UM Football Recruiting - by WM Wolverine

[Detroit Dan]

Well said, Hannibal.

[Jeff Buchanan]

He was a nice guy.

talent, STFU.

Fuck osu.

[Rocky Bleier]

I can.

Those who are crushed in spirit are anxious to believe. Honestly, though, his first year was like soothing balm after Rich Rod's tenure.

[hack]

Feelgood senior class.

[Rocky Bleier]

Logan Brown to Wisconsin...

There was a time when we'd never lose a highly rated in-state O-lineman to Wisconsin.

https://247sports.com/Player/Logan-Brown-45572566

[Hannibal]

Can't exactly say that I blame him.

[Rocky Bleier]

Doesn't help when yesterday's broadcast begins with Gus Johnson saying, "If you want to play offensive line in the NFL, go to Wisconsin!" I'd love to know what Dan Dierdorf really thinks of the current state of what used to be Michigan's proudest unit. It was the foundation of every Schembechler team. Moeller and Carr knew it. If Hoke knew, he forgot. He was Dantonio's target when he said something like, "We have have more than nine offensive linemen on scholarship" at a time when his unit had some injuries.

[Jeff Buchanan]

My take on the OL at M.

Rocky, you're spot on and I'd like to know Dierdorf's take too. I know this. Bo had a system that he developed over his 20y career as M's HC ('69-89). He also had Jerry Hanlon on his staff the entire time. He was at M as the OL coach from 1969?1991. I'd like to know Hanlon's take.

I think it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the issues. I posted in another thread that Wisconsin is good (has a terrific OL) because the system these players are playing in has essentially been the same for 30 years. It's called continuity. M hasn't had that. My take is they are on their way.

The program had it's last memorable OL during the period 2000 - 2007. Offensive linemen in that period included OTs Jake Long and Jeff Backus, C David Bass, Gs Mike Lentz and Steve Hutchinson. All were All BT, all had or are having NFL careers. These players were dominant forces in M's passing and running games. There's been no one even close in the last 10 years. Maybe Taylor Lewan but he was the last M offensive lineman taken in the 2014 NFL draft, none since.

So, IMO, there's been no consistency in M's offensive system since 2006 and even during JH's first three years, with decent talent (on paper), blocking philosophies have been changed back and forth over that short time frame.

I think the OL can improve with nothing more than having a consistent offensive identity and consistent offensive line coaching. That takes a 4y recruiting cycle, maybe more to develop depth.

No question this is JH's responsibility and I think that under the bright light of the kind of stuff that is available to us fans now-a-days, he deserves to be held accountable for wasting two QBs because the OL can't protect them.

I also unequivocally know he knows this and feels accountable. I believe he will fix it and has already nabbed some good OL talent and has some upcoming players with experience and know how. But this isn't going to happen next week. Next season, though is a different story.

[Da Geezer]

Jed Finch named interim head coach at UCLA.

[*JD*]

Jed Finch named interim head coach at UCLA.

And Oregon State has asked to interview him for their HC position.

[Jeff Buchanan]

I stole this from mgoboards. It's a recap of how M's recruiting compares to osu's and concludes that M has never out-recruited osu in the modern era. Maybe more importantly, coaching changes at M have been more costly, in terms of class rankings, than coaching changes at osu. I've posted some editorial comments at the end in red.

Most of us know this already, but I was having a discussion on another thread and it appears some don't so I decided to post it here. This is not meant to be a Debbie Downer, just meant to illuminate that OSU is and has been for quite some time, more talented than us. Also, you can chose a different recruiting service and get a slightly different ranking, but the general theme will be the same. This is just since 2011 to prevent it from taking too long to put together. Without further ado here is how we compare for the last 8 years.



