February 24th, 2020 at 11:54 AM ^
Meh, I’m used to losing to OSU, what’s one more? I assume this is about Donovan Edwards the RB in the 2021 class?
February 24th, 2020 at 12:15 PM ^
This were everyone thought we would be at when JH was hired.
February 24th, 2020 at 12:31 PM ^
We won 10 sorry 9 games last year off course this is where everyone thought we would be going into year 6 0-5 against osu and 1-4 in bowl games and zero playoff appearances. Only an idiot would have predicted a better 5 year stretch for Jim. Smh this is why I stick to watching the basketball team. Beat the badgers!
February 24th, 2020 at 12:45 PM ^
You could also try to stick to commenting about the basketball team.
February 24th, 2020 at 12:52 PM ^
I assume you mean, "Is this where everyone thought we would be when JH was hired?" I'm divorced now, but pretty much the same.
February 24th, 2020 at 12:55 PM ^
Don't you see what's happening? Michigan told Edwards to pretend he was leaning toward OSU, so they don't recruit any other RB's and we end up beating them in the end, and keep them from signing the #1 RB in the country. It's all in the plans.
February 24th, 2020 at 7:31 PM ^
Donovan Edwards connections to Michigan:
- Attends high school in West Bloomfield, 40 minutes away from Ann Arbor. and has unofficially visited 7 times. Hasn't been to OSU in over a year.
- Edwards’ father has lived in MI all his life and was raised as a UM fan.
- Two former teammates, Makari Paige and Cornell Wheeler committed to the Wolverines in 2020.
- His high school head coach is an alum
I cannot overstate how devastating a loss Edwards would be. This is more than just a recruitment, because of where Edwards is from, and who he’s mainly considering. If Ryan Day goes across the border and takes our top player who has all the connections in the world to UM, wow. I think the gap would expand to be the largest it’s ever been, if it’s not already at that point. Since 2017 Um has already missed on 6 of the top 2 players in state in recruiting, meaning he's 4/10 in signing the top 2 recruits in the state. Harbaugh simply cannot let this keep happening. Our recruiting staff absolutely stinks.
February 24th, 2020 at 11:55 AM ^
Wouldn't blame him.
February 24th, 2020 at 1:44 PM ^
Football program is depressing and full of disappointment. What else is new?
Woo basketball is ranked again!! Lets talk about that instead!
February 24th, 2020 at 2:19 PM ^
From Isaiah Hole, basically echoes what Bellamy and Wiltfong said about Michigan's staff not working hard on the recruiting trail:
While Edwards indicated to WolverinesWire a few weeks ago that he’s likely some time away from making a decision as far as commitment is concerned, the Buckeyes have been coming on quite strong, admittedly. Michigan has seemingly, somewhat, rested on its laurels as the in-state program, though it hasn’t relented its pursuit of the four-star running back. Yet, OSU head coach Ryan Day has continued to make Edwards a priority, and it seems to be maybe paying off.
February 24th, 2020 at 3:31 PM ^
JM8 spent his $5 to join today. can anybody guess what previously-banned user he might be?
February 24th, 2020 at 4:26 PM ^
My money is on JM7.
February 24th, 2020 at 5:22 PM ^
Was he Asshat92? Dumbass2001? SkyIsFallin94?
Don’t leave me hanging XM!?!?
February 24th, 2020 at 7:23 PM ^
could be one of about 3 that used to be around, but none of them had names anywhere near as good as your suggestions.
February 24th, 2020 at 8:50 PM ^
Asshat92 made me LOL ?
February 24th, 2020 at 6:40 PM ^
How big of a virgin do you have to be to pay to comment on a blog?
February 24th, 2020 at 8:54 PM ^
About 6’4” 275 lbs....and no, he cannot play DT.
February 25th, 2020 at 6:20 AM ^
"Michigan has seemingly, somewhat, rested on its laurels as the in-state program, though it hasn’t relented its pursuit of the four-star running back."
So, which is it—either Michigan is resting on its laurels, or it hasn't relented. It's hard to do both at the same time.
February 24th, 2020 at 11:57 AM ^
A first name or a link would be helpful for those of us who don't follow recruiting religiously.
February 24th, 2020 at 12:30 PM ^
How about the over/under on the number of deep thinking football sages that will point out in earnest that it’s easier to bring in top recruits when you are having great success on the field?
February 24th, 2020 at 1:01 PM ^
Let me help and save everyone some time. He isn’t going to choose us because:
-JH can’t beat OSU
-Kids want to win and play in NFL
-He’s not a Michigan man
-He’s not smart enough and doesn’t play school
-We didn’t want him that bad anyway
- Bagmen
I’m sure I forgot some, but that covers most reasons.
February 24th, 2020 at 1:34 PM ^
Bellamy has noticed the Buckeye surge and has identified the reason for it.
