Quite a Weekend; Commit #13 (or #14 I Guess)

Okay so that happened

Tressel's gone.  I don't guess that it should have been surprising that Ohio tried to sneak it in under the Memorial Day shroud.  It sure was nice news to wake up to yesterday though.  I don't have too much to say about him.  He lied and cheated and and then lied about lying and cheating.  He's gone now and he'll never coach anywhere anybody cares about again.  My dad said it best in an email this morning:  "Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy!"

The day got progressively worse for Buckeye fans as it went on too.  Next we heard that quarterback Terrelle Pryor is being investigated individually for the loads of different cars he's been driving over the last several years.  Pryor even seemed to put an exclamation point on his personal 'I do what I want' Cartmanism by driving up to a team meeting at the Woody Hayes Athletic Complex in a brand new Nissan 350z with temporary plates dated May 24th.

MGoBlog has posted a nice rundown, with pictures, of quite a few of Mr. Pryor's recent vehicles here.  Very impressive for a college student anyone that isn't stinking rich.  If he hasn't taken his last collegiate snap then the NCAA has officially become a worthless joke.  More info on the cars thing here.  After that came out, we then learned that George Dohrmann's SI.com piece that was initially set to come out today was going to be up at around 8 pm ET last night.  This article was going to be the bombshell that blew everyone away and set the Buckeyes up to be the new SMU.  Well it didn't quite do that and a lot of people were very underwhelmed.  I don't really see why.  In the article, Dohrmann's sources outline a lot more names that were involved in the memorabilia for tattoos (and other things like bags of weed and Chevy Tahoe's) trade including quite a few projected starters for the 2011 team.  The story itself was so built up that unless it had come with pictures and video of Tressel and Pryor forcibly addicting infants to heroin, people were gonna be disappointed.  There's plenty of bite in that piece.

Many around the Michigan internets are ecstatic at the beginning of the end for their hated rival.  There is finally something for Michigan fans to rub in their Buckeye friend's faces.  There may be just as many that are disappointed that Michigan will not get any further opportunities to beat the Bucks while they sit on top of the mountain.  I can't count the number of posts/comments that go something like "I wanted to kick their ass while they were #1 to show them blahblahblah".  I guess I have a little of both in me.  It is delicious to know that they are about to get an NCAA beatdown that will not only be a huge embarrassment to the program but, no doubt, a boost to Michigan's at the same time.  There is a small part of me that also wanted to relive the 3 times in the 90's that Michigan beat an undefeated and #2 ranked Ohio State team, and that that win would propel the Wolverines back into greatness.  The more I think about it though, I don't care what their record or ranking is.  I always just want to BEAT OHIO.

New Commit

Allen Gant, son of former Wolverine Tony Gant, Committed to Michigan this morning becoming the 13th member of the Class of 2012.  Actually, since there is a silent commit, he is the 14th member.  Whatever.  Rivals profile.  Allen is a 6'2" 205 pound safety from Sylvania, OH.  Rivals actually lists him as a WR but the U-M coaches have him slotted for the strong safety spot.  Rivals has not ranked him as of yet, but Scout lists him as a three star safety prospect.  Some film on Allen:

Obviously there isn't much that can be gleaned from a one minute highlight reel, but there you go.  What we do know is that Allen is big for a high school safety.  There is usually talk of kids his size moving to linebacker at the next level because they're bound to grow more.  I don't think that will be the case with Allen.  He was an early bloomer and probably won't grow much more from where he is right now.  I think he probably stays at SS and also probably takes a redshirt year.

The Future

Going forward, things are getting tighter and tighter in this class.  With the OSU news getting worse (for them) by the hour, this can only help Michigan on the recruiting trail.  Supposing a full class of 25 as Brady Hoke has stated, Gant plus the silent commit leave only 11 spots left.  Wayne Morgan is scheduled to announce on Thursday and Michigan is in the top two for him.  I think he's the silent but have no inside info.  Just a guess.  So, 11 more spots.  I'm thinking those 11 will break down position wise as follows: one QB, one RB, three OL, two WR, two DT, one DE, and one wildcard that could be a S/TE/OL/FB. 

