New QB coach Kirk Campbell revives recruitment of 2025 5* QB Underwood
According to Comrades Steve Wiltfong and Sam Webb, New Michigan QB coach Kirk Campbell has completely turned around the recruitment of 5* 2025 QB Bryce Underwood ($): to the point that Underwood and his dad Jaquan have already scheduled another visit to Ann Arbor. A "game changing," "night and day" experience according to the dad. Jaquan directly contrasted what he described as the passive, indifferent approach to recruiting by Matt Weiss to the active, attention-to-detail approach by Campbell.
I'll leave it to that so the Michigan Insider crew can earn their well-deserved cash, but those of you with subscriptions can read the full reporting at the links above.
We can have nice things?
Just wait until the subject of NIL comes up.
Having watched him play in person, Underwood is incredibly talented. I hope he gets the right guidance, development and coaching going forward at Belleville that was totally lacking from his old head coach this past season.
Dear Mr Underwood. 2 B1G DLinemen weigh 600+ pounds and can flatten a house. You need a good OLine standing in their way to ensure a long and profitable career. It just so happens that I know where you can find one.
Wasn't critical commentary on Belleville coaching what got Harbaugh on the outs with this school? Is this really what should be said. Why not turn it into a positive and get more of their great athletes?
March 14th, 2023 at 10:34 AM ^
It has been said, the next football player to do something of impact in college from Belleville will be the first.
(I'm not saying Bryce Underwood will be one of them, just that the past hasn't been to problematic in not landing their kids)
March 14th, 2023 at 12:34 PM ^
(What?)
Not getting excited yet but . . .
Something that should also be noted is that a few months back, Sam Webb said that if we get Jadyn Davis then we’re probably not getting Bryce Underwood just due to the nature of QB recruiting and because Underwood wants to be the guy. While that’s a good problem to have and I’m not sure how Campbell has changed that, it’s something to note
March 14th, 2023 at 11:24 AM ^
Seems to be a non-issue at Bama and Georgia and elsewhere, but yeah... makes sense i guess.
That said, am I crazy or has Jadyn Davis been slip sliding down the rankings and is no longer the elite QB that he was billed to be?...
#8 QB and 100+ overall? Great, but not super elite?
Not sure what the cutoff is for high level QBs, but in the last two classes only three teams landed top ten QBs in both. Oklahoma did the best, signing Jackson Arnold (4th) after getting Nick Evers (8th). Clemson landed 10th ranked Chris Vizzina after Cade Klubnik (2nd), and Texas got Arch Manning after Maalik Murphy (9th).
If you expand it to top 15 in both, LSU (15th and 6th), Bama (12th and 4th), and OSU (11th and 5th) join the three above. Other than LSU, it's teams that make sense. LSU also just barely makes this cut with Rickie Collins being 15th. 15th might even be generous, because depending on the year you have kids who are low 4 stars there. I don't think this is an indictment on Michigan if they don't land back to back elite kids in the class.
Jadyn Davis is 8th according to On3, but still ranked as the second best QB on 247. Composite on 247 has him as the 4th ranked QB, and I believe On3 has never been super high in him and don't think they ever had him top 5 in his position.
In communist football, prospect recruits YOU!
I was prompted to look this up:
March 14th, 2023 at 12:55 PM ^
Wow. I sorta recognized the joke, but didn't realize it's a thing. A trope. A meme.
MGoBlog is SOOO educational.
Good to see they aren't putting all their eggs in one basket like they did with Dante Moore. I gather that Underwood > Davis?
Yes, except underwood is 2025, so why not both?
The early belief was that if UM received Davis’ LOI then Underwood would not come because he wanted to play immediately. Not sure if that’s changed all of the sudden. I also can’t help but believe that NIL will be a factor later down the road. In any case, it’s great to hear that Daniels is actually doing his job compared to previous predecessors.
Deleted. Horrible double entry.
In terms of talent, Underwood > Davis. However, given our current QB situation, we kinda need an elite QB in 2024 unless we get someone in the portal or Underwood were to reclassify
As I said before, Weiss and Helow were disliked. This is another story which supports that. JJ and Davis particularly disliked MW. Can’t recall who pushed back on that fact but they’re nowhere to be found now.
March 13th, 2023 at 10:35 PM ^
I think a lot of people pushed back as you cited "insider info" which cannot be verified as evidence to shit on several coaches who helped us win two B1G Championships.
I don't think your posting history and avatar name ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skegemog_Point_Site ) go together well.
Skeg,
I recall GoJ refuted you very directly and cited as his source, “insider info”. So since neither of you can give us anything substantive, the rest of us are left to guess as to what we think really happened.
I'll push back - saying "people don't like these guys" based on amorphous insider info while they're also directly involved in the best 2-year run in football in a hot minute is difficult to parse.
As for reading so much into a QB changing his preferences, look no further than Dante Moore loving the Oregon staff...until Bo Nix returned and he wasn't promised a starting spot. Then suddenly he is love if Chip Kelly (?) at UCLA. My guess is Weiss wasn't a good recruiter and that hurt some relations, but it also sounded like he got better with growing some relationships before he was booted. But the clean narrative that UM got rid of the assholes and now recruiting will be golden is too cute to be wholly real.
