Detroit Cass Tech Head Coach Thomas Wilcher to Michigan State (Rumor)
Rumors are not confirmed, but not denied and Wilcher reportedly told his players Monday. Being talked about on the Wolverine.com/ MSU's RCMB staff basically confirming and that he's already hired and on campus for a non on field coaching position.
This would lock MSU out of Cass Tech for 2 years, but I don't think that's a big deal.
Hope it's a false rumor. Bellamy is younger and has nearly the pull, but Wilcher, a former U of M player is the Don of the high school football scene in Detroit.
"the Don of the high school football scene in Detroit" - nice...
+1 for the Godfather metaphor.
He will be a real asset at MSU...
I'm surprised he'd leave for an off-field position
Non on field. Didn't you read the OP?
Well that would eliminate them from recruiting Deone Walker this year and Jalen Thompson next year so I guess that's one positive to take from it.
UM should poach Wilcher and bring him home after next season, assuming the recruiting rule wouldn't transfer with him. I wonder if the rule is also the reason UM hasn't offered him a similar position already?
+1 for that idea. It would be hilarious.
I thought it was only on field staff members that directly affected recruiting of former players? I’m often wrong and seldom right though.
If you are hired in an off-field role you(and the school that hired you) can’t recruit players that you had connections to (i.e. kids you coach) for 2 years.
Yep, so I had it backwards. Go figure! It still means those players he coaches know he’s there and a part of the team so it’ll still have an impact.
It means MSU's football program can't recruit his former players for 2 years.
Sorry, I didn't make that clear the first time.
Ahh, I didn’t know that part. Just thought they couldn’t be in a leading role. That works for me. Raid every good Cass Tech player for the next 2 years.
Who actually enforces these so called NCAA rules anyway?
Correct. Off-field role= MSU can’t recruit that high school at all for two years. On-field coaching role and there is no penalty. So Michigan hiring Bellamy as a position coach allows Michigan to continue recruiting West Bloomfield players such as Dillon Tatum.
How did we hire Devin Bush Sr. then? Was it after Jr. committed?
The rule didn't exist then.
Seems unfair to the kids.
Hey, that's what I like to say about the NCAA in general.
Bellamy is and was new big shot in Detroit, winning titles. But too bad we didn't get Wilcher too.
Say what you want about Tucker, but he seems to recruit portal guys and coaches well, aside from beating us with Lombardi.
I really don’t care what Wilcher does but Bellamy finally won his one state title after having teams just loaded with talent but totally getting out coached in playoffs many many times(he wasn’t the new big shot at all!). Wilcher has and would be better and has proven that for many many years
Do you have him confused with Bellville, and Jermaine Crowell?
No not at all. Crowell is another one who has a ton of talent and gets abused in the playoffs
As much as I don’t think Bellamy is a great coach Crowell takes the cake on ineptness
Crowell has gone undefeated 3 years in a row with the most talented team in the state (save for maybe Rouge in 2019) and kids each time before making the finals. Losing to teams he had no business losing to.
Bellamy's team during his first five years (in a complete rebuild) was 21-27. The years before he was hired, WB was a .500 team. Perhaps you think they (Crowell and Bellamy) all look the same. Haha.
2010: 3-6
2011: 2-7
2012: 2-7
2013: 5-5
2014: 9-2
2015: 9-1
2016: 6-5
2017: 11-3
2018: 9-3
2019: 10-2
2020: 11-1 (State Champs)
Cool thanks for the stats. Guy didn’t hold up one bit in the playoffs except for this past Covid year despite having a ton of talent.
Bellamy stole everyone’s kids and better coaches with way less talent abused him in playoffs.
Bellamy is a heck of a recruiter he is far from a great coach. But Hey I know the Michigan faithful well and most of you are “Don’t you say a bad word about our coaches”
While the people who always think ‘this is the year’ can be annoying, people like you are so much worse. Don’t you ever get tired of looking for things to bitch about?
Hey, I've come to expect a subset of the Michigan faithful to constantly complain about everything and revise history to doggedly support their claims , such as ones that assumed a coach inherited tons of talent and constantly wasted it despite evidence provided that wasn't the case.
Call me a ridiculous old-fashioned homer, but I don't understand UM alumni players coaching for our closest rivals.
It's an opportunity for him to grow past the high school level.
Wouldn't you want a growth opportunity that will probably pay 6x - 10x your current salary? For the next 4 years, minimum.
Not sure what HS teachers/coaches make in Detroit, but you are WAY off base if you think he will be making 6-10x his previous salary in an off-field role at MSU.
