UM Football Recruiting - by WM Wolverine

[WM Wolverine]

Staffs fall-out with Desmond Fitzpatrick WR will lead to David Reese FB following Fitzpatrick to Louisville.

[WM Wolverine]

Same fate (decommit) might hold true for Dele Harding.

[The Oracle]

It's amazing that Hannibal makes -0- posts after the number 4 tackle in the country commits but once the 2 star safety commits, he shows up lickety split. ;)

It does?

[The Oracle]

The only way that this class ends up in the Top 15 is if Harbaugh runs off at least 10 players that aren't scheduled to graduate. If Metellus is in, then we are long past the point where the class can be salvaged with normal attrition from the team. We're at 87 scholarships on signing day, 2016 right now.

Then join the dumb ass bet and let it play out. I'd do 24 beers for top 15.

[Hannibal]

Penn State ended up last year with the #15 ranked class. We would literally have to pull 100% 4-star guys from this point forward to end up there. Nine more of them. We would also have to jettison a total of 11 players from the program to make room.

[Deuce]

I like reading OSU guys take on the recruiting as if this isn't exactly the plan the staff has implemented. It's like those pizza delivering gas huffers think Harbaugh and co are trying to make a huge 5 star splash and are just failing miserably.

They don't care about that, so that is not a joke you can use.

[Pasadena Blue]

I think the point is that your odds of finding real contributors/ difference makers is much higher among 5*/4* players than the 3*/2* Harbaugh is going after. It's hard to argue the data supporting Talent's contention on that point.

What we are all having trouble figuring out is why Harbaugh is loading up on these players, when there are plenty of 4*/5* out there that have at least some interest in M that we are still in on. Talent's contention is that Harbaugh is a sub-standard recruiter --- he couldn't close on the big fish last year and presumably he has read the handwriting on the wall that it's not gone happen this year or in future years either, and thus he is getting whatever he can.

I haven't seen anyone ask Harbaugh yet why he is accepting these lowly recruits, so we really have not data to refute Talent's position.

What is clear is that the talent divide between M and O-state is huge and widening, and it seems unlikely that we will have much chance to beat O-state. It seems Harbaugh is conceding supremacy to O-state and setting his sights on Sparty and the other also-rans.

[Deuce]

No doubt, I want them to focus om 4/5* guys too, it's funner to follow. But you can't poke fun at the 3* guys because they aren't settling for these guys, they really want them.

It's not a pathetic MSU thing from the last decade, it is calculated and admittedly an incredibly boring thing to follow. But following recruiting is a pathetic thing, so I need to stop it anyway. Thanks Jimmy!

[Deuce]

My guess is the first class is to create Harbaugh's culture first and foremost and then they probably turn their attention to some guys that might not have the intangibles that they want exactly but are the 4/5 star athletes that we all covet and embarrassingly slobber over.

It's clear from the last few years that the guys on the team paid too much attention to their Rivals 250 rank and not enough about gelling as a team. You need both, top 250 guys who are in a culture which focuses on gelling as a team. That is what Coach Cal endlessly preaches at UK

[The Oracle]

I think the point is that your odds of finding real contributors/ difference makers is much higher among 5*/4* players than the 3*/2* Harbaugh is going after. It's hard to argue the data supporting Talent's contention on that point.

What we are all having trouble figuring out is why Harbaugh is loading up on these players, when there are plenty of 4*/5* out there that have at least some interest in M that we are still in on. Talent's contention is that Harbaugh is a sub-standard recruiter --- he couldn't close on the big fish last year and presumably he has read the handwriting on the wall that it's not gone happen this year or in future years either, and thus he is getting whatever he can.

I haven't seen anyone ask Harbaugh yet why he is accepting these lowly recruits, so we really have not data to refute Talent's position.

What is clear is that the talent divide between M and O-state is huge and widening, and it seems unlikely that we will have much chance to beat O-state. It seems Harbaugh is conceding supremacy to O-state and setting his sights on Sparty and the other also-rans.

The thing is, I don't even think anyone was even arguing otherwise. There were a few people, me included, saying that they're not worried about recruiting yet when Buchanan came barging in calling everyone Polianis for praising HARBAUGH'S recruiting. It's like there was an argument begun out of thin air.

[lineygoblue]

Big day next Wednesday.

Silly boy, that Harbaugh guy.

Bringing in all those 4-star talents, when he's really targeting those unknown 2-3 stars, as his efforts to kill Michigan football continues .....

[Jeff Buchanan]

The thing is, I don't even think anyone was even arguing otherwise. There were a few people, me included, saying that they're not worried about recruiting yet when Buchanan came barging in calling everyone Polianis for praising HARBAUGH'S recruiting. It's like there was an argument begun out of thin air.

Gratuitous HARBAUGH!!! = Pollyanna.

Believing Hoke when he said, "this is Michigan fer God's sake," and thinking he was going to deliver = Pollyanna.

Buying into the BS that you can develop NFL caliber college players that are going to compete for championships against elite programs by building the core of your recruiting class with 3*s = Pollyanna

[iam416]

Talent's contention is that Harbaugh is a sub-standard recruiter --- he couldn't close on the big fish last year and presumably he has read the handwriting on the wall that it's not gone happen this year or in future years either, and thus he is getting whatever he can.

My actual opinion is that I'm not sure JH is a GREAT recruiter because he's never really had to recruit in the deep end before. We know what coaches can do at brand name schools in their first year of recruiting, so there's at least some sort of unscientific benchmark. I expect him to be around 12ish (O/U is 12.5, IMO) for class ranking which would make him good but not great relatively speaking. Then we'll see what he does next year.

I most certainly not making an affirmative statement one way or the other on JH as a recruiter because I really do think this is his first go at it with an big-time brand.

[iam416]

It's like there was an argument begun out of thin air

That's impossible. This is an internet sports forum.

As for 3* players, folks generally love their own and mock others. They generally only recall the successes. The failures are too numerous to recount. It's the way of things.

There's no doubt that recruiting rankings are generally accurate. There's also no doubt that good coaches and recruiters assess players on their own. They see film. They almost always get to see them live at a camp. They meet and talk with them to get a sense of the type of kid they are. And sometimes coaches like kids differently than they're rated (in OSU's eyes, Austin Mack >>> Ahmir Mitchell; Terrell Hall >>> Austin Robertson).

My only criticism with JH is that some of his more recent verbals are totally low-hanging fruit that you could slow play until January and still land them. But, if JH has seen them and likes them then ok, I guess.

[Hannibal]

I don't know that I have ever seen a coach do what Harbaugh is doing. He is making "diamonds in the rough" an aggressive priority, rather than getting them as Plan B guys. And he is putting huge priority on camp performances, apparently. Win some drills and you get an offer. There are lots of coaches who subsist on these guys, but not on purpose. It is for this reason that we probably won't find out until at least the 2017 class whether Harbaugh is a good closer or not. The class is officially overfull. Unofficially, there will be some room but I'm not looking forward to the attrition required to get there. We saw that in the RichRod era too and the results were devastating.

It's either that or Harbaugh goes full Saban and starts rescinding offers once he gets bigger fish on board.