I wouldn't say I have disdain as much as I wanted to shine a different light on the story that illuminated the facts. What happened here? Iowa spent a lot of time and money to recruit Karan and he was the star of their class - they didn't recruit any other rb because they had his "committment" - now you can say shame on them for that. Then at the last minute this assistant high school football coach does all the work for Michigan - even gets him on the plane and makes sure he has a place to stay if he gets snowed in - and bang! Michigan gets a 4-star running back dropped on their porch with basically no time or money spent and everyone on BTN talks about how great a recruiter Harbaugh is. I guess that's the "Power of Michigan" you were talking about, huh?
Meanwhile Iowa, who you claim "did a great job with him", at the end of the day gets screwed. I love the line in your last post, "The schools will fill voids and make due." Really? Are you serious? Iowa filled the sudden void by rushing to sign a rb recruit that no one had ever heard of - the kid didn't even have a rating by any service. What if your alma mater FSU had lost the recruiting battle for Jameis Winston, do you think the Seminoles would have just "filled the void and made due" and won the national title last year?
I guess it doesn't really matter to me, I certainly have no love for Iowa, although I do respect Ferentz and think he's a class act. Everyone knows he's clearly on the hot seat and you yourself wrote that this move hurts them. But what do you care, you got your boy to "bring some juice to our football program", right?
Yeah, that's a great story...if you're a Michigan fan. I love how our coach here is trying to come off so innocent and impartial in relaying his tale on MGoBlog. I also got a good laugh out of some of the other posts calling Iowa sour grapes. I'm no Iowa fan but I'm all about Big Ten sports and BlackHeartGoldPants is one of the best sites in the entire conference. In the article from BHGP, which some posters on here referenced, they state:
"At the end of the day, it's awfully difficult for a staff 1,350 miles away from the player's high school to outwork a fanboy coachwith an agenda embedded at the player's side. Make no mistake about it: That's the story here. Higdon had been completely committed to Iowa until five days ago, remained committed to Iowa despite everything his coach was telling these guys, then suddenly changed his mind in quite literally the final minutes with this guy in his ear."
Are they really off base? According to our coaches story they are, but let's take a look at some of his comments.
"I simply asked him, if he would be interested if Michigan would take another look. He told me yes and I said that I would resend his recruiting profile to the football office as I had done 3 times over the past 2 years. I told him that I would catch up and we went our separate ways. On the drive home i thought about our new staff at Michigan and the recruiting situation. "
Our new staff? Sounds pretty impartial, huh? Also seems like the young man wasn't even thinking Michigan until his coach brought them up. If our coach didn't have an agenda why did he only mention Michigan and offer to send the recruiting profile there? Why not some other Big Ten schools like MSU, OSU, or Wisconsin? They've been a lot more successful than Michigan lately and all run the ball well. Heck, I'm sure Indiana would have loved to offer this young man since they're losing Coleman.
"I woke up at 830am the next morning, which is odd because I work midnights, coinciding with my day coaching schedule. I immediately called the Michigan football office and spoke with a secretary. I told her that there was a running back in Sarasota that may be worth a late look and she advised me to send and email with his profile. I sent his recruit profile and his HUDL highlights. "
That is odd that if you weren't a 'fanboy coach with an agenda' that you would wake up so early, like about the time the Michigan football offices opened, to give them an immediate call and tell them that there was a running back (who had been committed to another Big Ten program for months) that may be worth a late look. Sounds like pretty impartial behavior.
"On the way back we talked about the situation. I told him that both schools were good options and that Iowa was a place where he would certainly see that field faster. I owed him that honesty. I told him that Iowa was a solid school and put out solid NFL talent. They had done things right and there was simply nothing negative for me as a coach to say about them. Michigan is just Michigan. I told him about what it was like to be there on gameday and about some of the tradition. i told him abou the greatest rivalry in all of sports. I told him that a Michigan education was a life decision and not a 3-4 year decision. I also told him that Iowa could present a tremendous opportunity for him as a student athlete as well. I kept things as nuetral as possible to not taint the situation."
Coach wrote, "I kept things as neutral as possible to not taint the situation". Ha, really? Something about your "Michigan is just Michigan" line makes it hard for me to believe you kept things "neutral". Why was Karan in your vehicle having this conversation in the first place? Because you're the one who called the Michigan football office, you're the one who was "in his corner" encouraging him to go see Michigan, and because you're the one (not his parent) who was actually driving him around in a mad dash to make a flight to go on an official visit to Michigan. I'm sure your telling him your opinion about the game day experience in Ann Arbor was pretty unenthusiastic. Yep, sounds pretty neutral.
