Let’s talk about our recruiting
I am someone who falls in the middle of the “stars matter” group and the “trust the coaches” group. I think it’s important that we start getting more elite recruits, but I also don’t throw my hands up in disgust whenever we take a three star. On paper, this is Harbaugh’s lowest rated class according to average player rating on 247. But am I alone in thinking that this class is very underrated? I think this year especially, probably due to lack of scouting from Covid, we have quite a few guys that the staff feels are “high 4 star” value and they are rated as 3 stars.
With that being said, Harbaugh assembled this coaching staff to improve recruiting. Most of the coaches on the staff are young, and the hope was that we would start pulling in some more elite players. So far that has not been the case. With us being in the top 10 and Harbaugh looking secure, it would be really nice if we would start to hear some noise about some elite 2023 players. What are your overall thoughts on recruiting with this staff moving forward?
November 18th, 2021 at 9:25 AM ^
My hot take: It needs to be much better moving forward. This class isn’t…great. 2023 needs to be much better.
November 18th, 2021 at 12:22 PM ^
A mediocre class after a 2-4 season where there was lots of talk of the head coach on his way out but then signs a new deal where getting rid of him is easier and then he sweeps out most of his staff and adds a bunch of new coaches? Well shit.....
I am a very fickle fan but come on.
November 18th, 2021 at 1:40 PM ^
2023 begins with securing Dante Moore! The rest falls into place from there. On O anyway.
I'd like to think Ojabo will make Edge crootin easier - that guy wasn't a can't miss croot by ⭐. There's some coaching up goin on there!
Also, if Dax makes some huge game-changing plays in our last 3-4 games (like say, vs osu & in the cfp) and sees his draft stock skyrocket - well that wouldn't suck!
November 18th, 2021 at 2:00 PM ^
Harbaugh spends way too much time and human resources on guys who obviously aren't coming to UM. Dane Key's dad Donte played at UK. They're from Lexington. No way were they leaving Kentucky, especially when Stoops went out and hired pass happy Liam Coen. Cut bait and move on. Same for Lander Barton. His whole family attended the local college > Utah. He was never leaving home. Seems like a recurring issue.
November 18th, 2021 at 5:06 PM ^
Hard to disagree with this... it's just a probability thing. Those kids are likely 90% plus not coming here. Time and resources probably better off spent elsewhere.
November 18th, 2021 at 7:32 PM ^
I don't know about that specific recruit, but Michigan can't just give up on the uphill battles. We don't have a ton of in-state talent and can't just recruit anybody because of tougher academic hurdles. Sometimes you get the guy who just instantly falls in love with Michigan, but basically anyone outside of the state seems like a tough pull if they're pursued by other big name programs.
November 18th, 2021 at 11:15 PM ^
I agree in theory...but 1. We have no idea how much time or energy Harbaugh himself spent with any of those guys.
And 2. We've pulled guys who've been legacies elsewhere and come to Michigan, we've pulled guys out of enemy territory (Andrel Anthony), and we've pulled away from their hometown teams.
I just don't think any of us have enough info to make a judgement on how the staff spends its time and resources recruiting.
My issue with our recruiting...at least this cycle, is that the board has always been really small.
It doesn't seem like we have a ton of guys to pick from like other schools who slow play certain recruits while waiting for a higher priority target.
It always feels like we're recruiting 1-2 guys at a position at a time, strike out, then we go find 1-2 more that we go after. I'm exaggerating a little, but it certainly feels that way.
November 18th, 2021 at 9:26 AM ^
Could be better, could be worse.
November 18th, 2021 at 9:41 AM ^
Given your username, it would have been better if you commented with "not great, not terrible"...
November 18th, 2021 at 10:14 AM ^
A missed opportunity for sure!
November 18th, 2021 at 9:27 AM ^
Close on Domani Beat Bama
November 18th, 2021 at 10:41 AM ^
Yes please! Just throw him a bag for god sakes when he visits. If we can close with Cornerly and Domani this class is a huge success. Then turn all of your attention to the transfer portal and Dante Moore.
