Recruiting Boards, as always, are here:
2009 & 2010
and in the sidebar to the left.

Standard RichRod recruiting fluff from the Freep.

This is a little late, but Shavodrick Beaver has been moved from committed and completely removed from the board in the wake of his bizarre decommitment to Tulsa. His player page has been removed from the 2009 Commit HQ (also available to the left).

So what’s the upshot for the rest of the class from the Beaver commitment? Most likely a more intense focus on FL QB Denard Robinson, the only remaining quarterback on the board. The Sun-Sentinel had some kind things to say about his fit in the Michigan offense, and mentions his upcoming visit (more on that in a moment). The header of a Scout article by Allen Wallace is a little more specific:

Denard Robinson still plans to visit Michigan on Jan. 9, Kansas State on Jan. 16 and Central Florida on Jan. 23. “I like Michigan because the old coaches from West Virginia are there,” Robinson said. “Coach Rich Rodriguez is trying to install his system there and I think I’d be a good fit. They need a good dual-threat quarterback like me. I won’t be making a final decision until after my visits.”

…so it certainly sounds like Michigan is much more involved than they were a couple weeks ago, and are back to recruiting Robinson as a QB. Finally, there’s another Scout article, entitled “Is U-M near the top for Robinson?” This is the type of teaser to which the answer is almost always “yes.”

If Michigan doesn’t land Denard Robinson, there’s a good chance that guys like Tajh Boyd, Eugene Smith, and Raymond Cotton come back into play.

…and while we’re up in arms about who will fill the second QB slot, don’t forget about the quarterback still committed in this class. Tate Forcier was recently interviewed on WDFN (audio | transcript). What did he have to say about Beaver?

It didn’t really phase me, I wasn’t worried about him. I knew I was going to have to come in and compete regardless of whether it was against him or against Threet. Him leaving it didn’t phase me.

He’s also ready to go at Michigan, having already enrolled (as detailed here earlier this week), and he’s ready to learn and help Michigan win:

I’m actually heading out there in less than two weeks. Right away right when I get out there, coach Smith and coach Rodriguez both told me I’m going to be spending most of my time with them learning that playbook. And with coach Barwis getting me prepared for next season – that’s the main goal right now, to get ready and hope to lead Michigan to a good season next year.

And how is he going to help Michigan win?

I have everything you want in a quarterback. I’m not the tallest guy, but I know how to get the job done. I have a feel for the game. I feel the pressure. I have a great feel for everything. I have great arm strength. I have good enough speed. Overall it’s just the balance of me as a quarterback. I’m not over the top on anything, but that’s what the Michigan coaches are going to try to get me to do – be the best of the best… My goal is to be a little bit like Colt McCoy. It’s almost nearly the same size and speed. It’s possible I may have a stronger arm than him. That’s kind of a lot to say, but I think if I worked hard I could maybe follow in his footsteps and be the type of quarterback that he is.

And that should be just about everything in regards to 2009. Let’s stick with the quarterbacks theme, however, and move along to 2010.

Sometime early next week, I should (finally) have some video up of 2010 MI QB Devin Gardner‘s performance in theDivision III State Championship game (and of course, some film on his teammate, Michigan commit Cameron Gordon, but that doesn’t really fit with the QB theme, now does it?). Look forward to that somewhere within the next round of updates.

Virginia Tech’s inability to land Kevin Newsome this year may lead them to more heavily pursue another local product next year, in Phillip Sims. Despite his good speed, Sims insists that he wantas to be looked at as a pro-style QB. His current schools of interest (including UVa, BC, and Tennessee) seems to bear that out. Hell remain on the board until he says he’s no longer interested in the Wolverines or a spread offense.

Speaking of other QB prospects Michigan may be a little behind in recruiting, 2010 OH QB Spencer Ware will likely end up at a different position in college, but he’s an electifying athlete either way that Michigan would certainly love to have. The current list for Ware is Ohio State, some SEC schools (including Georgia, his favorite), then a bunch of slightly lesser-tiered schools (including the hometown Bearcats).