In a recent interview with Rivals ($), four star and #34 overall OT prospect Erik Magnuson named Michigan his leader:

"There are definitely a couple teams [standing out], but Michigan is my No. 1 right now," Magnuson said. "I think I kind of always knew that they were one of my favorites, but I didn't really want to come out with it yet."

Very good news.  He will be on campus June 10th with his father.  That could be a giant visit.  That's all I have for now.  Stay tuned and Go Blue.

Friday Musings

Please tell me you're not serious

A certain newspaper in Detroit that I will not mention posted a story this morning in which they unveiled the "model" for the Michigan throwback jersey to be worn in Michigan Stadium's first ever night game against Notre Dame this fall.  You can find the story here.  This has not been finalized or approved by the University or the Athletic Department and thank Jesus for that because these things are AWFUL.  Hideous.  Eyesores.  Please, no.  I don't even want to post the picture it's so bad, but here it is:

I know, I tried to warn you.  Please don't make our athletes wear these.  It's going to look ridiculous and it certainly isn't going to make any recruits think to themselves "oh cool, I want to wear those."  

The idea for having both schools wear throwback uniforms, at least as I understood it, was for Adidas to honor great teams of each school's past.  Um, no Michigan team of the past has ever worn these jerseys.  Who exactly are you honoring with these?  Bumble bees?  70's era Pittsburgh Pirates?  You can't just make some crap up and say "this is to honor your past."  What?  

The real idea, as far as Adidas is concerned anyway, is to create another jersey that they can sell.  Part of their design concept has to be whether or not they will be able to move a large number of these things off the shelves.  Judging by the overwhelming response I have seen today across the internets, as well as my own horror, no one is going to buy these things.  I wouldn't buy one of these if they were 50 cents.  They are trying way too hard.  I realize that Michigan's uniforms have remained largely unchanged for decades, but there are some past unis that would be very cool and I think much more marketable too.  For instance:

Both of these images came from U-M's Bentley Historical Library, so a very big HT to them.  On the left, you will see the team photo of the 1910 edition of the Wolverines.  On the right, the individual photo of one Mr. Bob Wiese, captain of the 1944 squad.  This is a simple design that can be made very cool.  I like the large Block M on the front, but notice that there is no terrible looking squiggles that take away from the image and also note that the M is of correct proportion.  The M on the Adidas version is skinny and looks like crap.  That's not our M!  I like the number on the sleeve of Mr. Wiese's jersey and assume that it would be present on both sides.  The back of the jersey would no doubt contain a large version of each player's number and the rest could go a couple of different ways in my mind.  You could go with each player's last name as we do now, or it might be cool to just have another, smaller of course, Block M above the numbers where the names would go.  Obviously the jerseys would not be long sleeve or turtlenecked as the ones in the photo are.  Done.  That's it.  Really not that hard and I would definitely buy one of those.  Please dear God fix these before the game.

A sad day for 1987 me

In 1987, I was 8 years old and very much into the things that 8 year old boys are into.  Playing baseball, football, basketball, whatever.  Collecting baseball cards.  Catching bullfrogs in the creek.  Playing around in the many houses being constructed in my neighborhood.  Riding my bike.  And WWF Wrestling.  I can remember watching wrestling with my friends on my street and then beating the hell out of each other recreating what we had seen.  We even video taped it several times.  I think we even held our own Wrestlemania.  Of course this fancy did not last more than a couple of years but we were pretty into it for a while.  My favorite was Ultimate Warrior.  

Another of my favorites was Macho Man Randy Savage.  He wasn't the biggest, most muscle bound guy in the WWF and he had some garish outfits (see below), but the man was a showman and it was hard not to like him.  He was almost infectious with his enthusiasm.  Well, the Macho Man died today.  He had a heart attack while driving, lost control of his car, and hit a tree outside of Tampa, Florida.  His wife was in the car with him and survived with minor injuries but the Macho Man didn't survive the crash.  He was 58 years old.  RIP old friend.

