M-Borg vs. THE Flavortown U Thread, Orig. by Buckeye Paul, absconded w/by talent.

[iam416]

Pending a few stray commits, Ohio State finishes up recruiting rated as follows:

Scout: #3 (Could drop a few points behind M if Diamond commits and Diggs goes elsewhere)
Rivals: #4 (chance to move up to #2 with Diggs)
247: #5 (would move up to #4 with Diggs)
ESPN: #6 (no clue how Diggs would affect that since I can't detect any set approach to the ratings nor can I tell when they were last updated.
CBS/Maxpreps: #3

Each of these services takes a bit of a different approach. Scout, Rivals and 247 are purely points based. Who knows what ESPN does, bu they apparently try to account for need/quality, etc. Not sure what Maxpreps does. Anyway, aggregating those results (using a 15 through 1 point system) you get:

1. Alabama (4) 74
2. Texas (1) 69
3(t). Florida 59
3(t). Ohio State 59
5. Florida State 52
6. Michigan 51
7. Stanford 40
8. Miami 38
9. Oklahoma 33
10. USC 24

Alabama and Texas are the near consensus top 2 classes. Ohio State and Florida seem to be be clearly the next 2 and with very similar classes -- I give the slight nod, for now, to Florida b/c they did it with 2 less commits. Then, FSU and M -- a pure matter of opinion -- FSU has less depth and less overall quality, but FSU has the best high end quality of any class, IMO. Stanford and Miami provide the identical situation, with Stanford loaded up on high end quality and Miami with lots of good players.

[iam416]

Interesting post from a guy at Decker's school who was involved in the recruiting:

Other things would be this............

MAC schools are just a mess for the most part. Coaches are always moving up on on from them, so it is understandable. When you get one who has his stuff together, you can bet he will not be at that school for very long. However, when our coach could not get certain MAC schools to offer Dacker during his junior year, then you REALLY have to wonder about some of them. Honestly, several MAC schools did not offer him after looking at his film.

If you are going to recruit kids, then you should show up to the school with a couple of things: a business card (don't write your name on a piece of torn paper and hand it to our coach), a DVD of your own so that we can mail it back to you when we burn it, and some actual literature on your school (like what majors you have and such that way you can at least pretend that academics are important).

A certain MAC school was mad that we had not listed them on Scout.com as one of the schools that offered him. They actually called and were mad at our coach for not doing it. Well, our coach had to point out to them that they had never offered Decker and that no one from their school had actually spoken with Decker to even offer him. They then said, "Oh, well then, let him know we would like to offer him and please be sure to list our school on his offer list". You then realize they just want their school's name on there for free publicity.

A certain MAC school came in to ask about our big offensive tackle. As our coach let them in, then they asked, by name, for our OTHER offensive tackle, not Decker. Somehow, in their database, they had the name of our RT. So, our head coach gave them the film they asked for................ that of our RT. That school did not offer and that coach wound up leaving anyways.

One former OSU coach was a pretty smart guy. He knew that sometimes coaches lied about how tall kids were. So he had, in the past, looked up how big a door frame had to be in a school. When the kid would enter the room, he could tell almost exactly how tall he was based on his comparison to the door frame. When Decker walked in, he said, "Yep, he is definitely 6'8".

I can tell you that the coaches at UC are tremendous and I think that was reflected in their recruiting class. Say what you want, but those guys are pretty darn good for a Big East school when it comes to recruiting. They did not land Decker, but they were not "out recruited". I would have no problem recommended them to any coach or player.

Tim Hinton is just a really great guy and Urban Meyer hit an absolute homerun by hiring him. Not one coach in Ohio will speak bad about the guy. We will see him real in a LOT of big time Ohio kids over the next several years.

The new OL coach is really good, but do not look for him to be here for a long period of time. He is a great recruiter and knows his stuff. He is OC material and probably head coaching material in the future.

It would also appear that Hoke botched M's chances with him -- though, tbh, I don't know how interested M ever was.

[SeattleLionsFan]

Re hoke botching deckers recruitment. How so?