…and before I wrap up the QBs-only edition of the Recruiting Update, I may as well take care of a couple things not related to signal-callers:
Removed 2009 MD DE/LB Jason Ankrah. He has committed to Nebraska.
Removed 2009 PA LB Dan Mason, who will choose between Pitt, WVU, and Penn State.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

Allow me to quote myself for a second here:

Snyder also reports that Rodriguez expects 8 early-enrolling recruits from the class of ‘09. Those would be Tate Forcier, Shavodrick Beaver, Vincent Smith, William Campbell if he re-commits, Anthony LaLota, Brandin Hawthorne, Mike Jones, and Vlad Emilien.

OK, not that I’ve been compulsively checking the student directory to see if these guys have enrolled (I have), but the first early returns are in. Umich e-mail addresses have been created thus far for Robert Forcier (Tate), Vincent Smith, Brandin Hawthorne, Vlad Emilien, and… William Campbell? Of course, “William Campbell is not exactly the least common name in the world, but the address was created yesterday, along with all the other ones so far. Even the Michigan Daily found its creation notable.

Of the other three early-enrollment candidates, Shavodrick Beaver will obviously no longer be enrolling at Michigan ever, much less early, and there have not yet been e-mail addresses created for LaLota or Jones.

Early Christmas presents so far? It sounds like it.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

The board lives here.

Posted under Recruiting

Ed. Note: The premium sites are now reporting otherwise on Gordon’s decision, fyi.

The Board has got it all, man.

• Remember: Cass Tech S/QB Thomas Gordon announces his decision this weekend. Here’s a little Cass Tech fluff, too.
• IN LB Commit Jordan Barnes unofficially visited Purdue last weekend. Not sure if you should read anything into that, so take it FWIW.
• Major (5 page) Tate Forcier fluff from the AANews. Obligatory “omfg he should mma w/ mike b.”
• Michigan is going hard after Georgia commit LB Mike Gilliard. They probably won’t land him, but it’s a good sign they’re after at least 1 more LB.
• I’ll give a few 2010 tidbits here and there as the season progresses (more about the 2010 board tomorrow). A top instate player will have a hard time going against Green and White when it comes to his recruitment.

Posted under Recruiting

The Board lives here. I was going to hold this update a little longer, but the post is filling up, and there is a ton of content to roll out over the next few days. Enjoy.

Moved to Committed:
FL RB Vincent Smith, FL RB Brandin Hawthorne. Commitment article on the pair.
CA QB Tate Forcier. Freep commit article.

Added:
NJ DB Nyshier Oliver. Tennessee decommit now considering Michigan, among others.

New Information:
FL TE Orson Charles. Georgia might not have a spot for him anymore.
VA OL Morgan Moses. He may not qualify out of high school, and could be headed to prep school for a year.
IL DE Craig Drummond. Nursing an ankle injury.
NC LB Hawatha Bell. Plans on taking a Michigan official visit.
MD LB Jelani Jenkins. Some fluff. Also, he might want to major in sports medicine (and Michigan has a very good program in this).

Removed:
FL LB Frankie Telfort. Michigan is out of his top (final) six.
FL RB Jaamal Berry. He’s finally done what we’ve been waiting for so long and verballed to Ohio State.

Etc.:
FL slot commit Jeremy Gallon. Fluff from the local paper.
First official 2010 offer. Chris Dunkley isn’t the only one that was sent out today, I assume. People like Devin Garndner, Ricardo Miller, and Marvin Robinson almost definitely received them as well. The board isn’t going live soon, but keep this stuff in mind.

Analysis:
Vincent Smith and Brandin Hawthorne had pretty much been penciled in as commits to this class, even before the official announcement. The commitment from Forcier, however, was surprising, if only in the timing. He fills the void left by Kevin Newsome, and Michigan is back to being locked down on the quarterback front. From here, the next possible commit is from a DE (perhaps Craig Roh, who visited this weekend?), and then an OL or two. I’ve emotionally detached myself from Darius Winston, as I don’t think he will select Michigan on Friday (surprise us all, Jay Hopson!).

Posted under Recruiting

Though many believed Kevin Newsome would be the only top-flight quarterback Michigan had a shot at in 2009, California QB Robert “Tate” Forcier has committed to Michigan, filling the void left by the decommitment of Newsome. Forcier (6-1, 190, 4.63) is the younger brother of former UM (now Stanford) QB Jason Forcier. For the most inside of all the information on Tate, check out his family site. Forcier plans to enroll in January at Michigan.