Make your peace

So, yeah.  The world is supposed to end tomorrow.  I guess it's supposed to happen at 6 p.m.  I really don't know all the supposed details, I haven't read all the crap going around about it.  Many people have and, unfortunately, are believing it to be true.  I hope there are no mass suicides or fanatical cult activities tomorrow that cost a lot of people their lives.  Some people will no doubt spend tomorrow praying and expecting The Rapture.  Me?  I'm going to the Jimmy Buffet concert to tailgate, have fun, drink some cold beers, and generally not worry about it with about 75,000 of my closest friends.  I'm not going to the show, just to tailgate.  If you've never done this, you really should experience it.  It is a spectacle for sure and it's really a lot of fun.  I'm not really a Buffet fan but I went to this party last year and it was a blast.  People really go all out for this thing and take it to the extreme.  It's hard to describe.  Like I said, just try it out some time.  You'll have fun.  As far as the end of the world, well, I'm not too worried.  I make my peace with God every night.  If He's ready, then that's okay by me.  I'm gonna be having fun when it happens though!

Commit #12

As expected, Detroit Cass Tech CB Terry Richardson announced his pledge to the Wolverines this morning on WTKA.  Rivals profile.  Richardson actually gave his commitment to the coaches on a visit to A2 over the past weekend.  This makes a clean sweep of the "Big 3" recruits from the state of Michigan by Coach Hoke and staff.  Well done gentlemen.

Terry is another in the seemingly endless parade of talented but extremely small cornerbacks to come out of Cass Tech in the last several years.  The previous Technicians to come out fitting that mold include Dior Mathis, former Wolverine Boubacar Cissoko, and 2011 commit Delonte Hollowell.  I have heard that he compares most favorably with Mathis of those three but he may be the best yet.  Specifically, Terry is listed at 5'9" and 165 pounds although he's probably closer to 5'8".  He may grow a little before he gets to campus but I'm not going to hold my breath.  If he grows at all, he'll come in at the 5'9" he's currently listed at for real.  Now for some film:

So, yeah.  There's that.  Not the most impressive highlight reel I've seen but he does show some good things.  Good reaction time and decent route recognition.  Shows good speed and ball skills as well.  Other than that it's hard to tell from that reel.  I don't mean to sound down on the guy (I'm not) because everyone that's seen him play and/or evaluated him has said he's a great player.  In fact the only thing that I've really heard in the bad or "to work on" department is his size, which, well not much he can do about that y'know?  I guess I'm just being a little cautious because the highly touted Cass Tech guys that have come out the over last several years have, quite frankly, been overrated.  It's clear the program has some superior athletes, but the coaching/development of those athletes seems to be lacking.  I've never met any of the Cass Tech coaches and I don't like to make blanket statements like that without knowing so maybe the kids are just extremely raw when they come in to Tech and they have a ton of work to do fundamentally.  I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt and maybe I'm wrong.  Wouldn't be the first time.  

His offer list suggests that he is a stud and that I should shut up:  Alabama, Iowa, LSU, MSU, ND, OSU, Oklahoma, PSU, Pitt, UCLA, and USC highlight a very long list of suitors.  Wow.  It's been a while since U-M has gone up against a list like that and won out.  I like it.  A lot.

Regardless (sidebar:  irregardless is not a word.  Don't use it, it makes you sound dumb.  Sorry I just hate that non-word), Richardson is a highly ranked prospect and I'm excited about his commitment.  Rivals rates him as a 4-star and #195 overall.  Scout has him as a 4-star also and their #10 CB prospect.  24/7Sports (a publication that I really don't put much stock into yet, mostly because they are new and I have no idea of they know what they are talking about) rates him as a 4-star, the #3 CB, and their #31 overall player.  That is high praise indeed.  Welcome to the family, Terry.

In other related news, RJS has been tweeting cryptically that there is more good news to come and that it is from unexpected sources.  I don't have anything further than that, so I'll leave that as a tease and we'll see what happens.  Stay tuned and Go Blue!

Commit #11 (And One to Grow On!)