“I think what makes Ohio State great in recruiting is that these guys are relentless,” Bellamy. “Their coaches are in constant contact. Coach Day (connects) with him a lot. And when Donovan tells me he talks Ohio State, whether it’s Day or Alford, the one thing is it’s not always about football, it’s about life. Sometimes that could be (appealing) to a kid. Everyone is telling you how you’re going to be the next great thing, and everything’s football, football, football. And, it sounds to me they’ve taken that approach, and it’s not so much the football part of it. It’s just the life and what Ohio State could do for you. That’s appealing to a kid. It’s just like a breath of fresh air.”
February 24th, 2020 at 1:54 PM ^
This is the kind of stuff that makes folks upset we are not doing enough with recruiting. It would be one thing if the feedback was he wants to win a NC at OSU. That makes sense. But, this is the just about effort. There's no reason the #1 player in MI shouldn't be a priority at a position that's so important as RB. This should never happen. It's early, but it is not a good sign. It would be pretty sad if OSU took the top 2 players in MI (Payne & Edwards).
February 24th, 2020 at 2:01 PM ^
Steve Wiltfong said a month ago Michigan's staff doesn't hold recruiting meeting and they don't grind hard enough on the trail. It's not the academic standards, it's not bagmen, it's not not winning enough. It's simply we have a disorganized staff who doesn't work hard enough on the recruiting trail. It's real simple. No look at guys like Mel Pearson, Erik Bakich, and Juwan Howard who are relentless. Harbaugh is at A's spring training right now. It's a systemic problem that starts at the top. And I don't think it helps that three positions that are almost 100% played by african americans (RB, CB, and S) are being coached by three white guys,
February 24th, 2020 at 6:55 PM ^
Kinda similar to the things Ty Rodgers (former Michigan videographer) said around the Dec Signing Day. Michigan had kind of a shitty NSD presentation (something lame like baseball cards I think it was..) and that prompted him to recall a trip to OSU's facility for some behind the scenes work for one of his new gigs. His comments were flamed for being "bitter" or whatever, but they were all along the same lines. Ohio State just tries harder to win at all things, and Michigan is far behind in many, many ways.
February 24th, 2020 at 2:33 PM ^
There's no reason the #1 player in MI shouldn't be a priority at a position that's so important as RB. This should never happen.
FWIW, I've read at 11W that the #1 running back in Ohio (Kiner, 247 #156 overall) has been leaning towards Michigan. Strange year.
February 24th, 2020 at 3:36 PM ^
Despite what he's being listed at Kiner is 5-7 tops and just had a huge fall in the 247 rankings. He's considering Nw and Cincy strongly which should tell you what caliber of a recruit he is. There's a reason UGA, OSU, and UM have Edwards at the top of their board...he's that good.
February 24th, 2020 at 4:51 PM ^
I've just read on Eleven Warriors that Kiner is a secondary plan for OSU as they're going after Edwards, Henderson and Pryor (all top 5 or 6 nationally) hard and could actually get a commit out of Pryor in the very near future. If this happens, it could help us out big-time with Edwards or at least I sure hope it does. Every school in the country - all the biggies - are after Edwards and it would really hurt to see an in-state kid of his caliber get away. Still a ways to go however.
February 24th, 2020 at 8:47 PM ^
I don’t think osu landing Pryor would help us because Webb recently released some quotes from Edwards that basically said he wants to share the backfield with another back. The good news is Webb hints that Edwards is still leaning to the good guys but there is a little bit of concern. As long as our staff turns up the heat and shows him what a priority he is to us, he will stay home. Not concerned yet.
February 25th, 2020 at 11:10 AM ^
Webb literally said OSU was leading right now what the hell are you talking about.
February 24th, 2020 at 3:38 PM ^
FWIW, I've read at 11W that the #1 running back in Ohio (Kiner, 247 #156 overall) has been leaning towards Michigan. Strange year.
I don't think it's weird. I think it's OSU prioritizing the better player. He just happens to be in MI and they're beating out UM for the best players. The only thing that is unusual is that the better player in this scenario is in MI. But, OSU getting them is not :/
February 24th, 2020 at 2:28 PM ^
What he’s saying could be true, or it could just be a smart kid saying the right things. His statement would make it seem that if MSU has the same recruiting effort, he would be going there. Which is probably not the case. Say what you will Edwards but I’m sure you are also watching the product on display during fall Saturdays.
February 24th, 2020 at 4:48 PM ^
I heard the exact same things said about the Michigan coaching staff.
February 25th, 2020 at 8:15 AM ^
I'm sure Bellamy has to be happy for one of his kids getting so much attention, but deep down it has to be killing him inside that his alma mater 45 minutes away can't be bothered to put in as much effort as OSU.
February 24th, 2020 at 1:51 PM ^
Well done, ERDoc. Maybe you forgot something along the way, but a heck of a lot of posts are going to be repeating some of those basic points included in your list.
+1 for including bagman, my personal favorite explanation as to why we didn’t get a given recruit
February 24th, 2020 at 11:57 AM ^
For those wondering:
https://247sports.com/Player/Donovan-Edwards-46054812/
2021 Running Back from West Bloomfield High (MI).
4 Star
#33 Overall on the Composite
#3 rated RB on the Composite
#1 Prospect in the State of Michigan
February 24th, 2020 at 12:03 PM ^
Thanks, that made clicking on the post useful. Information, ya'll.
