Michigan Football 2016: I-Rashan-al

sachmoney

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I apologize in advance if we don't get Rashan Gary, but I wanted to be the one to make terrible puns for the title this year.

Jim Harbaugh put Michigan back on the right track in 2015, doubling the team's 2014 win total with a win over Florida, a SEC school, in the Citrus Bowl. Notable strides were made at almost every position and Michigan looked much closer to being a Top 10 team than an also ran. There were still some what ifs, which we won't talk about for the sake of sanity in this thread, but it is hard to say Harbaugh's first season was not a successful one.

There are a number of big stories heading into spring camp, which is just over a month away. Again, we are left wondering who will win the quarterback battle. The overwhelming favorite at this time seems to be transfer, John O'Korn. There's no shortage of competition, but I would guess that the biggest threat to O'Korn would be early enrollee, Brandon Peters, who is probably the QB of the future. With Harbaugh's penchant for developing QB's, I am not worried about this position. The OL loses Graham Glasgow, but should have a plethora of experience and talent. Michigan has experience at every other position, including the return of the receiving triumvirate of Butt, Darboh, and Chesson. This unit should be one of the best in the country.

Michigan returns a lot to a stellar defensive unit. The big losses are at linebacker where it is Ben Gedion and a bunch of guys that have never played. It is worrying, but Michigan plays a lot of nickel, so it shouldn't be that much of a worry. The defensive line should again by one of the best in the country, especially if Harbaugh can reel in the current title character (Rashan Gary). The defensive backfield loses Jarrod Wilson, whose reliability will be missed greatly. However, all-world corner, Jourdan Lewis, is back for his senior season. Peppers should continue to improve and make an impact. Jeremy Clark made strides last season. The DBs should be very good as well.

This team has depth and momentum and you've got to feel good about them heading into the 2016 season.

Schedule:
Hawaii
Central Florida
Colorado
Penn State
Wisconsin
@Rutgers
Illinois
@Michigan State
Maryland
@Iowa
Indiana
@Ohio State

Despite having three difficult road games (State, Iowa, Ohio State), the rest of Michigan's schedule looks favorable. The OOC schedule looks very easy. The two most difficult home games on paper, Penn State and Wisconsin, are looking less difficult by the day. Penn State is losing a coach a day and Wisconsin just lost their defensive coordinator to LSU. They're not replacing these guys with highly regarded coaches like Don Brown either. Michigan's season will hinge on those three road games, in my opinion.

Regardless.

Harbaugh.

Go Blue!
 

tims4wins

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Iowa looks tough on paper but chances are they fall back to earth and are only like an 8-4 type of team next year. If Michigan is as good as we think, that won't be too tough.

I see 11-1, splitting the MSU and OSU games. Whether or not that is good enough to play in the B1G title game, who knows.
 

sachmoney

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Kinnick is a hard place to play. I'm not sure I'd write Iowa off just yet, especially if Beathard is coming back.

I'm not ready to make "way too early" predictions. MSU and OSU are losing a lot, which may come at the right time if we're anticipating Michigan continuing to progress back towards college football's elite. I will go so far as to say I am anticipating that much.
 

sachmoney

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After John Baxter's departure, Chris Partridge, who was previously Michigan's Director of Player Personnel, has been promoted to LB/ST coach. Partridge has been invaluable in the recruitment of Rashan Gary and has also been integral to Michigan's push in New Jersey. Michigan has 4 of NJ's Top 10 with Rashan Gary and Jordan Fuller still deciding. Harbaugh has called him an invaluable resource, so I am excited to see him get the promotion. To my knowledge, a school can only have 9 coaches that both coach and recruit. I am not sure if Partridge did any coaching (I assume he did), but he was not allowed to go out into the field in his current position. Part of why Michigan promoted him for the bowl was so that he could go out and recruit. He is a very important member of the staff and I'm glad to see him get this promotion.
 

