UM Football Recruiting - by WM Wolverine

[iam416]

That is not my take on it. I think JH did not know what kind of year M was going to have and he didn't know whether he would be able to land 4*/5* types. Unlike O-state/'Bama and similar programs, JH could not take the chance of holding out for the big fish and the little fish commit elsewhere.

As the year has gone by, I think he started to realize that he could be more selective. Rather than waiting for these lower ranked players to decommit, JH and co probably needed to push them out sooner.

Yeah, I think this is it. I think it's best to just own it and move on. I should note, this was the very specific criticism levied against JH's summer recruiting by me, WM, Hanni and others. You're taking all this meh kids now that you could easily slow play for awhile and chase bigger fish. I wouldn't have been so critical of this approach if I knew my underlying assumption was incorrect -- that he'd keep them all. If I had know the Purge would happen then the criticism would have been baseless.

Anyway, at bottom it's not a big deal. It's certainly nothing I care about other than to tweak you guys for past positions. And, as I said earlier, your recruiting season has been fascinating to observe from both a roster management perspective and fan rationalization perspective. There were a couple things Urbs did that I wasn't a big fan of...and certainly, if Saban had done it two years earlier I would have been haughtily disappointed. But I'm sort of all-in with UFM now. Doesn't mean that I won't feel sorry for a kid when something shitty happens (Dean), but I don't much care. Watching you boys get to the same place with HARBAUGH!!!! has been interesting.

Anyway, JH will land a huge class. Right now I have LSU as likely #1 based on the kids they're still favored to get. But, shit, has anyone seen the Alabama OVs for this weekend? Holy hell. I'd be surprised if they're any lower than #2. OSU and M will be pretty close and probably around 5-7. And I think PSU will hold on to a top 15 spot and MSU will probably be in the 15-20 range. Good year for the East.

[Rocky Bleier]

I was puzzled and disappointed by the early recruits. Harbaugh had success recruiting at Stanford, so why would he not believe he would have similar results at Michigan?

[whodean]

UM Football Recruiting - by WM Wolverine

Can some of the 7 early enrollees count toward last year's recruiting numbers?

[whodean]

If M lands Gary they are right there at #3, I would think

[iam416]

If M had Gary in their class now, which they do, but officially -- their Composite Score would be 275ish. That's still behind OSU and LSU. And while M is in on some good players, they won't move the score like Gary (or even Long). They'll get up to maybe 290. LSU is going to pass OSU today when they add Lawrence. LSU and Alabama will both finish above 300, IMO. FSU and Georgia are both going to make jumps. Auburn will make a jump. Clemson will make a jump. So, right now M is a 265 and Clemson, at #9, is at 246 (OSU is at 281) -- it's really bunched up from #3 to #11 (Auburn 242)

All of the teams behind M are going to be adding players, too. None will add any single player as good as Gary, but most should add 2 top 100 kids, at least. And because they have fewer commits than M, a good add bumps their score up more. For example, Gary bumps up M 10 points. Nate Craig-Meyers bumps Auburn up 11.

I have Ohio State finishing right around 290. I think M will be right around 290. I think those numbers will be good for somewhere between 4 and 7 nationally based on historical results.

[froot loops]

On the bright side of the Swenson affair, you have identified Harbaugh's Bianchi. It is Teddy Greestein.

[iam416]

Heh. Plus, we get a standard HARBAUGH!!!! subtweet....which his legions of fans love, but which, you know, I can't imagine normal HCs of any stature doing....

[hack]

Those are a bit bitchy. I don't like them either. I wish he would just do it like he used to, directly in the media.

[iam416]

He put Sam Webb out there to tell his story. I'm not sure I would have even done that, but whatever. I would have stopped there.

As I said, the story should die rather quickly. It's a blip.

Anywho, F the SEC. That's all.

[froot loops]

What is the deal with Onwenu? If we read the details of the Swenson affair, maybe Harbaugh and company told him to take all of his official visits. The timing is strange that State offered the guy and he set up the OV after his visit to Ann Arbor. He was not on the radar as far as I know.

[WingsFan]

Harbaugh asked Swenson to camp at U-M over the summer so the staff could properly evaluate him (he refused) and we were told that it was understood that Swenson’s senior year would serve as an evaluation period because this coaching staff had never seen him in-person and wanted to know if he was a good fit for the program.


Former Michigan All-Big Ten offensive lineman Doug Skene, he told a story of a player that was supposed to join the 1988 freshman class but that dogged it his senior year of high school. What did Bo Schembechler do? He didn’t sign the young man.

In other words, this has been going on for decades. The difference now is the prevalence of social media. Some of that is good – it gives each recruit more power – but some of it is bad when reputable newspapers pick up the story and run with it without presenting the other side.

[iam416]

That's certainly not Swenson's story. Nor do I recall such willingness to believe the coaching staff when Jamel Dean was dropped by UFM because of a bad injury.

I say own it. Nothing wrong with it. Swenson will be fine. But own it.

[iam416]

Froot:

I can't imagine HARBAUGH!!! dropping Onwenu. No way. Kid is a player.

He's at least willing to listen to Sparty. Maybe Vance got up in his ear about Sparty. Maybe the other Detroit kids (Corley and Hill) talked up Sparty to him. An OV to EL is not a pleasure trip. He's there to listen.

From what I gather from M folks, he's unlikely to flip. But, if he does, that'd be a huge pull for your boys.

[WingsFan]

Owning it is fine by me, always two sides to every story. 18 year old kid emotions are probably really raw.

[iam416]

Yeah, man. No one likes to get cut, especially some kid who dreamed of playing for M. He may have "missed the signs", but he doesn't seem like a kid that's going to make shit up or one that would be malicious. I tend to think he really was surprised in when he was told he was out -- a couple weeks ago. As I said, he may not have picked up on the "signs," but I tend to think he's sincere.

Whatever. You guys should be talking how this class will finish. You have like 8 or 9 more spots left or something ridiculous.