Attrition Watch: December 2015
I haven't done one of these in over a year. If you want a last glimpse at the 2009 class, hit up the 2014 preseason version of this post. You would be surprised that you might—that was a good class. Italics below indicate a contributor. Bold is for a player who is a multi-year starter. Sometimes the latter is a projection for guys with eligibility remaining. Yellow stars are for draftees, purple moons for All Big Ten players, and silver goats for All-Americans.
2010
One last look at the class of doom.
Dorsey, Gardner, Vinopal
Did Not Take Fifth Year(2): Richard Ash, Jordan Paskorz
Played Out Eligibility(7): Jeremy Jackson, Drew Dileo, Jibreel Black, Courtney Avery, Devin Gardner, Jake Ryan, Will Hagerup
Transferred for PT (6): Ricardo Miller, Cullen Christian, Marvin Robinson, Carvin Johnson, Jerald Robinson, Ray Vinopal
Academics/Not Being Nice (5): Demar Dorsey, Antonio Kinard, Austin White, Davion Rogers, Conelius Jones
Injury (3): Terry Talbott, Terrance Talbott, Christian Pace
Left Football (3): Ken Wilkins, DJ Williamson, Stephen Hopkins
Seven out of 26 kids played out their eligibility. One kid who left, Pitt safety Ray Vinopal, did anything after his departure. The kids who played out their eligibility saw one guy drafted. This was a bad class and Rich Rodriguez should feel bad.
2011
Frank Clark 50 pounds ago, Chris Barnett, Tony Posada
This was the hybrid RR/Hoke class in which Hoke found himself with three weeks to pile ten guys in. Late Hoke pickups are denoted with H.
Played out eligibility(6): Brennen Beyer, Raymon Taylor(H), Delonte Hollowell, Desmond Morgan, Matt Wile(H).
Early NFL draft entry(1): Frank Clark(H)*.
Early Fancy Job entry(1): Jack Miller.
Transferred for PT (6): Tamani Carter(H), Thomas Rawls(H), Justice Hayes(H), Keith Heitzman(H), Russell Bellomy(H), Blake Countess.
Academics/Not Being Nice (2): Chris Barnett(H), Kellen Jones
Injury (2): Antonio Poole(H), Chris Bryant.
Left Football (3): Chris Rock (basically: is walk-on at OSU now), Greg Brown, Tony Posada.
Transitional classes are rarely any good and this one wasn't. Hoke's late pickups did include two current Seattle Seahawks, but since Thomas Rawls had to transfer to get on the field that rather takes the luster off. Fifth-year departures complicate our "transfer for playing time" category: Blake Countess was a two-year starter at Michigan and started at Auburn this year.
This is a 20-man class with seven major contributors, which isn't great. Given the cloud Rodriguez was recruiting under and the extraordinarily brief window Hoke was provided after The Process completed, it could have been a lot worse.
*[Clark of course got booted from the team after a domestic violence incident and could be filed under Not Being Nice. In terms of his ability to contribute to the team, early entry—which was coming either way—is more accurate.]
2012
25 players. Seniors and redshirt juniors, if they're still around. As of April 2014 this class had lost just one player, Kaleb Ringer.
Devin Funchess, Willie Henry, Kyle Kalis
Enrolled: Amara Darboh, Jehu Chesson, Kyle Kalis, Blake Bars, Erik Magnuson, Ben Braden, Willie Henry, Matt Godin, Tom Strobel, Chris Wormley, Terry Richardson, Allen Gant, Jeremy Clark.
Played out eligibility: Jarrod Wilson, Sione Houma, AJ Williams, Mario Ojemudia, Joe Bolden, Royce Jenkins-Stone, James Ross.
Early NFL draft entry(1): Devin Funchess
Injury(1): Kaleb Ringer.
Transferred for PT (1): Ondre Pipkins
Academics/Not Being Nice (1): Dennis Norfleet.
With Ryan Glasgow a bonus walk-on this class is the spine of what was, OSU excepted, one of the best defenses in the country. Only two guys got added to the attrition list, and it was clear that Ondre Pipkins was inclined to stay before clashing with Harbaugh about his health. Pipkins will have a year at Texas Tech to show what he can do.