Granite Sox

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Recent Attrition:
  • Ross Douglas (grad transfer)
  • Derrick Green (released from scholarship, anticipated grad transfer)
  • Willie Henry (declares for draft)

Available scholarships: +3

Transfer C from Texas who was #2 rank at that position in his senior HS year behind Kugler taking a visit.
 

trotsplits

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Schedule:
Hawaii
Central Florida
Colorado
Penn State
Wisconsin
@Rutgers
Illinois
@Michigan State
Maryland
@Iowa
Indiana
@Ohio State

Despite having three difficult road games (State, Iowa, Ohio State), the rest of Michigan's schedule looks favorable. The OOC schedule looks very easy. The two most difficult home games on paper, Penn State and Wisconsin, are looking less difficult by the day. Penn State is losing a coach a day and Wisconsin just lost their defensive coordinator to LSU. They're not replacing these guys with highly regarded coaches like Don Brown either. Michigan's season will hinge on those three road games, in my opinion.
I forgot about the home games to open the season. Assuming O'Korn lives up to his practice squad hype, Michigan could realistically be undefeated heading into the MSU game.
 

sachmoney

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Lots of speculation going on and a lot of the muckraking is coming from one side. Harbaugh and co can't comment on this recruit. I'm not sure what happened and I don't want to cast judgment before hearing the facts. Lots of Michigan fans aren't happy with Harbaugh on this one, but I don't really care because it's before signing day and I imagine that there is a lot more to this than just a late pull of a scholarship. The big speculation on the other side is that Swenson did not progress as much since his commitment. I think that there's got to be more reason because tackle is a need position. There's got to be more going on than just Harbaugh pulling the scholarship. It's been speculated that Swenson wouldn't be in the class for some time on message boards, apparently.
 

WayBackVazquez

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Personally, I'm not going to automatically give Harbaugh the benefit of the doubt on this one based on the attrition record at Stanford and reports of the way he went about things while he was there. That said, while I find it somewhat icky if he gave this kid short notice of a scholarship pull based on talent evaluation, I'm afraid it sort of goes with the territory if you want to really compete in big time college football these days. And the kid is going to find a P5 scholarship and probably a chance to play, so it's really not the end of the world.
 

sachmoney

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It's hard for me to have sympathy when something like this happened:
There was a hint a few weeks earlier when U-M returned from the Citrus Bowl. Swenson said he was told he should look into taking all of his official visits to others schools. But that wasn’t as easy as it seemed, since Swenson was as tied to Michigan as he could be.
Some schools don't give kids time. Some schools will wait until after signing day to announce that their coach is leaving just to make sure they secure a kid. I'm not particularly bothered by this tactic. It seems hints were dropped and Swenson didn't see anything in it. I don't really have a problem with the way Harbaugh went about things. I don't think that just because you commit early, your spot is guaranteed. That's how you get the complacency of Hoke era. If you're just happy with your spot and you're not progressing in your game, I don't think that you have a spot at Michigan. As WBV said, we knew what we were getting when we got Harbaugh. This is not a thing that is going to keep me up at night.
 

SoxJox

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It's the big leagues and Swenson should have at least consciously acknowledged the possibility of getting dropped. That's true of all recruits. If he was just humming along and none of his family and/or HS coaches were whispering in his ear, then it's too bad. But it happens. The rating systems (247, Rivals, etc.) all update their star assignments and ratings as the recruit moves through their HS careers. I haven't looked at how his number progressed over time after 11/2013 but, if nothing else, he probably saw some changes there (assuming he was paying attention) and should have read the tea leaves. I wonder how often UM communicated with him after his initial recruitment. Maybe he could have seen something there as well, depending on frequency.

No qualms with UM's and/or Harbaugh's actions. My interest was that we typically just don't see these things often this close to NLI Signing Day...at least for 4* recruits.
 

sachmoney

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I don't want to come across as not feeling bad for this kid at all because I do at least a little bit. However, I don't think that this was handled as bad as it has been made out to be. The SEC gets knocked all the time for grayshirting guys or pushing guys into medicals or whatever, discarding them like they're nothing. Ohio State waited until after a RB committed to announce their RB coach was leaving. Recruiting is skeevy, but this isn't close to the dirtiest/shittiest thing that a school does. Swenson still has time to make a decision and he wasn't locked into anything. Feelings are sometimes going to get hurt.

This is more a problem with offering people early. You get early commits. The truth is you're offering Sophomore Swenson with the idea that Senior Swenson will be better and what you will be getting. When you see that you're probably going to get Sophomore Swenson, you're going to want that offer back. It's a conditional offer. Simply speaking, recruiting is a meat market and if the meat isn't looking as good as you think you were going to get, you aren't accepting it.
 

Zososoxfan

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The only thing I don't understand about this situation is why not be more explicit with the recruit? instead of ceasing contact and implying he should be looking elsewhere, just tell the kid.
 

Soxfan in Fla

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Looks like now maybe +4, as apparently Harbaugh/UM pulled the scholarship offer for longtime (since Nov '13) 4* OT Erik Swenson. Swenson says no explanation was provided.

What's up with that?

