UM Football Recruiting - by WM Wolverine

[The Oracle]

Khaleke Hudson expected to announce for M on Wednesday. High 3 star/low 4 star athlete. Highlights are absolutely insane, no idea what the competition is like....doesn't look like much but he showed really well at the Semper Fi All Star game. Take a look:

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1690809/highlights/295148379/v2

[lineygoblue]

Doesn't matter if they were cut, filleted, or fried.

It doesn't matter if there was bad communication. Doesn't matter if it was borderline ethical.

I have seen the light. I've been convinced by our opposing fan base brethren that its all about the scoreboard, and that's all that matters. If these moves translate into wins, its worth it.

Just win, baby.

[iam416]

Pasadena:

Re Fuller, you're correct. His family actually has an established relationship with Schiano from when he recruited his brother and really likes him. Ohio State has, IMO, zero question marks for the rest of this class. Malik Harrison and Jordan Fuller. And try to find room for 2017.

[iam416]

The righteous shall prevail

Heh. I haven't seen such a snarky subtweet by a HC since, well, HARBAUGH!!!!! and Weber last year. Dantonio subtweeting...seriously....people need to STOP.

I get the feeling they start to rethink handing out scholarships so readily during the summer swarm tour.

This make sense, but I'm actually on the fence about this. JH pulled scholarships while he was at Stanford, so this is arguably the way he operates and thus isn't likely to change. More importantly, he apparently loves the press, and the swarm is nice but what gives it really pop is a slew of commitments to go with it. I'm not so sure he's going to give those up.

[Hannibal]

It looks like his strategy is to unearth some lottery ticket type prospects and then dump them later if they don't blow up in their senior year.

[iam416]

I honestly think the utilitarian value of the camps was an afterthought. The value is and was brand-building by (a) creating short-term buzz around the new "hot" program; and (b) building longer term brand value in certain southern pockets. And Fresno. Heh.

In any event, recruiting is a results-based process. Haters gonna hate. Moralists will fret. But at the end of the day it's who you bring in. And JH is bringing in a really good class.

[Hannibal]

The conventional strategy is to go after your Plan A guys first and then go after Plan B guys late. I think that Harbaugh instead sews up the Plan B guys early and then attrits them out, as needed. Some of them end up highly sought after like Kingston Davis, while others end up like Weaver. If they blow up late you can brag about having been in on them early (i.e. "I believed in you when Saban didn't"). It's a clever but a cynical strategy.

This process will probably repeat itself for 2017. That class currently has five very unimpressive commits, including a tight end who was the third best TE on his HS team when he committed!

[froot loops]

Yeah Teddy Greenstein and Mick McCabe may write a few blistering articles but if you are Harbaugh you don't care. That a small price to pay on your way to the top. Even if some backers at Michigan may not like it they certainly won't say anythjng, he has absolute power.

[lineygoblue]

Absolutely.

[The Oracle]

Yeah Teddy Greenstein and Mick McCabe

Who?

[froot loops]

Http://Www.google.com

McCabe has become the ultimate get off my grass guy.

[The Oracle]

I know who they are...was basically furthering your point that there is no coach in college football who GAF what they say, much less know WTF they are.

[Masspartan]

I'll just leave this here......from MLive...

Weaver participated in Michigan's satellite camp in Miami last weekend and ultimately earned a scholarship offer from the Wolverines. His primary recruiter was Jay Harbaugh, U-M's tight ends coach and assistant special teams coach.

Following his visit, Weaver told The Michigan Insider, "Coach Jay told me that they are offering me as a big athlete," said Weaver. "They like me at both defensive end and tight end and I may even be both way guy. Coach Harbaugh was more of a conversation about us building a relationship between us two and getting me up to visit asap. He also told me how if I commit and happened to get hurt this season, then they would still fully honor my scholarship."

Weaver is the eighth player from the southeast to sign or commit to new Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh since he took the job in late December. He joins Richardson, freshman defensive end Shelton Johnson, three-star corner Keith Washington, four-star running back Karan Higdon, three-star linebacker/defensive end Reuben Jones, three-star running back Kingston Davis and three-star linebacker Dytarious Johnson.

Weaver is the the fifth player to commit to U-M since the program traveled the country with its blitz of satellite camps.

- I'm surprised that some of you supposed adults think this is a good way to treat high school kids. Is winning so important that you feel it's fine to dick over a bunch of 17-18 year old kids?

Certainly I understand wanting to get the best athletes you can, but why like or treat these guys like disposable parts.

[froot loops]

Agreed, that's why I said it's a small price to pay.

[Masspartan]

Stanford Ceased Contact

Somewhat related to the above, the main way it seems Harbaugh indicated to recruits it was best for both parties to go their separate ways was to stop talking to them.

Three-star GA S Daunte Carr opened up his recruitment because he hadn't heard back from the admissions department with less than a month to go before Signing Day. He later committed to Arkansas.
Three-star NV LB Evan Palelei committed in the spring of his junior year, then decommitted in early September of his senior year because he "lost contact with them over the summer." Palelei eventually signed with Navy.
The Late Grayshirt

In arguably the most concerning situation of them all, the Stanford staff informed three-star TX TE Zachary Swanson that he'd have to take a grayshirt with about a month to go before Signing Day. He chose instead to sign with Virginia.
I can't find anywhere what happened in the case of three-star OG Harris Williams, who flipped to Boston College in July after originally pledging to the Cardinal in late April.

So?

A lot of the attrition in this class occurred for reasons outside Harbaugh's control, but there are definitely red flags that come up. Falling out of contact with recruits as a way of not-so-subtly pushing them out the door isn't a great look, especially in the case of injury; even worse is blindsiding a prospect with a late grayshirt.

We'll see if Harbaugh operates in a different way at Michigan, where he won't have to worry as much about potential attrition within his classes due to problems with admissions. While this stuff doesn't quite rise to the SEC level of recruiting malfeasance, it's not going to go over well in Ann Arbor if Harbaugh isn't more open with recruits about their place in the class as the process moves along.

- I guess it's his MO ... you guys knew this already, sorry I'm just getting up to speed.