How Recruiting will go with the new football coaches?
Listened to wtka a little today with the mgoblog crew as they discussed the new coaches and how they should bring in better recruits. I do not follow football recruiting much anymore, but why do they think this staff will do a better job at recruiting? The only i was getting is they are much younger than the old staff. I wasn't sure if there was any other information to base this on that I'm missing?
Hopefully some new blood will cause a uptick in recruiting!
January 28th, 2021 at 5:51 PM ^
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
January 28th, 2021 at 5:55 PM ^
The Gist is that the younger guys will be more aggressive on the trail.
Sam made it sound (not sure if on the radio or one of the 247 podcasts he does) that while M offered most every big target out there they didn't tend to stick around unless there was clear reciprocal interest early on - I got the impression this was targeted more on the defensive side of the ball but cannot remember if it was explicitly stated.
Sam expects that M will fight hard and stay in more battles until the very end with a more aggressive/younger staff across-the-board instead of just Jay, Josh, and Sherrone (maybe also S. Nua?) doing all of the heavy lifting.
January 28th, 2021 at 6:02 PM ^
Also, and most of the new coaches have a proven track record for recruiting and building relationships. It sounds like HS coaches are excited about the prospect of Mike Hart, and Ron Bellamy coming into the schools. Not to mention most of them have southern connections with positive results.
January 28th, 2021 at 10:17 PM ^
Texas. I tell you, we got a coach with a really good Texas connections. Just think of all the great high school programs in Texas.
Did I mention Texas?
January 28th, 2021 at 6:55 PM ^
“The Gist” would make a great band name.
January 28th, 2021 at 7:01 PM ^
I think the "young guys will have a go and get it attitude" thing is part of it, but also the fact that they are probably able to better relate to players and build relationships, which is truly what a lot these kids are really looking for... not just "hey we are going to show you how much we are invested in bringing you to Michigan" but also "here's what we are going to do for you at Michigan to develop you not only as an athlete but also a man"
and as also discussed, that adds value not only on the recruiting trail but also once those recruits are on campus... having someone young and relatable that will really push and inspire them to give their all and develop. we should also have plenty of funding to throw at analysts for X's and O's, film review, game planning, etc, which should free up the assistants to really build relationships and get the most out of players.
January 28th, 2021 at 7:10 PM ^
So I'm assuming Hart and Bellamy will probably be handling the midwest and the rest of the guys will have a section of the area to cover?
January 28th, 2021 at 8:45 PM ^
Yeah and it seems like the biggest thing in recruiting right now is to be constantly texting and dming with a recruit. And millennial coaches are more likely to be good at texting 20 different recruits 24/7.
January 28th, 2021 at 7:12 PM ^
Michigan left a lot of "big targets" off their offer list. That was actually one of my suggestions for improving Michigan recruiting was to offer more of the top-100 guys.
(I don't mean to imply that they were listening to me. It's just that I track every offer and know that there are a lot of guys not offered.)
January 28th, 2021 at 7:24 PM ^
In my mind, you get credit!
January 28th, 2021 at 7:29 PM ^
While I am only a casual recruiting observer, that was my distinct impression also that we were not targeting or going aggressively after the top players. SMH, still cannot fathom how this DIDN'T happen???
January 28th, 2021 at 7:29 PM ^
Why though in your opinion? Did they not think they had a chance so why bother or did they think the players weren't as good as advertised?
Makes no sense not to at least offer IMO.
January 28th, 2021 at 8:43 PM ^
a) Matt Dudek says they always did their own evaluations and didn't really care about stars.
b) I think some players did not pass muster when it came to being a good academic or cultural fit.
c) I also think Michigan is a (relatively) clean program, so kids asking for money are probably left alone for the most part.
January 28th, 2021 at 9:09 PM ^
So how do you see this changing with the new staff Magnus?
I believe Dudek is still there, academic/cultural fit likely isn't impacted, program will remain (relatively) clean. Or did something whoosh over my head?
January 29th, 2021 at 3:46 PM ^
Regarding C) Are the kids straight up asking for money on the recruiting trail? Or is it just implied in some way? I guess I’m just curious how recruits “ask for money” in most ways from your experience.
January 28th, 2021 at 6:00 PM ^
I mean for one thing Linguist has a track record of elite recruiting so there’s zero projection with him. He’s the real deal. Hart maxed out how well it’s possible to recruit at Indiana—also not much projection there.
You have to project a bit for the other guys. Helow has been a part of several elite recruiting operations and helped reel in an excellent defensive class this year at Maryland, but he’s not a proven primary recruiter. Similar for MacDonald. Bellamy is unproven but is essentially the most beloved man in Michigan high school football, so while projection is necessary, I wouldn’t worry too much about him.
January 28th, 2021 at 6:15 PM ^
Yeah, it's hard to speak towards the recruiting ability of guys like Helow or MacDonald, but Linguist is a proven elite recruiter. In the 2019 cycle he was rated the #19 overall recruiter while coaching for Texas A&M as they brought in the number four overall recruiting class. I think Hart and Bellamy are assumed to be upgrades, or at least good enough, at the recruiting game who will both boost overall connections to the state of Michigan and throughout the Midwest region.
January 28th, 2021 at 6:18 PM ^
I'm not sure how much of a factor getting younger will be, but compare the new and old staffs.
Add Mike Hart, known to be a great recruiter with strong local ties. Subtract Ben McDaniel, not known for recruiting anyone.
Add Ron Bellamy, brought in to recruit and has a great reputation in state. Subtract Ed Warinner, who's done fine recruiting OL.
