Athletic piece on Recruiting: Michigan mentions
Bruce Feldman and Antonio Morales put out a piece today focusing on recruiting overall, including insights from anonymous coaches. Michigan coaches and targets are mentioned throughout. Otherwise some insights on topics like recruiting without a head coach and annoying things about the process. Some highlights:
Who’s the toughest assistant coach to recruit against?
SEC coach: The best in my opinion is (Georgia defensive coordinator) Dan Lanning. (Michigan defensive backs coach) Steve Clinkscale does a great job. (Texas A&M running backs coach) Tommie Robinson and (Georgia running backs coach) Dell McGee also are really tough.
What schools do you think should be recruiting better?
AAC coach: Probably Michigan.
Who is the best player you’ve seen in the 2022 recruiting class?
Independents coach: (Washington offensive lineman) Josh Conerly. Seen him really develop and think he can be a first-round offensive lineman. He has it all: very athletic and very coachable. Great strong hands.
Mountain West coach: Lander Barton (uncommitted linebacker). He’s everything you want in a backer. Long, big, excellent athlete, physical.
AAC coach: Walter Nolen (uncommitted defensive lineman). Rare to have that kind of speed and quickness at his size. He’s one of about only seven kids I have ever seen practice hard every snap.
October 22nd, 2021 at 2:43 PM ^
An anonymous AAC coach that’s scouting Walter Nolan and of all schools singles out Michigan for not recruiting better?
Ok, cool, Luke Fickell.
October 22nd, 2021 at 2:52 PM ^
lol, good catch
October 22nd, 2021 at 3:49 PM ^
Yeah same thought I had. Only way to make it more obvious would be if that coach mentioned James Hudson's waiver saga or said "Go Bucks" at the end
October 22nd, 2021 at 3:59 PM ^
I mean it’s fun and probably someone on his staff but the chance that fickel is actually taking the time to respond to this survey himself is basically 0%
October 22nd, 2021 at 4:35 PM ^
Why you gotta take something fun and make it less fun?
October 22nd, 2021 at 2:47 PM ^
I'd +1 you a few more times if I could. Great post that includes highlights!
This OP should be a lesson to those that only post a link to be sure to get it posted first (I always downvote that kind of shit-posting).
October 22nd, 2021 at 3:06 PM ^
Except that in this case, OP forgot to include said link. Whoops!
October 22nd, 2021 at 2:50 PM ^
Yeah, Luke Fickell should probably try a little harder staying anonymous in these articles. An AAC coach who has strong opinions about UM recruiting AND Walter Nolen is a very narrow Venn diagram.
October 22nd, 2021 at 3:01 PM ^
Unfortunately, Joe Tiller could not pass on that lesson
October 22nd, 2021 at 3:05 PM ^
Link for those interested in reading (didn't see one in the OP): LINK
October 22nd, 2021 at 4:13 PM ^
Sorry, figured people don’t seem to like links to paywalled content
October 22nd, 2021 at 4:34 PM ^
I think links to paywalled content have always been encouraged. That way, those with a sub can easily read the article for themselves and those without can decide if they want to sign up.
October 22nd, 2021 at 4:49 PM ^
I was unaware. Thank you. I will correct moving forward
October 22nd, 2021 at 5:35 PM ^
I was not fully aware... FIFY
October 22nd, 2021 at 3:29 PM ^
I really want Lander Barton. His film is so nice and he's the exact physical profile of what Macdonald wants at the position
October 22nd, 2021 at 3:35 PM ^
agree.
October 22nd, 2021 at 7:53 PM ^
I'd be really happy just getting 1 of those big 3 mentioned in the OP. I guess Conerly is probably the most likely from what I've heard and read online.
October 22nd, 2021 at 4:10 PM ^
"Probably" is an understatement. Michigan absolutely should be recruiting better. I guess the new staff gets a pass after last year and the negativity that surrounded the program, but if next year isn't a top-10 class, something is very wrong.
