Steve Wiltfong criticizes Michigan FB recruiting
From Allen Trieu's podcast Notorious B1G also transcribed on the 247 board.
“They haven’t filled (Patridge's) role, and we’ll see who they fill it with because Michigan is one of those schools where assistant coach recruiters are incredibly important because they don’t recruit in the same traditional way that almost every other program that we cover does,” Wiltfong said. “There’s not recruiting meetings. There’s just a lot on the assistant coaches’ plates to go out in their territories or in their position rooms and find guys they think are good enough to help Michigan win championships.
“Chris Partridge was a guy that wasn’t afraid to go into SEC country with his winged helmet logo on his golf shirt and go toe-to-toe for big-time guys and try to get them to come to Michigan. He had some big wins. He also had some close losses. I mean, Willie Gay was a guy who had Michigan in his top two. Otis Reese is a guy who had Michigan in his top two. He really got after it and worked.”
In general, Wiltfong didn’t feel like the Wolverines were recruiting at a championship level with Partridge. He felt Ohio State and Penn State made it more of a priority, so losing Partridge could only widen that gap.
“I just don’t think, collectively, this staff is recruiting at a level to win a national championship across the board,” Wiltfong said. “It’s a blow losing a guy in Partridge, who I feel like is one of your best recruiters when the emphasis on recruiting at Michigan isn’t the same as it is at Ohio State and Penn State right now. We’re starting to see it on the field.”
January 8th, 2020 at 7:01 PM ^
He says Michigan needs to recruit better. Never in a million years would I have thought of that.
January 8th, 2020 at 7:29 PM ^
No he said Michigan recruits worse than it should because it’s disorganized and relies entirely on individual assistants rather than working as a cohesive program. It’s shit like that allows for shit recruiters like drevno to completely tank a position group because nobody else is responsible. And it’s why losing partridge and when we lost Wheatley has a much bigger impact than any coach leaving osu
January 9th, 2020 at 12:05 AM ^
Not debating your point but Washington would have been an elite recruiter, especially in OH. Recruiting is lifeblood and good recruiters are always going to the first coaches given opportunities at other programs.
January 8th, 2020 at 7:02 PM ^
Wiltfong is correct when he says the emphasis isn't the same as Ohio State and Penn St BUT not for the reasons he's implying.
Michigan has made it clear it's not going to subject their academic standards to become an elite football program, therefore they can't recruit the same as some of these other schools. It's not an excuse, it's a reality. And I'm not saying all big time recruits that don't go to Michigan couldn't get in academically at all.
January 8th, 2020 at 7:07 PM ^
It’s funny you actually believe this. Michigan admitted Marques Slocum and Mario Manningham among hundreds of other barely qualifiers just like them. General studies was the major dejour for the football program for decades. Get off the high horse and just admit Harbaugh needs to fix some shit because all this is doing is enabling him to keep the status quo.
January 8th, 2020 at 7:35 PM ^
Harbaugh is enabled because not enough people are complaining?
January 8th, 2020 at 7:57 PM ^
Please do explain how the Bachelor in General Studies is so much easier than all the other Bachelor degrees at Michigan.
January 8th, 2020 at 8:43 PM ^
Agreed. My best friend at UM got a BGS. The main difference was that there was no foreign language requirement in the BGS program; the classes were not easier and there were not lower standards. He tried as hard as he could, but learning a foreign language was virtually impossible for him. And he was a 3.5+ GPA in all his other courses.
But who knows, maybe things have changed in recent years.
January 8th, 2020 at 9:03 PM ^
I agree that the BGS gets crapped on by people who don’t actually know anything about it (generally outside the school), primarily because it sounds flakey.
There are some loopholes in it, but it’s hardly Andy Katzenmoyer-level nonsense.
January 8th, 2020 at 9:28 PM ^
Yes, it's the foreign language requirement. I looked it up last year. I don't remember if that option was there way back in the previous millenium when I was at Michigan, but if it was available, I would have gone the General Studies route if I hadn't had an aptitude for German.
I'll occasionally visit RCMB and 11 Mendicants and they love making fun of the General Studies Bachelor. I did post on one site once that the lack of the language requirement was the only real difference and got massively negged for my effort :-). Nobody tried to correct me, but they didn't like the facts.
The people moaning about the Bachelor of General Studies have no clue what they are talking about. I suspect the majority of these naysayers here on MGoBlog are not actually Michigan fans, but from one of our rivals trolling us.
January 8th, 2020 at 7:31 PM ^
Michigan has the exact same admission standards as osu for football. It’s the minimum allowed by the big ten. One program in the country seems to have higher academic standards and its Stanford. Which is why people thought we still had a shot at miles Hinton, because there was a chance Stanford would reject him and then we could take him. What academic standards
January 8th, 2020 at 7:04 PM ^
So the guy is a recruiting director for 24/7 and he’s saying Michigan should recruit more like PSU- but his own damn site has ranked Michigan’s classes better than PSU’s 4 out of last 5 years.
