Recruiting: What's best for UM, for player?
A big part of the problem last year and this year has been the lack of quality football players at Michigan. There have been well-documented posts on the dearth of 4 & 5 star recruits, including the early departure of those who were highly rated.
On rare occasions, I have had personal contact with kids who are playing ball in High School. Typically, they are good kids, but run of the mill. For the most part, they aren't at the skill level to succeed playing major college ball, let alone in the pros.
However, at least twice, I have been talking with someone who does go on to play Division 1. This has caused me to ponder whether I "recruit" them for Michigan or not. It strikes me that sometimes, what is best for Michigan is NOT what is best for a player. The reverse is also true: what is best for a player sometimes is NOT best for Michigan.
My question is what you would do if one of your nephews or cousins or neighbor kids was a four star player. Would you want him to be at Michigan, no matter what? Would you tell him to go wherever he wants? What would you say?
Thankfully, we have a good school, and we can expect an eventual return to national prominence. But right now, the current state of affairs makes recruiting a harder sell.
November 2nd, 2009 at 2:00 PM ^
I would suggest the individual try to play for the best academic school they can. For most aspiring high school athletes, professional sports are simply a pipe dream.
If they are cognitively unfit for college, I'd then recommend they apply at Michigan State. Ba-zing!
November 2nd, 2009 at 2:14 PM ^
I would tell him to pick what school best fits his needs, unless that school is MSU! Seriously though, if I was a good but not great player, I wouldn't really want to ride the bench at a big time D1 school. You could still get a great education at a lower tier school and maybe get some PT! Grand Valley is a great example!
November 2nd, 2009 at 2:21 PM ^
Well.. as of this year.. USC passed Michigan in academic rankings.. I don't see why a player with offers from both schools would pick Michigan over USC(better football program/academics/weather/girls..) the only thing that I could see affecting the decision would be depth chart issues..
Our academics have really taken a tumble these past 3-4 years..
November 2nd, 2009 at 2:26 PM ^
As an aeronautical engineer, I can tell you that you are sadly mistaken. The aerospace engineering program is stronger than ever.
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/spec-doct-a…
November 3rd, 2009 at 12:27 AM ^
How many football players are there in your program?
November 2nd, 2009 at 2:26 PM ^
yes, and "academic rankings" are created by gathering truths and assembling them into a chart.
honestly, the academic rankings are nearly as silly as the AP/ESPN/coaches/Harris rankings.
November 3rd, 2009 at 12:51 AM ^
Yeah.. however, I don't see many people complaining whenever we're ranked high in sports/academic rankings. While the overall meaning of rankings might be overstated within the general community, they clearly do mean something; they're definitely not worthless, otherwise less people would care about them.
November 2nd, 2009 at 2:48 PM ^
is that usc has fewer self-loathing fans.
November 2nd, 2009 at 4:00 PM ^
It's in an undesireable area to say the least. No way SC has better academics unless you want to go into film.
November 3rd, 2009 at 12:48 AM ^
Ok.. University Park is bad, I'll give you that.. but the campus is about 2 miles away from downtown LA. As someone who grew up in a city, I love that.
As far as academics go; B-School, Engineering, and law are better in AA.. but the same could be argued about.. Princeton..
The truth of the matter is that the LS&A program isn't that good at the undergrad level. I'd love to see that change(it won't until the school gets a lot more selective and gets rid of the in-state quota) but until then, you can expect Umich to keep slipping on -UNDERGRAD- rankings. As of right now, I don't see a huge difference in academics on the undergrad level between UMich and SC outside the specialized undergrad fields.(engi, Business)
November 2nd, 2009 at 3:01 PM ^
I hope I would be honest enough to give someone I know my best judgment.
You also can make the case for Michigan and be honest at the same time.
I don't know the demands of other programs very well. I think most schools make their programs to be (at least ostensibly) the "right" place for a variety of personality types. Conversely, fans tend to overplay the differences between their school and "the rest."
In general, a guy who isn't a good fit at Michigan isn't very likely to be a big help to the team. On the other hand, what constitutes a "good fit" is incredibly broad.
If the kid doesn't like to work out, he's going to hate Barwis. I know that's one difference we have. If the potential 4-star is a guy who wants to start his whole career no matter how good he really is, a lower program would be a better fit.
Also, Michigan has higher academic expectations than other schools.
Michigan shouldn't be a "hard sell." Maybe if the flame-tards or ESPN boys or something are your only knowledge of a program, things look bad, but a national recruit should know a lot more than entertainers' talking points when choosing their schools.
Michigan still has a Michigan education to offer. The offense is going to be a monster in a few years. The defense is a mess, but there is a ton of opportunity for high-level athletes to earn playing time and stardom. The Big House is still there. The fanbase hasn't gone away. The recruiting may dip this year, but this is still a school likely to surround players with talent. And a player committing today to Michigan would almost assuredly have the same primary coaches (minus an associate here and there) for that athlete's entire career.
It's not a program on the decline, by any stretch of the imagination. We bottomed out, and the incline has been slippery, but I think about everybody predicts Michigan to be a competitive team next year, and possibly a National Championship caliber team in 2011 and 2012.
Really, how many Big Programs offer an education like Michigan's? There are a handful of slightly better schools like Stanford and Northwestern and maybe Duke, but they're generally doormats of their conferences. Notre Dame, normally, but would you tell a kid to play for Charlie Weiss?
I wouldn't recommend Alabama, since playing time is going to be hard to find and there doesn't seem to be a great amount of incentive for the program to support individual students, especially unproven ones.
I wouldn't recommend most middling SEC schools, because the likelihood is small that the current coach will be around for the kid's career, and the intensity of fans can actually put you at fear for your life if you're not what they expected.
Other than that, though, I would tell the kid to learn what's real and what's B.S. about all the schools he is considering, and make the decision that is best for him. I would have him contact former players that are similar in tastes and abilities to himself, and get their honest opinions on the college experiences.
And if it were me, I'd say take a hard look at what happens to most recruits, and see what kinds of careers they have after college. I would tell him the NFL is a possibility but not a very great one unless he is one of the top five recruits in the country, and that his decision should take into account not just his potential development as a player, but as a young man in search of a career. I would tell him to watch closely for moments that the personality of the coaches they will play for are revealed, like Mike Gundy's impassioned defense of his player (it's made light of still, but I'd send my kid to play for him after that).
There are good reasons why Michigan may not be the best fit for certain people. But I still believe, because of the education and the staff and the program's institutional support and the expectations and the location and the opportunity to be surrounded by top tier teammates and be a part of shaping this new era and because it's MICHIGAN and will still be important when that player is 30, 50, and 80 years old, that for those with the opportunity to do so, Michigan is more likely than not to be a great decision.
That said, we fans are probably not the best judges of these sorts of things anyway. We know the ostensive reasons for going to our schools, but honestly the most we know about the bulk of recruiting decisions is that most kids seem to go where it "feels right," and that an incredibly small fraction of erstwhile high school "studs" will make their careers playing in the NFL. At least we can say you'll have a degree from Michigan at the end of it.
November 3rd, 2009 at 3:09 AM ^
right, if my son ends up being a 5-star recruit, im telling him to go to stanford, uofm, northwestern, etc.
November 3rd, 2009 at 9:13 AM ^
Not to be weird or anything, but, just based on your screenname, do you go to K College?
November 3rd, 2009 at 9:12 AM ^
I would probably friend them on facebook and write on their walls, telling them to come to Michigan and insulting their decision making and integrity in ALL CAPS if they don't.