UM Football Recruiting - by WM Wolverine

[hack]

LOL, Mike.

[Hannibal]

It ain't pessimism if your prediction is right.

Just like it ain't braggin' if you can do it.

[Mike]

Three months away from seeing the first meaningful play of the Harbaugh era is no time to judge his tenure as a failure.

[froot loops]

His ability to win the daily news cycle is unparalleled.

[Mike]

All I heard was his winning is unparalleled.

[The Oracle]

Three months away from seeing the first meaningful play of the Harbaugh era is no time to judge his tenure as a failure.

Whatever, POWALANI!!!!!

[Prime2]

Summer Swarm Tour criticized because college coaches need a break and vacation time. LOL. Harbaugh is coming off 90hr + NFL work weeks over 4 years.

Our last coach was on an extended 4 year vacation.

[Jeff Buchanan]

..... and for the steely eyed realist camp, instate recruiting not so great since Carr's hay day (grabbed 88% of in state 4/5* talent). Rodriguez - 31%, Hoke - 64% before 2014 class, JH predicted at 33% unless he closes strong.

http://mgoblog.com/diaries/state-recruiting-success-rate

[Pasadena Blue]

It really isn't reasonable to argue that Harbaugh's recruiting has not been lackluster.
It's also stupid to say that Harbaugh is simply being arrogant and wants to show he can win with 2*/3* kids ... M has offered tons and 4*/5* --- they just aren't biting.

Harbaugh did not do as well as he should have done last year --- missing out on Chris Clark and Iman Marshall are good examples. Talent's theory is that it's because Harbaugh is batshit-crazy and this turns some recruits off. Everything we have heard from 4*/5* recruits (the Iman Marshall's of the world) would not seem to support that --- is it possible, they just don't want to say that or the recruit just gets a vibe of the "craziness" and leans against committing to M ... maybe, there is no way for us to know. My personal opinion is that that is not the reason.

The reality is that M closed the first recruiting cycle finishing 2nd for a lot of the big fish. Could Hoke have closed the deal and gotten over the hump?... possibly... Hoke and Weiss were really good at selling recruits hope rather than results. My own suspicion is that recruits have seen M sell hope for 10+ years, and that "dog don't hunt anymore" ... some of the big fish want to see a few results before signing on. Unfortunately, a vicious cycle for us, as it is much harder to deliver results without the big fish.

Fast forward to 2016, and M is in again on a lot of top tier 4*/5* recruits ... I expect that again we will finish 2nd or 3rd in these battles... unless JH pulls off a few miracles this season. Working against JH is that the B1G is a lot stronger than when Hoke took the job. That would have been the ideal time for M to have landed the right coach. Can JH succeed entering the B1G at this highly competitive time?... I dunno ... timing is everything in life.

I said it before, and I will write it again: M's future for the next decade depends on what JH does on the field this year. If we do finish 7-5 as some of you are forecasting, we are F'd for the next decade. It will require a scandal at our competitors (certainly possible) or some other calamity to create an opening for M. If we finish with 10 wins as many of us hope, this changes everything --- I predict many of those top tier recruits who Talent claims are scared off by JH's "eccentricity", will sign on the crazy train. This is the real wild card here ... none of us really know what JH can do with this team, which most outsiders who have attended M practices, have noted is devoid of any significant NFL-level talent.

JH's strategy seems to be go out and find the low star guys who pass his eye test and load the class up with several of those. He'll continue to recruit the big fish, but at least he has locked up some type of base to work with. I am curious to see what the final recruiting rankings of these "meh" recruits will turn out to be, before completing dismissing them.

[Hannibal]

Harbaugh is apparently still looking to take another QB.

Malzone should probably just get his transfer papers ready.

[iam416]

(1) I didn't know that recruits ranked the schools they didn't choose in order. M may have finished 2nd for Iman Marshall, but frankly, I doubt it.

(2) I never said recruits are "scared" by JH's big personality. I just said that a bigger, stronger personality may not appeal to some recruits. It may, however, play big with others. I'm not even sure it matters. I'm just not sure JH is a great recruiter.

(3) The record is replete with what coaches can do at brand name schools in the first recruiting class. Period. 7-5 shouldn't affect what JH can do one bit. Those who use it to excuse a potentially disappointing class aren't paying attention. Butch Jones. Steve Sarkisian. Jimbo Fisher. All landed top 10 classes at schools with varying degrees of "brand name" and at schools that were "in the wilderness" to varying degrees. Hell, James Franklin had the #14 class at a school that was in the wilderness and tarred with the most despicable legacy of any college sports program in the country (move over Dave Bliss!).

A great recruiter at a brand name school recruits great. There are no caveats to that. None. If JH doesn't recruit great at M, he's not a great recruiter.

As I said, I think M is well-positioned to land a top 15 class and maybe top 10 class this year. And I think that should improve. So, I'm not writing him off in any way -- quite the contrary.

[WM Wolverine]

Iman Marshall was always a USC Trojan, he took visits, officials for his enjoyment...

M should have a top 10-15 class this season, #2 or #3 in the B10. Ahead of Sparty but could end up ahead or behind PSU.

[hack]

I think it's entirely possible that a lot of kids love Harbaugh, but it's a whole other thing entirely to play for him. A lot of people, age regardless and with so many choices in life, are going to go with the conventional option over the unconventional even if they really like what the latter offers. Harbaugh is not necessarily knowable or comfortable. With future classes, when there's more time for them to get to know him and a winning track record to sell, this could be less of a problem.

Either way, I'm worried but only slightly worried. Recruiting hasn't begun with a bang but the reason why is understandable and the trend is there. As soon as Gary or Kelly commit we'll all feel much better about this. (Save for Hannibal. Nothing can be done there. )

[iam416]

Iman Marshall was always a USC Trojan, he took visits, officials for his enjoyment...

M should have a top 10-15 class this season, #2 or #3 in the B10. Ahead of Sparty but could end up ahead or behind PSU

That was my recollection of Marshall.

I agree about M's recruiting class. MSU should land Corley and that should do it for "big-time" recruits. They'll fill in with 3* players and should right around 250 points for the 247 Composite. Penn State has a really nice start to the class. I just don't know anything about who's still on the board for them. I will say I think the B10 East will have 4 top 15 classes this year.

I went over who M is still in on and obviously you know. I think they need 2 of the 3 big-time guys that are in. As far as pure recruiting rankings go, they can't miss on Bredeson.

[hack]

Right -- Bredeson was the third I couldn't think of. Yes, just land 2 of those three. Bredeson is more important for pure recruiting purposes. IMO Gary would be the huge difference-maker.