"The last "snaffu" in relation to the flight was the fact that we were looking at a possbility of Karan getting snowed in until Monday. The Michigan staff could have no contact with him after the dead period and this meant that Karan may be stranded without shelter or food. That was was quickly remedied with a phone call with some loving relatives of mine and they offered to put him up for a night in an emergency situation. My entire family is from the Ann Arbor/ Detroit area and this "snaffu" just happened to meet its match. "
I love this part of the story. How accommodating of our coach, offering to put the young man up with his extended family so that there were no "snaffus" in our coach’sKaran’s plans to see Michigan. You just have to wonder if coach's entire family was from the Lansing, Columbus, Madison, or Iowa City area if Karan would be a Michigan commit today. Hmm...
"I also looked up the stats academically on Michigan and Iowa. No bias.....just raw stats. Like Iowa having an 86% freshmen retention rate for instance. Like Iowa putting out 22 current NFL players and Coach Ferentz having won COY in the B1G 3 times. I put the enrollment data on the table....college town populations. Numerous data points free of bias.
I presented the facts to her on Monday. At the end I told her that Michigan was a special place and had a lot to offer. "
Here we see coach trying to show that he was impartial throughout this whole process. We're not sure if he presented the fact that Iowa has more current players in the NFL than Michigan or not. But, in the end, coach just can't help himself - he had to tell mom that Michigan was a special place. Good idea to get momma on the Michigan side, coach - sounds like something a recruiter would do.
"I told her that in case of an emergency selection of Maize and Blue that I would have no problem lending out a few t shirts. "
I bet you did, coach, I bet you did.
"I told him that he couldn't go wrong with either choice and to pray on it and go with his heart. My mission in this whole ordeal was to provide as many quality opportunites to Karan as possible. The Michigan opportunity is one that came up ironically just in time and I made sure that he knew about what Michigan means. I made sure that he knew what the brand meant and the magnitude of the opportunity. I owed it to him to be honest about Michigan. "
To provide as many quality opportunities to Karan as possible, huh? Which is why you only sent his recruting portfolio to Michigan, right? The fact that you contacted the Michigan football office and sent them his recruiting information at the last minute does not really support your claim that the Michigan opportunity came up "ironically", does it? Also, your line, "I made sure that he knew what the brand meant and the magnitude of the opportunity" doesn't exactly wreak of neutrality, it just kind of reeks.
"There were chants of Go Blue and an electricity in the air. If you were ignorant to it prior to, you would understand in that moment the Power of Michigan. Pictures were taken and interviews were conducted. The weight had been lifted an it felt amazing as a coach to see a young man make a tough decision and make the right one. Michigan is a truly elite opportunity that you cannot pass up. It's a "Life Decision". "Karan IS coming to "Play School" and he is also coming to bring some "Juice" to our football program. Michigan was a challenge for him and one that he couldn't live without excepting. I can't wait to see this young man grow and mature as a student-athlete in one of the greatest atheltic and academic enviornments in the world. He is going to make fans of many of you. You don't know it yet but just wait on it. This kid was built to be a Wolverine. "
This pretty much sums it up. After reading this last part, written by our coach himself, how can you deny that BHGP got it right when they wrote that Iowa was up against a "fanboy coach with an agenda". How can you not understand that Ferentz would be very upset with this guy? Do you have any idea how much time and money these programs invest in recruiting these young men? These players are the lifeblood of their programs, and potentially their futures. Karan was the highest-rated recruit in Iowa's entire class, it's not like he was just one of several blue-chippers in Ohio State's class, and he had been committed for months. Then at the last minute this assistant high school coach who loves Michigan meddles in the young man's recruitment which ultimately results in him flipping. If that would have happened to MSU I would hope that Dantonio would have had this coach investigated for tampering and maybe gotten him banned from coaching all together. I doubt Ferentz will do that because he's getting senile. I'm not naive about these things and realize this stuff happens but for this coach to then go on MGoBlog, tell the story, and try to convince you that he was impartial is a joke. Something tells me that you Michigan fans wouldn't think this was such a "great and awesome story" if the script was flipped and it was your ox being gored.
I look forward to watching Sparty beat up on you guys again next fall.
