UM Football Recruiting - by WM Wolverine

[hack]

Within the Fort there may be an awareness that toughness is a good thing to have.

[Optimus Prime]

What about temperance & fortitude , in addition to being a snappy dresser....surely these things are good to have too?

[Rocky Bleier]

Ty Isaac visiting on Tuesday. I doubt we'll get him since he'd have to sit a year. Shame because Mike Weber probably goes to MSU and Damien Harris has fallen under the spell of Urban the Snake.

[hack]

It should be noted amongst those whose opinion counts more than mine that MSU is suddenly a more attractive destination than UM for Michigan kids. Michigan had better fix this fast. I don't know if 9-3 is good enough.

[Jeff Buchanan]

It's not.

M has way bigger problems.

See my several posts trying my best to elucidate them.

[hack]

At this point, your opinion is not unfamiliar to me.

And, of course, I think you're right.

[WM Wolverine]

Winning cures most everything...

A year ago Sparty was very much in turmoil coming off a 7-6 season, Dantonio was on the hot seat, Sparty had an atrocious offense and Narduzzi was just a very good college DC, not one of the best in the nation...

M needs to turn the tide in the Sparty rivalry, M needs to win that game and 10+ games a season. If and when M is capable of doing so, these kids won't be near as enamored with Sparty. M's success directly hurts Sparty's opportunity for success.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Agree with that ..... but do you really think the current coaching staff is capable of engineering consistent 10 win seasons? I don't.

So, that takes you back to the question of what kind of culture does a university from the Power 5 Conferences need to develop and cultivate to merge great academics with great football?

IMO, it takes a group of academicians at the top who recognize the value of athletics, esp. football and basketball, to advancing the stature of the U. That kind of coupling is just not present at Michigan right now. Those guys got lucky with Jon Beilein ..... Brandon inherited that luck. Hoke, to me, does not seem like the kind of football coach who can win games or recruit elite athletes. Second it takes a strong fan base. But Brandon has made such a mess of his mission of cultivating a fan base, choosing instead to screw it for short term gain. The rabid fan base like SEC programs have that sustain their football programs even when they falter just isn't present. M fans are fickle. You screw with them and they'll walk away finding other ways to spend their dollars.

Given that reality, it would take a massive change in the guiding principles of the deciders above Hoke, to first, care about that reality and second to do something about it.

[iam416]

Coach Hoke is going to end up with the most impressive list of decommits in recent memory. I really can't believe they lost Crawford. That one will hurt.

[Hannibal]

I don't remember there being any turmoil at Sparty going into last year or Dantonio being on the hot seat at all.

[Hannibal]

The next coach is going to experience a massive dropoff in talent after the 2016 or maybe the 2017 season. It's going to be like the 2013 season.

[Rocky Bleier]

"I don't remember there being any turmoil at Sparty going into last year or Dantonio being on the hot seat at all."

Me neither. The 7-6 season was capped off by a last second bowl win against TCU. I believe it was MSU's first bowl win in a while. All we heard at the beginning of last season was that their offense was terrible. Then the offense improved and they went on a run to the conference championship and a Rose Bowl victory. Suddenly, the fickle media is all over them as an elite program.

[hack]

What matters to me is not media but that in-state kids are more likely to believe in MSU as an elite program than UM.


IMO, it takes a group of academicians at the top who recognize the value of athletics, esp. football and basketball, to advancing the stature of the U. That kind of coupling is just not present at Michigan right now. Those guys got lucky with Jon Beilein ..... Brandon inherited that luck.

Value it as well as leave it alone to be itself. That's what Beilein gets -- the space to operate, without all the politics and cronyism and baggage of the football program. No need to call that luck. Bill Martin's coaching search was free of that politics and baggage, and look what we got.

What the football program needs is a coach who is not only excellent with the Xs and Os, but to understand that the Fort metaphor applies mostly to all that politics and baggage, instead of misapplying it to sideline reporters. The deal here has to be ``we won't embarrass the school and in exchange you all stay the hell away until game day''.

[hodgkal]

More idle thoughts: I think Hoke is a decent guy but definitely not a championship caliber FB coach. When he was hired I looked at his resume' and it struck me immediately that he never really won a true championship anywhere. He had a slightly better than mediocre record at SDSU, and might have shared one title during his tenure, but never an undisputed champion. So we all agree most of the fault here lies with Brandon. And thinking of Brandon, did anyone check his record at Dominoes before bringing him in?

It reminds me of how an NFL team handles a first round draft pick, esp. a #1 pick like the Lions had a few years back when they desperately needed a QB. When they chose Matthew Stafford I checked his resume' and noticed he also never won a championship. Pretty good at Georgia but not at a level that justified the #1 pick in the whole draft! Does this mean anything? I think it does. There is something intangible about being able to go all the way to the top in a competitive sport and doing it repeatedly. It certainly applies when looking for a successful FB coach.

Look at Urban Meyer, holder of multiple CFB championships at a relatively young age. There are only a handful of CFB coaches in history who have attained this level of excellence and were able to win consistently wherever they moved. It is something that can't be taught.

[hodgkal]

This should have gone in the UM football discussion thread.