Otis Reese to Georgia
*sigh*
On to 2019
https://247sports.com/college/michigan/Season/2019-Football/Commits
Already have 3 top 100 recruits.
February 7th, 2018 at 10:45 AM ^
Just how fucked are we moving forward?
February 7th, 2018 at 10:46 AM ^
Probably not as fucked as everyone thinks right now
February 7th, 2018 at 10:52 AM ^
Michigan is going to field a very talented team next year. The question marks at OT and QB are big, but maybe only two teams on Michigan's schedule (ND and OSU) will be more talented than the Wolverines.
And Michigan's 2019 class looks like it will be very good right now. They might lose some of those guys if they don't win in 2019, but that's true for any team. Winning in 2019 - if it happens - will make everything seem much better. Things change fast. Nobody would have listed Georgia as a top five program just a year ago.
February 7th, 2018 at 10:56 AM ^
in Year 3 of a program on the rise. Starting to look like Jimmy is in over his head.
February 7th, 2018 at 10:59 AM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 11:17 AM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 11:37 AM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 11:40 AM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 8:56 PM ^
I was worried that we would never win the Pac-12 in my lifetime. Feeling better now.
February 7th, 2018 at 10:04 PM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 12:25 PM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 11:18 AM ^
having the No. 12 class, and winning only couple of big recruting battles. Having a class outside of the top 20, and losing every competitive recruiting battle is not as good as a down year.
February 7th, 2018 at 11:32 AM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 12:09 PM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 12:16 PM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 12:34 PM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 1:44 PM ^
Actually, the major criticism of this class isn't that it lacks talent (even though it does, relative to UM's standards), it's that it does such an awful job of filling needs.
How do 5 DBs fill a need? It's already one of the strongest and deepest positions on the team, and it's not like they're all juniors or seniors.
What's up with 3 RBs? Is that what the team was lacking? Are they aiming for 12-15 RBs on the roster, or was there some compelling reason this season needed so many?
The weakest position on the team is OT. They signed zero. Yes, they have some highly rated young OTs from the last two classes that may work out. But if you're claiming that this class filled positions of need, I cannot fathom how getting zero players at the weakest position supports that.
It's one year. If 2019 is comparable to the 2016 or 2017 classes, it will probably be okay in the end. But if the quality of this class were somehow to become the new norm, Michigan would be looking at 6-6 and 7-5 seasons. There were just too many whiffs ths year.
February 7th, 2018 at 2:30 PM ^
Well said and totally agree...
Of note, I really enjoy your contributions to the blog. Even if I don't 100% agree with all of them, they are well thought out and articulated!
February 7th, 2018 at 4:41 PM ^
Thank you for the kind words.
February 7th, 2018 at 8:46 PM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 1:01 PM ^
sum1valiant-The facts don't line up with YOUR narrative. No matter how many times you tell others to relax or refer to them as "the sky is falling crowd," it doesn't change the results. It's a disappointment of a recruiting class no matter what the spin.
February 7th, 2018 at 4:48 PM ^
I think they like punching themselves in the nuts...again and again. Battered and bruised beyond recognition.
Why else whould anyone spend so much time repeating the same down-trodden, sad sap comments over and over and over again....as if saying it just one more time will make it all better.
February 7th, 2018 at 4:48 PM ^
I think they like punching themselves in the nuts...again and again. Battered and bruised beyond recognition.
Why else whould anyone spend so much time repeating the same down-trodden, sad sap comments over and over and over again....as if saying it just one more time will make it all better.
February 7th, 2018 at 4:49 PM ^
I think they like punching themselves in the nuts...again and again. Battered and bruised beyond recognition.
Why else whould anyone spend so much time repeating the same down-trodden, sad sap comments over and over and over again....as if saying it just one more time will make it all better.
February 7th, 2018 at 7:29 PM ^
First, our class settled at 21 in the 247 Composite rankings. So my statement was not exaggerated.
Second, not sure what you mean by "the sky is falling crowd". If you haven't been paying attention we are a program that last won a Big Ten Championship when George W. Bush was president, has won three bowl games in 14 years, has beaten OSU once in 14 years, and are 2-8 in the last 10 years in the MSU rivalry.
I have news for you, the sky isn't falling, it came crashing down a long time ago and it is going to take more than what we saw on field this last season and on the recruiting trail this cycle to raise it up.
if you are happy with those results, good for you. You must be easy to shop for at Christmas. Some of us happen to think Michigan should be better than that.
