According to 247 Article Today, Michigan's Best Recruiter is Fred Jackson?!
Fred Jackson is indestructible. You can replace the entire staff, but you can't stop Fred Jackson from winning accolades for being Michigan's best recruiter! The story was posted today and I had to share the laugh (at these guys at 247 - who supposedly should know that he's not recruiting under Harbaugh...).
FRED JACKSON, Michigan
National rank; 311
Big Ten rank: 62
Number of commitments: 1
Highest rated commitment: Four-star athlete Brian Cole
Next UM coach in the rankings: Dan Ferrigno (329)
Details: Jackson only has one commitment to his credit, but it is a big one. In-state star Cole is a four-star in the 247Sports Composite and is ranked the No. 73 player in the country according to the Composite. He has a rating of 96. Jackson and the other Michigan coaches will climb on the recruiter rankings list as they land more commitments for new coach Jim Harbaugh.
http://247sports.com/Article/Top-recruiters-in-Big-Ten-football--34902203
January 21st, 2015 at 3:04 PM ^
You know, believe it or not, Fred Jackson actually was a very good recruiter for a very long time while coaching the position where recruiting ability is arguably most important.
I think it's a little sad that Jackson is getting the farewell he's getting from Michigan fans. There's a reason why 58 straight Michigan head coaches over 875 years all decided to retain Jackson. Maybe RB production has slipped a bit lately, but Jackson has done a lot over the years for Michigan football.
January 21st, 2015 at 3:07 PM ^
Jackson deserves props for what he did for many years, but I think the negative reaction comes as a counter to all the people saying that he deserved to be retained because of all those years. I hope he was allowed to retire on his own terms, to some extent at least, but I am definitely glad he wasn't retained.
January 21st, 2015 at 4:01 PM ^
retained. There probably was one or two, but the overwhelming sentiment was that it was time to move on. The truth is a lot of posters here are negative and lack perspective. Much of the criticism directed at Fred J was overblown, uninformed and unprovoked.
January 21st, 2015 at 4:12 PM ^
I definitely recall seeing it, especially early on, though maybe it wasn't mainly here, and was more other places on the internet.
January 21st, 2015 at 4:14 PM ^
You’re definitely glad he wasn’t retained? You don’t know him or anything he has or hasn’t contributed to the program. The reason Mo hired him and Carr, RR, and Hoke all retained him is because he’s an incredible person, a great recruiter, and a very good coach. Every player loves him and he’s been a father figure to 25 years worth of Michigan football players. I’m a coach so I’m slightly biased but there is so much more that goes into the program than RB yards per carry, which was excellent for many years until recently (which if you haven’t noticed, was majorly in part to the struggles of the offensive line). This may come off as harsh, but you’re not really qualified to have an opinion on if he should have been retained or not.
January 21st, 2015 at 4:52 PM ^
I think those are all great points. But consider that some may have the view that Michigan has had some RB talent in the last 7 years and really could not find a complete back that could run effectively, block and move the chains. No difference makers and no guys that really very drafted high in the pros. Michigan has had some good guys (V Smith, etc.) but some criticism of the RB position post-Hart does seem warranted.
January 21st, 2015 at 3:07 PM ^
No doubt, just thought it was funny that 247 neglected to acknowledge that Jackson is no longer on the staff so the blurb about how he's going to keep recruiting for Harbaugh seemed to be a little off.
January 21st, 2015 at 4:15 PM ^
only better at sales.
And like Yogi Berra, only more reasoned.
Yogi Berra is usually quoted in an endearing spirit.
January 21st, 2015 at 5:25 PM ^
What? You expect fairness and rational thought? Here? On the internet??
January 21st, 2015 at 3:06 PM ^
He started recruiting while in his mother's womb fergodsakes.
January 21st, 2015 at 3:06 PM ^
Fred Jackson recruited Tom Harmon, don't ya know?
January 21st, 2015 at 3:12 PM ^
January 21st, 2015 at 3:30 PM ^
"Tom, you are fit at Michigan because you're just like Jim Thorpe, except faster."
January 21st, 2015 at 3:10 PM ^
Fred Jackson seemed like a great guy, but not a great coach.
And CERTAINLY not the best recruiter on our current staff.
January 21st, 2015 at 3:53 PM ^
whether Fred Jackson was a good coach or not. The lemmings ran one way, the lemmings ran the other way. And half of the posters here caught the wave--going either way--and made their jokes. Most of them weak. That's the way it is in this business.