 

Commit #11 came in the form of Matt Godin on Thursday morning when he drove to Ann Arbor and informed the coaches himself.  Not long after, Godin appeared on WTKA to make his commitment public.  This was not much of a surprise to most.  Michigan State and Wisconsin were his other finalists.

Godin grew up a Michigan fan and briefly became disillusioned with the program earlier in the calender year when he felt that his offer was not coming fast enough.  This made me feel a little like he might be a little high maintenance and, quite frankly, a bit of a baby.  Perhaps it was a little overblown and maybe I'm being too harsh but whatever.  Water under the bridge.  All was made well when Godin got his U-M offer and things have been pointing in Michigan's favor for him for a while.  Here's his Rivals profile.  And some film for your perusal:

Matt was not included in the initial Rivals rankings (which places him outside their top 300+) and Scout rates him as a 3-star and the #39 DE.  Rivals lists him at DT and that seems to me to be the position where he will end up.  At 6'5" and 253 already, I think he has the frame to add plenty more weight and play the three tech DT position.  I have heard others say they expect him to play the SDE but I just don't see it.  

The one to grow on alluded to in the title (and as I'm sure you already know) is 2013 potential super recruit Shane Morris.  This is a big get to jumpstart the class of 2013 as Morris is the early favorite for #1 in the state in his class and potentially a top 5 national QB.  Shane is a 6'3" 183 pound lefty out of Warren De La Salle that gave his pledge to the Wolverines last week as well.  Michigan State was his other major offer at this point but I have no doubt that his offer list would have (and probably still will) include a lot of heavy hitters from BCS conferences.  Rivals profile.  Some sophomore film:

 

He shows some impressive polish for just a sophomore and does appear to have the arm to make all the throws.  This kid is going to be big time and should bring some big time players with him.  This could not have been a better start to the class of 2013.

With Morris' commitment, there has been some wonderings around the net as to if this means that Michigan will no longer use a scholarship on a QB for the class if 2012.  There has also been some rumblings, mostly on the Rivals board, that Gunner Kiel is now leaning to Michigan.  Okay, one thing at a time here.  First of all, I am in the 'take a QB every year' camp.  You just never know what is going to happen as far as injuries and other things that may come up as well as the fact that Morris can't sign a LOI for another 21 months.  The kid seems pretty solid with his decision even with Hoke and company telling him that they would sign a QB in this class, but you just don't not take a player at a position as critical as QB on the word of a 16 year old kid.  We've all been through the drama of decommitments before and it's just too risky.  Besides, Morris has said that he's fine with them taking a 2012 QB and the guys over at Rivals don't think that even a commitment from Kiel would change his mind.  Now on to Kiel himself.  The kid is the #1 ranked QB to Rivals, he has a very impressive film reel, and an even more impressive offer sheet.  He has been to campus and is coming back, both good signs.  He is a very talented player and someone I would love to have join this already very solid class.  Having said that, I don't think we land him.  I think he ends up at Oklahoma.  It'd be an embarrassment of riches at the QB position though.  Imagine a QB lineup in September 2013 of RS Junior Devin Gardner, RS Sophomore Russell Bellomy, RS Freshman Gunner Kiel, and true Freshman Shane Morris.  Yikes!  Yes please!!

As far as what to expect coming up, I kind of think we may have a slight lull in the commitment deluge we've been experiencing (after tomorrow morning I mean).  It seems like the coaches have cooled on Ron Thompson for some reason and there is still some waiting to be done for Aaron Burbridge with all of the off field work he needs to do.  Those seem like the two closest to joining the party to me.  The mention of tomorrow morning is me pointing to the press conference and likely commitment of a certain highly rated yet diminutive defensive back from southeastern Michigan.  We'll see what happens in the morning.  Until then, Go Blue.

UPDATE:  The press conference scheduled for tomorrow morning has been postponed until Thursday at 11:45(ET).