So is he saying that 24/7 sucks at grading recruiting classes?
January 8th, 2020 at 7:09 PM ^
No, he’s saying PSU is maximizing their resources and UM isn’t. It’s actually a compliment he thinks UM should be recruiting more like OSU but the idiots in this fan base can’t even see that they want to jump to their precious football teams defense instead. Meanwhile OSU is ringing up ships and kicking our ass and you just sit back and take it.
January 8th, 2020 at 7:14 PM ^
They’re calling boats?
January 8th, 2020 at 7:21 PM ^
Why should we be recruiting as well as OSU? Because of our brand? That's asinine. OSU is on another level of recruiting, a level only 5 other teams are on. Players are also more concentrated in those 5, so its harder to break through. If you're going to piss your pants every time someone says OSU is better than us, you should probably stop consuming sports media.
January 8th, 2020 at 7:28 PM ^
I'd settle for recruiting in the same solar system as OSU but we can't even do that. Don't worry, Harbaugh is closing the gap with his 1 top 100 commit this year while Ryan Day is bringing in 9.
2-17 in the last 19 years. I mean good fucking god.
January 8th, 2020 at 7:34 PM ^
But they weren’t at that level in 2010. Urban brought in the system to take them to that level. Franklin has brought in a system to maximize psu recruiting. Harbaugh apparently doesn’t have a system and just relies on individual assistants, some who are good and some who aren’t leading to scattershot recruiting and situations where you can have elite wide receivers but have to try playing a safety at defensive tackle
January 8th, 2020 at 10:18 PM ^
Yes - thank you. I wish all those people crowing about the strength of M education would use it for once and think logically here. It’s not that hard.
January 8th, 2020 at 8:12 PM ^
^^^Can this comment be moved to the top of the board? Pretty hilarious fail on Wiltfong.
January 8th, 2020 at 7:05 PM ^
Michigan has literally beat penn states class 5 of the last 6 years in recruiting. And we’ve dominated them at home... Ok though Steve
January 8th, 2020 at 7:07 PM ^
Recruiting at the level to win a national championship? Only a couple teams are
January 8th, 2020 at 7:08 PM ^
1) This didn't need a separate thread. It's already been/being well-discussed literally three posts down.
2) The only comment is Witfong's thought swould have more weight if he didn't bring Penn State into this. By his own site's metrics, UM has recruited as well, if not better, than Penn State over the last 5 years, including the last two.
So if he has something specific & constructive to share about OSU, fine -- they are a Top 5 recruiting school and we're a Top 10-12. But Penn State right now & the immediate future, and for the last 3 years, is no more a "championship" school than we are. We've seen that in the recruiting rankings *and* on the field.
January 8th, 2020 at 7:08 PM ^
We are at worst recruiting at the same level as Penn State, per Wiltfong's own site. So, is he saying that Penn State tries much harder and is only even with us?
Some things he says are plainly incorrect, like that we don't have recruiting meetings. Like...wut. These quotes read like they were written by Greg Mattison and James Franklin.
January 8th, 2020 at 7:11 PM ^
He’s saying PSU is recruiting at their ceiling and UM isn’t. This is not so god damn hard people.
January 8th, 2020 at 7:19 PM ^
Where did you pull that from? Because he sure as hell doesn't spell that out in the above quotes.
January 8th, 2020 at 7:29 PM ^
His posts on the 247 Michigan site.
January 8th, 2020 at 7:38 PM ^
So it might not be "so god damn hard" if you're on the 247 site...but this is not that site, bud.
January 8th, 2020 at 8:17 PM ^
Maizen is definitely on 247’s site
January 8th, 2020 at 8:20 PM ^
God help anyone that is infected with the disease that is Maizen
January 8th, 2020 at 11:29 PM ^
I'm a 24/7 member as well and that's exactly what he posted. Not sure why this other guy is getting negged for literally just passing on the truth.
January 9th, 2020 at 9:11 AM ^
Because he's a) a prick who is on his ~ 10th account here and is a troll, and b) because he assumed everyone here is also on the 247 site and got nasty when people could not magically divine additional information from a site that they don't have access to.
January 8th, 2020 at 7:11 PM ^
Michigan Football going is to be mediocre for the foreseeable future. Accept it and try to find joy somewhere else. Check back in 5 to 10 years when they've moved on to a new coach and maybe the culture has changed. BPONE.
January 8th, 2020 at 8:14 PM ^
Michigan going is to be. Indeed my friend. Indeed.
January 8th, 2020 at 7:11 PM ^
One QB to play like a first round pick and beat OSU these guys will have nothing to talk about!
January 8th, 2020 at 8:31 PM ^
Let’s see the coaching staff recruit one, or better yet, develop one and we can adjust our opinions then.
i like Harbaugh but we can’t complain about 10-3 being our ceiling and on the same token not be able to call out the deficiencies in the program.
Michigan has history but it isn’t a top tier program, hard pill to swallow but it’s been reality for 30 years.
