Tuskegee Receives Release from Dennis Norfleet
"On Saturday morning, 5-star linebacker Caleb Kelly, a Michigan prospect, posted a message saying that Michigan would miss Norfleet’s energy. According to Snyder of the Freep, Norfleet sent a farewell message on Instagram to fullback Joe Kerridge."
Source: todaysu.com
Best wishes to Dennis and thank you for yoru hard work during your time with Michigan!
FLEET! We wish you all the Best!
Multiple levels of odd:
* I've never heard of "Today's U." Have I been living under a rock?
* Freep. Thanks, OP, for not linking to it directly.
* Was Norfleet Caleb Kelly's host on a recruiting visit? (Did he even visit?) If not, how is a Clemson commit so knowledgeable about UMich affairs?
* I don't have enough information to responsibly speculate on Coach Harvel's mindset, but I'm going to do it, anyway: It's easy to get an ALL ABOUT ME vibe when reading about him. He seems like a minor-league version of the Chicago high school basketball set.
All that aside, good luck to Dennis. I hope he prospers.
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Caleb visited campus in March. Nobody we're recruiting has yet taken an official visit with player hosts. IMO, it's a good thing Kelly knows that much about our team. It shows a level of interest beyond what one might expect from a CA kid.
We want all your Kellys!
Caleb Kelly said in an interview that Michigan is high on his list.
At first, I thought this name was some Harbaugh meme I had missed...
If Norfleet has a B average and three full years of coursework at Michigan and still doesn't have a major, that's a problem. It's also pretty hard to believe, with the amount of academic counseling the athetic department provides.
If true, given what Harvel said about an interest in special education, it sounds like Dennis missed his chance to transfer into the School of Education, which most undergraduates do before their Junior year. He would have had to do that last year.
BUT..it seemed liked he had all the potential/speed in the world but rarely broke out..he was always 1 or 2 steps from breaking big runs but somehow always tripped or got caught or SOMETHING..you could watch him and say WHAT IF...but that was the problem it was always WHAT IF....best of luck
Well, he does have a learning disability.
I hope he is successful in the future. One thing I've been wondering about lately. Last year we had lots of complaints about the occasional failure to field 11 men on punt returns. That's obviously first amd foremost on the coaches, but don't you sometimes see the punt returner counting to make sure everyone is on the field? (Or maybe that's the punter--I'll admit it's not something I pay close attention to.) Anyway, I wonder if Norfleet's dancing--one of the things that many of us really enjoyed--also contributed to something that drove us to frustration. Maybe that dynamic was somehown emblematic of the Hoke years.
It wasn't on punt returns. It was on punts (aka punt coverage) when we were missing someone. If it was Norfleet's job to count as a returner, then why would he have been on the field when Utah returned a punt for a touchdown?
Aha--got it. Thanks for the info. I'm glad to hear this, because it was bumming me out a bit that his danicing/hype routine was somehow linked to our special teams struggles.
I liked Fleet, but he didn't have all the speed in the world. Quicks, yes, but was not a speedster as I recall.
Always liked Norfleet. He always had great energy even when he was a recruit /commit hanging out with Shane Morris.
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Gonna miss you Fleet. Thanks for all you brought to the Michigan football program and I wish you the best at Tuskegee.
Obligatory:
What a bummer. I always loved Fleet's enthusiasm. He always seemed like a little Denard in that aspect.
In all honesty, a school/football program like this is probably where he belonged at from the start.
Good luck.
Probably not, though.
Did he talk smack leading up to games? No. That's way worse than anything he ever did.
I will file him in the same category as damn near every person who played under Brady Hoke: Under utilized potential.
"He's too small, not nearly fast enough to make an impact in a P5 conference."
I'm not saying he's great, but he is our all-time leading kickoff returner. I'd say that's "making an impact in a P5 conference." He has also averaged 8.7 yards/carry during his career and 7.5 yards/catch. I would say the fact that we're even having a conversation about this means he "made an impact."
He was a 4* to all of the services except ESPN
And he's our all-time leading kick returner with the #14 overall kickoff return average.
I don't think he would have had much of a role outside of special teams, no. I think he *could* have a bigger role than he had under Hoke, but I just don't think Harbaugh is the guy to take advantage of a guy like Norfleet. I think Norfleet would have been able to make more of his offensive skills if he went to a spread team like WVU, where they use bubble screens, touch passes, etc.
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If his blockers do their job, he could break longer runs. He can't do it on his own and I never heard a whole lot about him missing wedges that the kick team opened for him.
It's not misleading unless you're looking for a reason to argue against it.
Mike Hart is our all-time leading rusher. I rarely see anyone saying, "Yeah, but that's only because he had almost 100 more carries than Anthony Thomas." Braylon Edwards is our all-time leading receiver, but I rarely see anyone saying, "Yeah, but he had 91 more catches than Anthony Carter."
Being an all-time leader in a category is often a function of attempts. It doesn't mean that the all-time leader is the best (I'll take Barry Sanders over Emmitt Smith, even though Smith had more yards), but it is indicative of talent, consistency, durability, and/or other qualities.
We will always have phantom holdings, atomic dogs, clapping at downed punts, and Brian's intense love for you.
Goodbye Dennis. And good luck.
He is finally going to get to take one back all the way at Tuskegee
good luck Dennis!
And we'll cheer for him.
Are you saying that in Swiper's voice?