Per the googles, Aashon Larkins made $80k last year (before his promotion). Jay Harbaugh, now with multiple years as a P5 on-field assistant and ace recruiter reputation- made $415k in 2020 — One sixth of that is about $70k.
Is it a smart decision if he wants to move up the coaching ranks? Absolutely. Look at Partridge and Campanile as recent M examples. Obviously the “no-recruiting from that school for 2 years if not an on-field position” complicates things a bit, but it wasn’t like Tucker was going to be pulling in many top kids from Detroit/MI short-term anyway with Hart, Bellamy, and Clickscale on the M staff.
Its not old fashioned because its never been true. I think naive and/or selfish would be the more appropriate descriptor
I'm well aware that players becoming coaches at their bitterest rivals isn't unheard of—Darrell Royal played at Oklahoma but became a coaching legend at Oklahoma. Gary Moeller was team captain at OSU but followed Bo to Ann Arbor from Miami.
If I had beaten my brains out for four years against OSU or MSU or ND while playing for Michigan, it would have to be a significant step upwards for me to coach at any of those places. An off the field position doesn't seem like that to me.
A thing fans consistently overrate is the way a rivalry plays off the field for players compared to fans. For players its the game that matters, but off the field they are much more connected to the players at those other schools than they are to the fans.
Going from high school to college is a jump up. Its clear from this move this is something Wilcher wanted, and if he wasn't getting a better offer this is his way of breaking into the college ranks.
You think Devin Bush is closer to Sparty players than UM fans? I'm sure that what you say is true for some, but who is to say that this is the rule--especially with a rivalry.
Money matters. Promotion matters. If Wilcher is "bored" and wants to move up, that was likely the biggest part of the move.
"If I had..." You can stop right there because you didn't play for UM. Fans are delusional. You've tied your self worth to a team that you root for. Players on the other hand rarely do. Get this... some of the UM players are actually friends with OSU players. For shame.
Hell, the players at OSU, MSU or ND that you beat your brains out for in certain instances were teammates of yours in high school, peewee, etc. A job is a job. If UM had seen a former player toiling in the HS ranks and failed to offer him a similar position over that time, he should gladly pursue his profession at another institution that will.
This. Fans have a delusional sense of reality when it comes to the profession of coaching. If you want to coach you go where they'll pay you to coach. Ya know, like a profession. Doesn't matter where you played ball beyond the obvious desire to work your profession at the place you know/love. That's it.
Witcher clearly wanted to be at the college level for a while and flirted with UM in that capacity before. Rather, flip that. Yet, it never came to be and then MSU made that offer. He took it (it seems). As he should have if he wanted to be at the college level.
It's why I didn't even get upset about Mattison. He's a coach and he had limited time left. He wanted to be a DC again and have a chance to win. Going to OSU is a no-brainer in that regard when his current employer is sticking with another guy that doesn't agree with your philosophy at all. It's business. Mattison didn't light a cigar, cackle with glee and dance out of AA. Witcher won't either. He'll do the job MSU is paying him to do, same for any other coach.
I get Wilcher going to msu....but FUCK Greg Mattison. He's been around, made his money. To go to osu at this point in his life....fuck him
Gary Moeller was arguably our best coach. Was a decorated LB at OSU. They were petrified of him when he coached for us. Undefeated vs OSU.
Mo was 3-1-1 against OSU. He lost to them in 1994.
Moeller had a winning record against OSU but wasn't undefeated - he lost and tied once. Those also weren't the same caliber of OSU teams that we face now.
You do know that Bo coached at OSU don't you?
I'd wager I've known that fact longer than you've been alive.
If you re-read my original comment, I said UM alumni players.
I can kind of understand someone wanting to advance themselves professionally through a step up the ladder (like H.S. to college). What I DON'T get is 2 former U-M athletes like the Boren's totally flipping their allegiance and becoming totally assimilated into the Buckeye collective, then sending all their kids to play there.
You seriously can’t think of a reason why a man who played football at Michigan in the early 80s would steer his kids away from the university?
The former Michigan football coach-who-shall-not-be-named from the 60s, 70s and 80s played for Woody Hayes at Miami then coached with him at Ohio State before taking the Michigan job.
Don't forget the recent coach, who shall not be named, that went to be a CO-defensive coordinator down south for 2 years.
I specifically referred to UM alumni players. Schembechler didn't play for U-M, and Miami of Ohio isn't one of OSU's main rivals, either.
most do not take it as seriously as the fans do
it is upward mobility
Tucker is making moves to help his program, good move IMO
Ridiculous old fashioned homer is an understatement. You left out “completely oblivious to how coaching jobs work”