LB Jeremy Patton to Baylor
https://sicem365.com/s/10231/breaking-four-star-linebacker-jeremy-patton-commits-to-baylor
Ja'Kobi Albert commits on Wednesday. But it looks like Auburn.
We are not doomsday posters, we post reality. One of the biggest problems with this fanbase is anyone speaking the truth, which recently is mostly negative, you are a doomsday poster, or a hater or whatever else you want to label us.
The first signing period is in December. Ultimately commitments in July only mean so much. What matters is who signs in December and February. If we had a few more four stars committed right now, that would only mean so much, as a 4-8 or 6-6 season probably means we lose them.
Win on the field and the recruits will come, if we don’t, July commitments are irrelevant. That is why I can’t understand getting to worked up at this point.
Why are you on here posting sensible things when there is high quality bitching to be done?
This new nickname of doomsday poster is irksome just because some of us speak reality of what we observe.
The last recruiting cycle brought in a pretty good class at least on offensive side. I think we can all agree that the defense is lacking in talent so it is critical to get some talent on that side. With the seeming lack of UM to take advantage of the transfer portal that makes this that much more critical. I had hoped this staff would be lights out recruiting and early on looked to be but this is very troubling.
Can't blame the kid for wanting to be close to family.
Not really worried about this.
This might be cold feet and the elderly family pull might be temporary, and he still might change his mind as season goes on. If they get him to a game in fall I'll say there's a good chance still here, considering he told them he was coming.
Egg all over Sam Webb’s face. Again.
LOL at those asinine Crystal Ballz
The kid literally called and told the coaches he was coming. Don't see how that's a strike against Sam Webb or any other analysts. Shit happens.
Shit happens - yes. But ‘shit’ ALWAYS happens to UM. It’s becoming more of a joke at this point.
It hasn't just been one guy. Checking notes... Gushing interviews with dad... Ahhh! Josh Christopher. Sam has been off the past few years. I don't have enough time to keep track, but his CBs often come in minutes after others submit (ie: Lorenz), or he has a "5 or 6" confidence level. What is that noise??? My dog could CB 5 or 6 confidence levels and be right 50% of the time. Sam should forget his ballzs, go back up to his gut feelings.
This recruiting cycle has kicked Sam pretty good in the balls twice now. That said, it sounds like he was told flat out by family members that both Phillips and Patton were silent commits.
I can see how it would be easy to perceive Sam's predictions as those of a homer slappy, but the reality is that he unfortunately got railroaded twice in this cycle by the whims of a teenager. It's no ones fault, and it happens, and it also sucks for Michigan. But I don't think it's an indication of Sam being a Michigan homer and reporting overly optimistic recruiting developments.
Don't forget Justice Finkley. He and his family were scheduled to be on Sam's show at WTKA on the Monday after his visit. It was supposedly a done deal he was committing that weekend. Then they told him he was a DT, not a DE.
August 1st, 2021 at 12:23 PM ^
Alabama will probably tell him that too.
“I sat down and talked with my mom and pops and talking it over with my grandma made me realize how much I want to be around my family,” Patton told 247Sports.
Patton's from Tenaha, TX, which is 186 miles from Waco, about a 3.5 hr drive.
Six of Baylor's 2022 games are in Waco; two more are in Austin and Lubbock. Another is in Norman OK, about 350 miles away. That's over 5 hours, but if you're staying overnight in Norman, that drive is easily doable.
Tenaha is over 1100 miles from Ann Arbor, and very few people are going to drive that in one day.
I know the usual response will be "who cares everybody flies now" but the nearest airport is probably across the border in Shreveport LA, and from what I can tell there are no direct, non-stop flights from Shreveport to AA. IOW flying to AA would be a pain in the ass for the Patton family, especially if Grandma wants to watch the games. Not to mention that not every family can afford to fly six times a year or more.
Now factor in uncertainties about the lingering pandemic and the inevitable back-channel rumors about Harbaugh's future in A2.
