 PM ^
And though he can't spell, he's true blue, though.
February 23rd, 2011 at 12:24 AM ^
he also said "cant beat that team". I'll forgive him since I know what he meant, though and though
February 22nd, 2011 at 7:15 PM ^
A great day
February 22nd, 2011 at 7:19 PM ^
Godin and O'Brien in the middle with Wormley and Strobel at the ends - sounds like a good DL to me. Throw in a Pipkins or Jaleel Johnson for good measure.
February 22nd, 2011 at 7:24 PM ^
I'm just wondering whether the coaching staff may want to wait before accepting a commitment. We've offered a lot of high profile DL and will take probably 4 to 6. If O'Brien comes on board too, then I think thats a no brainer. But Godin by himself might be difficult at this point of the recruiting process.
Wolvin.. what do you think? Obviously, Matt wants to be a Michigan man. Love that.
February 22nd, 2011 at 7:33 PM ^
I mean, Godin's not rated as highly as some (most?) of the DTs we're going after, but he's no slouch either. It's tough - bird in the hand type situation. However, DT is a spot of need, and I think we would take 3 DTs if other high profile guys want to come. We could stand to sign fewer LBs, CBs, or oen fewer RB or TE to get an extra.
I say you take the Godin commitment, and if 2 other highly rated DTs want to come, you take them and worry about how they fit later.
Now, if Godin waits too long to accept his offer and it gets to be the end of the football season and other top DTs have committed, that's another story. But at this time you take him and figure the rest out as it unfolds. If Godin commits, it gives us the luxury to be pickier with who we recruit at DT because we know we at least have one solid guy.
February 22nd, 2011 at 7:40 PM ^
I knew my Godin question would be negged a bit, but to be honest it's a question a lot of people are thinking.
With O'Brien, Day, Jaleel Johnson, Pipkins, Schutt, etc... on the board, we are recruiting alot of TOP DTs.
February 22nd, 2011 at 7:41 PM ^
I agree, but those are good questions. I got negged like crazy when I said I didn't want a commitment from Antonio Kinard because I thought there were better LBs we could get. It's unpopular when you make it personal, but really the sentiment is always - let's get the best players we can. I don't think there's anything wrong with that.
The nice thing about Godin that I like is that he can play DT or DE, he really is a lot like RVB in his body type, and that's nice flexibility to have.
February 23rd, 2011 at 12:24 PM ^
Maybe we should look at not doing this once they fix it, and the negging counts.
It gives for better conversation.
February 22nd, 2011 at 9:24 PM ^
Godin could be an ideal size for a SDE and he already displays some pretty good technique for a kid in high school. I could see him being a solid contributor during his potential Michigan career.
February 22nd, 2011 at 9:37 PM ^
I'm a big fan of Jaleel Johnson. I hope that we make a strong play for him. I think he can be a strong asset to this defense. He demolished pretty much everyone that was put in front of him at the Army Combine including Jordan Diamond. There are a lot of players I would like to have though. I'd be happy with whoever we get because they made the right decision in coming to Michigan.
February 22nd, 2011 at 7:54 PM ^
February 22nd, 2011 at 8:37 PM ^
You can't accept them all.
February 22nd, 2011 at 9:36 PM ^
February 22nd, 2011 at 10:32 PM ^
After talking to Matthew and my dad today, I can tell you that Hoke, Mattison & comany really want him to come and would certainly honor his commitment. They offered him this early for a reason.
I would guess Matthew eventually gets rated as a low 4-star or high 3-star, though the validity and worth of such rankings is debatable. Scout only hands out early 3-stars to a limited number of recruits, including Matthew, RJS and Richardson. Rivals hasn't even released any rankings yet. As someone else mentioned, he's no slouch, as evidenced by his seven current offers with more on the way.
Based on their conversation with Mattison, it sounds as though they want 5-6 DL in this class. Matthew loved his visit.
February 23rd, 2011 at 12:40 AM ^
No doubt your brother is a helluva football player and the coaches would accept his offer in a heart beat and be excited about it. I'd be excited about it. He's a huge, athletic player who can contribute at multiple positions, and positions of need to boot. To be honest I don't really care whether he's a high 3-star or a low 4-star, it doesn't make enough difference to worry about and of course it doesn't change who he is as a football player.
I just hope he comes to Michigan, convinces all his friends to do the same, works his tail off once he gets here and beats the shit out of that school in Ohio 4 times in a row. You can tell him I said that.
February 23rd, 2011 at 1:07 AM ^
Not only does Hoke, Mattison and company want Matt to choose Michigan but, I, along with a whole host of other Michigan recruting fanatics want him to commit and be a major part in restoring Michigan back to a hard nosed, in your face, dominant defense that it once proudly was. I have complete faith that Hoke and Mattison are gonna do just that(plus more), hopefully Matt decides he wants to part of the Michigan revival and help us reclaim our proper spot a top of the Big Ten for many years to come!!
February 22nd, 2011 at 7:31 PM ^
Because its great news and all that Godin seems to love Michigan so much but, as for his best friend, Mr. O'brien, its gonna be a uphill battle and its one we might not come out on top of. I might be overreacting a tad bit but here's a depressing article that was posted on scout that I just read....
http://michigan.scout.com/2/1050244.html
Hopefully Godin is our ace in the hole and can really help sway this kid toward the good side...please!!!!