Edit: well, the commitment was to Hoke, so maybe Swenson didn't fit into Harbaugh's picture.
Bullshit. Harbashian confirmed the offer last September and then didn't have the fucking stones to tell the kid he was fucking him over, left the dirty work to the OL coach.

Good luck with this Michigan fan. Your savior has shown to the world that he's a piece of crap with no integrity with this one. Plenty of coaches and writers think it's pathetic what he did.
 

WayBackVazquez

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Bullshit. Harbashian confirmed the offer last September and then didn't have the fucking stones to tell the kid he was fucking him over, left the dirty work to the OL coach.

Good luck with this Michigan fan. Your savior has shown to the world that he's a piece of crap with no integrity with this one. Plenty of coaches and writers think it's pathetic what he did.
Didn't you know it's against board rules to go into another school's thread and troll, Sparty? In fact, it's my understanding that you're not even allowed to imply an insult to another school in the MSU thread (is there an MSU thread?).

At least that's how it works with BC.
 

bowiac

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This situation kind of blows. I'm gonna hope it's a one-time thing, and that Harbaugh's a bit more selective with giving out offers (confirming in this case) going forward, but it stinks in this case regardless. It's good to see that it sounds like he's still going to end up at a good program/school at least.

Comes with the territory of trying to compete, but it sucks all the same.
 

Soxfan in Fla

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Look, they screwed the kid. It's clear as day and everyone is pissed about it. If you little Wolvies want to stick your head in the sand then delete my posts.

This has nothing to do with Sparty. The outrage extends well beyond us.
 

Soxfan in Fla

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Didn't you know it's against board rules to go into another school's thread and troll, Sparty? In fact, it's my understanding that you're not even allowed to imply an insult to another school in the MSU thread (is there an MSU thread?).

At least that's how it works with BC.
FTR, I wasn't really trying to troll them. When I saw a guy claim it was a Hoke recruit I felt the record needed to be set straight.
 

Zososoxfan

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The nugget below trickled out of Rivals/MgoBlog and if this is the case, I have no problem with how things went down. Other recruits (e.g. Weaver, Ennis) were told the same thing - 'start looking around but we'll keep you in the fold so you get the recruiting bump' and those went smoothly. Consider the source, but sounds like this kid just doesn't have the right attitude for Harbs (doesn't want to compete?!?!?) and wasn't reading the situation well at all.

When Jim Harbaugh took over at Michigan, Swenson's commitment was still in place. Then, over the course of the next several months, Swenson was asked to come to Ann Arbor and compete in camps, and also to work out in front of coaches, and Swenson refused. Harbaugh and company saw this as a red flag and decided to do some digging. They learned that Swenson had not developed like many thought he would and had become complacent with his work ethic and desire to compete. Some time in the fall, the coaches informed Swenson that they'd like him to look elsewhere and that he no longer held a committable offer from U-M. A source very close to the situation said that Swenson refused to go public with the information, convinced that he'd still end up in Ann Arbor.
 

WayBackVazquez

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Dude, cmon, let's be friends. Combined, the Michigan teams scored 41 points in their bowl games against SEC teams!
 

Senator Donut

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Dude, cmon, let's be friends. Combined, the Michigan teams scored 41 points in their bowl games against SEC teams!
Bragging about bowl wins against second-tier opposition, are we? Why do the Boston College fans hate you again? You'd fit right in.
 

SoxJox

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Is there any news in the UM community on the Lavert Hill front? After he decommitted from Penn State there was speculation of commitments to UM and/or MSU, but I don't think I ever saw he announced anything. I've seen conflicting "crystal balls" that he could go either way, but more likely to MSU. From what I can tell, probably a NLI Signing Day announcement and no earlier?

Edit: I did neglect to mention Penn State hasn't given up, hosting him to an OV on 1/17. And nothing can be uncontroversial it seems these days as the visit brought calls of NCAA violations (publicly releasing names of visitors) when Hill was introduced at a Lions hockey game. In any case, I think that possibility has passed. But you do wonder sometimes what goes through these kids' minds these days in the pressure-cooker recruiting world.
 
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WayBackVazquez

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Is there any news in the UM community on the Lavert Hill front? After he decommitted from Penn State there was speculation of commitments to UM and/or MSU, but I don't think I ever saw he announced anything. I've seen conflicting "crystal balls" that he could go either way, but more likely to MSU. From what I can tell, probably a NLI Signing Day announcement and no earlier?
I think he's visiting MSU this weekend.

