Impossible to confirm if it really is O’Neill, but this is and interesting tidbit from ESPN’s Senior Bowl chat yesterday:

Dann O’Neill (Grand Haven,MI): Mike, I’m committed to michigan right now to play tackle this fall. Any advice on preparing myself the rest of the winter for a season in big time college football?

Mike Pollak [ASU C]: Get your mind focused on working hard and be coachable. When you are at this level, you will be expected to work harder than you ever thought possible.

Posted under Recruiting

Here’s your chance.

For those of you interested in TV shows about building motorcyles, you’re in luck:

Watch “Big Blue” being built on Discovery Channel’s American Chopper January 31 and February 7. Check your local listings for time.

Posted under Blog News

Calvin Magee left WVU, in part, because he felt that he could not be taken seriously there due to his race.

This sort of story is probably partially true (notice how immaturely WVU fans and administration have acted through the entire ordeal), and partially “if you’re going to come up with stupid bullshit, I’ll fire back with something that is at least plausible, if no more true.”

At this point, Michigan coaches could just stop dignifying a lot of what West Virginia fans and administration, etc., are doing and saying with this sort of response. However, it’s been over a month of dealing with this shit, so they can be forgiven, at least this once.

Posted under Coaching

Michigan really needs this kid. (In Michigan’s favor, what other school can say they’d be screwed without him?)

An article in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review states what has essentially become common knowledge by this point: Pitt is not a factor.

“Pitt’s out, period. I won’t go there, for sure,” Pryor said. “I get false stuff said about me all the time. I’m used to it.”

Pryor already took an official visit to Ohio State and said he counts Ohio State, Michigan, Florida, Louisiana State, Oregon and Penn State among his finalists.

“I want to play in a college town, a facility that has 100,000 and is packed,” Pryor said. “That’s how I want to do it.”

Stadiums of schools that Pryor has stated he is still interested in (Capacity, and average percentage of capacity per game in ’07)

1. Michigan: 107,501 (103%)
2. Penn State: 107,282 (102%)
3. Ohio State: 102, 329 (103%)
4. Louisiana State: 91,600 (101%)
5. Florida: 88,548 (101%)
6. Oregon: 54,000 (109%)

Only the Big Ten schools have over 100,000 seats, though all schools have consistently “packed” stadiums: Oregon is the outlier on the high end, with 109% of capacity (58,845 per game), but its stadium is also half the size of Michigan’s.

By this criterion, all but the Big Ten schools (and maybe LSU or Florida, but probably not, especially because LSU got involved really late) are eliminated. This follows the conventional wisdom at this point, by which Pryor is down to Michigan and OSU, with maybe PSU sneaking in close.

From this list of three, Columbus is certainly not a college town (“college town” != “town with a college,” and even still Columbus is a big city). State College is a very nice college town, though it is in the middle of nowhere. Ann Arbor is slightly less of a college town, but it is accessible to the outside world as well (and is only 20 minutes from DTW).

Taking into account only the factor stated in the article, it seems like Michigan and PSU are the best destinations, though of course, it is expected to be a UM/OSU decision.

Posted under Recruiting

Toledo Blade

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: if there was a real basis to the rumors, why would a source inside WVU’s athletic department insist on remaining anonymous?

Posted under Coaching

By now, the story of Rich Rodriguez sneaking into WVU’s athletic offices to shred every file known to man has become well circulated. However, its veracity has yet to be proven. Aside from the fact that West Virginia apparently allowed Michigan’s head coach access to all its files (of which there were no backup copies), this story seems to be sketchy.

What motivations are in play here?
Why is Rich Rodriguez motivated to destroy scholarship and community service information of West Virginia’s football team? There is no readily apparent reason he would do this.
Why would someone from West Virginia’s athletic department leak the story on condition of anonymity if it were true? Speaking anonymously appears to be a smokescreen to drag Rodriguez’s name through the mud without repercussion.
The West Virginia motivation to do anything negative to Rodriguez has been established by this point (down to new Michigan WR coach Tony Dews having to tell the PRINCIPAL(!) of his son’s school in West Virginia to stop mistreating the son).

Posted under Coaching

Terrelle Pryor (never heard of him) has set up his official visit to the University of Michigan. Originally, he had intended to visit the weekend of February 2, but now it appears as though the visit is taking place this weekend. The reasoning behind this switch is unknown. Some claim it is because of a conflict with Jeannette’s basketball schedule, though others perceive it with cautious optimism that an in-school visit by assistant coaches went well. Michigan is Pryor’s only visit currently set up. Michigan fans are chomping at the bit to welcome Pryor, imploring their fellow Wolverines to attend the basketball game against Iowa (undoubtedly a part of any official visit weekend), and even setting up a Welcome Pryor Block Party.

Conventional wisdom has Pryor choosing between Michigan and Ohio State, with Duke and Oregon also finalists. However, also mentioned in the article is Pryor’s addition of LSU as a team under consideration. Terrelle is currently unsure which other schools he will visit.

Posted under Recruiting

Several Michigan fans have expressed concern with Rich Rodriguez’s recruiting prowess, based on the classes he was able to pull at West Virginia, and the prospects he is in on now at Michigan. Is Rich Rodriguez a bad recruiter? Are players who would fit Rodriguez’s system simply not as highly-rated?