100% true but did he just realize that today? How do you go from most if not all baltz for Mich,rumored to be a silent commit,getting the full Sam Webb treatment on Friday to suddenly committing to Baylor?
He sat down with his family and discussed it and realized how important it was to him to be around his family. A lot of people come to revelations like that shortly before a major life decision.
I guess so."Runaway Bride Syndrome."
This is why I'd be very selective in going after kids in the deep south or far west. It's not unusual for families to be unwilling to see their son go off to a school that is beyond reasonable driving distance for games or visits, especially when they have offers from major universities within an easy drive of home.
Ohio State doesn't seem to have any problems recruiting kids far from Columbus. Schools are no doubt pointing to last year's record and Harbaugh's contract as a sign of impending doom. The Michigan Mystique is no more. Got to do it on the field now... with 3 stars. What will happen to all of these new coaches if Harbaugh is fired? They're are some good ones that I would hate to see leave.
This is what happens when you only hire from within the ranks, in this case "ranks" being anyone that knew Bo in some fashion or played/worked here.
Nature doesn't reward inbreeding. It's harder to fire a guy you played, worked with before taking positions that matter.
Slowly everyone accepts the mediocrity. Excuses are made for everything to the point that people will be called "DOOM and gloomers" for wondering why 6-win seasons and literally never beating our main rival is ok. It's a slow but steady drain that leads to the bottom and any program worth half a s#it and has half the resources Michigan does would not accept it.
People are still talking about 2006 and 2016 like time doesn't move on. Bring up the sad state of affairs and people will defend it with
"Had they only called JT short it would be totally different..."
No it wouldn't and everyone knows it. Did that matter? Absolutely. However, Michigan has been a weird pile of mediocrity for a long time now. Pretty much 20 years of excuses and living off of past glories, some dating back a century.
The entire program needs the slate wiped clean and too few will admit this. No, this isn't due to losing one 3* recruit. Replying with that angle is lazy and dumb. The problem is even needing to rely on 3* recruits. Here and there is fine but when MICHIGAN has to almost exclusively hunt for diamonds in the rough? C'mon.
How old were you when Michigan last beat Ohio State? Ok, how old were you the time before that? How old are you now and do you feel like Michigan is remotely capable of doing it anytime soon?
No? Then what are we talking about? What debate is there? The bed has been burning for two decades. Worse? The school and about half the fanbase is perfectly ok sleeping in it. That's the problem.
OMG, an unbelievably well written, and factual post. You may get negged, and I wish I could give you more than 1 upvote. Too many in this fanbase have gotten use to mediocrity and make excuses about all the "bad luck".
No worries as I don't care at all about negs. I don't post enough and I've been around this blog too long to care, haha.
Beyond that, what more do people need to see to know what the problem is? I don't even debate the issue now because it's like that scene in 'Moneyball' where the old scouts are demanding to still pick randoms by how square their jaw is or how pretty the guy's GF is. They aren't seeing the obvious problem...and I don't even really like that movie! It's just arguing with the blind.
I just revert to my last point:
How old were you when UM last beat Ohio State, the other team in the supposed greatest rivalry in sports? How old were you the time before that? Finally, how old are you now and does Michigan seem capable of winning that game anytime soon? The age component is to maybe let it really settle in how bad it's gotten and the last part is to let the basic trajectory settle in for even a second.
When you do those two things, what is there to debate? At that point it's willful ignorance to claim we just need to hang on longer or trust the coaches or stop being so dang unlucky for a bit. It's Michigan. Michigan is the problem. Michigan is the North Korea of CFB. It's a program led by the whims of a man that died a long time ago. It's weird and self-destructive.
2016 was a really good year. I though 2017 was going to be even better. But key coaches, like Jedd Fisch, left. I don't know if the program is as bad off as you are saying.
Where are all of these people who think 6 wins are ok?
There are regularly posts that say things along the lines of "I dont think this is going to be a very good season, but hard to see him getting fired even with a 6-6 type season with agreeing to a new deal and hiring new assistants".