[iam416]

Meh -- little thing...I guess he scheduled a meeting with Decker and his coach, but, for whatever reason, didn't show up and didn't call (apparently, totally forgot about it). I guess Decker (and some folks at the school) were excited about meeting Hoke (he liked M), and were really disappointed when he stood them up. So the story goes -- paraphrased, at least.

But that sort of turned Decker off M. And, like I said, I'm not sure how much M was interested. They have good OTs. And I guarantee you that Hoke wouldn't miss a meeting with someone like Kalis or Dunn.

So, TIFWIW.

[SeattleLionsFan]

Ouch. That's disappointing to hear, if true. Mistakes happen but that's disrespectful.

[iam416]

Eh, sometimes things fall through the cracks. Maybe it was his secretary's fault. I dunno. It's not he worst thing in the world, but it was enough to sour Decker on M. Thank god.

I tell you what, after 10 years of the Senator, I'm actually taken aback by how candid UFM is. Yesterday he couldn't emphasize the importance of Decker and Dodson enough while basically calling Tressel's OL recruiting total shit (which, to be fair, it was probably was). He also said the WRs didn't appear to be dynamic, noting they could prove him wrong, but he wants a gamebreaker -- and he doesn't see a Ginn or Holmes on this team. Shit, even a Gonzalez (IMO, he'll be pleasantly surprised with Devon Smith). And he was direct in saying they desperately needed LBs (even though they didn't lose anyone). Heh. He called his class "good, but not great" (wish we could have filled some more holes). He also said he doesn't believe in redshirting -- he doesn't recruit players he doesn't think can't play right away. Heh.

I heard more frank assessment of the team in that press conference than I did in 10 years of Coach Tressel (well, he's a fine young man, with some speed and we think he can contribute).

[iam416]

More from MSU on UFM -- this time, Dantonio:

They've got a new coach, and it's different," Dantonio said.

"I would say it's pretty unethical in the end."

Heh. You know, when UFM was hired, he honored very single mediocre verbal the prior staff had obtained. When Dantonio was hired at Cincinnati, he revoked all scholarships and started a "re-evaluation" process. Heh heh.

Anyway, it's really hilarious because it has to do with Pittman -- who was a Buckeye lock until Tressel left. I think it's patently obvious to anyone that once that situation was fixed, Pittman was going to be very much back in play. And, heh, according to Dantonio, it's "ethical" to force a kid to play where he doesn't want to. The upside for Dantonio is that it's an one-time occurence -- UFM will never have to poach a MSU again -- if UFM wants them, the won't even consider EL.

[Hannibal]

Jesus Christ -- if there is anybody who shouldn't be bitching about ethics...

Interesting that OSU was probably helping a little bit to steer their leftovers away from Michigan and to Michigan State. Lots of evidence that it's not going to happen anymore. As I said previously, I can't wait until 2014 timeframe, when things are back to normal on the field between UM and MSU.

[JRB]

Bret Bielema apparently had an issue with Urban Meyer's recruiting tactics, too.

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/02/01/wisconsins-bielema-questions-urban-meyers-recruiting/

[Hannibal]

Bielema might be a meathead, but you gotta give the guy credit for saying what needs to be said sometimes instead of taking the diplomatic coachspeak approach.

[iam416]

What I'd like to know is what "tactics" did he have an issue with? I'm sure I'll find out -- UFM will, almost certainly, gladly give his side of the story.

I mean, Dodson had passed on Wisky months ago. If it wasn't OSU, it would have been somewhere else (Lane-O and USC most likely). To quote Wisky's other jackass head coach, "Deal with it."

FFS, it's like these coaches of shitass 2nd tier B10 programs think they can hold a verbal they had no business getting in the first place because of some unwritten rule that you don't contact verbals and ask if they're interested.

I tell you what, though, I like this shit. He may not be able to do it this year, but soon enough UFM is going to have the squad to lay epic beatdowns on those assclowns, and the foot won't come off the pedal. WooOOoOOT!

[Optimus Prime]

Re: Decker

Sounds a bit Hokie to me but thanks for the heads up.

[DennisT]

Brooklyn Decker is a 10*

[iam416]

Jamal Berry given his release. Expected, but still sad to see him go. Ton of talent; hope he gets things straightened out.

[WM Wolverine]

He's never had his head on straight, you didn't expect he'd eventually straighten it in Columbus?