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

[WM Wolverine]

Yup, I was hoping M could have a strong '14 season to impress the '15 recruiting class. Doesn't look like they'll have that opportunity with most every elite recruit (they are or were in on) deciding before their senior season.

M's going to have a very small class regardless; M's best bet for 'elites' is stealing recruits who coaches gets fired or teams have an awful season.

[iam416]

M's going to have a very small class regardless; M's best bet for 'elites' is stealing recruits who coaches gets fired or teams have an awful season

And, sadly for M fans, I'd rate M as a top 3 candidate to be in the unenviable position. To be clear about my criteria -- has to be a school with good recruits signed up + a coach on the "warm" seat, at least. I think Hoke will go 9-3 and live to fight another day, but if he goes 7-5 he's in trouble.

Other schools that come to mind ahead of M are Georgia and Florida. I say those two because SEC schools, even schools that probably loathe the SEC West way of doing things, are more impatient than, say, M. I can't really think other schools that would have recruits worth pilfering that are in that position.

IMO, Richt, Muschamp and Hoke all do enough to keep their jobs.

Yup, I was hoping M could have a strong '14 season to impress the '15 recruiting class

I'm not sure how much good this would do. From what I've seen of recruiting, you don't typically get immediate feedback from big success. I guess there may be 1 or 2 recruits out there that have a good relationship with M, but don't trust the staff to win. I don't think Harris is one of those kids. Oddly enough, his "comfort and relationships" was with Gorgeous Borges. Nussmeier was playing catch up.

But, by and large you recruit kids for two and three years, building the relationship, selling them on the school and your program and getting them entirely comfortable with spending 3-4 years in your program. 10-2 or whatever in 2014 isn't going to do much for 2015 recruits, IMO.

Anyway:

Jashon Cornell, Justin Hilliard and Myles Boykin to announce on Wednesday. OSU, OSU, ND.

Jerome Baker to announce next Wednesday. OSU.

Damian Harris now making noise about committing early, and IMO there's only one school he will commit early to.

[WM Wolverine]

I generally agree but...

M already had a couple elites committed who aren't here anymore in Campbell & Harris. Crawford is pretty highly rated too... M football and recruiting had a ton of momentum last fall when they were 7-1 or whatever and ranked in the top 10 and appeared headed back to being a national contender. They were very much in on a lot of 'elite' prospects who've fallen off the radar due to M losing 5 of their last 6 (I think)...

Tons of top 150 recruits have de-committed and/or fallen off the board and lost interest in M; imo 7-6 has a ton to do with that. These same recruits were very interested in M when they were ranked in the top 10 before losing to Sparty, Nebraska, Iowa, Ohio, Kansas State in the last 6 games of the season.

[iam416]

Yeah, I think the way M looked -- not even the losses -- but the way they looked hurt.

Now, I think Campbell was never going to stick. I think Harris would have stuck if Borges didn't go. Crawford is probably the guy that was most affected. I really don't understand his decision, but it seems like the tipping point state of the program had something to do with it. And, IMO, he's a big-time recruit. Love his game. I'd feel much better about getting him than Campbell.

Anyway, Hoke and his staff do a really nice job of recruiting and building relationships. I definitely agree that it's becoming harder for him to sell the program based on the last two seasons. Their sales pitch is being undercut by results, and I definitely think that needs to change if they're going to continue to recruit well.

So, I'd agree that 2013 hurt a bit with the 2015 class. I don't think a good 2014 would have salvaged those kids. I think once they start looking elsewhere it's nearly impossible to bring them back. I do think a good 2014 will help with the 2016 class.

[WM Wolverine]

Crawford initially was as much or more interested in ND (allegedly), he had an 'odd' experience with an assistant coached (allegedly) who is no longer with ND; I never cared about the details so I never read the article. I think he might've preferred ND all along...

M lost momentum not just with those three de-commits but a handful of other top 100, 150 overall types in this class and will probably replace them with a bunch of plan B types like say Tyriq Thompson. Guys who decide late certainly can be swayed by on-field success but I'd certainly agree that there are a lot of other factors that go into it though M imo was doing very well in those other factors...

It seems more than ever, that recruits who initially who were quite interested in M as juniors, dropped M entirely.

[iam416]

Interesting about Crawford. Basically agree with everything else.

To understate things a bit, this is a big season for Hoke. I'm trying to think of current CFB HCs that didn't win in their first 3 years -- or rather, were comparable to Hoke -- and went on to long, successful careers. The coach that comes to mind, but who isn't active, is Mack Brown. He started off with 3 good seasons -- all 9 wins -- but 27-11 isn't great. He sort of kept building momentum, slowly.

I guess Mark Dantonio also comes to mind. Total mixed bag results with a bad 3rd season before finally hit his stride in his 4th year.

Anyway, yeah, Hoke needs to really make big strides this season.

[hack]

D'antonio fought an uphill battle though, whereas when you're the coach of Michigan it should be pretty much downhill all the way. There's so much you've got going for you to start.

I wonder if Hoke's fortunes are tied to who else is available. By now, Michigan has no appetite for a coaching search, but doesn't mind the press conference after it's a fait accompli. Like how the Borges>Nussmeier situation was handled. I bet if Hoke goes it's because a known candidate or another slam-dunk-no-objections kind of name has an agreement behind the scenes. Michigan seems unlikely to properly handle a weeks-long period without someone in the J. Ira-and-Nikki spot.

There's obviously an element of wishful thinking here, as we all know who I personally would want to see moved into the job. But I do wonder. Brandon isn't the type to leave himself exposed like that.

[lineygoblue]

Harbaugh ain't interested. It would be a sizable demotion for him to take the Michigan job, and a huge cut in pay. Nobody in their right mind would do it.

[hack]

Another shit year and it might not be that much of a pay cut. I won't give up. It's pretty close to the point where he's the only one who can save Michigan from itself. I don't know how much more pain it will take before they make him the highest-paid coach in college football but I just hope its sooner rather than later.

[Rocky Bleier]

I work with a guy who went to college with the 49ers GM, Trent Baalke . Both were athletes at Bemidji State. Not just went to school with him, but they're friends. He and his wife flew out to SF last year and sat with Baalke for the game. It's true. Anyway, he said Baalke can't stand Harbaugh. Harbaugh listens to no one. I'm not sure Jim Harbaugh would be very welcome in AA even if he wanted to come home.

[lineygoblue]

I have no doubt he'd be welcome. And I'd love the passion that he'd bring back to Michigan football not only among the players, but among the fans as well.

But, it ain't happening. I wish it WOULD happen, but its not.

[iam416]

I agree that M won't move on Hoke unless they have someone in the bag. I don't agree with notion that Harbaugh is the only answer. M remains an elite job that can attract most big names, assuming, and perhaps this is the rub, M is ready to pay.

Harbaugh is the holy grail, but I think M could competently come up with very viable alternatives. I guess, again, the use of the word competently is the rub.

[Rocky Bleier]

I have no doubt he'd be welcome. And I'd love the passion that he'd bring back to Michigan football not only among the players, but among the fans as well.

But, it ain't happening. I wish it WOULD happen, but its not.

Nah, Harbaugh's an ass, and the Regents in AA wouldn't want him to be the face of the program. They're very image conscious. It would take a 2-10 season and average attendance to dip below 75,000 for them to give in. Besides, Jimmy's big time now. He'd never lower himself to come back down to the colleg level.

[Hannibal]

The fans wouldn't give a fuck. I think that the regents would get over it too.

[hack]

Harbaugh would be far from the only asshole in the mix if he came here. The key is how he represents the university.