But Former Stanford CB commit, 4* David Long is headed to Ann Arbor.
 

sachmoney

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The nugget below trickled out of Rivals/MgoBlog and if this is the case, I have no problem with how things went down. Other recruits (e.g. Weaver, Ennis) were told the same thing - 'start looking around but we'll keep you in the fold so you get the recruiting bump' and those went smoothly. Consider the source, but sounds like this kid just doesn't have the right attitude for Harbs (doesn't want to compete?!?!?) and wasn't reading the situation well at all.
I suspected something along these lines and I saw this quote earlier today. I'm unperturbed by this. If the kid was blindsided, he has a very skewed view on life. I guess that happens when you're 17, but his parents didn't provide very good guidance. I don't think they (the Swenson family) look good in this at all. Sour grapes.

Loved everyone jumping to conclusions.
 

sachmoney

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Love coach quoting Shooter. Great movie.

Good post on Rivals (Free) by Michael Spath:
We’ve been told the same from our sources in Downers Grove, who said it was a major frustration for the coaches this year that the kid played not to get hurt instead of playing to show that he was dominant and the best player in the state.

So if you’re Harbaugh and Co., and the young man has rejected your desire for him to come camp and then you watch him this fall and he’s not performing the way you want in a offensive lineman you’re trying to build a program around, do you honor a scholarship that you didn’t offer in the first place?

Some critics will say absolutely. And some will say that Harbaugh extended a written offer to Swenson in September (which the young man tweeted out as proof) so you have to honor that. There’s certainly a case to be made that if the coaching staff was uncertain about Swenson they never should have issued that offer.

It’s also an argument that they were still evaluating Swenson when the offer was extended and they reserve the right to decide if it’s a “committable” offer or not.
A lot of "journalists" went after Harbaugh without really delving into things. I mean, with how much Harbaugh is in the news, he's an easy target. I just feel he was unfairly targeted and people passed judgment before more details were known. We, by no means, know everything. My disdain is towards how this was covered.

SoxJox - I think that we're really uncertain on Lavert Hill. It seemed like he was a lock a few weeks ago, but now, it seems more up in the air. Part of his taking visits elsewhere might be to drum up excitement or intrigue for his announcement. I don't think that he will go to Penn State and I do feel like Michigan is his most likely and sensible destination. His brother is there. His mom wants him to go there. He is close with Jourdan Lewis. He has visited Michigan so many times. At the end of the day, it's recruiting, so who knows?
 

sachmoney

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I tend to agree with you re. Hill. That was my first instinct when he decommitted. We'd all be surprised if he announced Central Michigan!
Hah, that'd probably be the case if he somehow didn't qualify. Considering he did the financial aid thing at Penn State, I imagine academic qualification would be a part of that. Apparently, he had another unofficial to Michigan this weekend and may have cut his MSU visit short to do so. I'm getting more confident that he will end up going Blue.

Michigan got two more commits from the South yesterday. GA LB Elysee Mbem-Bosse and FL WDE Joshua Uche committed to the Maize and Blue last night. Class is up to 24 with 30 expected. There should be some attrition but Harbaugh & Co are in on a lot of prospects this late in the game. These last two weeks are going to be very fun, more fun than any in recent memory.

EDIT: Michael Dwumfour decommitted from Penn State. I would expect him to be one of the next commits. He's a DT out of NJ and good friends with Rashan Gary.
 
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WayBackVazquez

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Not sure how you get to a class of 30 since the NCAA limit is 25 per year, even when there is room within the 85 total cap. Do you mean offers?
Early enrollees don't count against the (2016 class) limit, which applies to those signing from NLI day through May. So, eg, Kareem Walker who has already begun classes will not count as a 2016, but a 2015.
 
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kenneycb

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No idea but the interim AD is holding an open forum for students on Thursday regarding the AD search so I'd be surprised if it's announced in the next couple of days. Just me trying to read the tea leaves there.
 

sachmoney

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I have no idea on the timeline for Hackett and company to name a successor because I think getting the right guy is a big part of it, but Warde Manuel is definitely high up on the list of candidates.
 

sachmoney

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Rashad Weaver decommits after being told he would be a PWO or 50-50 to be in the class. I prefer that Harbaugh tells a kid before signing day, but I do wish he'd give them more time. To rephrase, I don't think Harbaugh is doing anything wrong, but I do think there is a better way to go about this. It's been speculated for some time that Weaver would not end up in the class, so the decision must have been made a while ago. For his part, it sounds like Weaver was doing his due diligence as he visited Temple 11 days ago and has visits set up to USF and Illinois. I wish him the best of luck.