Player Notes
Forcier is a pass-run quarterback who is a much better fit for this UM system than his brother was for the old one. Forcier switched schools entering his sophomore season to avoid starting over his older brother Chris (now at UCLA). Tate is a pass-first dual threat quarterback. For those worrying about a lack of speed, it may be comforting to know that he had more rushing yards than Kevin Newsome as a junior. Tate is a little bit short (around 6-1), and his arm strength is not elite. However, he is fairly fast (faster than his former Wolverine brother), and his arm is very accurate. For the Scouts, Inc. evaluation of Tate, check out his site. One thing to keep in mind about Tate is that he has had a private QB tutor for much of his football-playing career, so his floor is very high, but he may be close to his ceiling as a passer.

Recruiting Notes
Like his older brother before him, Tate Forcier grew up a fan of the Michigan Wolverines. This gave Rich Rodriguez and company a leg up in his recruitment. However, with a family member leaving the program just a couple of years before Tate would enroll, it was unclear whther there would be hard feelings towards the Michigan program. Forcier was offered early in the process, when Russell Shepard and Kevin Newsome were the only other signal-callers holding offers from Rich Rodriguez. Speaking of offers… Tate posted all of his online (and it was really annoying to Google him every day and see that another hack columnist around the country had noticed). However, Tate said he wouldn’t start trimming his list until the Pryor situation was resolved. When Pryor picked against Michigan, many thought Pryor’s other “finalists,” Penn State and Michigan, were among Forcier’s top schools (along with Oregon). Before Kevin Newsome committed, he and Tate talked on Myspace about attending school together. When Shavodrick Beaver also gave his word to become a Wolverine, Tate was not to be dissuaded, still speaking highly of Michigan. When Kevin Newsome decommitted, Forcier was almost immediately in town for an official visit to the Utah game. Shortly after, Forcier made the decision to pull the trigger and commit to Michigan.

Video

Junior year part 1

Junior year part 2

Posted under Recruiting

Chen Geng (whose name can be pronounced in such a way that it sounds eerily/hilariously similar to “chain gang”):

Since it seems this season will go where the OL goes, what’s the injury history been for RR’s WVU teams? Did Barwis use chocolate milk to make their knees unbreakable?

Much thanks for the site.

It is my (and a generally-held) opinion that injuries are mostly freak occurences, and you can only prepare for them so much. That said, West Virginia has had a lot of luck (or injury prevention ability, if you believe in such a thing) over the past couple years. They bring back five starters this year, all of whom started most of last year except the right tackle, who started the final 6 contests.

Michigan, by contrast, started a smorgasbord of starting lineups, with Jake Long, Justin Boren, and Adam Kraus the only consistent starters (and even then Kraus and Boren trading starts at two different positions). Alex Mitchell, Corey Zirbel, Steve Schilling, Jeremy Ciulla, Mark Ortmann, etc., all started games as well. Of course, part of this was due to lack of production, rather than injuries (though they played a big part as well), but you can see that consistency is a big part of success.

So, it appears as though West Virginia has been mostly lucky in the past few years in terms of keeping starters along the O-line uninjured. If you believe that Barwis’s exercises have some sort of magical ligament-fortifying power (Corey Zirbel would tend to disagree), then the futur might look bright for Michigan offensive lines.

Tony in Markley (for the record, I love the use of dorm name for location, rather than, you know, where you’re from):

So, uh, what would a Forcier commit mean in comparison to Michigan just keeping Newsome committed?

Well, for the short-term, it is much, much better. Forcier is the most ready of all of Michigan’s quarterback prospects to step in a contribute right away. Like many of the SoCal QB prodigies (yes, including Jimmy Clausen), he has a private QB tutor, so his mechanics and reads, etc., are well ahead of your average high schooler. That, in combination with his predicted early enrollment, would mean he might be able to challenge for a starting job in 2009. That said, any true freshman is going to be a liability as a starting QB, but Forcier would be the best to step in as a true.

In the long-term, Newsome has a higher ceiling as a prospect. He is taller, faster, probably a little stronger in the arm department. That said, he is raw as a quarterback. Even an early enrollment (which he is/was also planning on doing) wouldn’t be enough time to get a QB like Newsome ready to play as a true freshman. However, he could have been an unstoppable beast down the road, once he became familiar with the responsibilities of the quarterback, and capable of doing what he needs to do to succeed.