Move Sherrone Moore, probably the top recruiter on the old staff to OL where he can have more impact as a recruiter. Keep Jay Harbaugh and Josh Gattis, probably the next best recruiters.
Add Linguist, known as an ace recruiter at CB. Replace Zordich, a very good coach not known for his recruiting.
Add Below at S, guaranteed to be better than Shoop who wasn't even in AA.
MacDonald vs Brown, to be determined who's the better recruiter. MacDonald is expected to have a different recruiting philosophy that could help Nua recruit DL. That's one hire where I don't think recruiting was a primary motivation.
Keep the top recruiter, at least by reputation, from the old defensive staff in Jean-Mary.
January 28th, 2021 at 6:30 PM ^
As long as Macdonald focuses most of his recruiting efforts in parts of the country not named New England I think he'll do better than Brown.
January 28th, 2021 at 6:38 PM ^
It might depend on how familiar Macdonald is with McDonald’s - if you know what I mean
January 28th, 2021 at 6:43 PM ^
These guys are younger but not young. Take Bellamy for example. He’s in his 30’s and been active on the scene for 10+ years. Hart-been on the trail for several years. Other guys are experienced football people. They will do well. Talent acquisition is critical and this group will do well.
January 28th, 2021 at 7:09 PM ^
I can predict the future.
it’s gonna be awesome. The end.
January 28th, 2021 at 9:19 PM ^
I love all the hires... Love the fact that Harbaugh is now the elder, so he doesn't defer to someone above him like Brown with the tiny DT. They should recruit well, though I would love to know from anyone here who knows, what exactly what Wiltfong was referring to with that scathing indictment of our "unorganized" recruiting.... was that an indictment of the recruit coordinator Dudek ? Had to be, right ? Well, he is still here.... so, this is a time when JH should have taken a dinner with Wiltfong, to learn EXACTLY what he meant, and why... because if the top recruiting analyst thinks this, then it pervades the recruit world, and needs to be fixed first.
From a podcast, Wiltfong with Trieu:
“They haven’t filled (Patridge's) role, and we’ll see who they fill it with because Michigan is one of those schools where assistant coach recruiters are incredibly important because they don’t recruit in the same traditional way that almost every other program that we cover does,” Wiltfong said. “There’s not recruiting meetings. There’s just a lot on the assistant coaches’ plates to go out in their territories or in their position rooms and find guys they think are good enough to help Michigan win championships.
“Chris Partridge was a guy that wasn’t afraid to go into SEC country with his winged helmet logo on his golf shirt and go toe-to-toe for big-time guys and try to get them to come to Michigan. He had some big wins. He also had some close losses. I mean, Willie Gay was a guy who had Michigan in his top two. Otis Reese is a guy who had Michigan in his top two. He really got after it and worked.”
In general, Wiltfong didn’t feel like the Wolverines were recruiting at a championship level with Partridge. He felt Ohio State and Penn State made it more of a priority, so losing Partridge could only widen that gap.
“I just don’t think, collectively, this staff is recruiting at a level to win a national championship across the board,” Wiltfong said. “It’s a blow losing a guy in Partridge, who I feel like is one of your best recruiters when the emphasis on recruiting at Michigan isn’t the same as it is at Ohio State and Penn State right now. We’re starting to see it on the field.”
January 28th, 2021 at 10:15 PM ^
"Love the fact that Harbaugh is now the elder, so he doesn't defer to someone above him like Brown with the tiny DT."
So the D-coordinator had veto power on recruits over the head coach because of age?
Harbaugh says "hey we should go after this DT, looks like a stud"
Brown goes "nah"
Harbaugh: "oh, whelp you're the elder...okay!"
I'm not buying that.
January 28th, 2021 at 10:18 PM ^
The deference Harbaugh showed Brown and the words he would say how great he was etc... he ended up keeping two years too long, and part of that was deference.
January 28th, 2021 at 10:40 PM ^
When asked about his defensive coordinator he should have said things like "he sucks. can't wait to fire him"?
Kept two years too long? So should have been let go after the 2018 season?
After producing the #1 defense in yards/game. # 2 defense in pass yards/game, # 12 defense in points/game, # 17 defense in yards/game. # 9 defense in S&P+
Should have let him go after that year?
But didn't, because... respect your elders?
To be clear, I like the move toward a younger and (presumably) more recruiting focused staff.
I think recruiting will pick up. I just highly doubt it is because Harbaugh was previously deferring to the oldest coach in the room.
January 29th, 2021 at 1:42 AM ^
Wow, Wiltfong is a real idiot.
Partridge is the reason we are seeing it on the field, considering he's had 20+ recruits leave early without contributing much.
The best recruits to get are the ones who stay.
Sure maybe they should have meetings and shit, but they should talk about not doing it like Partridge.
January 29th, 2021 at 3:28 AM ^
Yeah that quote doesn't seem like a good take on the situation. Partridge was here for the disastrous 2017 class. And recruiting last year was quite good actually outside of DL.
January 28th, 2021 at 10:38 PM ^
No one knows. They could be worse than the guys they’re replacing. They could be better. We don’t know.
January 28th, 2021 at 10:55 PM ^
Recruiting will probably improve a bit, but that doesn’t mean much unless it translates to the field. Michigan’s best recruiting class under Harbaugh was 2017, and that class turned out to be a huge disaster and a big reason we’re reorganizing the staff in heading into year 7. I maintain hope, just not much of it anymore.
January 29th, 2021 at 8:59 AM ^
when something isn't improving, you need to change..... lets hope the change is better recruiting and development.