This class also provided Michigan's starting wide receivers, three-fifths of its offensive line, a boring safety, and a couple of linebackers. Hoke's first full class is going to see 22 of 25 players have their careers end successfully. This is an excellent class that drove Michigan to 9-3 once the glaring hole in it—quarterback—was resolved.
2013
27 men.
Jourdan Lewis, Derrick Green, Logan Tuley-Tillman
Enrolled: Jourdan Lewis, Derrick Green, Patrick Kugler, Dymonte Thomas, Shane Morris, David Dawson, Henry Poggi, Mike McCray, Taco Charlton, Jake Butt, De'Veon Smith, Ben Gedeon, Maurice Hurst, Delano Hill, Wyatt Shallman, Jaron Dukes, Ross Douglas, Channing Stribling, Khalid Hill, Da'Mario Jones, Reon Dawson, Scott Sypniewski.
Injury(1): Chris Fox.
Transferred for PT (2): Dan Samuelson, Kyle Bosch
Academics/Not Being Nice (2): Logan Tuley-Tillman, Csont'e York
Just five guys have departed, and two of the linemen had things that were just fate: Fox blew his knee out in an un-repairable way, and Kyle Bosch was in a bad place.
This class is going to experience some additional attrition after the season, all of it for playing time reasons, but with Jake Butt, Jourdan Lewis, and Maurice Hill leading a dozen-plus contributors it is another quality class.
It is again notable for the hole at QB, where Michigan went with a mono-afflicted Shane Morris after forgoing one in 2012 and taking Russell Bellomy at the last minute in 2011. The failure of this OL class to break through is the other major disappointment. Of the six enrollees only two remain and neither started this year.
2014
16 men.
Jabrill Peppers, Ian Bunting, Brady Pallante
Enrolled: Jabrill Peppers, Drake Harris, Bryan Mone, Mason Cole, Lawrence Marshall, Chase Winovich, Freddy Canteen, Ian Bunting, Juwann Bushell-Beatty, Wilton Speight, Maurice Ways, Noah Furbush, Brandon Watson, Jared Wangler, Brady Pallante.
Transferred for PT(1): Michael Ferns.
Ferns departed shortly after Hoke was fired, before Michigan could even hire Harbaugh. That looms rather large for next year. It's still early days for this class but it's looking rather sketchy, with just two guys making a major impact so far.
On the other hand those guys are Peppers and Cole.
December 7th, 2015 at 10:56 AM ^
December 7th, 2015 at 11:00 AM ^
December 7th, 2015 at 11:06 AM ^
December 7th, 2015 at 11:17 AM ^
And clapping in short sleeved shirts.
December 7th, 2015 at 11:19 AM ^
December 7th, 2015 at 11:24 AM ^
December 7th, 2015 at 1:07 PM ^
let's all gather for another round of stomping on brady hoke, shall we? haven't had nearly enough of that.
December 7th, 2015 at 5:23 PM ^
Its all in good fun. I have no problem with Brady Hoke and would actually love it if somehow he found his way back to the program in some shape or form someday. He just isnt cut out for the HC job.
December 7th, 2015 at 11:28 AM ^
Hoke recruited Jourdan Lewis and Jake Butt and Jabrill Peppers. Not shabby, those three.
December 7th, 2015 at 2:58 PM ^
Whats amazing is how we have side stepped great rushers and passers through all these years and classes. That is sometime harder than you think. I have students get every question wrong on a 20 question multiple choice test with five choices for each question,
Its NOT easy to do this if you think about the odds.
So there is a very remarkable element to the last 7 years of recruiting. No great rushers or passers- not so easy to do.
December 7th, 2015 at 12:20 PM ^
You can really be an ass, you know?
December 7th, 2015 at 1:43 PM ^
Well he did stop recruiting the hood, or so I heard from Larry Foote.
December 9th, 2015 at 8:28 AM ^
December 7th, 2015 at 10:59 AM ^
It will be interesting to see what the attrition will look like under Harbaugh. He seems to have a way of being either loved by the hard workers or hated by the slackers. I think we could see some serious attrition from the Hoke classes until Harbaugh gets his recruiting classes as upper classmen.
