Bryce McNeal Looking Elsewhere?

Submitted by Jay on

I read an article yesterday about Bryce McNeal (I can't find the damn thing now) and it had some quotes from friends of his that said he and might reconsider his commitment and look at Minnesota. Rivals has him listed as a "soft verbal" as of right now. Is this a recent development ,or, has he always been considered a soft verbal?

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WolvinLA

October 7th, 2008 at 12:46 PM ^

The article on the front page of Rivals recruiting says he plans on taking visits, and the one he has set so far is Colorado.  WTF Colorado?  They have mountains and a little more weed than us, but that's about all Boulder has on Ann Arbor.  Plus, they have a bad football team.

Joined: 06/30/2008

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WolvinLA

October 7th, 2008 at 2:47 PM ^

My point was that Colorado is not generally a school that can compete with Michigan for many recruits, unless they have some sort of tie to that program.  Colorado hasn't been relevant for quite a few years, and if you've looked at their recent recruits, it looks like it will be a little while before they turn that around.  They don't have a single 4* or above committed for 2009 yet, when most schools have near full classes.  When you think of schools we compete with for recruits, Boulder rarely comes up.

Joined: 06/30/2008

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MRG

October 7th, 2008 at 1:15 PM ^

Seriously, Hawkins is a good recruiter and there was a time not too long ago that Colorado was a top college football program.  I know he had an "in" with this uncle on the team, but Hawkins pulling Darrell Scott away from Texas last year was pretty impressive.

Joined: 06/30/2008

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ShockFX

October 7th, 2008 at 1:52 PM ^

Colorado, Nebraska, Washington, UCLA, Florida State, Miami, Tennessee have been historically good teams for those that have only watched football the past 4 years.  The pitfalls, in order:

Colorado: Scandal, not a huge talent state, but still a big draw.
Nebraska: Oops fired Solich and hired Callahan.  Not a big enough talent state to do anything but run the option or some huge power running game imo.  Nebraska is a decent national draw but new programs rising to prominence is challenging this.
Washington: Scandal, then Ty Willingham.  This will get cleaned up eventually.
UCLA: Meh, it's southern Cal.  Has to have a dynamic recruiter AND coach (Slick Rick fits this) to turn it around.  Also, Karl Dorrell was shockingly bad.


Florida State:Nepotism and Bobby Bowden, enough said.
Miami: I really have no idea, but I'd say Shannon wasn't ready to be a head coach and neither was Coker.  Now that Shannon is up to speed we'll see the turnaround.
Tennessee: Kind of like WV except more in state talent.  Kind of sealed off from Virginia and Maryland by VT, PSU, Rutgers lately, and the rise of UNC/Scar seals off the Carolinas.  Just nowhere near the talent they used to have, compounded by losing several good assistants like Cutcliffe.

As you can see, big programs fall due to having access to talent cut off, scandals, or shockingly bad coaching decisions. Michigan has none of those problems.  Losing McNeal would not be the end of the world.

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Jay

October 7th, 2008 at 12:52 PM ^

We need a bigger space for our avatars. The picture of Molly Simms is just too frickin' small. You just can't appreciate Molly Simms the way she deserves to be appreciated.

Joined: 06/30/2008

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WolvinLA

October 7th, 2008 at 5:22 PM ^

Well, their 2007 class was mostly all 3*'s.  They had one 5*, two 4*'s, and 10(!) 2* recruits.  Their 2008 class was the best class they've had for as long as Rivals goes back, and not only does it still not hold a candle to Michigan's class, but it is looking more like that is an anomoly since their 2009 class is also dismal.  

And not to call you a liar chitown, but when I looked at rivals, their 2008 class is 15th, but their 2007 class is 32nd.  Year before that was 48th.

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