You got crapped on because you crapped on coaches and cited no reasons anyone could believe. When I called you on that and asked for some sort of viable reasoning you shit on me about being a keyboard warrior that you don't have to answer to. Okay, fine... But that attitude doesn't give anyone a reason to believe you.
And now you want to be the hero. Yay, good for you.
FWIW, GoJ has been passing along info for several years, and most of it has been pretty good. You came out of nowhere and flat refused to offer anything in the way of credibility. Nobody asked you to name names, or dates, or provide concrete proof, but you shit on anyone that calls you on it.
March 14th, 2023 at 10:00 AM ^
Jadyn Davis and his father both liked Matt Weiss. They're very impressed with Campbell because he actually seems to know how to coach the quarterback position. He is definitely an upgrade.
Be very nice to have a great QB in the program. With the transfer rules, having depth at that position is going to be increasingly difficult to achieve.
No chance. None. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada.
March 13th, 2023 at 11:58 PM ^
Does the word “zilch” ever get used in any other way except this?
Did you watch his Huddle film?
God bless computer crimes?
March 13th, 2023 at 10:18 PM ^
Definitely better than the Lo-Cal Calzone Zone.
March 13th, 2023 at 10:04 PM ^
Does Crowell being out at Belleville help as well? Or was that relationship mended?
March 13th, 2023 at 10:26 PM ^
I never got the impression was a “mending fences” kind of guy unless there was something in it for him.
From a great distance Crowell seemed like a poor man's Ted Ginn.
March 13th, 2023 at 10:30 PM ^
Matt Weiss was bad and Michigan is better off without him. Recruiting is better and his scheme wasn't anything revolutionary. If anything he just made the offense more confusing with 2 play callers.
Why did we even need a run game coordinator like Weiss? That's literally what Jim Harbaugh does best; scheme up wacky shit in the run game to get linebackers out of gaps. JJ needed someone to help him with his mechanics and to develop the pass game scheme. Weiss wasn't the guy for either of those tasks let alone recruiting.
Mike Hart was run game coordinator. M also won 2 B1G championships with Weiss averaging 40 points ppg in 2022. Not sure I'd consider that "bad".
convenient lapse of memory
I don't get the petty obsession to shit on a coach after they depart. Especially when the past 2 seasons were highly successful. Not a great look.
Of course, you mean "in spite of" Weiss they won 2 B1G championships.
/s
March 13th, 2023 at 10:37 PM ^
Bryce Underwood is the best HS QB in the state of Michigan since Drew Henson: I loved Dante Moore and I think he very well could be a first round pick in 3-4 years. Underwood is future #1 overall type good.
In saying that though, based on our current QB situation for the future I think it’s more important that we land Jadyn Davis if we are only able to grab one.
March 14th, 2023 at 12:29 AM ^
That don’t make a lot of sense
It does when you consider that Davis will be here next year (2024) while Underwood won't be on campus until 2025. If JJ goes Pro it will be VERY important to have Davis on the roster even if it is as only as backup/understudy.
The issue is that Underwood is a 2025 recruit, which means he's probably not going to be a serviceable starter until at least 2026. As of right now, our realistic options for decent QB play in 2024 (even if we land Davis) are to somehow convince JJ to come back for his senior year, or find a high level transfer. In 2025, unless we land Davis, it's looking like transfer or bust.
We really need to be getting a high level QB recruit every other year. With the real possibility that a good QB could be leaving for the NFL after three years, that keeps you on track for the "JJ schedule," i.e. sit and develop your true freshman year (maybe with some cameo work or a special package) and then start your sophomore and junior years. Missing out on Dante really hurt in this regard, because now instead of a guy that could develop as a freshman in 2023 behind JJ and hopefully be ready to start in 2024, your QB recruit isn't arriving until 2024, and true freshman QBs are usually no bueno. You can paper over that issue if you somehow convince JJ to stay for 2024 (others are more optimistic, but I'm not getting my hopes up); I'd still have preferred the QB in 2023, but you've made it work. But if you miss on Davis, now you've missed an entire two-year QB recruit cycle, and barring a transfer a true freshman looks like your only viable option for 2025.
I'd rather not be facing the possibility of multiple years without a solid QB (if JJ doesn't return for 2024), just as Harbaugh is working to build up momentum to keep our recent success going...
Don’t underestimate Davis Warren.
Poor Davis Warren! I was thinking the same thing - people have already seemed to write him off. Honestly, I think he'll beat out Jayden Davis next year, pushing Davis to be a first year starter in 24, and then 25 will be his last year at UM. Just in time for Underwood to take over as a Soph for a couple of years.
And I don't expect any drop off in play with Warren, either. Maybe a little...
I'll predict he starts a season a Michigan and then competes to retain his job Ala McNamara before the dust settles on his career.
March 14th, 2023 at 11:58 AM ^
I'm not, he looked pretty good in garbage time last year (honestly I'd say he looked better than Cade, though that wasn't exactly a high bar). But I agree with Brian and/or Seth when they said it's concerning that he wasn't separating from the non-JJ pack in the competition for the backup spot...
Agreed. Look at Stetson Bennett. Brock Vandagriff and JT Daniels were 5 stars that sat behind behind 3 star Stetson.
I'm not saying that Jadyn will sit but don't count out Davis to start at least one season.