Recent Comments
I wouldn't say I have disdain as much as I wanted to shine a different light on the story that illuminated the facts. What happened here? Iowa spent a lot of time and money to recruit Karan and he was the star of their class - they didn't recruit any other rb because they had his "committment" - now you can say shame on them for that. Then at the last minute this assistant high school football coach does all the work for Michigan - even gets him on the plane and makes sure he has a place to stay if he gets snowed in - and bang! Michigan gets a 4-star running back dropped on their porch with basically no time or money spent and everyone on BTN talks about how great a recruiter Harbaugh is. I guess that's the "Power of Michigan" you were talking about, huh?
Meanwhile Iowa, who you claim "did a great job with him", at the end of the day gets screwed. I love the line in your last post, "The schools will fill voids and make due." Really? Are you serious? Iowa filled the sudden void by rushing to sign a rb recruit that no one had ever heard of - the kid didn't even have a rating by any service. What if your alma mater FSU had lost the recruiting battle for Jameis Winston, do you think the Seminoles would have just "filled the void and made due" and won the national title last year?
I guess it doesn't really matter to me, I certainly have no love for Iowa, although I do respect Ferentz and think he's a class act. Everyone knows he's clearly on the hot seat and you yourself wrote that this move hurts them. But what do you care, you got your boy to "bring some juice to our football program", right?
Yeah, that's a great story...if you're a Michigan fan. I love how our coach here is trying to come off so innocent and impartial in relaying his tale on MGoBlog. I also got a good laugh out of some of the other posts calling Iowa sour grapes. I'm no Iowa fan but I'm all about Big Ten sports and BlackHeartGoldPants is one of the best sites in the entire conference. In the article from BHGP, which some posters on here referenced, they state:
"At the end of the day, it's awfully difficult for a staff 1,350 miles away from the player's high school to outwork a fanboy coach with an agenda embedded at the player's side. Make no mistake about it: That's the story here. Higdon had been completely committed to Iowa until five days ago, remained committed to Iowa despite everything his coach was telling these guys, then suddenly changed his mind in quite literally the final minutes with this guy in his ear."
Are they really off base? According to our coaches story they are, but let's take a look at some of his comments.
"I simply asked him, if he would be interested if Michigan would take another look. He told me yes and I said that I would resend his recruiting profile to the football office as I had done 3 times over the past 2 years. I told him that I would catch up and we went our separate ways. On the drive home i thought about our new staff at Michigan and the recruiting situation. "
Our new staff? Sounds pretty impartial, huh? Also seems like the young man wasn't even thinking Michigan until his coach brought them up. If our coach didn't have an agenda why did he only mention Michigan and offer to send the recruiting profile there? Why not some other Big Ten schools like MSU, OSU, or Wisconsin? They've been a lot more successful than Michigan lately and all run the ball well. Heck, I'm sure Indiana would have loved to offer this young man since they're losing Coleman.
"I woke up at 830am the next morning, which is odd because I work midnights, coinciding with my day coaching schedule. I immediately called the Michigan football office and spoke with a secretary. I told her that there was a running back in Sarasota that may be worth a late look and she advised me to send and email with his profile. I sent his recruit profile and his HUDL highlights. "
That is odd that if you weren't a 'fanboy coach with an agenda' that you would wake up so early, like about the time the Michigan football offices opened, to give them an immediate call and tell them that there was a running back (who had been committed to another Big Ten program for months) that may be worth a late look. Sounds like pretty impartial behavior.
"On the way back we talked about the situation. I told him that both schools were good options and that Iowa was a place where he would certainly see that field faster. I owed him that honesty. I told him that Iowa was a solid school and put out solid NFL talent. They had done things right and there was simply nothing negative for me as a coach to say about them. Michigan is just Michigan. I told him about what it was like to be there on gameday and about some of the tradition. i told him abou the greatest rivalry in all of sports. I told him that a Michigan education was a life decision and not a 3-4 year decision. I also told him that Iowa could present a tremendous opportunity for him as a student athlete as well. I kept things as nuetral as possible to not taint the situation."
Coach wrote, "I kept things as neutral as possible to not taint the situation". Ha, really? Something about your "Michigan is just Michigan" line makes it hard for me to believe you kept things "neutral". Why was Karan in your vehicle having this conversation in the first place? Because you're the one who called the Michigan football office, you're the one who was "in his corner" encouraging him to go see Michigan, and because you're the one (not his parent) who was actually driving him around in a mad dash to make a flight to go on an official visit to Michigan. I'm sure your telling him your opinion about the game day experience in Ann Arbor was pretty unenthusiastic. Yep, sounds pretty neutral.
