Most Michigan fans follow football in the fall and ice hockey (if you like watching a good team) or basketball (if you’re a masochist) in the winter. Many spring sports don’t seem to get the same attention that the other seasons do. It could be because there’s no revenue sport or, more likely, a large part of their seasons are played after students leave campus for the summer.

Well, I’ve been in Ann Arbor the past two summers and have noticed that the spring sports have been ridiculously good the past two years. Women’s track and field finished with a share of the Big Ten title last year and was runner up this year. The male runners won the title outright this year.

This year, women’s tennis made it to the second round NCAA tournament, while the men made it to the Sweet Sixteen. Both teams improved upon somewhat breakout seasons the year before.

Then there is baseball and softball. Both teams last year made it to the super regionals and gave the teams they played hell. I remember watching baseball’s first game against Oregon State in the Super Regional. Zach Putnam pitched a ridiculously good game. He only gave up one hit, but unfortunately that one hit brought in a run which was enough to earn Putnam the loss. It was one of the best baseball games I had seen.

As well as those teams did last year, the prospects are looking even better this year. One of the biggest reasons is the new Wilpon Baseball and Softball Palace Complex. Last year both teams played on the road in the Super Regional round. Michigan did not even put in a bid for either sport as the stands and press boxes were torn apart for the new construction. This year is different. Now Michigan has one of the nicer facilities, especially in the Midwest. Softball hosted and won its regional and will hope to do the same when it hopes the Super Regional this weekend. Baseball also has a very good chance of hosting it’s Super Regional series if it made it out of the regional round.

The new Ray Fisher Stadium will be getting it’s first test of a large baseball event when it hosts the Big Ten Tournament this weekend. In an e-mail from the media contact for baseball he said “With the new Press Box there is ample room, but I need to know who is coming so I can have Press Credentials waiting in your name.” which is a drastic change from last year when the media room was a tent behind Yost.

If you are in the area, check out baseball and softball this weekend. The schedule for the Big Ten tournament isn’t posted yet, but softball is set to play Virginia Tech at Noon this Saturday. Even if you’re not in town, you can catch the softball team on ESPN and I assume BTN will cover the tournament.

It could be a special year for both of these teams. They deserve all the support they can get.

UPDATE: Details about ticket prices and availability for baseball are here. Similar details for the softball super regional tickets are here. Take-home points: Baseball is $7 per game. Softball is $5 for general admission bleachers or $7-$8 for the nice, new grandstand.

Posted under Baseball

Double-barrel mailbag this time around. Both questions relate to making decisions on whether to recruit a particular kid or not.

Dave (in Ada, Ohio, my hometown’s Ohioan counterpart) asks:

What’s your take on recruiting a guy because Michigan really wants his teammate?

To start off, it all depends on whether the recruit in question is Michigan caliber. If he is, he can be a depth player even if he never contributes, and can help with recruiting his friend. Of course, this can backfire if you get the kid you didn’t really want and whiff on the one you did want.

Michigan obviously wanted Greg Mathews (he is definitely the best returning receiver on the team), but was their decision for picking him over a similar kid based on the fact that they also wanted his teammate (Lorenzo Edwards in the following class)? Michigan didn’t end up with Edwards, but since Mathews was a very good prospect in his own right, they didn’t regret landing him.

I think most schools, especially at the high-BCS level, will recruit the best players they can. If two players are the same in their mind, teammates (present and future recruiting classes) can be a tiebreaker.

Steven:

should michigan recruit instate kids or focus on other areas. i ask because it seems like we are going after a lot of florida kids. thx.

Well, Steven, Michigan is currently going after kids at programs that they have established relationships with. For this staff, that means programs in Florida, and some in Ohio. They don’t quite have the relationships going in Michigan quite yet.

As time goes on, they will continue to recruit at the programs they know (along with going for other top-level prospects), and try to develop relationships to the in-state high schools. As time goes on, I think the majority of Michigan’s players will come from Ohio (as they pretty much always have), with Texas and Florida providing several players. They will take the top guys out of Michigan, and recruit top prospects from other states as well.

Posted under Mail Bag, Recruiting

Fo’ real this time.

Minnesota WR Bryce McNeal (6-1, 180, 4.46) has given Rich Rodriguez his pledge to become a Michigan Wolverine. “B-Meezy” becomes the eighth member of the 2009 recruiting class. McNeal is an outside receiver with enough wiggle and speed to spend some time in the slot (physically reminiscent of a slightly taller, maybe shiftier, Mario Manningham).