February 7th, 2018 at 11:54 AM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 11:35 AM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 2:13 PM ^
And this might not even turn be a "down year."
I was surprisingly talking about recruiting with one of my Spartan friends, and he mentioned how State never has highly ranked recruiting classes but they get results on the field yada yada yada. Anyways, he mentioned MSUs 2010 class and how it was only a top 25ish class, but produced a ton of pros. I called him on it, fact checked it, and I'll be damned if he wasn't spot on. According to 247, MSUs class was ranked #22 in the country, but included currently active pros of:
William Gholston, Max Bullough, Keith Mumphery, Marcus Rush, Kurtus Drummund, Tony Lippett, Jeremy Langford, Darqueze Dennard, and Leveon Bell.
So while it appears disappointing that our class may only finish in the top 15, we won't know whether it was a great class, bust, or somewhere in the middle until the players step on the field.
February 7th, 2018 at 3:08 PM ^
Yeah, I also have MSU fans close to me. Their 2016 class was supposed to be their best ever, like 7 of the top 8 kids from that class aren't with their team anymore and none were world beaters when they were. Their 2017 class was supposed to be bad and they played like 13 true freshman off of it a few of who started, they think it will be their best class ever.
When we look back, it would not be surprising for us to say that the 2018 class was better than the previous 2.
Rankings over the ling haul are pretty predictive, but they aren't 100% predictive.
February 7th, 2018 at 11:00 AM ^
...the guy who turned Stanford - who was terrible - into a contender and took the Niners to the Super Bowl is in over his head? That seems unlikely.
February 7th, 2018 at 11:14 AM ^
with OSU on the field or on the recruiting trail, you are in over your head at Michigan. Period.
February 7th, 2018 at 11:27 AM ^
* All things being equal in the current environment. We CAN recruit well enough to equal them on the field with good coaching. But they have built in advantages in recruiting we can't match, starting with the state they are in--Ohio has approx. 5 times the talent Michigan has, and zero in-state competition for that talent. And let's just say it--Meyer is a better recruiter than Harbaugh, at least as shown by results so far.
February 7th, 2018 at 11:33 AM ^
- climbed a tree
- had a sleepover
- did bumper cars with the recruit's sister?
No? Well, than HOW CAN HE BE BETTER THAN HARBAUGH?
/rant over
February 7th, 2018 at 12:23 PM ^
he did the sleepover thing once
February 7th, 2018 at 4:12 PM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 11:44 AM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 1:05 PM ^
Lazy take. Fans are just as passionate at many other schools and criticism doesn't mean the sky is falling.
February 7th, 2018 at 11:55 AM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 12:44 PM ^
To me, it looked like Michigan did compete with OSU. In fact, should/could have won the last two years. They were blown out in year 1, but have played very tough the last two years. Were you one who thought Harbaugh could take over the tire fire here and immediately destroy OSU, which has been building for YEARS?
February 7th, 2018 at 12:55 PM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 12:24 PM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 1:50 PM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 5:42 PM ^
in today's Big Ten East.... I think that question is important.
February 7th, 2018 at 11:03 AM ^
I don't like this any more than the rest of you, but I will pose the same question as always: If Harbaugh can't turn it around here who can? Nick Saban ain't gonna walk through that door.
February 7th, 2018 at 11:39 AM ^
If Harbaugh can't do it, probably no one can and that would mean the challenges between UM and UM being a National title contender are larger than whoever is the coach.
February 7th, 2018 at 1:19 PM ^
I have never bought in to this silly argument that if Harbaugh can't do it, no one can. That is lunacy. There are a lot of good coaches that win championships or compete at a high level. Jim Harbaugh is one of them (except for the championships part) and there are many more. This fatalist attitude is werid and doesn't line up with common sense.
Right now he is still the guy for the job but last year during the season people on here were talking about (and many encouraging) a lifetime contract. That take didn't age very well so far.
February 7th, 2018 at 1:56 PM ^
I guess what I'm aiming at is UM has certain limitiations, academic standards, and recruiting ethics, etc. that don't apply to other programs. I'm not trying to imply that JH is Jesus and only he is qualified to bring UM to success because there are certainly plenty of guys who can win. Only that no matter who the coach is, there are challenges that other programs don't have to worry about.
February 7th, 2018 at 2:32 PM ^
ed martin fit into that ethics standard?
February 7th, 2018 at 2:51 PM ^
He didn't but UM basketball won a crapload of games and went to two straight NCAA finals.
February 7th, 2018 at 4:42 PM ^