UM Football Recruiting - by WM Wolverine

[Chuck Mallory]

Does he really seem good? This year's incredible shrinking OL, despite those guys having time in the system, makes me wonder.

As for this years OL, lets just say you cant teach old dogs new tricks. Funk is a fine OL coach. Hack, what do you know about coaching or playing OL?

[hack]

there isn't anyone in the secondary, other than Thomas, that I look at and think, wow, that's a good pull.

That very well could be. Two of those corners they spotted very early in Conley and Stribling, so who knows? Any idea if they are still recruiting Conley? I'd be surprised, as it seems they burned bridges with him, but as a rule they should be just in case.

Like with other skill positions tho, it's just too early to tell. Richardson not getting on the field much this year was a disappointment given that Floyd didn't build on some improvement last year, Countess went down, and nobody is interested in Avery. Room for a four-star CB to step up there. Or maybe Richardson is a needs-time type. I don't know.

[Da Geezer]

I've been critical of Borges and of Fred Jackson. We have all been clear about the seeming lack of ability to close the deal on skill position players (which indirectly cost us the .Nebraska game this year)

One thing that Hoke and company have done well is identify talent. How many in this forum thought Funchess (3*) would be the standout freshman? Conley was identified early on, and so was Treadwell. Stribling. Now we get Dawson. To quote Talent "meh". but he is 4.4 and reasonably tall. We also take a three star offensive lineman "meh again" who has almost the exact profile as Ben Braden. We get Cass Tech's second best DB, but his coach says that the kid is the best athlete in MI this year.

Hey, give me the five stars any day. but if I can't get them, then the ability to identify talent, and to project what a player might be two years from now, is a pretty good quality for any coach to have.

[Chuck Mallory]

Thats what I thought hack, you don't know a damn thing about teaching/coaching/playing on the offensive line. Yet you wanna criticize a position coach because the line wasn't up to your standards. Maybe, just maybe a few of this years linemen were really just not that good.

[whodean]

I find it very hard to be critical of Coach Hoke's recruiting, the 2012 and 2013 classes look excellent at this early stage, maybe the best M has ever had back to back.

[lineygoblue]

Geezer ... Braylon Edwards was a 3* coming out of HS. Mike Hart was a 3* for a long time, but was finally rated a 4* just before he graduated.

Sometimes the ratings mean nothing. Look at what Pat Fitzgerald has done at NW. He rarely gets 5* commits, but yet he has the Wildcats playing good ball year after year. I doubt that he'll challenge for a MNC anytime soon, but he knows how to get the most out of what he has.

[iam416]

Any idea if they are still recruiting Conley?

I doubt it. It wouldn't matter.

Hey, give me the five stars any day. but if I can't get them, then the ability to identify talent, and to project what a player might be two years from now, is a pretty good quality for any coach to have.

Yep. Unfortunately, Hoke is bound by those decisions, by and large, so he better get them right. Unlike, say, The Nick, who shrewdly removes failed 3* gambles from the roster (and most other kids who won't ever make the two-deep).

[Rocky Bleier]

I don't think that "shrewdly" is the word I would use.

[hack]

Probably not. Still, they should be.

To what extent, re Saban? I mean, past the second string is it all frosh and RS frosh?

[Rocky Bleier]

Are we all coaches in here?

[iam416]

I haven't actually broken down the roster, Hack.

Saban signs an extra class worth of players every 5 years as compared to OSU, M and anyother B10 teams. A big class -- 25 to 30. Those extra spots aren't coming from "stashed JUCO kids" -- The Nick doesn't need to mess with that. The extra spots come from kids leaving the program. Every year, Alabama has 5-6 more players leave the program than OSU or M.

[hack]

I get that. I just wonder to what extent. I mean, is he ever risking that if there are two injuries at one spot he's relying on an unproven kid? I doubt it but just asking.

[DennisT]

We have all been clear about the seeming lack of ability to close the deal on skill position players (which indirectly cost us the .Nebraska game this year)

Not all of us. I'm patiently waiting for the trenches to rebuilt first. I understand why elite skill guys might want to wait. And even at that, Shane is coming and possibly Green is as well.

[Hannibal]

I think building the offensive line was, by far and away, job #1 for Hoke.

While that is true, there is such a thing as having too many guys in a two year period, and if we take commit #7 this year, it looks like we have passed that number. Unless there is an impending decommit that we don't know about.

If our roster is overpacked with guys this year, will we be able to get any commits next year? When it comes to offensive linemen, I'd rather have a steady stream than a boom/bust cycle.

Corner recruiting hasn't been the best in the country, but it has still been pretty good -- as far as the combination of star ratings and competing schools goes. Lack of playmakers on offense is a big problem still.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Arguments are coalescing ..... I can see both sides.

I don't think you need to be a coach to make rational, reasonably well informed observations about what happens on a given play or in the game overall. Wins and losses are a pret good predictor of the effectiveness of any coaching staff.

Sports blogs, the good ones, have given incredible insight to the fan. I'm sure coaches hate it. Screw them. They are getting paid a ton, some of them millions or close to it, to produce wins. If you are a student of the game, take in responsible post game analysis available to any one with an Internet connection, you can come to reasonable conclusions about a coaching staff's competence.

OTH, there is great potential for making judgments based on only some of the facts. We don't know what the coaches know ..... About injuries, about what might have happened in another part of the play that is out of the view of the TV cameras, etc. so, to be fair, those who have been critical can rightly be told to STFU.

The performance of the OL, if the productivity of the running game (minus Denard who made his own big runs more than he ran to the hole of a well blocked play) was poor. We know this just from simple observation. With the help of blogs like mgogblog, we pretty much know WHO on the OL screwed up or if the defense got the better of the play call because it was a bad one.

I have no interest on ragging on a player. None. I do think it is fair to hold the coaches to a high standard and when bad things happen, I tend to turn to the coach and ask why? You won't get an answer from them because they don't owe us one but you can surmise based on the information that is available. Fair or not, that's the way it is in the current Information Age among avid fans who then bounce there views off each other at places like this.