February 22nd, 2011 at 7:37 PM ^
Yeah, you're probably overreacting. It's super early, and we've got a lot of time and the advantage of having him in our backyard. His friends want him to play for the team they like to cheer for, his family wants him to be close and want to be able to go to all his games, and he'll probably get to know a lot more of the UM players and recruits than the UT ones.
I'm not saying he'll certainly not pick UT, just that a lot will happen over the next 11.5 months, and most of it helps us.
February 22nd, 2011 at 7:42 PM ^
True, also he told Tom that Matt getting an offer at Michigan would matter because they're best friends and have always wanted to play together. I think they even rode to the Best of the Midwest event together. He does love Tennessee but he's oalso said he's pretty open. Given that he has no familiarity with our staff, I think that's ground we can make up.
February 22nd, 2011 at 7:49 PM ^
Yeah, it's not like there is something concrete about Michigan that he doesn't like, it's just that he doesn't know our staff that well yet. This will certainly change. Godin will tell Danny how great Hoke and Mattison are, and those guys will undoubtedly be up at Powers on a regular basis getting in his ear.
However, cheering for Tennessee to suck this fall can't hurt. But you were probably going to do that anyway.
February 22nd, 2011 at 7:56 PM ^
I'm always rooting for everyone but Michigan to lose, always.
February 23rd, 2011 at 8:35 AM ^
unless said team is playing OSU.
February 22nd, 2011 at 7:53 PM ^
Deep breath....all good points. I guess I'm definitely overreacting a little bit, I just really want Hoke and company to lock up this kid up! Next to Chris Wormley, he might be my favorite prospect on Michigan's radar right now.
February 22nd, 2011 at 8:00 PM ^
On my 2012 wish list, O'Brien is probably 3rd behind Wormley and Diamond, which is very good company. He's an in-state Michigan fan - and obviously we've seen that this doesn't always mean commitment, it's still hard to overcome. We'll see how that all plays out.
February 22nd, 2011 at 8:25 PM ^
Thats funny because that's my top 3 too but in a different order.
1. Chris Wormley
2. Danny O'Brien
3. Jordan Diamond
HM: James Ross, Royce Jenkins-Stone, Zeke Pike, Dan Voltz and Tommy Schutt.
February 22nd, 2011 at 8:30 PM ^
Throw another one of the DEs in there too, my favorite is Odenigbo, but Strobel is close behind him. Also, Jarrod Wilson is going to be good, all a hear is rave reviews about that guy. He sounds like he likes Michigan too, he'll be the our first star safety in 15 years.
February 22nd, 2011 at 8:37 PM ^
Re: Jarrod Wilson. It can't hurt that an ex Michigan player is coaching him either.
February 22nd, 2011 at 8:43 PM ^
Yeah, that certainly can't hurt. According to Tom, it's not unlikely at all that Wilson ends up here and that's exciting. It sounds like his teammate Corey Smith is good as well, it would be nice get them both and scratch those spots off the list.
February 22nd, 2011 at 8:35 PM ^
I like your wish list. We need help in the trenches and good lines can make up for an average running game and an average group of linebackers. Just out of curiosity what top players do you think we will get? My top five of who we'd get would be Wormley, Diamond, O'Brien, Biggs and Pipkins.
February 22nd, 2011 at 8:41 PM ^
I don't think I know who Biggs is, unless I'm just drawing a blank right now. I like the other four though, and like I said in another post I really like Jarrod Wilson from Akron, and Bam Bradley. We need some real safeties after bringing in a lot of CBs in the last couple classes.
But I always like linemen the best, offensive and defensive. No position gets me more excited than defensive ends, but all of the guys on the line are the keys to successful football teams, IMO. We have a lot of highly rated guys on the board at OL and DL, and it would be hard to say which ones I'd want, especially since we need a lot of them anyway. Diamond, Voltz, Peat, Murphy, Jordon Simmons, I'd like all of them.
February 22nd, 2011 at 8:43 PM ^
Biggs is James Ross. I am really getting into recruiting and think this staff can really tear up the trail. Hopefully they can sign a top 10 class and get this machine running again.
February 22nd, 2011 at 9:01 PM ^
I know the staff has been handing offers out like crazy and all. But do you know why we haven't offered Bradley yet? I figuered he would've been one of the first players we offered out of Ohio, especially with Ohio St. not offering and us maybe being able to get the jump on his recruitment?
February 22nd, 2011 at 9:34 PM ^
This article says has a quote which says only when he was young. Actually rooted for OSU to be the opposite of his brother (Pat?)
<br>http://www.buckeyeplanet.com/forum/football-recruiting/620095-12-mi-dl-…
<br>In Tom's post back in SEP, it was clear that he was a RR fan. Since both Tom and Trieu had M and UT in the lead then, it seems to follow that the firing set us back. His father and brother are M fans, so your point holds - a lot of things in our favor over the next several months.
February 22nd, 2011 at 7:38 PM ^
I was under the impression that he's been pretty open that Tenn is his leader right now. I thought he said that he is so far less familiar with UM's staff, and has a more on-going relationship with Tenn. Gonna be an up hill battle, but I think he's said he's still open to other schools. Get on this Mattison. This is why we hired you. Well that and trying to have a competent defense, but that's another topic.
February 22nd, 2011 at 9:18 PM ^
He apparently knows the same former MSU coach that got DeAnthony Arnett to go to Tennessee. That coach has known him a lot longer than Hoke and Co., so Michigan hasn't had a chance to take their best shot...As someone else noted, that's some fine verb conjugation that they done put on top'a that there article.
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