Michigan Football, Team 139, 2018 Season

[AlabamAlum]

Thanks. I am a super genius. I share my innumerable gifts with all the unwashed denizens of this board.

:::: puts on clothes and pope-waves; leaves::::

[Jeff Buchanan]

Yeah, I really disagree with this (recruits want love). I'm sure it's true for some, but as a rule I think that is very much NOT the default. I think the things of great importance to recruits are: (1) showing them how your school will prepare them for the future (both NFL and life after football, whenever that is); (2) a subset of (1) -- but how well will your school do in developing that player; (3) relationships with the coaches; and (4) how "big" time are you -- proven success/elite program?

If the excuse is just that the coach is just telling these kids the hard truths and they don't like it, then you'll never be a good recruiter. Because changing to blowing sunshine up their ass won't carry the day either.

I think I might have sent the message in my post that love and coddling was it with respect to Eyikor and Reese ..... or any other top 100 recruits M was in on. Definitely not and your listing of what counts for HS recruits is accurate.

But, if observers are correct in Harbaugh's CFB recruiting approach - similar to NFL teams who are evaluating talent to build their rosters more than having to worry about doing anything else - this plays into the concept of how I might see M failing in the recruiting department. So, the love/coddling thing is, in my view, failing to do a good job in the 4 things you mention.

........ there's enough anecdotal reports out there that Drevno and Hamilton are not at all good at putting in the time necessary to make M and M's offensive staff stand out with recruits. 8-5 doesn't help and you can bet that was used heavily by programs competing with M for HS players.

...... "tweak recruiting approach"? You're being way too diplomatic. Heads should roll and it doesn't look like that is going to happen. That tells me a couple of things: (1) JH doesn't see any problems with his recruiting approach or the performance of those who recruit players on offense and (2) Observers pointing out he has a problem recruiting are wrong. My sense is that there is a problem and the observers writing about that problem are right.

I'm past waiting to see what happens. The damage done to M's standing as a blue-blood program by M's 2017 offense and misses on OL recruits in the 2017 and 2018 classes are substantial and will likely be long lasting. The 2017 version of M football, almost all of the bad part about it attributable to M's offense, is nothing more that a continuation of a decade long saga that has made Michigan Football a third tier program.

It's going to take longer than one season and probably longer than three to overcome that damage and that's only if JH manages to win the BIG Ten East in 2018 and look substantially better than it did in 2017. That's longer than I care to keep shelling out money for games that look like the shit-stain that was the OB Bowl.

[Hannibal]

Whatever the cause, Harbaugh is not an elite enough recruiter to overcome a shitty season. Some rare guys can do that.

[WM Wolverine]

FWIW, the very good to excellent recruiting class of '17 mostly committed very early when Harbaugh PR was at peek levels...

The dry spell of recruiting has been an issue for longer than it seems. Tough to project the '19 class but the trend is quite worrisome. M needs a top 10 class and maybe better if they want to compete in the CFP.

[iam416]

That’s true. DPJ was sort of a lock, but he did pull Solomon.

In any event, it’s like basketball. It’s ok to lose a quarter by 6 if you play them even or win the others. But, you lose four straight quarter by 6 and you’re blown out. M really needs to bounce back in 2019.

[hack]

Solomon is probably a weirdo. Glad he's here but I don't know that it's evidence of an ability to recruit. But at this point, what about bringing Hoke back as offensive coordinator? Recruiting would improve, and just maybe the offense would too.

[WingsFan]

Hoke already has a job in the NFL

[Da Geezer]

I guess this is one way to hold our lead as the winningest football program.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2759265-notre-dame-to-vacate-wins-from-2012-2013-seasons-after-ncaa-violations?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=college-football

[iam416]

The Buckeyes are closing in.

[WingsFan]

Birdie Update

McElwain is new OC and WR coach full play-calling authority, only reports to Harbaugh. Working out details. (?)

[AlabamAlum]

He'll do a hood job.

[Jeff Buchanan]

McElwain has a spotty record as a HC with his Florida gig the worst (22-12). He did have success prior to that and was with Saban at Alabama and John L. Smith at MSU. When I made my comments up thread about him it was a hot take and that, of course is usually baseless. I wanted to know about what kind of offense he runs. Here's a good article on that question.

NB, his offense sounds right up JH's alley. Lots of similarities. Question is can he transfer what he wants to do to the players who have to execute it?

https://www.seccountry.com/florida/jim-mcelwain-and-the-deception-offense

[Jeff Buchanan]

...... also, if it is true that he is going to have sole play calling authority that could potentially solve one of the issues (too many cooks in the kitchen) that anyone watching M football under Harbaugh has been critical of.

[AlabamAlum]

He turned Colorado State around and did a good job for Saban as an OC. He ran into a buzz saw at Florida.

[hack]

Birdie Update

McElwain is new OC and WR coach full play-calling authority, only reports to Harbaugh. Working out details. (?)

Hope that's true. I'll be glad to hear about any chain of command that is absolutely clear.