UM Football Recruiting - by WM Wolverine

[Jeff Buchanan]

The only way that we end up in the Top 15 is if Harbaugh goes Full Saban.

Frankly, I think he has every intent to do just that.

This may appear to be compromising M's football recruiting ethics but OTH, as said up thread, if these recruits can diddle around and play games with their commitments, the coaches should receive equal latitude.

Probably about time the M coaches started playing hardball.

[Hannibal]

Hopefully he's got a good Plan B in place for when Gary announces for Alabama. Maybe a stud DT from Manitoba?

[Prime2]

Given the fickle commit/ decommits of these kids, the fluctuations in rankings over time, plus the possibility that the Harbaugh might push out some of these low commits in the end, I have no idea how you guys can make such confident predictions. I'm impressed.

Totally agree, if Shane Morris somehow managed a 5-star rating while missing his entire senior season of HS ball with mono, surely Brandon Peters, who just finished ranked #2 at Dilfer's Elite 11 will most surely rise.

I am in favor of an early signing period in order to protect both sides in the process, kids that want to lock their spot and coaches that wish do to the same, but at present, all is fair until you sign your LOI on NSD.

[lineygoblue]

Totally agree, if Shane Morris somehow managed a 5-star rating while missing his entire senior season of HS ball with mono, surely Brandon Peters, who just finished ranked #2 at Dilfer's Elite 11 will most surely rise.

Peters will probably drop in rankings/star power because he committed to Michigan. The last kid I saw who actually gained a star after committing to the Wolverines was Mike Hart. He went from a 3 star to a 4 star.

[WM Wolverine]

These former 2-stars (almost all re-rated to 3-stars) and low 3-stars should get ratings adjustments that'll bump them up a bit by signing day after evaluating them in their senior season...

Talent said it best that JH took a lot of low hanging fruit that he could've offered and landed in December if their top targets went elsewhere. M is in on a ton of 4-stars to fill the rest of their class that they are in excellent position for: Brad Hawkins, Ahmir Mitchell, Naseir Upshur, Terrance Davis, Rashan Gary, Xavier Kelly, Caleb Kelly, Jonathan Jones, Devin Bush Jr., etc. If M lands say 6 from this group, they'll have a very solid top 15 class.

[WM Wolverine]

A decade ago, M would benefit whenever they offered a kid. If a 2-star recruit had a bunch of Iowa, Illinois caliber offers and suddenly M offered, that recruit would suddenly receive a ratings adjustment; especially if M landed them...

Ratings services nowadays don't follow the offer lists near as much. IMO its the result of the money the recruiting services spend evaluating these recruits in-person as their scouting staffs are tons larger. Fans are paying big money for recruiting information that allow these services to evaluate the recruits better as they are receiving more and more in-person evaluations the recruits weren't receiving 10-15 years ago...

In my last message I stated nearly every 2-star recruit M offered (and for the most part landed) at their camps, suddenly got readjusted to a 3-star by one or more of the recruiting services. If those same kids would've went to a Northwestern camp and committed, they'd still be a 2-star. I always felt Carr's recruiting classes from ~'04 on were vastly overrated and had too many low ceiling, 4-star types and even M's/Carr's 3-stars I didn't see high ceilings in.

[iam416]

Both Sparty and M will be in the 10 to 17 range, along with Penn State. Gary could give us a huge boost, as would the Kelly's... Lots of southern schools will pass the B1G universities.

Correct. As are your last two posts. On fire today!

[Wellington_beefhouser]

With no factual, statistical, or scientific information to back me up, I'm saying M gets a top ten class. #Callingmyshots

I also think we land all the Jersey Boys....cause you know...[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqFLsza1RW4"]its a Jersey thing[/ame]. #Callingmyshots

[Rocky Bleier]

[iam416]

If Michigan adds Rashan Gary, Caleb Kelly, Upshur, Terrance Davis and Ahmir Mitchell that will give them 25 commits and a 247 Composite score of 273.56 (the 247 class calculator is a fun little tool).

That number would have ranked 9th in 2015, 8th in 2014 (by 0.17) and 9th in 2013. If, e.g., they miss on Caleb Kelly, then they have 24 commits and a score of 263.63. That is outside the top 10 going back to at least 2011.

As a comparison, if Ohio State adds only Nick Bosa to the its existing class, OSU will have score of 268.53 with 17 commits.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Good read ...... when you read this, you come away with a better view of how absolutely important relationships are to recruits and their families.

It is really too bad that, as WM points out, so many SEC schools have boosters that simply open their wallets, it seems, influencing, in a negative way, IMO, the parents or other family members who are ostensibly representing these kids and/or making decisions for them.

Sort of skews the equation when it comes to a level playing filed I would think. I will say, one of my first reactions to WM's post on this matter was, which SEC schools do we actually have evidence that boosters loyal to these schools are opening their wallets. Smoke, fire, weak NCAA investigative arm and all that notwithstanding, I wonder how prevalent pay-offs to get players to commit to SEC teams actually is.

http://www.scout.com/college/michigan/story/1559313-michigan-s-recruiting-team-takes-shape

[WM Wolverine]

My post in the other discussion was a collection of all the varying types of benefits that are allegedly provided by boosters located almost entirely in the southeast; not including the most popular, the $500 handshake. These are largely rogue boosters who just want their schools football, basketball program to win at any costs...

Reading my post, you might get the inclination all recruits get this type of treatment, which isn't the case at all. Only certain recruits/athletes receive the special treatment as not every athlete is looking (or needing) a handout, we'll never really know the extent of this until a massive investigation is done at schools all over the southeast.

[Wellington_beefhouser]

Updates from MGoFish...

[ame]https://twitter.com/mgofish/status/615756611802411009[/ame]

[iam416]

IMO, whether you're getting paid or not, comfort and relationships are still critical factors. Even in the an SEC West recruiting war, I still think the kid will end up at the school that is most comfortable for him.

Recruits will say a ton of things about why they chose a certain school with the most prevalent being the laughable "education" thing. If that were the case Stanford would be loaded and a lot of these kids would play in the Ivy where schools would find a way to cover their costs and get them in provided they had at least decent academic success.

The bottom line is that it's all about how good they feel about the staff and the reputation of the program. The latter is basically negated when its elite recruits because all options are sufficiently elite when it comes to football success. That leaves comfort with the staff as critical.

Finally, there are some kids who are openly on the take, but that's relatively rare. When kids get paid its mostly unsolicited crap from boosters.

[Rocky Bleier]

If Michigan adds Rashan Gary, Caleb Kelly, Upshur, Terrance Davis and Ahmir Mitchell that will give them 25 commits and a 247 Composite score of 273.56 (the 247 class calculator is a fun little tool).

That score will be higher when Harbaugh massages thelist and drops off some of those lower-ranked kids. ;)