Recruiting Notes
Michigan fans started following Bryce McNeal’s recruitment heavily when he was offered the weekend of St. Patrick’s Day. He originally said he had planned to announce his decision at the Army All-American game, to which he has been invited, but the opportunity at Michigan was too much for him to pass up. McNeal visited Michigan on Monday, March 24th on his way home from the Akron 7-on-7 camp. On March 25th, he told GopherHole that he had a Top-5, but the only schools that he was going to reveal from it were Michigan and Minnesota. At this time, it was assumed that Michigan was his leader, with Minnesota in second. Though he didn’t manage to make it to Ann Arbor for Michigan’s spring game, he had planned to visit the next weekend (which also fell through). McNeal visited for the BBQ at the Big House junior day, and committed. He planned to commit to Clemson next week, but that has since been canceled.

Player Notes
In 2007 he had 33 receptions for 670 yards and 8 touchdowns at Breck high school, where the base offense was a version of the spread that he will be running at Michigan. He has also gotten some attention for track, but it is unknown whether he will try to compete in both sports in college. He is a speedster with good hands, though he will have to add some muscle to compete at the Division-I level. McNeal was invited to attend the Army National Junior Combine in January, where was named to the all-combine first team. Despite this acclaim, he was listed as a three-star player on both sites, but his ranking went up to more reasonable levels after the latest round of re-rankings from each site.

Video

Miscellany
One more interesting fact about McNeal is that his girlfriend, Tayler Hill, is a basketball prospect. McNeal has hinted in his interviews that the two might like to attend school together, but women’s hoops recruiting info is so (oddly) hard to find that I haven’t been able to unearth whether she has interest in Michigan or not. She is a top prospect, and a commitment would help out Michigan’s hoops team greatly. That said, I’d be surprised if one of the top prospects would pick a school that can’t even win the NIT (at least they can get there. ZING

(This was written by Tim. I’m just posting it. I’m basically the secretary – ed.)

Posted under Recruiting

As always, let me know about your school’s commits over the course of the week.

Action since last rankings:
5-9-08 Penn State gains commitment from Stephen Obeng-Agyapong
5-10-08 Ohio State loses commitment from Darrell Givens. Penn State gains commitment from Darrell Givens.
5-11-08 Penn State gains commitment from Derrick Thomas.
5-12-08 Ohio State gains commitment from James Jackson.
5-15-08 Penn state gains commitment from Frank Figueroa. Penn State gains commitment from Eric Shrive.

New Rankings:

Buckeyes lose Darrell Givens, but gain a speedy wideout in James Jackson and remain on top.

Bell will likely end up a high 3-star. Michigan has gone cold for a little while.

Big week for PSU. They snake Darrell Givens from OSU, and pick up two more secondary players, along with two more linemen. Shrive is one of the best OTs in the country. Arcidiacono is underrated, Howle will end up as a high-three star, Figueroa a low three-star.

Every player committed to State thus far is from Michigan. They haven’t gotten any commitments in seemingly forever, and more schools are likely to pass them as time goes on.

Wood is a very good prospect, but all are slightly overrated because of their school of choice (especially Golic).

Keise will probably end up a mid 3-star.

Illinois started fast, but has since stagnated (and lost Melvin Fellows to the Bucks).

Wisconsin has all linemen, all from America’s Dairyland.

Their only commit comes from one of the least important positions on the field. Huzzah!

At least they have some commits. Come on, state of Indiana.

T-11th – Indiana, Purdue (0 commits)

Posted under Recruiting

While most schools have junior days in January and February, Michigan will follow its winter Junior Day with one Saturday.

As the staff started the year, they were behind from having to catch up with 2008 recruiting year. The junior day, a barbecue, should give them a chance to play catch-up, as well as display a family atmosphere about the program. The weather is not expected to be exceptionally warm, but sunny skies should make for good BBQ weather.

Prospects expected to attend include Bryce McNeal, and Pennsylvania DB/WR Corey Brown.

Posted under Recruiting

The Board.

Added:
FL OL Matt Alajajian. He has been offered (info in header).
NC QB Everett Proctor. He would be a backup QB/DB. Michigan might give him the opportunity to start his career as a QB to get him to commit. He is HS teammates with Xavier Nixon.

New Information:
OK RB David Oku. He has trimmed his list to a top 5, still including Michigan (and no longer including OSU or USC).
MN WR Bryce McNeal. Sam Webb in the DetNews.

Removed:
NC DB Devonte Holloman. Committed to Clemson.
MI WR James Jackson. Committed to Ohio State.
CA QB Tate Forcier. Michigan is probably done recruiting him.
PA OT Eric Shrive. THE Pennsylvania State University.

Analysis:
As I said when it happened, James Jackson hurts because he is an instate guy spurning Michigan to go to Ohio State. He loves the school, but never really got a vibe going with the new coaching staff. His location makes it possible for Rodriguez to continue recruiting him. Holloman hurts because it means another year, no 5-star safeties. He had been planning a Michigan visit tomorrow, and it seems as though his commitment may have been to avoid having to go on the visit when he knew he actually wanted to become a Tiger.