Either way, Go Blue!
December 7th, 2015 at 11:20 AM ^
Some attrition is inevitable and necessary, because a team can sign 112 players over a four-year recruiting cycle and there are only 85 scholarships available, plus redshirts can get a fifth year.
I'd rather the attrition happen because Harbaugh is pushing guys to be their best rather than guys "not being nice" like under RR or because of guys being shown the door like Saban/Meyer do.
December 7th, 2015 at 12:25 PM ^
December 7th, 2015 at 12:32 PM ^
for RR's classes. He had a ridiculous number or recruits that didn't qualify or weren't admitted.
December 7th, 2015 at 12:56 PM ^
Not being admitted or qualifying because your high school work was inadequate is pretty much an academic failure.
December 7th, 2015 at 2:25 PM ^
those who didn't make it here because of academics and those who left for bad behavior. I was responding to a poster who mentioned the losses for behavior under RR. He did not have an issue recruiting players with character. He did have a problem taking too many players that wouldn't get admitted. He had more in two classes than Carr and Hoke did in total..
December 7th, 2015 at 1:47 PM ^
kids from places like Pahokee and Deerfield Beach who seized the opportunity offered to them and have been great representatives for the university.
(Hint: don't be a hyperbolic internet ass)
December 7th, 2015 at 11:02 AM ^
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December 7th, 2015 at 11:55 AM ^
Is it more important that this guy is remembered for being a good football player (good enough to leave early), or that he beat the hell out of his girlfriend while her little brothers watched? "Not being nice" is extremely generous, but it's better than congratulating him for being good.
December 7th, 2015 at 12:14 PM ^
I just meant in this case he didn't leave early with eligibility remaining, he got booted off the team with a few games left in his final year.
December 7th, 2015 at 12:29 PM ^
Whoops. I didn't catch that. Sorry.
The point about him being included above "Not being nice" still stands though.
December 7th, 2015 at 1:06 PM ^
i thought the same thing. it wasn't really early entry. he missed just the last regular season game IIRC
December 7th, 2015 at 1:18 PM ^
But I think for the purpose of this post, it actually does make more sense to highlight the good. The post is about attrition, i.e., losing the productive value of a recruit. In Frank Clark's case, he was a good and productive player until he got kicked of the team with two games to go. The former is far more telling in how that recruiting class should be evaluated from a football perspective, than the latter.
Sure, what he did embarrassed the program and we all may rather forget his contributions, but contribute he did none-the-less. I think Brian's handling of it (aside from strangely calling him an early-entrant candidate) was appropriate.
December 7th, 2015 at 11:55 AM ^
I was imagining Maurice Hill to be a DT/H-back.
December 7th, 2015 at 11:57 AM ^
I thought Lewan' first name was Tyler for a while, so I figured the fault was mine.
December 7th, 2015 at 12:58 PM ^
Just make sure you don't call anyone "Tom", that's racist.
December 7th, 2015 at 11:05 AM ^
Hey Brian
What's your definition of a 'contributor'? Derrick Green has rushed for almost 900 yds in his career but isn't in italics.
Isn't Sypniewski the long snapper?
December 7th, 2015 at 11:15 AM ^
900 yards over three years is turrible
December 7th, 2015 at 11:18 AM ^
I think there is a "must also not be a turd" caveat
December 7th, 2015 at 11:24 AM ^
Sypniewski should count as a multi-year starter if anything. Green hasn't played well, but to me contributor status (like starter status) is a measure of playing time, not quality. If Dileo is a contributor, so is Green.
December 7th, 2015 at 1:19 PM ^
I kinda disagree with your interpetation of the bold, italics, etc used to ID "contributors" - if they're still on the team but not contributing now, under Harbaugh, then they should NOT be bold/ital.
If the player is no longer on the team, then using those to indicate whether they were at one point contributors is useful. Funchess, JMFR, Heitzman, et al.
So I go with Brian on leaving D. Green plain type...