Updated Class of 2012 Projection

With the newly released Rivals rankings coming out the last couple of days and the class of 2012 virtually half full, I thought I'd take a stab at projecting the full class as it will appear on Signing Day.  This list is more of a serious effort as to what the class will actually look like unlike my first list that was more of a pipe dream.  I was also going to post my thoughts on the Rivals 250 and which prospects Michigan had a decent to good shot at, but TomVH over at MGoBlog has already done a comprehensive list that is way better than anything I could have done, so I refer you to his post.  All players below are linked to their Rivals profiles.

Class of 2012 - Projected

Quarterback (1):
Tyler O'Connor                       
Lima, OH (Lima Catholic Central)      
6'3" 202

Running Back (1):
Greg Garmon
Erie, PA (McDowell)
6'1" 190

Wide Receiver (1):
Aaron Burbridge
Farmington Hills, MI (Harrison)
6'1" 175

Tight End (3):
Devin Funchess (COMMIT)
Farmington Hills, MI (Harrison)
6'5" 205

 

A.J. Williams - (COMMIT)

Cincinnati, OH (Sycamore)

6'6" 260

Ron Thompson
Southfield, MI (Southfield)
6'4" 210

Offensive Line (5):
Ben Braden - (COMMIT)
Rockford, MI (Rockford)
6'6" 285

Caleb Stacey - (COMMIT)
Cincinnati, OH (Oak Hills)
6'4" 275

Jordan Diamond
Chicago, IL (Simeon)
6'6" 289

Kyle Dodson
Cleveland, OH (Cleveland Heights)
6'6" 315

Paul Thurston
Arvada, CO (Arvada West)
6'5" 274

Defensive End (3):
Mario Ojemudia - (COMMIT)
Farmington Hills, MI (Harrison)
6'3" 215

Pharaoh Brown - (COMMIT)
Lyndhurst, OH (Brush)
6'6" 220

Chris Wormley
Toledo, OH (Whitmer)
6'5" 255

Defensive Tackle (3):
Matt Godin
Novi, MI (Detroit Catholic Central)
6'5" 253

Jaleel Johnson
Westchester, IL (Montini)
6'2" 277

Ondre Pipkins
Kansas City, MO (Park Hill)
6'3" 325

Linebacker (4):
Kaleb Ringer - (COMMIT)
Clayton, OH (Northmont)
6'0" 219

Royce Jenkins-Stone - (COMMIT)
Detroit, MI (Cass Tech)
6'2" 215

Joe Bolden - (COMMIT)
Cincinnati, OH (Colerain)
6'2" 225

James Ross - (COMMIT)
Orchard Lake, MI (St. Mary's)
6'0" 209

Cornerback (1):
Terry Richardson
Detroit, MI (Cass Tech)
5'9" 160

Safety (1):
Jarrod Wilson
Akron, OH (Buchtel)
6'2" 190

That makes a total of 23 in this class.  Right now, I believe the scholarship count is sitting at 18 but with a few guys not getting a 5th year and a normal amount of attrition I think it's a reasonable expectation that the class may be about this size.  If this class were to come to fruition, it would be a monster class and the kind of thing that really gets momentum going in the right direction for a program.  I am very pleased with the 10 commits thus far and each of the other 13 guys on this list are very high on Michigan and thus attainable.  Coach Hoke and the entire staff are doing a great job.

BONUS:  Michigan has gotten an enormous leg up on the class of 2013 tonight as widely regarded super recruit QB Shane Morris out of Warren De La Salle has pledged to the Wolverines.  Obviously, there are almost two years until Shane can sign a LOI, but this is great news and further proof of the excellent job the coaching staff is doing.

Commits #9 and #10

Another weekend in the books and another pair of recruits at the same position decide in favor of Michigan.  I love this crazy trend but it sure is strange.  The pair this time comes from another position of huge need in this class, defensive end.  Hopefully the next pair will be at defensive tackle.

The first to drop on Saturday was Farmington Hills Harrison's Mario Ojemudia (6'3" 215).  He joins his teammate, TE Devin Funchess, as a Michigan commit from a program historically prone to send their kids to East Lansing.  Here is his Rivals profile and here is his highlight reel.  Another Junior year reel:

Mario obviously needs to add some weight to play DE at the next level and needs to get stronger as well, but he shows excellent quickness and very good speed for a DE.  Scout lists Ojemudia as a 4-star and the #17 DT(?) in the country.  Rivals rankings come out this week so we'll see then what they think.