Posted under Recruiting

Tomorrow afternoon, I will be boarding a plane and heading out of the country for two weeks. Fear not, however. I have written a few posts that will be published over the course of my absence, and Paul should be able to come through with at least a little content.

The one area that I expect to fall behind (at least a little) is recruiting coverage. If I have internet access on my trip, I will try to keep up with the Monday-Friday schedule, but I make no promises of regular coverage. If there is big news, i.e. commitments, Paul should be able to take care of them.

Thanks to all the loyal readers, and even if you don’t visit as frequently while I’m gone, mark May 29th on your calendars, and look forward to that date.

Posted under Blog News

Many people (mostly in the mainstream media) have recently mentioned that Michigan is abandoning its “3 yards and a cloud of dust” tradition in favor of a “wide-open spread.” I will contend that this is not quite accurate, and it involves a misunderstanding of both concepts.

First, the “three yards and a cloud of dust” ideology. It focuses on the run game, and only passing the football when entirely necessary. While teams in the past that favored this philosophy typically featured heavy sets with many tight ends, and relied on a bruising RB to hit the hole hard and gain yards after contact, that is not the only way to run the football effectively.

Now, the “wide-open spread.” The implication of this phrase is that the ball goes all over the field (hence “wide-open”). While Rodriguez’s spread runs off-tackle, it is easier to get the ball to the perimeter with a quarterback who throws tons of screens, and can stretch the ball downfield. Purdue has a “wide-open” offense Rich Rodriguez has an offense that tries to run the ball 60% of the time (and has actually run for a greater proportion in the past). Michigan didn’t use star receivers often enough when they had Mario Manningham and Steve Breaston, so if anything changes in that department, it seems as though it will be for the better.

So, it is plain to see that a spread offense does not necessarily preclude running the ball often, and with effectiveness. Don’t be surprised when Michigan runs for far more yards this year than they have in the recent past. If the goal of both offenses is to do the majority of damage on the ground, and pass only when necessary (for example, in 3rd-and-long situations, when behind by a large margin, or to prevent the defense from selling out on the run), is it really that different? Michigan tried to keep the ball out of Chad Henne’s hands and in those of Mike Hart as often as possible in their careers. Just because Michigan is going to run more effectively now, I wouldn’t expect them to run for a vastly different percentage of attempts.

Finally is the idea that Michigan’s philosophy has been a static and unchanging entity that is going to be vastly shattered. Bo Schembechler liked to run. Lloyd Carr liked to run. Rich Rodriguez likes to run. Bo himself even had an option game with QBs like Rick Leach before the pro-style got established in Ann Arbor.

So, next time you hear mention of the “wide-open spread” that Michigan will be using next year, think critically. In the context that it was used, is this an accurate statement? And, if change happens, is it necessarily a bad thing?

Posted under Coaching

Hack columnist thinks Michigan will be fine at QB. He goes on to state that Kevin Newsome and Shavodrick Beaver shouldn’t expect to ever throw the ball. Here’s his reasoning:

But there’s something that these guys need to remember, as quarterbacks.

Based on recent history, here’s what these guys can expect when they get to Michigan.

(All numbers are rank in the country in stated category)

Rushing Offense
Year	West Virginia	Michigan
2002	2	59
2003	13	38
2004	7	61
2005	4	44
2006	2	21
2007	3	47
Average	5.17	45

Passing Offense
Year	West Virginia	Michigan
2002	108	44
2003	105	22
2004	104	45
2005	115	61
2006	100	64
2007	114	61
Average	107.7	49.5

This is one of the most common misconceptions about Rich Rodriguez that I see out there: he refuses to throw the ball. He does not take into account that maybe WVU didn’t throw downfield because their QB couldn’t pull it off.

And Pat White is already being projected as a wide receiver.

I’m a firm believer that talent is talent, and if you have the skill set to be a QB in the NFL, you can become a QB in the NFL. If Pat White could throw downfield, he wouldn’t be “already being projected as a wide receiver.” Perhaps it’s a chicken-and-egg argument, but WVU’s lack of downfield passing didn’t make Pat White a non-NFL QB. Pat White’s status as a two-star safety coming out of high school made WVU unable to pass the ball downfield. The same could be said for Rasheed Marshall, who was such a great QB that he couldn’t even make it into the NFL as a wideout. He currently reside in Columbus, playing for the AFL’s Destroyers.

I hope that people who constantly write about Rich Rod’s lack of creativity on offense eventually come to realize that he was limited in his playcalling by the talent he had available to him. Maybe then, we will stop seeing poorly-constructed arguments published.

Posted under Coaching

Michigan leads in the charity bowl, and it’s time to seal the deal.

Plus, boobs.

Posted under Blog News