TomVH- Recruting Question
Hey Tom,
I read your interview with Travis Williams in which he says that RR wants him to wait on his commitment to make sure he is solid. I was reading another blog today, however, which made it seem like it was RR who wanted to wait out the commitment to make sure it was the coaching staff that wanted him (presumably, they would take Williams if they weren't high on any other "better" rated recruits).
I know that RR has 100+ schollies out there, and with Brian's Blog a couple days ago, I was wondering what you thought about RR's recruiting style. Do big time schools have these many scholarships? Did Lloyd ever do this? If the thing about Williams is true, and that RR is just waiting to see his other options, is it a little weasle-ly? And what do the recruits seem to think?
Thanks
With all the hype and attention around recruiting now, coaches have to recruit a different way than they use to, that's for sure. As far as the number of scholorships that are out there, I don't think it's unreasonable.
You have to make sure you have a backup plan, in case plan A doesn't work. Think of it this way, had we not offered Tate and Denard, and said Kevin Newsome and Shavodrick Beaver are our guys, we would be screwed.
With the Williams situation, I don't think they expected him to make such a quick decision. I don't think it's weasely (sp?) though either. He could have easily told Travis to commit, and brought in the band and balloons to celebrate. I think it would be worse if he let the kid commit, if he really wasn't the number one option. This way, if a Lo Wood, Cullen Christian, or Dior Mathis commits, the kid still has options and doesn't have to go through decommitting.
I'm sure it's probably hard to offer a kid, then ask him not to commit unless they miss out on someone else. This is the easier way. I think this is both to make sure he's solid, and to wait for others first.
If they use this universally for kids that aren't the number one option, then it looks good as far as their image. It says they're not worried, and they know they can compete with anybody.
So, to sum it up. I don't think having this many offers out there is unusual, unethical, or stupid. I think it's smart, and will make sure we atleast get something, rather than throwing all our eggs into one basket. It looks better than letting kids commit right away, then having a messy divorce from either side.
I think everyone needs to calm down about who's committing and who's not. We already have a great recruiting class, and we just finished with Spring ball. I am very impressed with what Rich Rodriguez has done here so far, with how little we've shown on the field. He'll get it done; I'm confident.
The Pryor saga that went on here is a prime example. You exhaust all your efforts after one kid and he goes some place else and what you're left with is Feagin. No knock on Feagin, I am just saying.
April 27th, 2009 at 10:28 PM ^
and it's good for the kid, because he gets great press that M wants him, so other programs may pay more attention. I feel like Graves did something like that.
Thanks, TOm
Ron Weasely do that.
I hope RR uses this "take your time and be sure" approach with everyone, including Sentreal Henderson. It is brilliant. The ultimate power in sales (which recruiting is) is "walkaway power." When you don't appear to need the sale is when you are strongest. As soon as you are desperate, the "customer" senses this and all sorts of bad visions dance in their heads and all the negative recruiting others have put on you seems more real.
I think we are fooling ourselves that he just says, "Hey, dude, go home and think about it." This would be my approach (I can't actually remember the number of decommitments).
"Travis, we are absolutely pumped about you wanting to play for the Wolverines. With your skills, you are a great fit and with out depth chart, you have a good shot to play early if you work hard. But the coaches and I had a problem last year: we had nine decommitments! Nine. What is a decommitment? We think it's when an athlete decides on a school too soon. Now that happens. To a degree, it's something we can live with. But not nine. Nine told us that we need to make sure that each kid we offer a scholarship to takes the time to think it through, talk with his family and be absolutely certain. We are asking every young man to be absolutely sure before he commits to the Michigan Wolverines. You have an offer that's not going anywhere. Give it a lot of thought over the next couple weeks and then decide."
OK, not Glengary Glen Ross, but you get the idea. Slow play everyone. You're not going to lose some stud because you take this approach. And you will attract a lot of kids that will be impressed.
It also avoids flaming hypocrisy, Tiller-style. If you treat nobody as committed until they stop acting interested in other schools, you don't have to look like a douchebag complaining about other schools poaching your recruits while you poach theirs.