UM Football Recruiting - by WM Wolverine

[The Oracle]

Ruiz becomes more of a priority now that Neilon has unexpectedly upped his timeline. We'll be in it to the end with Ruiz, IMO.

[Mike]

Paramus Catholic is playing at the Big House this season. And it doesn't count as a recruiting trip for players on the team we are recruiting... who will be using Michigan's facilities and dressing in the same locker room. I'm liking this Harbaugh cat more by the day.

http://www.sbnation.com/college-football-recruiting/2016/6/8/11884434/paramus-catholic-michigan-stadium-jim-harbaugh

[Hannibal]

This is the kind of not quite rulebreaking that we have been lacking for years.

[Mike]

It is a breath of fresh air, isn't it?

[lineygoblue]

Yes it is.

I'm tired of seeing Michigan sitting on the sidelines, supposedly trying to remain "clean", while other teams have been doing this stuff for decades, with the blessings of the NCAA.

[SeattleLionsFan]

I will say I like that much more than hiring coaches. That would cause us to howl if OSU or Bama did it.

[*JD*]

It does remind me a bit of Calipari coaching the Dominican National Team, which really helped him get a leg up in recruiting Karl Anthony Towns. That was a little more extreme, since Cal got to be around KAT for a long period of time but this is in a similar neighborhood.

[iam416]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with the "Big House Classic". Ohio Stadium used to host games as part of some event sponsored by Herbstreit. They'd pit Ohio teams against national powers including, e.g., St. Aquinas. It's only fishy because it's yet another Paramus thing.

The hiring and hiring and hiring of HS coaches is the shady stuff. Hey, legal and all, but definitely shady. There's definitely an opportunity for abuse. But, eh, whatever.

[Hannibal]

I wonder how long they can do that coach hiring stuff. Don't you eventually run out of make-work positions to hire for? Can we hire mama Ruiz to manage Harbaugh's Twitter account?

[iam416]

I mean, that's the question, right? Should you be able to hire and hire and hire? Setting aside the resource question, should their be limits on "football-related" positions -- there are already limits on actual coaching positions, afterall.

Where it gets shady, IMO, is if you're hiring them short-term. I don't JH is doing that, but if, e.g., Devin Bush Sr. gets moved through the program in 2-3 yrs, well, that's just shady. If he stays for 5-6-7 years - ok.

[SeattleLionsFan]

I have no doubt Bush is gone within 2-3 years. However, I think he is gone to a position coach position at the collegiate level. Which I think is legit.

[hack]

I presume that parent/HS coach hiring is something important right now when he's trying to rebuild the program and stack the pipeline.

Is Wayne Lyons' mom still with the program? She and Partridge will be early indicators.

[SeattleLionsFan]

She is still with the program. Although I don't think her hiring had anything to do with Lyons. If anything it had to do with her involvement as team mom for a 7-on-7 team.

[hack]

And Lyons himself hardly played, so it's not as if Gwen was hired for the same reasons that Bush Sr or Partridge were. But, if this is a narrative one wants to worry about, you'd watch for whether she's a long-timer here or not.

For a 7-on-7 team? I thought she was just sort of the team mom in general.

[Wellington_beefhouser]

For a 7-on-7 team? I thought she was just sort of the team mom in general.

I adored the sweet lady who brought us orange slices mid practice.