I wish they’d stop talking about being the winningest and the record crowds and instead do some true reflection of their deficiencies and look to improve from there. For instance, the team entrance to the stadium is sad, the spring game is pathetic, fan engagement is non-existent, and I bet you even the coaching staff would admit the stadium atmosphere is poor at best, and yes, quiet.
Winning trumps all but if some of these were improved, my opinion is, recruiting would improve also.
January 8th, 2020 at 7:19 PM ^
First, let's not kid ourselves. There are no academic standards, maybe character standards (like no bagmen, no online classes when you get here), but if the recruit helps you on the field, he will be admitted. This is true everywhere, including ND. Even Stanford has significantly lower standards compared to the rest of their student body.
As for recruiting organization, it's much harder to do that if you have to recruit nationally. OSU and PSU have a regional base. Both branch out into other areas but there's a regional foundation. I'm curious to see Wiltfong's view of how ND handles recruiting. I think that's a better comparison.
January 8th, 2020 at 7:26 PM ^
OSU is definitely national, but they are what they are and are willing to do things we are not.
PSU is much more regional, yes. They make their money in PA, NJ, and the DMV (and sometimes MI).
January 8th, 2020 at 9:13 PM ^
OF COURSE Stanford and ND and Michigan and UVA and Northwestern and Vandy and Georgia Tech have lower standards for their student-athletes than their general student body. That’s a non-argument.That’s entirely true for non-revenue sports, let alone football.
You are patently incorrect that “a recruit that helps you on the field will be admitted.” That is not an overriding truism at any of the schools I just listed. Stanford absolutely does have higher admission standards for their football team than we do, and we absolutely do have higher admission standards for our football players than the vast majority of the powerhouses.
We certainly have admitted some recruits who are farther from the typical M student than others (some have been named in this thread). And yes, many of them have been super talents. When things were much less obvious (via media coverage, etc) it was much easier for Bo, Mo, Lloyd, etc to have an unofficial couple of free passes with the Admissions Dept.
But if you think the academic playing field is level, you are the one who is kidding himself.
January 8th, 2020 at 7:25 PM ^
The second he talks about Penn State he loses all credibility. They won their championship the year we beat them by 39 points. Harbaugh has won 3 of 5 and consistently outrecruits frames. People just love hating on us because our fanbase starts throwing feces everywhere whenever we get criticized, and then we turn around and criticize our own even harder. You all need to relax, its just sports media, this guy needs clicks in the off time between now and the next cycle.
January 8th, 2020 at 7:47 PM ^
Pretty much whole article is about how Michigan should recruit like Penn State.
January 8th, 2020 at 7:53 PM ^
How?
Who has Michigan recruited that is nearly as good on offense in college(bc let’s be honest you need elite playmakers to be in contention nationally) as the top 5 PSU players Franklin got over the past few years?
Saquon, McSorely, Godwin, Gesicki, Hamler... there’s like 2-3 other people I’m missing here.
Sure on aggregate Michigan recruits better but when push comes to shove how many players can single handedly change the game for Michigan during Harbaugh’s tenure?
DPJ and his MSU catch from 2018 and...
January 8th, 2020 at 7:28 PM ^
Thank God, FINALLY someone criticizing Michigan.
January 8th, 2020 at 7:31 PM ^
Michigan and Jim Harbaugh does not have license to recruit the way in which OSU does and also many of the players that OSU does as well. Behavior, academics, and no illegal incentives are all factors.
Given that, it is not surprising that Jim Harbaugh’s staff recruits differently. This is by necessity. Michigan has to find some players that are high value for the ranking. John Beilein was no different in this regard and eventually was quite successful.
January 10th, 2020 at 10:03 AM ^
Please explain the bad behavior, illegal incentives, poor academics, etc., that explain why Zach Harrison chose OSU over Michigan, or Chris Olave, or Chase Young, or Okudah, or Dobbins.
January 8th, 2020 at 10:29 PM ^
Their 2016 title means very little to me. My team beat them 49-10.
January 8th, 2020 at 7:39 PM ^
Thought this was going to be about fullbacks to be honest. I was thinking: “that’s the least of our problems.”
January 8th, 2020 at 7:40 PM ^
247 ranks the best recruiters:
https://247sports.com/Season/2020-Football/CompositeCoachRankings/
Partrige had a great 2017, but has been off the board lately. Moore gets good rankings, but no one else on UM's staff makes the top 25.
We need to poach a couple of stud recruiters.
January 8th, 2020 at 7:43 PM ^
More evidence that this isn't working
January 8th, 2020 at 7:44 PM ^
IF this is all true it really is troubling. You would have to believe that right up at the top of the list of important meetings would be getting all of the coaches and talent evaluators in the room together on a regular basis to create synergy on who and how to recruit. To rely on one coaches opinion just doesn't make sense. I like Harbaugh but if this is how he runs his recruiting, I like him a little less. This is a couple of times in just the past week that some of those in the know have criticized how some important aspects of the program are being run and more often than not, where there's smoke, there's fire.
January 8th, 2020 at 7:44 PM ^
We will all die alone.