UM Football Recruiting - by WM Wolverine

[WM Wolverine]

Back to M recruiting...

The month of April will be huge for in-state recruits and regional/national recruits as well. Most of the big names on my board from a few days ago: Matt Falcon RB, Donnie Corley WR, Michael Jordan OL, Michael Onwenu OG/DT, Khalid Kareem SDE, Desmond Fitzpatrick WR, David Reese LB & Demetric Vance S are quite close as a group... Thiyo Lukusa OL was all M until Hoke's hotseat was on fire, he's not as connected to the others...

There will be major M vs Sparty battles for these in-state recruits and a good percentage of them might decide together and soon. It's a relatively strong in-state class and Harbaugh needs to show he can recruit by winning recruiting battles against Dantonio.

Most of the recruits listed above M would usually land if they really wanted them but Sparty's success under Dantonio and M's lack of it under RR/Hoke has changed the in-state dynamics. The above nine recruits are all relatively strong recruits and if 6 land to one of the the schools and the other 3 go elsewhere, that's a significant shift in talent in one recruiting class...

[Hannibal]

Harbaugh needs to pound Dantonio in in-state recruiting. 50/50 is not good enough.

[SeattleLionsFan]

Its really amazing that any of these guys are considering M. If we are honest, as we sit here today M is the 5th(??) best program in the B1G, behind OSU, MSU, Wiscy, Nebraska. Maybe Penn State too.

[hack]

Hoke was able to get those top instate guys at a more than 50/50 rate with MSU, so I expect Harbaugh to as well.

[WM Wolverine]

M doesn't lose many recruiting battles to Sparty as most think, not all Sparty commits with M offers, M really wanted as all offers aren't committable. Sparty gets their legacies and Lansing area recruits but the rest the state, M usually can land who they really want with usually maybe an exception per class.

[hack]

The occasional Malik MacDowell, but that's what it seems like to me too.

[Jeff Buchanan]

WM, large number of recruit visitors per multiple sites for the spring game.

No need to list them as there are plenty of resources out there to view them.

Do you have any comments about any of them?

April is shaping up to be a big month for JH and staff re what trajectory M is taking in the recruiting realm.

What's you're over-under on how many instate recruits that have offers from both MSU and M will pick M? Seems like the conventional wisdom is that M will get whoever they want and MSU will get what's left. I have serious doubts about that wisdom. Your thoughts.

[Hannibal]

Hoke in his last couple of years had a terrible batting average against Sparty. He came out of the gate really strong but finished poorly.

[Mike]

Sums up his tenure at UM perfectly.

[Jeff Buchanan]

I don't think enough fans realize how much damage has been done to the program since the 2007 season and Lloyd's final Big Ten game. Sure, the team rallied around him and produced a nice win against UF but the damage was done, the tenor and character of the team had been set ....... lazy, entitled, not willing to put in the work needed to win.

None of that changed under two successive coaches. Now, HARBAUGH.

Things will change if JH's record speaks to how he approaches winning. Gradually.

Dantonio has a terrific record. Harbaugh has none .... at M. Impressive staff but that staff has done nothing in terms of developing Michigan's HS talent. MSU and OSU and a host of other mid-western teams have done that much better than M has.

Do you put your NFL hopes in the hands of an untested group of coaches with a pile of impressive credentials or do you rely on recent successes, on winning records, year in and year out?

Like I said, I have serious doubts that M's recruiting trajectory will change substantially until Harbaugh proves he can develop players, win games and put M back into the national CFB discussion.

My view is that's a couple of years away.

[WM Wolverine]

Outside of hearing that certain recruits will likely be there, I haven't looked in detail at who is visiting for the spring game. Spring game is early, weather should be alright for early April (low to mid 40's) in Ann Arbor... As usual, I expect the visit list to grow a bit before the game...

There is a very strong group of in-state kids that'll mostly be there, those I referenced in my message above that I'll talk about below... Out-of-state, I'll list the headliners...

*Brandon Peters QB, Indiana - Likely to be on commit watch.

*Dontavious Jackson LB, Texas - Surprise visitor and grew up with an affinity for M. He'll
likely end up at a Texas school or Oklahoma but this visit gives M a chance to stand out.

Chris Brown S, Texas - Teammate of Dontavious Jackson. Likely just tripping together, not sure if Jackson is following Brown or vice versa. Brown doesn't have major offers yet (Louisville, Missouri, Kansas, Michigan, Duke, Purdue) but he plays a position of need and the midwest is lacking in DB's.

*Austin & Riley (twins) Anderson OL, Texas. More Texans. M is their 1st 'big' offer for now, no surprise they are visiting their first big offer. M gets a big head start with them but the local schools in Texas could have the advantage if and when they offer... Very likely a package deal?

Terrance Davis OG, Maryland - Has offers from FSU, Penn State, Michigan, VT, Tennessee, Georgia and Maryland... M has other recruits on the OL but they'd certainly take him...

Camilo Eifler LB, California - He's visiting a day or two after the spring game, hopefully he notices that M took no LB'ers in the previous class...

-

Sparty will do quite well against M for in-state kids for a change. Sparty will land 3-5 of the top 10. M should land 4-6...

I'll say M wins 5-3 with 1-2 going elsewhere; give or take 1 in every direction. M landing 4-to-6 is very telling how strong in-state recruits are. Sometimes M would only 6-7 recruits are offered.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Thx, WM. I like your take on M's instate prospects v. MSU.

The Harbaugh name is going to give M a slight edge but M's record over the last 5-6y has to be a major negative. M's competition is goig to work that and rightfully so.

[Masspartan]

I know U-M hired that mom to become part of the program ... did her son commit yet?

[hack]

He did.

[WM Wolverine]

News today is Rudock is a Wolverine, for a year.