I'm not looking to disrespect our recruits. It's just a fact that more talent is needed if the goal is to compete with OSU.
October 22nd, 2021 at 4:41 PM ^
The recruiting is out-performing the recent play/record/coaching of Michigan football. The current recruiting classes have nothing in the lifetime of their memory to inform them that Michigan is an elite program.
October 22nd, 2021 at 4:58 PM ^
I’m not saying we should be recruiting like Georgia but at least on the level of Penn St, ND, N Car, Texas. People want to say that the current season doesn’t help us except for the 2023 class and that last season hurts us for this one….so why is Georgia landing all of this top talent then? Why is Penn St landing a probably top 5 class? It’s because of the season they are having right now. Georgia has underperformed based on their recruiting overall but they are tearing it up this year. Penn State is having a good year. Notre Dame always recruits well, Texas is getting the new coach bump and Mack Brown almost has to be cheating.
Courtney Morgan actively says Michigan is recruiting diamonds, not stars. Michigan also factors in cultural fit and academics as well. I’m not going to judge this staff one way or the other for a few years because I think talent and development are both important but it’ll be interesting to see if these diamonds turn out to equal success. This is the most three stars we have taken since Harbaugh has been here. How this ends up only time will tell.
October 22nd, 2021 at 5:10 PM ^
It's not like Penn states recruiting is always elite. Their 2021 class was ass. They have a good class every other year. There's a certain level of variability unless you're the big boys.
M's 2022 isn't shaping up to be elite but they are hitting areas of concern
October 22nd, 2021 at 5:13 PM ^
How much does not taking an elite QB in the class effect this? Michigan got one last year, may get one next year, they can’t get one each year and expect to keep them all.
October 22nd, 2021 at 7:54 PM ^
Also the PSU class is better by average but it has 8 more recruits in it so of course they're higher.
October 22nd, 2021 at 5:27 PM ^
The 2018 class has turned out pretty well, all things considered. Not to say you want to be in the 20s all the time, but sometimes the less heralded classes come through in ways the top rated ones don’t (check out the class ranks for Clemson from 2012-2015).
October 22nd, 2021 at 6:01 PM ^
Agreed. We are in a position where we have to break the cycle of 2-3 losses in the back half of the schedule to get back to that recruiting level. We cannot be like Georgia or ND or PSU unless we start winning these games. OSU is another benchmark altogether.
October 22nd, 2021 at 11:58 PM ^
Neither ND nor Penn State are appreciably better programs than we are. Doesn't mean we don't need to step up our recruiting but they are on our tier when it comes to performance
October 22nd, 2021 at 6:58 PM ^
Georgia is sitting in a state that produces a high number of elite HS football prospects...and because of this they routinely harvest top 5 classes-not sure what your complaint is in this regard. Furthermore, Michigan regularly recruits at or above the level of the programs you mention. Michigan's greatest challenge/deficiency over the past 15-20 years has been coaching.
October 22nd, 2021 at 4:58 PM ^
This is where finally winning big bowl games would really help to neutralize some of that OSU dominance. Ending the season like clockwork every year with two losses (at least) is a big momentum killer going into the offseason. I don't like to call out players from the recent past, but it really comes off as quite selfish once they know as an NFL-caliber prospect they can't compete for a championship anymore to just give up on the postseason altogether, and we've had to deal with that a lot in the Harbaugh era, more maybe than any other program in years like 2018
October 22nd, 2021 at 6:28 PM ^
Based on what exactly? From everything I've read, Michigan has been hitting with a lot of the guys at the top of their board this year. So what if they don't have stars? If Domani Dent really is highly regarded by the staff, should they take someone else with more stars, who they like less? That doesn't even take into account the fact that Michigan has a real shot at 2 5-star prospects, an outside shot at another 5-star, and is still in the running for high 4-stars they think very highly of. If Michigan closes on Domani, Connerly, and Lander Barton this is a great class. Even with only 1 or 2 of them, it still seems pretty solid.
October 22nd, 2021 at 4:23 PM ^
it moved.