What we do know was that he was long a great recruiter for Michigan. And had a way with superlatives. And for those things he does deserve our thanks.
January 21st, 2015 at 4:11 PM ^
Fred Jackson coached several players who are/were record-setters at Michigan (Mike Hart, Anthony Thomas, Tim Biakabutuka, etc.). I don't know what the criteria are for being "a great assistant coach," but that accomplishment alone should put him in the conversation.
January 21st, 2015 at 4:21 PM ^
Coach J and Co.: Why Fred Jackson has stayed Michigan's running backs coach for the past two decades
This was a great article about Jackson from the Michigan Daily. It was time to move on, but he's definitely one of the best assistant coaches in program history.
January 21st, 2015 at 8:40 PM ^
January 21st, 2015 at 3:12 PM ^
doesn't have anything on Fred Jackson. Fred Jackson brought in the number one recuriting class twice - in the same year.
January 21st, 2015 at 3:27 PM ^
In 10,000 years, when this entire planet has rotted away due to nuclear war and exhaustion of natural resources, only two things will remain: cockroaches and Fred Jackson.
January 21st, 2015 at 3:40 PM ^
And to him everyone of those cockroaches will be a mixture of Adrian Peterson, Emmett Smith and Barry Sanders
January 21st, 2015 at 8:01 PM ^
Only faster.
January 21st, 2015 at 3:32 PM ^
January 21st, 2015 at 3:36 PM ^
is a 147 years old. And he helped Michigan win a lot of games over his career. Give the man some respect.
January 21st, 2015 at 3:38 PM ^
Fred Jackson actually died 20 years ago, Death just hasn't built up the courage to tell him yet.
January 21st, 2015 at 3:41 PM ^
I'm going to miss him describe the RBs. They were legendary.
January 21st, 2015 at 3:47 PM ^
in some non coaching capacity no? He is so well liked and is an institution at Michigan, sort of like John Falk. He son is quite a Qb at Saline too!
January 21st, 2015 at 4:11 PM ^
He son is quite a Qb at Saline too!
Who transferred from Huron in the middle of the season... after his dad yanked him off the field in the middle of a game... and left the rest of the team hanging.
January 21st, 2015 at 4:16 PM ^
My kids go to Dexter, so we have whole different level of football problems.
January 21st, 2015 at 5:05 PM ^
Fielding Yost's train pulled into Ann Arbor, and the first to greet the new coach was Fred Jackson.
"Welcome to Meeechigan!" Fred said, as he shook Yost's hand.
"Meeechigan? I like the ring of that!" Yost said.
"Let's go meet this young fellow named Heston ... Willie Heston." Jackson said, as he led Yost by the arm off the platform and towards campus.
January 21st, 2015 at 4:11 PM ^
When Fred Jackson first came to Michigan Ty Wheatley was a sophomore and Freddy coached him up to a 1,357-yard season and Ty averaged 7.3 yards per carry. Legend has it that Jackson recruited him telepathically to Michigan before he even became a coach at Michigan (okay I’m making that up, but it’s a good legend, like the Holy Grail, only faster).
Hopefully Fred can enjoy retirement and tell everyone he coached 3 of the top 4 Michigan RB’s in Michigan history, Wheatley, Thomas and Hart.
January 21st, 2015 at 4:17 PM ^
wears a live rattlesnake as a condom! /Brasky'd
January 21st, 2015 at 4:18 PM ^
I like Freddy J but this stat is misleading. If someone on the new staff gets credit for 2 or 3 of the soon to be new commits they will vault to the #1 ranking.
January 21st, 2015 at 5:21 PM ^
Amateur hour
January 21st, 2015 at 5:26 PM ^
It's no more of an amateur operation than Rivals, Scout, etc. And Wolverine 247 is actually pretty good with the information.
January 21st, 2015 at 5:54 PM ^
Not an article I would read much into as a Michigan fan because Michigan only has six commitments.
Normally, the national writers for the site ask our input on these types of pieces. They did not for this one. They went strictly by the recruiter rankings.
We've switched over as many targets as we can to the new staff, so it will be interesting to see if any of the new staff works their way up those rankings.
January 21st, 2015 at 8:13 PM ^
By the same logic, Carris Levert IS out best bball player b/c he has the most points.
January 21st, 2015 at 7:59 PM ^