November 18th, 2021 at 4:57 PM ^
Transfer portal? Xavier Worthy? It's not like Sark is lighting it up in Austin.
November 18th, 2021 at 11:33 AM ^
Let's hope for semi-warm weather for the OSU game. The last thing we need is for Domani to freeze his Cali ass off for five hours.
November 18th, 2021 at 12:35 PM ^
I'm looking for a blizzard. Turn this into a manball, run-only game and our outlook improves significantly against OSU. A win against OSU > a Domani Commitment.
November 18th, 2021 at 1:09 PM ^
If we beat OSU one could argue that may lead to Domani
November 19th, 2021 at 5:52 PM ^
We’re depending on that are we? Oofdah
November 18th, 2021 at 8:33 PM ^
blizzard would probably chase the SoCal guy to Bama
November 18th, 2021 at 8:47 PM ^
I want BOTH!
November 19th, 2021 at 12:28 AM ^
I agree that beating OSU will at least give us a shot at Domani and I might be stupid, but I think a nice warm day will be perfect. Hear me out…Our defense will get pressure and Stroud (like 98% of all college qb’s) could get rattled and struggle. OSU’s defense isn’t very good against teams that can throw the ball. Yes, they blew the doors off Purdue, but if Purdue doesn’t commit a couple of unforced turnovers, that’s a completely different ball game. They fumbled a handoff and a kickoff. Those two plays killed them.
OSU only forced Purdue to punt twice the entire game. Minnesota only punted three times against them. Their defense thrives on turnovers and scoring on defense, but we rarely turn the ball over. Their DB’s are actually pretty good in deep coverage, but they’ve shown major weaknesses on short to intermediate routes. They especially struggle defending the middle of the field. Cade has looked really good recently with throws to the middle and he’s really good with the shorter routes.
The year Iowa took them to the woodshed, it wasn’t a fluke, their strengths were OSU’s weaknesses and everything went their way. I’m not expecting a blowout, but the potential might be there and as long as we avoid costly turnovers, Michigan will win The Game.
November 19th, 2021 at 3:13 PM ^
Hope springs eternal.
November 18th, 2021 at 9:30 AM ^
Recruiting is about building relationships and most of our new coaches haven't had time to do that. I agree that scouting is funky this year and I bet we close out fine. Where recruiting will really pick up is with the 2023 class.
November 18th, 2021 at 11:45 AM ^
Exactly this class isn’t done yet. I would imagine we will add 3-4 more very good players and the class will end up being very solid. I also expect the 2023 class to be even better
November 18th, 2021 at 1:21 PM ^
My hope is that in addition to USC and Washington, more coaching turnover elsewhere (e.g. Penn St?) might reopen the recruitment of a few more targets both for this year and next.
November 18th, 2021 at 2:05 PM ^
Lot of dominos yet to fall. Would not be shocked if some of these kids hold off on early signing at schools that are either making a change or rumored to be making one.
November 18th, 2021 at 9:30 AM ^
Generally, the best players don’t come to play school. I expected better recruiting with NIL legislation in place.
November 18th, 2021 at 10:53 AM ^
it's still going to be easier for them to go play at Georgia or Mississippi or whatever, because those schools are less likely to still demand much on the academic side.
November 18th, 2021 at 11:31 AM ^
Notre Dame, UT, A&M, Penn State, North Carolina etc. are all great schools and are recruiting much better than we are (yes I understand that Texas is a talent rich state). The excuse that we can't compete in recruiting because we are so academically prestigious is simply not true. Michigan should not be taking 14 three stars to just 3 four stars in a recruiting class. Hopefully the performance this year pay off for the 2023 class.
November 18th, 2021 at 12:13 PM ^
You had me until you included North Carolina.
November 18th, 2021 at 12:15 PM ^
Do you believe they're not a good school or that they don't have a good recruiting class?
November 18th, 2021 at 12:19 PM ^
I'm guessing he's referring to the academic scandal that got them a tap on the wrist.
November 18th, 2021 at 1:53 PM ^
Where the defense was, essentially, well we're not a school.
November 18th, 2021 at 12:34 PM ^
PSU and TAM are not great schools. They are very average state schools.
