UM Football Recruiting - by WM Wolverine

[WM Wolverine]

He's always wanted to take visits, if you're taking visits (or really want to), you're not committed.

Not sure if I like Hoke's policy, other coaches I'm sure are talking to Crawford, telling him that if you were committed to my school, I wouldn't stop you from taking visits anywhere.

[Hannibal]

Not a shock at all, unfortunately.

[Rocky Bleier]

He's always wanted to take visits, if you're taking visits (or really want to), you're not committed.

Not sure if I like Hoke's policy, other coaches I'm sure are talking to Crawford, telling him that if you were committed to my school, I wouldn't stop you from taking visits anywhere.

I don't mind the policy. Don't "commit" unless you're certain. Recruits want all the advantages. They want a team to hold a spot for them until they're finished looking around. What's Hoke supposed to do, not take a kid's word as his bond and continue recruiting players at that position? I'd like an early signing period. If a recruit won't sign early, you know he isn't truly committed.

[WM Wolverine]

I'd like it pretty much identical to college basketball, signing period just before their senior year.

[lineygoblue]

I agree with an early signing period. There's no good reason for not having one. It works in other sports, and they need to do it in football too.

[WM Wolverine]

Offense
QB: Alex Malzone
RB: Damien Harris, Michael Weber
WR: Brian Cole, Auden Tate, Miles Boykin
TE: Chris Clark, Tyrone Wheatley Jr.
OL: Jon Runyan Jr.

Defense
DL: Darian Roseboro, Jashon Cornell
LB: Darrin Kirkland Jr., Asmar Bilal, Tyriq Thompson, Justin Hilliard
DB: Garrett Taylor, Tyree Kinnel & Shaun Crawford
K/P: Andrew David

Updated, not a lot of mutual interest to play on either side of M's line... There are a handful of recruits that sound very interested, they just need to visit campus.

[WM Wolverine]

I project a class size of 17, depending on attrition. Not sure what position Wheatley looks set for, not sure if Nussmeier sees a need for a 2nd TE in this class. I'm not sure they like him near as much as a DE... Chris Clark sounds like a future Wolverine with some competition from the Buckeyes. He was 'committed' to North Carolina for about 72 hours...

It's not going to be a top 20 class, it's going to be way too small and the elites are dropping off the board after M's lousy end to the '13 season. On field performance in '14 could help lure those guys interest back if M can win 10+.

[Hannibal]

Wheatley has a very impressive offer list.

[hack]

Seems like Crawford was the last of the really elite prospects in the class. This has got to be Hoke's make/break year.

[WM Wolverine]

Elite players want to play with each other...

Missing out on guys like Hand, McDowell, etc. hurt M with many players in this class as much as the shitty on-field performance. There are countless elites M was 'in' on that dropped off the radar after the bowls...

Campbell's, Harris' & Crawford's de-commitments hurt M in '14 and the coaches mostly have themselves to blame as the losses against Penn State, Iowa, Ohio and Nebraska were all very winnable.

[Rocky Bleier]

Penn State gamewas more than very winnable. It was literally kicked (not thrown) away.

[lineygoblue]

They need to get the recruiting pipeline refocused on signing tough players. Doesn't matter if they're a 2 star 3 star or 10 star. Just get players who are both tough and smart. That is what Michigan needs most of all.

Michigan football right now is just too soft. They are routinely manhandled in the trenches and you just can NOT win consistently by losing the battle in the trenches. Even our "high profile" guys that have signed recently are not tough guys. They have big names, big bodies and big reputations, but they play soft.

Until this problem is fixed, there will be no more Michigan teams challenging for the B1G title, the Rose Bowl or the MNC. It cannot happen until this team, and this program becomes tougher.

[WM Wolverine]

M needs defenders physically able to compete in the B10, play to their assignments and with great technique. The back seven looks like a potentially very good B10 defense to me, the line is where all of my worries are...

Last year Frank Clark was the best defensive lineman and he was an average DE by B10 standards. Hopefully the DL class from the '12 recruiting class (Wormley, Pipkins, Godin, Henry, Ojemudia, Stobel) is ready as no DL from '10 & '11 is left other than I think Clark & Beyer.

[WM Wolverine]

My concern is exactly the same for the offense, no talent recruited by RR in '10, '11 is still here and the coaching staff is left relying far too heavily on the class of '12 & '13 recruiting classes. I do like the talent on both lines but wish they had more 4th/5th year players playing next to them, more so the OL than the DL.

[lineygoblue]

Even if they had just one or two tough veterans on each side of the ball, I'd be more optimistic. But our young guys don't know how to play "Michigan football" because there is no one to set the example for them.