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

[THE_WIZARD_]

Why are you posting Oregon St. Assistant Coach Riley?

[iam416]

This is from Bill Greene (IMO, best recruiting "insider" out there):

RASHEED WALKER: I think Ohio State made a late push and fought the great fight, but I believe James Franklin and Penn State are winning this one. And Franklin and Penn State are really the only Big Ten school that can go toe-to-toe with Meyer on the recruiting trail and win big battles. I don't see Michigan, Michigan State or Wisconsin beating them more than one out of ten, but Franklin can win these big ones. If he signs with Ohio State tomorrow would I be shocked? No, but I would be pretty surprised.

He's usually fairly spot on with his takes. He has, of course, been dead wrong, too -- Jackson Carman, most recently -- but his macro takes are almost always really good.

The bolded language ought to concern M fans. I'm not sure I agree, but I definitely do think that PSU poses a bigger problem for UFM than anyone else when it comes to recruiting a kid with no particular presets -- like Walker -- a kid from Maryland.

[iam416]

Last year Ohio State signed 11 top 80 kids (1 has since departed to be closer to his ill mama or some such thing).

This year, Ohio State will sign 12 top 80 kids (counting NPF; not counting Walker). That does not include Antwuan Jackson.

Finally, for the 2017-18 recruiting cycle, Ohio State will sign 12 kids ranked higher than any kid M has signs.

[Jeff Buchanan]

.....The bolded language ought to concern M fans. .....

Count me as moderately concerned as it appeared M couldn't close on a couple of very important 2017 offensive recruits then demonstrated by their on-field performance early in the 2017 season that they couldn't develop what they had.

I got very concerned after losses to MSU, a blow-out loss to PSU and then losses to osu and Usc in the bowl game.

While recruiting IS a concern and a big one in my mind, equally concerning is the inability to both develop players and forge a team identity.

[iam416]

I think that's right. M's biggest fish to fry, so to speak, is getting their offense where it needs to be.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Meanwhile Frosty has elevated UNL's class from the doldrums up to as high as #24 by some experts...

Fear the Frost.

[iam416]

If Frosty can land 3 or 4 more players today he can get UNL ahead of M.

[Hannibal]

Interesting. I didn't know that. This from a coach who came to us with the reputation of seeking out every little competitive edge he could. Something could very well be seriously wrong here. It just doesn't add up. Curse of Bobby Lane is in this case the Curse of Ryan Mallet? Or something like that. It's astonishing how many ways Michigan has found to lose since whenever you want to draw the line. Lloyd's ways differed from RR's, and then Hoke has his own version and Harbaugh may be forging new paths to futility. And it all happened under three different ADs and university presidents. Maybe the massive institutional hubris in Ann Arbor is too much to overcome.

Then again, at other times, it's a wonderfully coached team that just falls short for reasons beyond his control. He took a team into Columbus in 2016 and won the game, really. He had no business being up 14-0 in this year's version, or being in the game until the end vs Wisconsin.

The 2016 season was an unconditional failure that has lasting repurcussions.

In the meantime, I think that something has happened to Harbaugh on a personal level. If the news came out tomrrow that Harbaugh has developed a big drinking problem or a prescription drug habit, it wouldn't shock me in the least. His coaching and judgement over the past year has been uncharacteristically Hoke-like. He has looked checked out to me and it looked like he had no clue what he was doing last year. I can't believe that a team that has not won a championship since 2004 and has only beaten OSU once since that year has developed any complacency. It's appalling and the blame rests squarely on the guy on top. How could Harbaugh let that happen. Whatever happened to the jackhammer who would want to kick your ass in a game of backyard Nerf football? Where is the guy who ran up the score on Pete Carroll?

[iam416]

Uh oh, "The" Wizard -- it looks like M is going to lose their highest rated recruit. Frosty may actually pass HARBAUGH!!!! Should be really close!

[Jeff Buchanan]

Correct.

I posted in the Team thread (and you responded) to this same sense of a Michigan football team without an offense that is at all frightening and I think that characterization is being nice.

Much like M's offenses under Hoke with Al Borges and latter with Doug Nussmeier, it never had a solid identity, that issue has persisted under Harbaugh. That is entirely unexpected given JH's strong personality and his history everywhere he has been. I have no idea why that is so ..... we just have these snippets of evidence that, as Hack put is, things are just not right.

The Enos and Warinner things, right after everyone thought Drevno and Hamilton were going to get replaced is an example. We know both interviewed and may or may not have actually been offered but as far as I know, neither of them are on M's staff as of today. All of this is very puzzling.

Now we have the keystone players in forging an offensive identity, Drevno and Hamilton, still on the staff and McElwain and now this guy from FCS San Diego rumored as being hired as analysts. I can't make sense of it .... at all.

To me, unless this is going to develop into some sort of brain trust that's going to come up with a wizz-bang offense for whoever is going to QB it, it looks like chaos on the offensive side of the ball. Beyond that, it seems to me that regardless of what is in the mind of JH or his evolving brain trust, the problem is translating all these great ideas into a frightening offense. I have grave doubts the current coaching staff, pretty much the same as it was in 2017 with respect to keystone players, is going to do that.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Soon we will be saying FROST!!! instead of HARBAUGH!!!

[THE_WIZARD_]

...it would be appropriate Talent...since last nite we passed M in the B1G B-ball standings as well...

[iam416]

Ouch. Looky at The Wizard bouncing his shriveled sac all over dem Wolverine chins!

[THE_WIZARD_]

Well we will get our comeuppance on 9/22/18 in AA...oh the horror...

...what is the over/under on signs that day referencing "The Kick"...and "The Plea"???

[iam416]

Now it's being reported that Schiano will stay in Columbus. Woot! First, he's a good DC. Second, he's a good recruiter. Third, I'd very much like to ease Grinch into OSU with a year working with Schiano.

He'll definitely bolt at some point, but it'd be huge coup (IMO) to keep him for another year. Especially after losing Coombs.