I’ll also take this opportunity to give a WTF to the stated reason for his decommitment. Newsome’s father said he “heard” (ed note: this means the coach at another school, with no motivation to lie whatsoever) that Michigan wouldn’t give Kevin a legitimate shot at playing quarterback. Instead, he “heard” that they would give him one chance then switch his position. This does not make sense. The Newsomes believed the most obvious bullshit negative recruiting about THE ONE school that had no intentions of ever even considering making Kevin play anything other than quarterback.

Matt from Louisiana (since I’ve had parenthetical commentary on each commenter so far, I’ll disclose that I know Matt personally, and he wasn’t expecting my answer to come in mailbag form):

Tim,

This individual was not the first to suggest such an idea:

http://www.fannation.com/blogs/post/209097

But what are you thoughts on a SEC-Big 10 Challenge over Labor Day weekend (ala Big 10-ACC challenge on the hardwood)? As the NFL would not have started, you can have games on 3 days. You would rotate sites and let the 6th place team in SEC East/West (rotate) sit out. In the current state of college football, this is merely interesting fodder for discussion. However, upon moving to a playoff system (which will happen eventually), I think school presidents will value the growth of their sport (and ratings and revenue) over playing a really tough game (and a potential loss) the first weekend of the season.

-Matt

Corso makes Gameday go. I can only listen to the smart Herbstreit talk college football for about 1.5 hours. But I will stick around for 2 hours to see that PLUS Corso’s antics.

Matt, as the proud proprietor of a blog, I reserve the right to condescendingly answer your question in mailbag form, rather than the simple e-mail that you definitely would have preferred.

However, from a strictly economic sense, I’m not sure that this would be a guaranteed way to make more money. Take the excuse of Bill Martin for not playing a tougher out-of-conference schedule (which, essentially, this would be forcing schools from each conference to do): they simply can’t afford it. Of course “can’t afford it” is secret code for “can make more money with a different system,” in this case playing Notre Dame and a rotating series of tomato cans. If you guarantee 3 home games, and shell out a half-million bucks to the helpless opponents (helpless unless, of course, it’s Appalachian State – too soon?), you are still netting more than going year-on, year-off in a home-and-home scenario, since you make the same amount off TV either way. Some teams, including those in the SEC, have neutral-site OOC games to make more money, but it is literally impossible to sell more tickets at any other venue than The Big House, Happy Valley, or The Shoe.

With the Big Ten locked into contracts with the Big Ten Network and ESPN, and the SEC’s recently-signed deal with the ESPN family of networks, there isn’t much of a way for the conferences or the schools themselves to make much more cash by playing a good OOC schedule. The networks can make more money by promising better ratings and charging more for ad time (which, technically, in the case of the BTN would make more money for conference schools), but this revenue typically doesn’t trickle down to the schools.

Also, there is the issue of coverage. Every weekend that Big Ten teams are in action, the BTN is guaranteed at least three games to cover. In SEC country, that would mean 3 SEC games that fans can’t see (and, knowing SEC fans, they wouldn’t even PPV the games, because they wouldn’t dare contribute money to the Big Ten).

While I think that such an idea would be good for college football, in addition to being downright entertaining (and perhaps being a yearly notch in the conference supremacy belt), when it’s all about the benjamins, a Big Ten-SEC Challenge isn’t an economically preferred system.

As far as the GameDay thing, Orson Swindle posted a pretty good synopsis of my feelings about it under his flesh name over at The Sporting Blog.

Posted under Mail Bag

Huge update this week. There is actually more that will have to wait to Monday because this update is so JAM-PACKED. Anyway, here’s the board.

Moved to Committed:
TX K Anthony Fera.

Added:
A kicker category to the board. Thanks, Fera, ya jerk. Maybe in the light of more recent developments, I shouldn’t be calling anyone committed to Michigan a jerk.

Moved from Committed:
VA QB Kevin Newsome.

