The Recruiting Prowess of the New Staff

With all the staff shake-ups that went on over the winter and spring the most repeated point made about the why the various hires were made was that they would reinvigorate and transform Michigan recruiting. We'd be more national, as well as better able to land all of the in-state talent, and generally have a better shot at landing the elite talent that always seemed just out of reach for Michigan. 

Well, that hasn't really panned out thus far, and by the looks of the remaining top targets the program is pursuing, and where those targets are likely to end up, it doesn't seem like it is going to get any better this season. We are most likely looking at an underwhelming class that will be lucky to be in the top twenty. The leveling of the playing field we were told we would see due to NIL money that players now are eligible for, and the massive Michigan alumni base and the "money cannon" the university could unleash isn't really materializing.

Now, there are all sorts of reasons to see this season as an outlier. There was so much uncertainty and tumult around the coaching staff in the last six months and doubts about the future stability of the program still linger. That undoubtedly raises some doubts with top recruits who have offers from as good or better programs that don't have those issues. The abysmal performance of the team last year and the mystery surrounding whether the new defense and the new defensive staff will work is also surely a drag on how much a recruit can believe in the promises made to them by the coaching staff. But, the fact is these latest batch of targets we've lost out on still makes it feel like we are underperforming on the recruiting trail.

These aren't all top 100 kids or 5 stars. They are the types of players we have routinely had success landing the last five years. I didn't think we would win all these recruiting battles, but given the hype surrounding the recruiting prowess of the new hires, I thought we should be able to land some of them. We seem to be batting .000 on our top targets. That does not build confidence.

I understand that some of these recruitments are not over, and that some of these guys we've whiffed on could still flip our way. And depending on how the season goes, along with continued ongoing effort by the staff, we could still land a couple of elite, non-committed prospects. But color me skeptical that these young, high-energy, supposedly great recruiting talents we've installed on the staff will live up to that billing. I really hope this new defense proves to be something new and exciting, and that with a year of stable progress the recruiting ship gets righted. Because right now it looks rather bleak.