Pharaoh Brown became the second commit of the day on Saturday as the Lyndhurst, OH native gave his pledge to Brady Hoke.  Brown stands 6'6" and is also pretty slender at 220 pounds.  Rivals profile.

You will notice form his film that he is an unusual combination of a DE and QB!  Even if you're not the type of person that can get much from watching film, the fact that he was also the QB should tell you something about his athleticism.  Scout lists Brown as a 3-star and the #45 DE in the country.  Defensively, I think Brown looks to have pretty decent instincts and a lot of raw ability.  Like Ojemudia, he needs to add weight and strength to be able to go to battle with Big Ten offensive linemen.

I think a redshirt year may be in order for both of these guys, but then again the depth chart is pretty shallow at the DE spot.  The good news is they have plenty of time to get bigger and stronger before they hit campus.  These two guys are a very good start at the DE position for this class.  I've been seeing more and more class projections from people that think Michigan needs to have four DEs in this class but I think one more will do with the number of scholarships available in this class.  I would like that last spot to go to rumored long time Michigan lean Chris Wormley from Toledo.  That is one kid I want in this class badly.

Getting a couple of commits at the DE position was huge at this point as that is a position of major need.  There should be at least 3 more OL in the class, at least 2 DT, a QB, a RB, a WR or two, a corner, and a safety.  That's still comes out to about 20 or so for the class as a whole.  I intend to post an updated class projection in the next few days as well as a look at the initial Rivals rankings that come out starting tomorrow.  Stay tuned and Go Blue.

Commits #7 and #8

The bizarre theme of commits coming in pairs and from the same position continues as the Wolverines pick up 2 more linebackers over the weekend.  The two are the same two I mentioned in my commit post of the first pair of linebackers Michigan got.  I guess that answers my question of whether they will take both of them or not.

Joe Bolden (6'2" 225) from Cincinnati Colerain HS committed to Michigan on Friday over offers from the likes of Arizona, Boston College, Cincinnati, Iowa, North Carolina, Penn State, Stanford, Tennessee, and West Virginia among others.  Rivals profile.  Film from two Junior year games.  Scout lists Bolden as their #27 OLB and a four star prospect.  Rivals has not released their rankings still (May 9 and 10 they will release their top 100 and 250 respectively) but he will likely be a high 3 star to them.  Bolden has a pretty decent offer sheet and I welcome him to a linebacker corps that I fully expect to be the strength of Michigan defenses over the next several years.

James Ross followed Bolden by committing to the Maize and Blue on Saturday but did not make the announcement until this morning.  Ross, or "Biggs" as he is known, is from Orchard Lakes St. Mary's and is listed at 6'0" and 209.  He chose Michigan over offers from Cincinnati, Michigan State, Mizzou, Nebraska, ND, OSU, PSU, Pitt, and USC.  That is a very impressive offer sheet and it should be noted that this is Michigan's first commit for this class that also held an OSU offer.  Scout ranks him as the #2 MLB in the country and Rivals is expected to give him four stars as well.  Rivals profile.  Junior film.  Ross is slightly undersized at only six foot but he shows good instincts and seems to really enjoy delivering the blow to the ball carrier.

This surely ends the LB recruitment for the class of 2012.  If a Deaysean Rippy calls up Coach Hoke or Mattison and says I want to be a Wolverine, do they make room for him?  It's usually agreed that a high caliber recruit like that you make room for, but I just don't know if they can afford it.  This is an outstanding LB recruiting class with the four already in the fold.  I think you shut it down and focus elsewhere.  I'm thinking that the remaining spots will be for a QB, a RB, possibly two WR, another couple of OL, at least two DE, at least two DT, a CB, and a S.  That would make a class of 20 with the guys already committed.  As we have seen there has been some attrition already and there will most likely be some more so a class of more than 20 is possible if not probable.  In that case I think the staff has set themselves up to be rather picky with who they are willing to accept from that point.