In another matter of interpretation, I think Frank Clark was absolutely ID'd correctly as an early departure to the NFL, even if it would feel morally better to file him under "Not Nice."
If, as Brian posits, he was leaving early even had he been allowed to play out the season, then that's more indicative of the success of the recruiting class than lumping him with C'sonte York.
Sorry, this wasn't a political correctness litmus test - or else Norfleet wouldn't be in the same category as York either!
December 7th, 2015 at 1:49 PM ^
What's his definition of a 'contributor'? Sypniewski is the starting long snapper on special teams but he's neither in bold or italics.
December 7th, 2015 at 11:06 AM ^
December 7th, 2015 at 11:51 AM ^
Derrick Green was our leading rusher until he got hurt in 2014, and he was even our leading rusher for several more games before De'Veon Smith passed him up. I'd say he's a contributor, too.
December 7th, 2015 at 1:25 PM ^
I addressed this a couple posts up, but to reiterate - D. Green is NOT a contibutor now, in 2015, under JH. He stays plain...
I didn't notice about Speight however - he should be italicized. He contributed mightily to a very important win... without the Minn win we're in the Alamo or like that!
December 7th, 2015 at 11:06 AM ^
Academics/Not Being Nice
December 7th, 2015 at 11:09 AM ^
Obviously still time for some of those guys to make an impact, as they are all true sophs or RS frosh. Still have some optimism for Mone (injury took him out of a promising season), Bunting (got some early PT, Butt-in-waiting?), Marshall (practice/camp hype machine). I recall Ways getting some PT here and there, same with Drake Harris. As long as those 2 can shake the injury bug, could be a good duo at WR. Would love to see Canteen emerge, too, after all the practice hype.
Less sure about the others, TBH. What's the word on Winovich and Furbush? Bushell-Beatty was a project coming in, so maybe next year could see some time in the OL rotation? What of Pallante?
December 7th, 2015 at 11:11 AM ^
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December 7th, 2015 at 11:38 AM ^
Agreed, 2014 has plenty of time to contribute and given the depth of the 2012 and 2013 classes one would have had to have been a Peppers or Cole level guy to make a a significant impact and most of the guys in the class were developmental types.
Seems more an issue of timing than serious concern.
December 7th, 2015 at 11:13 AM ^
Why did Ferns and Bosch ever leave? Ferns seemed like he bled Maize and Blue and to leave like he did seemed insane. Was he that in love with Hoke that he didn't even want to know who his next coach would be? Or was there something else?
December 7th, 2015 at 11:34 AM ^
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December 7th, 2015 at 11:35 AM ^
December 7th, 2015 at 11:36 AM ^
If Glasgow's punishment is any indicator, I'd guess that the conditions for Bosch to stay on the team were more than he thought he should have to do and so he transfered.
December 7th, 2015 at 12:15 PM ^
Are you suggesting that Bosch doesn't get along well with his Grandmother?
December 7th, 2015 at 11:39 AM ^
Bosch had personal problems and declined to follow Harbaugh's plan to earn his spot on the team.
December 7th, 2015 at 1:18 PM ^
From what I heard, Ferns was buried on the depth chart. As in, he was the lowest of the four freshman linebackers at the time. And FWIW, he's now a TE/FB at West Virginia. So maybe he just wasn't destined for greatness as a LB.
December 7th, 2015 at 6:58 PM ^
That was a big miss by everyone. He had offers from Ohio State, Penn State, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Alabama etc.
Ferns' Father Gives Reasoning Behind Transfer
“Would Michael still be at Michigan if coach Hoke were there, probably,” Ferns said, later adding: “I don’t think it’s farfetched to say, that anybody is super excited about the state of the program there right now. By all means it had something to do with it. … I’m not saying this is good for 99-percent of the kids. But this is a good thing for Michael.” Ferns is the first player from the 2014 class to transfer. And the decision didn’t come lightly, his father said. “We were sitting there last night and I said, ‘You know Mike, are you sure you want to do this? Because this is really nice place.’ He just thinks it’s time,” Ferns’ father said. “To be honest with you, if he doesn’t do it now, then he’s not marketable after this year.”
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