I don't think his hiring was a problem being a "Bo guy" or "Michigan Man" or whatever at the time. He was very highly regarded at the time, even by rival fans. I don't know what happened along the way, but we're at the point where MSU and OSU fans would raise the money needed in a day to pay his salary for one more year to get him to stay.
The way the program talks about itself and acts like it's a big time program when it's not has gotten really old. And the attempt to fix things from last year included hiring more Michigan Men in Hart and Bellamy plus an assistant from Jim's brother. The only really good and honestly surprising hire was Clinksdale.
When harbaugh was hired, I thought he would have done a lot better than he has. I heard Cris Carter on a college football show that said he was a great hire....for Ohio State. Never heard what it was that Carter saw that it would turn out to be true.
I by-and-large agree with the premise of your post, with one major exception..
This is what happens when you only hire from within the ranks
Jim Harbaugh was not simply an inbred hire. At the time when he accepted the Michigan job in 2015, he was the most qualified FA coach in all of football. Nothing about his track record suggested he was anything other than a home run hire. Now, I do agree the primary reason he is still here now after the 2020 season performance is because he's a home grown, Michigan Football legacy, but that was not the reason he was hired. If anything it's the reason that he was interested in the job in the first place.
The problem is even needing to rely on 3* recruits. Here and there is fine but when MICHIGAN has to almost exclusively hunt for diamonds in the rough? C'mon.
This to me is the crux of the problem, and until the football program acknowledges this is the problem and fixes it, they will continue to struggle separating themselves from the rest of the league and compete consistently with Ohio State. Patton's recruitment serves as a microcosm of what is truly plaguing the program: the recruiting approach and philosophy of the football program has not modernized enough or truly comprehended what it takes to acquire top level talent, or they simply refuse to do it.
For me, I'm skeptical at this point that Jim Harbaugh can turn this thing around, but I am also rooting for him and I am willing to give him an opportunity to prove his new strategy for the program can work. I do believe his coaching resume suggests he can coach at the highest level of the sport, but I think he has to prove this season that he can do it at Michigan. I also think the institution needs to come to terms with the reality of what is truly required to attract elite talent to your football program. "Winning the Michigan way" has demonstrated over and over and over again that it doesn't translate to winning at the highest level of college football. Until they move away from that ideology we'll see mostly good-but-not great football.
August 1st, 2021 at 12:26 AM ^
I do believe his coaching resume suggests he can coach at the highest level of the sport, but I think he has to prove this season that he can do it at Michigan.
He did that in 2015 and 2016. I don't know what happened to his confidence from the 2016 Ohio St game. But he appears to have finally dealt with it. BIG10 media day was the most alive and open I have ever seen him, and I watched out here in California when he was with the 49ers. It's do it or die trying. And I'm going to be praying and watching.
BIG10 media day, for those who didn't see it:
I can agree with this and should have clarified that it's more of a program (AD, even) thing for UM to hire from within. It's not a Harbaugh thing specifically but a systematic thing, IMO.
But you touched on the point I think is most important and I just happen to think it goes hand-in-hand with the above point. I think inbred hiring has created a structure that accepts mediocrity to spare sacred cows. It doesn't purge those that should not be there and creates the exact opposite of a meritocracy.
Finally, we have to fully consider the likelihood that the school itself doesn't want to go where you need to go to be a major power in CFB these days. With NIL I have no idea why that is and/or why UM seems to be acting like rules really even apply anymore but from the word of everyone I her from they are. UM was slow out of the gate and not going anywhere near what other programs have as of this moment. Maybe that will change? We'll see.
I just think that winning breeds more desire to win and if the school can output a football team that fills that GIANT stadium on Saturday and rakes in cash regardless of results...who cares what the outcome is? I think they want to have their academic cake eat it, too. Yet, that in and of itself gets into the debate about what kinds of students make the best players and yada yada yada. Larry Foote stuff, of which I largely buy into but isn't a hill I'll die on.