New Information:
CA QB Tate Forcier. August 30th visit (info in header).
GA WR Braxton Lane. Skipping football this fall to focus on baseball. Sounds unlikely he’ll hit the gridiron in college.
NC OL Travis Bond. His official visit is set for October 25.
VA DE Will Hill. Fluff.
SC DE Chris Bonds. Michigan and Notre Dame won’t move into his highest group until after he has a chance to see campus. They are still in his top 5.
OH DE Tank Carradine. Does he have an offer? He’s been working on his grades.
FL LB Brandin Hawthorne has set up 5 official visits, despite planning a decision before any of them. If Michigan is his choice on August 30, expect him to either forget about the other visits or not be given all the priviledges (i.e. having a spot saved for you) of a true commit.
OK CB Gabe Lynn. His friend (and former UM target) David Gordon is trying to lure him to Arkansas. Lynn’s junior highlights.

Removed:
PA WR Todd Thomas. He may have trouble qualifying. That may explain why Michigan never really seemed interested, despite his early love for the Wolverines.

Etc.:
MN WR commit Bryce McNeal is a speed prospect, but is currently too skinny to be considered speed and size. Paging Mike Barwis, who will have McNeal built like an All-American in no time flat.
TX QB commit Shavodrick Beaver welcomes competition. I was so much more into this article when there was someone in the class for him to compete with.

Analysis:
Recruiting changes from the developing Newsome situation outlined here. On the defensive end front, Michigan still really needs people. Though Tank Carradine is now reporting an offer, his recruitment remains under the radar, likely because of qualifying issues of his own.

Posted under Recruiting

New Information:
SC OL Quinton Washington. Not expected to take an official to Michigan.
FL QB Eugene Smith. Re-widens his focus after previously having narrowed to a top 5.
CA QB Tate Forcier. Top 6.
PA LB Dan Mason. Will commit to a school at the Army AA game. His current plan for official visits doesn’t include Michigan.
OK CB Gabe Lynn. Fluff.
FL Slot commit Jeremy Gallon. Most important news EVER: he has dreads.
SC DE Chris Bonds. Official visit schedule shaping up. Notre Dame visit for the Michigan game (and he will be unavailable for the big UM-MSU recruiting weekend, when he will be visiting Tennessee).
FL DE Ryne Giddins. Michigan outside of his top 6.
MD LB Jelani Jenkins. GBW headline says a super linebacker visited on Saturday, and the accompanying picture is of Jenkins, so we can assume he visited this weekend, no? Video fluff:

Removed:
MS S Rod Woodson. Committed to Alabama.

Posted under Recruiting, Video

Added:
CA QB Tate Forcier. He refuses to stop mentioning Michigan, so it would be inappropriate to not at least include him on the board.
FL QB Eugene Smith. Ditto.
CA OG Michael Philipp. Michigan is interested and he wants to visit AA.
MD DE Jason Ankrah. Offered:

Jason has offers from Illinois, Oregon, Maryland, Nebraska, Michigan, Pittsburgh, Michigan State, Syracuse and others. Jason said he attended North Carolina, North Carolina State, Syracuse and Penn State Junior Days.

New Information:
IL OL Commit Michael Schofield. Linked to his junior highlight video.
VA QB Commit Kevin Newsome. Can’t play on the post-grad team at Hargrave?

“We have a rule that, even if that young man, Newsome, wanted to come to our school, he would have to play on the high-school team. We don’t jump over our high-school team.”

FL LB Brandon Hawthorne. Decision after officials.
AL CB Dre Kirkpatrick. Fluff.

Removed:
NC QB Everett Proctor. Michigan seemed to be offering him as a draw to Xavier Nixon, who has eliminated Michigan.
PA OL Adam Gress. Final 2 doesn’t include Michigan. And also, he committed to Penn State.
IL OL Chris Watt. Wolverines out of his final 8.
PA DT Levi Brown. Committed to Temple.
MS DT Josh Boyd. Committed to Mississippi State.
AZ DE Devon Kennard. Michigan did not make his final 5 (USC, UCLA, ASU, Cal, Texas).

Analysis:
So, uh, any other DTs? At this point, there doesn’t seem to be a high correlation between guys who have offers and guys that Michigan can realistically land. If the coaches want another tackle in this class, I expect to see some more offers go out soon. If they landed somebody like Chris Bonds, he could conceivably move from end to tackle, but there isn’t exactly a glut of DEs, either.

Posted under Recruiting