February 24th, 2020 at 11:57 AM ^
It's funny because I hate ND almost as much as I hate OSU, but I don't mind kids going to ND. It's a good school with a rich football tradition and they seemingly have high standards, but when a Michigan kids goes to OSU it's like he is a traitor. Long ways to go, so hopefully we can reel him back in.
February 24th, 2020 at 12:46 PM ^
Well, the fact that we only play ND twice every 10yrs matters too.
February 24th, 2020 at 1:44 PM ^
Not exactly accurate, as we played ND 31 of the 37 seasons from 1978 thru 2014, then skipped 2015-2017 (3 seasons) before playing them again in '18 & '19. Next scheduled matchup between U of M and ND is 2033, but obviously everything beyond 2021 is subject to change.
That said, I've long felt the same way anytime ND recruits a player from within Michigan, as that's the nature of that program. They're going to get their share of kids from Catholic schools nationwide and especially in the Midwest.
OSU, OTOH, can GTFO.
February 24th, 2020 at 12:00 PM ^
So Harbaugh is going to be bringing in that elite class in 2022? I thought this was the year...
February 24th, 2020 at 12:06 PM ^
Who is blowing that smoke? Harbaugh's recruiting is pretty consistent in terms of quality, and the new coach smell has worn off. We won't be bringing in elite classes until we:
- Open up the bag
- Win something meaningful on the national stage with the talent we have.
I think Harbaugh tells you the expectation if you listen close enough. In 2016 he put on a big parade for the Jordan reveal, and was talking championship aspirations (B1G and beyond).
This year he demoted the Spring Game to an Open Practice. Set your expectations low (9-3 +/- 1). That'll never bring an ELITE class. There is still a good amount of talent in Michigan for this to be better than average. Even if we miss out on the top guy.
February 24th, 2020 at 12:17 PM ^
The fanbase here spent the past two years saying 2021 is the year where Michigan is going to start zeroing in all those elite talents. Once Speed in Space was implemented, our product will have recruits chomping at the bit to play in such a great offense.
Now.....the top player in the state is trending towards OSU. So where are these elite recruits?
Fantasy land here on the blog
February 24th, 2020 at 12:24 PM ^
There are plenty of realists on the blog too, but I get your point. People put too high of expectations on the program based solely on hope rather than facts sitting in front of them. I feel like your original comment attacked Harbaugh more than the people placing those expectations on this class though.
February 24th, 2020 at 12:34 PM ^
There are plenty, but these people get negged to Bolivia for daring to step off the group-think mantra around here.
This years class from the state of Michigan has been the best in many years. What happens when Michigan losses out on a majority of them? Just go back to MA and CT?
February 24th, 2020 at 12:41 PM ^
Sure, and there are plenty of people who express unpopular opinions in ways that make them sound like @holes, and they end up getting negged not for their opinion but for the way they shared it. But they always *think* it's just because they aren't buying into group-think.
February 24th, 2020 at 1:04 PM ^
Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!
I don't think anyone is overly satisfied with where the program is at and I think all our expectations were at least a little higher when Harbaugh took over But, seeing the same people come to the blog we frequent and incessantly bitch about the program with their doom and gloom attitude gets old fast. We get it, you want to beat OSU and make the playoffs. Believe me, I do too. But seeing the same people bitch and whine about it on every football board post is annoying. It's the Mazien effect. Most here agree with mazien that if we want to compete we need to recruit at a more elite level. He is just such an asshole about how he presents his opinion that most around here are tired of the whole façade.
February 24th, 2020 at 1:58 PM ^
@holes
It's the internet, you can say assholes, I promise I won't tell on you.
Give it a try!
February 24th, 2020 at 1:14 PM ^
Wait. You think shitting on the program is the position that's NOT the popular one around here? Wow man. I like your critical reasoning skills. You really think outside the box.
February 24th, 2020 at 12:37 PM ^
Even if his comment did attack Harbaugh so what, if you can't land recruits who live 30 minutes from Ann Arbor, whose high school coach played at Michigan, and whose former teammates and best friends are already on campus then what are we doing here? When is enough enough? How many more high profile recruits from metro Detroit are we going to let walk out the door? This is on Harbaugh. He never replaced Wheatley's Detroit recruiting presence on staff and we have been suffering ever since. Could have hired Steve Clinkscale who is in real good with the Detroit area coaches but decided on Bob Shoop instead. The guy just doesn't get it. And after people on this blog threw every name at Steve Wiltfong in the book for saying UM's recruiting department is disorganized and should be much better, well today is the day he says I told you so.
Ron Bellamy has said Donovan Edwards is the best recruit in the state of MI since Drew Henson. If you're Jim Harbaugh and can't land this kid then just pack up your shit and leave because you'll never be anything more than a 3-4 loss team who gets his ass handed to him by OSU every year because their recruiting is downright scary good. Enough with the excuses about academics, and bagman, and not winning enough, etc. It's the same shit people used to say about 1 and dones and now Juwan is bringing them here in droves. Jim Harbaugh better land guys like Edwards and Spindler this year because if he doesn't Ryan Day will put him into early retirement.