First, Coach Rodriguez’s recruiting situation at West Virginia is not at all similar to what it is (and will be) at Michigan. WVU’s recruiting class for the current year is ranked 53rd. However, this includes the decommit of 5-star Josh Jenkins (at least partially because of Rod’s departure), and some recruits who were likely to commit to West Virginia following Rodriguez to Michigan (which includes LB Taylor Hill, and is expected to include D.J. Woods in the near future). West Virginia’s 2007 class was ranked 18th, and 2006’s class was tied for 56th. This was all despite top-ten finishes during that span.

Moving to Michigan, the in-state talent pool will be greater, as will national recruiting prowess. West Virginia was able to recruit primarily in the East, mostly northern, but with a few Floridians and a couple pulled from the South, along with some players from Ohio. Michigan regular gets commitments from players in Texas, California, the east coast, and all over the Midwest. In this case, the prestigious name of Michigan can only help in recruiting, despite the fact that West Virginia has been more successful (or at least as successful) in the past 3 years.

Another concern among fans is the current caliber of recruit that Rich Rodriguez is working, even with the added advantages of being at Michigan. 3 to 4-stars such as Taylor Hill, D.J. Woods, and Terrance Robinson have become the hot names of late in Wolverine recruiting circles. There are several factors to take into account here. First, Rodriguez must fill a need for slot receivers in his offensive scheme, as Michigan is almost utterly lacking in that category. These slot-types are not as desired nationally, as their use is not important to all offensive styles. Secondly, it is late in the recruiting process. This has a two-fold effect: Rodriguez must play catch-up with most recruits, who he hasn’t had an opportunity to be in contact with as Michigan’s coach (which puts him more than a year behind on most kids). Also, this late in the recruiting process, many highly-rated players are already committed. Despite this, Rodriguez was able to secure the commitment of high-4-star S Brandon Smith. Only 8 5-stars on Scout remain uncommitted (Michigan already has a commitment from a 5-star in Boubacar Cissoko):

• Terrelle Pryor had eliminated Michigan before they hired Rodriguez. Now they are considered to be in his top 2.
• Julio Jones and Deandre Brown are big (6-4 and 6-6.5(!), respectively) wide receivers. There is not much need for them on Michigan’s roster.
• Omar Hunter had Michigan as his leader at one point, but then committed to Notre Dame. After reopening his commitment, he is considered a Florida lock.
• Rahim Moore would be a nice player to have, but he has not considered Michigan since last summer.
• Jamie Harper is expected to stay within the state of Florida, and Michigan already has 2 RB commitments (plus a fullback if you consider Christian Wilson still committed).
• Josh Jenkins felt betrayed by Rodriguez when he left WVU.
• Brandon Harris never considered either Michigan or West Virginia.

Rodriguez’s primary recruiting job this year was to re-recruit the players already on Michigan’s roster that could be of use in his new offense (which didn’t necessarily mean Ryan Mallett, though he would likely have been the starter in 2008). Also, Rodriguez needed to keep Michigan’s recruiting class intact, which he has done perfectly thus far. Finishing the recruiting class with players that fit his offensive system (which Michigan’s current roster is lacking), and hopefully snagging a highly rated player along the way (Terrelle Pryor) are next in line in terms of priority. Don’t judge Rodriguez’s recruiting abilities until the first class that is all his, next year.

Posted under Coaching, Recruiting

Cardinal Mooney LB Taylor Hill has pledged to become a Michigan Wolverine. Hill had pledged to Oklahoma early in the recruiting process, then switched his commitment to West Virginia days before Rich Rodriguez left for Michigan. What does this mean for New Jersey commits Marcus Witherspoon and J.B. Fitzgerald? Time will tell. Word on the street, however, is that Fitzgerald pressured Hill to commit to Michigan on their simultaneous visits to Michigan State over the weekend.

Mario Manningham is officially going to ply his trade in the NFL next year. Good luck to him.

Posted under Personnel, Recruiting

On Saturday, you may recall that I took offense to the very poorly-written article appearing on the Free Press website, written by one James Jahnke. I e-mailed my response to Jahnke, and he was kind enough to to provide a prompt reply:

Thanks for the note, Tim.

I’m at work right now and don’t have time to read that post on the blog. (I did skim it, however. Embarrassed to be in the same state? Ouch.) But I’m guessing it says pretty much what all of my other e-mailers have been saying.

You should know that I was asked by the Freep Web editor to write that column as a counterpoint to the why-Pryor-should-go-to-Michigan column that ran on the site a few days earlier. I reckon that if the site editors properly packaged them as a point-counterpoint, the vitriol would have been reduced a little. Instead, people think I wrote that on my own initiative, which isn’t true in the least.

Anyway, I regret doing it for several reasons. First, I’m not a columnist. I’m a copy editor. In hindsight, to ask a copy editor to write a column during a 30-minute break in his “normal” shift was unfair. It prevented me from putting sufficient thought into my points and crafting them into a suitable fashion. I admit that the column, as it ran, was shallow. Oh, well. I won’t make such a mistake in the future.

Hope your blood pressure isn’t off-the-charts on account of me,
JJ

He’s mostly just making excuses (but what else can he do with such a bad article?), but fairly straightforward, and I certainly appreciate that he took the time to respond.

Posted under Recruiting