"The last "snaffu" in relation to the flight was the fact that we were looking at a possbility of Karan getting snowed in until Monday. The Michigan staff could have no contact with him after the dead period and this meant that Karan may be stranded without shelter or food. That was was quickly remedied with a phone call with some loving relatives of mine and they offered to put him up for a night in an emergency situation. My entire family is from the Ann Arbor/ Detroit area and this "snaffu" just happened to meet its match. "
I love this part of the story. How accommodating of our coach, offering to put the young man up with his extended family so that there were no "snaffus" in
our coach’sKaran’s plans to see Michigan. You just have to wonder if coach's entire family was from the Lansing, Columbus, Madison, or Iowa City area if Karan would be a Michigan commit today. Hmm..."I also looked up the stats academically on Michigan and Iowa. No bias.....just raw stats. Like Iowa having an 86% freshmen retention rate for instance. Like Iowa putting out 22 current NFL players and Coach Ferentz having won COY in the B1G 3 times. I put the enrollment data on the table....college town populations. Numerous data points free of bias.
I presented the facts to her on Monday. At the end I told her that Michigan was a special place and had a lot to offer. "
Here we see coach trying to show that he was impartial throughout this whole process. We're not sure if he presented the fact that Iowa has more current players in the NFL than Michigan or not. But, in the end, coach just can't help himself - he had to tell mom that Michigan was a special place. Good idea to get momma on the Michigan side, coach - sounds like something a recruiter would do.
"I told her that in case of an emergency selection of Maize and Blue that I would have no problem lending out a few t shirts. "
I bet you did, coach, I bet you did.
"I told him that he couldn't go wrong with either choice and to pray on it and go with his heart. My mission in this whole ordeal was to provide as many quality opportunites to Karan as possible. The Michigan opportunity is one that came up ironically just in time and I made sure that he knew about what Michigan means. I made sure that he knew what the brand meant and the magnitude of the opportunity. I owed it to him to be honest about Michigan. "
To provide as many quality opportunities to Karan as possible, huh? Which is why you only sent his recruting portfolio to Michigan, right? The fact that you contacted the Michigan football office and sent them his recruiting information at the last minute does not really support your claim that the Michigan opportunity came up "ironically", does it? Also, your line, "I made sure that he knew what the brand meant and the magnitude of the opportunity" doesn't exactly wreak of neutrality, it just kind of reeks.
"There were chants of Go Blue and an electricity in the air. If you were ignorant to it prior to, you would understand in that moment the Power of Michigan. Pictures were taken and interviews were conducted. The weight had been lifted an it felt amazing as a coach to see a young man make a tough decision and make the right one. Michigan is a truly elite opportunity that you cannot pass up. It's a "Life Decision". "Karan IS coming to "Play School" and he is also coming to bring some "Juice" to our football program. Michigan was a challenge for him and one that he couldn't live without excepting. I can't wait to see this young man grow and mature as a student-athlete in one of the greatest atheltic and academic enviornments in the world. He is going to make fans of many of you. You don't know it yet but just wait on it. This kid was built to be a Wolverine. "
This pretty much sums it up. After reading this last part, written by our coach himself, how can you deny that BHGP got it right when they wrote that Iowa was up against a "fanboy coach with an agenda". How can you not understand that Ferentz would be very upset with this guy? Do you have any idea how much time and money these programs invest in recruiting these young men? These players are the lifeblood of their programs, and potentially their futures. Karan was the highest-rated recruit in Iowa's entire class, it's not like he was just one of several blue-chippers in Ohio State's class, and he had been committed for months. Then at the last minute this assistant high school coach who loves Michigan meddles in the young man's recruitment which ultimately results in him flipping. If that would have happened to MSU I would hope that Dantonio would have had this coach investigated for tampering and maybe gotten him banned from coaching all together. I doubt Ferentz will do that because he's getting senile. I'm not naive about these things and realize this stuff happens but for this coach to then go on MGoBlog, tell the story, and try to convince you that he was impartial is a joke. Something tells me that you Michigan fans wouldn't think this was such a "great and awesome story" if the script was flipped and it was your ox being gored.
I look forward to watching Sparty beat up on you guys again next fall.