I just think Michigan is the problem and a HC change won't make it better if everyone else is around. Yet, you don't let that stop you from making change! You wipe the entire fn slate clean. Move on from Bo and his ideals and his whims and all that stuff that we like to glorify for very fair reasons. It's 2021. We need leaders and coaches for 2021, for today's game and I have zero faith in those currently leading and working in it even beyond the coaches (of which there are a few I like and think would thrive at an OSU, Clemson, etc).
To put it in perspective, my daughters were born in 1997 and 2000. They have basically grown up around Michigan losing to OSU every year. Until 6 years ago we lived in Ohio so you know how well that went.
As the saying goes, winning changes everything. Does it? Until last season JH was winning 9-10 games every year. Or is it that we need to beat OSU? Or could it be that the rumor of JH wearing out his welcome after a few years is true and recruits are catching on?
At any rate, I do realize every recruit is unique and each has different circumstances that affect their decision. It’s when you start to see continuous issues like this that perhaps indicates a bigger problem. That said, at this point all that can be done is hope the football season is a success and pray recruiting follows that success in December.
I don't think Steve Clinkscale or Ryan Osborn would be fired in such a scenario.
This is such a very small factor for these kids. When I was assisting with a small, insignificant, junior college softball program in the middle of godforsaken Kansas our kids, mostly, came from California, Washington, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. And furthermore, the notion that gets bandied about that these kids are thoughtless and uninformed could not be more incorrect. Our low-level softball girls were very inciteful and cognizant of what the ramifications of the options before them entailed. I can only imagine the information these national prospects for this very large stage have considered and processed. Suffice it to say that they are light years ahead of fans commenting on a message board-in every way. The decisions they are making are very well informed.
How do you go from most if not all baltz for Mich,rumored to be a silent commit,getting the full Sam Webb treatment on Friday to suddenly committing to Baylor?
Teenagers are some of the most fickle, inconstant creatures on the planet. Being faced with the finality of a decision can also introduce all kinds of factors that a kid might have been ignoring previously, such as proximity to grandma.
If nothing else it appears that Michigan's NIL "money cannon"—the alleged recruiting equalizer—is more of a popgun at the moment.
We’re so far behind this game - who knows when we will ever catch up.
I'm getting negged above for mentioning NIL factoring in here for Baylor.
These are 17 and 18 year olds making huge decisions. I know I'd go back and forth on things a lot.
August 1st, 2021 at 10:15 AM ^
Hell, I'm 43, and sometimes I want Harbaugh fired and sometimes I want him to resign.
UM can get him from the portal next year
Aren’t we NOW supposed to be good in recruiting? I am missing something here.
It's weird how Michigan is the only school to ever lose out on a recruit at the last moment.
/s
Everyone around here is cackling when we flip a recruit from some other school. Can't be mad when it happens to us.
When is the last time Michigan got a 4/5 star recruit to change heart and come to Michigan at the last moment?
Daxton Hill.
“He doesn’t count because *fart noise*.”
Rayshaun Benny
Loving the player xxx yyy committed elsewhere posts. Keep em coming!
How can you compete with Waco?
Meh.
I’d like to have him, but I’m resigned the to the likely and almost certain fact that whoever commits or doesn’t commit, the ultimate and most important result is not going to change under Harbaugh. We’re still going to lose to OSU. And likely lose big.
Neg away if you want, but most of Michigan’s main targets are trending away from them. That’s not a great sign. They’ve got this season to turn that around, but if they can’t, then you have to question if the prospects who could make a difference will ever buy what Harbaugh is selling again. Michigan is in critical condition right now, and this season will determine if it can be resuscitated, or if not, if the powers that be need to just say “Call it. Time of death?” and start over.
Even though they are 17 or 18, these recruits have seen the underwhelming 6 years of Harbaugh - since they were in middle school - and know that things will not get better under him. Too bad a huge chunk of our fanbase can't seem to see that. Hope I'm wrong big time.