2010
OSU - 16
UM - 14



2011
OSU - 7
UM - 30



2012
OSU - 6
UM - 7



2013
OSU - 3
UM - 6



2014
OSU - 7
UM - 18



2015
OSU - 6
UM - 40



2016
OSU - 5
UM - 6



2017
OSU - 2
UM - 6



Average
OSU - 6.5
UM - 15.1



Notes

• When OSU was going through Tatgate and had the coaching change they had the #16 class.
• When we transferred from RR to Hoke we had the #30 class.
• When we transitioned from Hoke to Harbaugh we had the #40 class.
• OSU's coaching change costed them an average of 10 spots.
• Our coaching changes cost us an average of 15 spots.
• Our top classes were #6 and #7.
• OSU's top classes were #2 and #3 (OSU does currently have the #1 class for 2018 which projects to be a down class for us).
• Our current freshman and sophomores are more closely ranked to theirs however our current juniors and seniors are much less talented.
• If we both continue to recruit this way we will be similarly talented in 2 more years, albeit still slightly worse.
• Overall even when we have years of great classes, they also have great classes which outperform us, but when we both have down years our down years are down much further than theirs.

The original point was that we are not going to out-talent OSU. We have never really recruited better than OSU in the modern era with any consistency and probably can't project to anytime soon. They have many of the same resources we do, but with more recent success and fewer coaching changes. We are likely going to have to do more with less through coaching, scouting, and development. I am not sure this is currently happening, but to be fair we still have to wait another year or two to really tell assuming both Harbaugh & Meyer are still around.

TBF, HARBAUGH!!! brought a lot of hype to the CFB table when he arrived in 2015 that hasn't transferred to better recruiting and, hence, improved on-field performance for M. I think it is fair to say, his hype trajectory is downward. What that portends for on-field performance, I can't say.

JH, it appeared, fed that early hype with his behaviors that pushed the limits in a lot of areas. He denies that and, based on his history and personality I don't think he fed it. It is just who he is although he's been much more subdued on the sidelines this season compared to last after the Big adopted the "Harbaugh" rule. Not so for recruiting which he has been out front on. He's also worked to polish the apple that is the M football program by making it appear more appealing to recruits. There have been some home run recruits on D like Rashan Gary and Aubrey Solomon, on O, Cesar Ruiz but not enough to drive M to the elite level in terms of recruiting. On Harbugh's current trajectory overall, he's not going to get there unless he starts winning at a championship level and he's not done that since his arrival. Time is getting short..

I read an article this morning that the HARBAUGH!!! hype has declined considerably as measured by Google searches. Frankly, I think, in terms of recruiting, that's about as useful as tits on a boar-hog but, I think his ability to recruit is not as good as some of us hoped it would be.

If you look at the 2019 class, M's inability to beat good teams has apparently already cost M the top OL recruit in the state of Michigan (#7 OL overall) to Wisconsin (T Logan Brown, 6'6, 285, East Kentwood High). M appears to be getting outworked if Brown stays committed to Wisconsin. Not a good sign. I'm also concerned that if a coaching change occurs on the offensive side of the ball like some think it should, that is going to hurt OL recruiting - M's biggest need. One of the the things that has helped osu stay on top of the Big and a contender on the national stage has been continuity at the top and probably some degree of it on ufm's staff despite coordinators getting plucked for HC gigs.

[iam416]

The better way to look at it is average 247 Composite score for the 2-deep. First, rankings are just relative. The difference between 2 and 4 could be more than 4 and 15. Second, kids flame out. You need to see who makes it. That said, this comparison still does the trick.

Directly on recruiting, to reiterate that which I've said many times: (1) UFM is a ridiculously good recruiter, maybe the best; (2) recruiting is about relationships not hype -- whether HARBAUGH!!!! is whithering a bit in hype ought not matter and (3) it's hard as fuck to pull kids from the South.

JH gets in the door anywhere. That's what his brand and M's brand does. From there, he has to sell the kid on why M is better than the other big brand names and, more particularly, why HE (and is staff) are better for that recruit.

His 2019 class will be really good. But, so will UFM's. That's the way of things right now. The former you can control; the latter you have to deal with.

[froot loops]

Michigan is always going to be at a disadvantage versus OSU. High School football in Michigan is never going to be on par with Ohio. The difference is bigger now than it was probably 20 years ago. OSU gets whoever they want in Ohio. It's a long haul proposition for Harbaugh, less hype might be better for him.

[WingsFan]

Your post is over a year late.

[Rocky Bleier]

Newest Wolverine...Taylor Upshaw

https://247sports.com/player/taylor-upshaw-46035351