November 18th, 2021 at 1:16 PM ^
That is not true. They are both among the best public universities in the country.
November 18th, 2021 at 6:53 PM ^
No, they are not. PSU is ranked somewhere in the 60s and a&m is even lower. Repeating a thing over and over doesn’t make it true
November 18th, 2021 at 10:40 PM ^
Uh, there are 1,600 public universities in the US. Being ranked in the 60s is still incredibly good. Being ranked in the 100s is still very good.
November 18th, 2021 at 11:16 PM ^
We’re #63!!!!! Greatness achieved!!!!!!!
November 19th, 2021 at 2:11 AM ^
There are currently 1625 public universities in the US. Indeed, I'm very proud that UM is 99th percentile based upon US News, but PSU and Texas A&M are 96th percentile. These are also very respectable schools.
November 19th, 2021 at 7:20 AM ^
Respectable, yes; great, no
November 18th, 2021 at 12:57 PM ^
That's a fundamental misunderstanding. It has nothing to do with academic prestige. It has everything to do with how far the school is willing to go in shielding revenue athletes from the problems of a regular college experience to ensure they're 100% focused on their job as an athletic performer.
Some athletes do of course wish to partake in academic activities and dabble with non-sports-related aspects of college, but many high level athletes do not. That's only an issue if the school chooses to insist on the outdated notion of the 'student-athlete'. If your school is in that boat, you will never ever have a true elite recruiting class.
Note: I am in no position to judge where in this spectrum Michigan falls in 2021, but I suspect many schools in the top 25 are more eager to accommodate athletes' desire to focus on their professional athletic aspirations than Michigan is.
November 18th, 2021 at 3:57 PM ^
And in Michigan's case, this isn't just a matter of what the alumni or the Regents or the Athletic Director expect: Jim Harbaugh himself is a big believer in the true student athlete experience. The overseas trips, for example, were because he realized that athletes don't otherwise get to have the study-abroad experience and he wanted to provide that for them. He has Michigan selling recruits on a "40-year" plan where there's something other than just football in their future. Paying more than lip service to the student side of the equation, making sure his players have the full college experience, is something the head coach himself appears to value.
November 19th, 2021 at 5:27 PM ^
Thought the overseas trips were a great idea...hope they return.
November 18th, 2021 at 9:31 AM ^
Need to beat OSU (and B1G) for more elite recruits to come
November 18th, 2021 at 9:32 AM ^
I think Michigan needs to figure out how to utilize NIL better.
November 18th, 2021 at 10:00 AM ^
They should make this a class in the business school next semester.
Figure out how the football program maximizes the NIL.
November 18th, 2021 at 12:41 PM ^
I said this when NIL rules were relaxed. The advantage Michigan could have here is the prestige of its business school. Design a whole suite of classes for athletes to maximize their NIL revenue. Brand creation and development, social media maximization, traditional marketing, negotiation and contract issues, advertising and ad design, financial management and investing. All designed for athletes, maybe even by althletes in partnership with the B-school.
Have pro athletes come and speak, too. Regularly.
This would be pretty damn attractive, I would think.
November 18th, 2021 at 12:34 PM ^
Is there anything to indicate Michigan isn't doing well in this area?
I know Hunter Dickinson made his comment, but that was early on and it told me more about Hunter not understanding brand and trademark laws more so than Michigan not having a good NIL strategy.
I get the reality some schools make things about NIL very public. I think it is important to understand why they do it. They want/need attention.
If Michigan has a really good plan which resonates with recruits, I don't care if we know nothing about it. Silence doesn't always mean incompetence. It can mean the exact opposite. You are doing something so well and you have the means to reach the necessary people that there is only downside to being public about it. I mention this as someone who works for a company which values trade secrets providing an advantage over competitors.
November 18th, 2021 at 5:44 PM ^
Yeah I hear the “Michigan needs to do NIL better” stuff constantly but nobody seems to be able to say what we aren’t doing and what specifically needs to improve. I haven’t seen anything that tells me Michigan is doing worse than anybody else when it comes to NIL.