Hoke Has Stopped the Bleeding in Michigan Recruiting
by TuffLynx on Jan 23, 2011 5:45 AM CST
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There has been a lot of worry about how well new Michigan coach Brady Hoke and his staff could close out the recruiting season. Since Hoke was hired only three weeks before the signing period for new recruits opens, he was left with little time to salvage this recruiting class.
The initial fallout from firing RichRod was not encouraging as kicker Matt Goudis bolted to Miami and Dee Hart switched to Alabama. Quarterback Dallas Crawford and offensive lineman Jacob Fisher rescinded their verbal commitments to the Wolverines. But this exodus from Michigan started before Brady Hoke was hired.
The most immediate business for Hoke was to reassure the players that were already at Michigan and get his coaching staff together. I wrote about how Brady Hoke accomplished these initial tasks in a previous blog.
Now Hoke needs to secure the remaining Michigan recruits for 2011 and try to add some to the list. I am happy to report that he is making progress on that front as well.
So far the bleeding has stopped with the existing recruits from RichRod. Recently, several recruits have reaffirmed their commitment to Michigan.
Hoke began his recruiting success by gaining a verbal commitment from Tamani Carter, a three star cornerback from Pickerington, Ohio. Carter is 6 feet tall and 175 lbs. In his senior season he had 55 tackles and three interceptions. Carter switched his commitment from Minnesota to Michigan after Hoke was hired.
Hoke and his staff are making an impression on recruits visiting Michigan for the weekend. So far three new recruits have committed to Michigan and they are good ones.
Michigan added four-star recruit Raymon Taylor from Highland Park to their commits. Taylor played running back, wide receiver, and defensive back in high school. This is an excellent recruit for Michigan. Taylor has 4.4 speed in the 40 yard dash and he will probably play either safety or cornerback for the Wolverines. Taylor is known for good ball skills and had seven interceptions in his junior season. Michigan is in dire need of quick safeties that can react to the ball.
The Wolverines also nailed down a commitment from Hilliard, Ohio defensive end Keith Heitzman. Heitzman is a three star recruit with good size for a high school kid at 6'3" and 237 lbs. He will get even bigger in a college training program. He has good reaction to the snap of the ball and is physical at the point of attack.
The third commitment in the weekend trifecta is Matt Wile, a kicker from San Diego. Will is a two star kicker but kickers are rated notoriously low in the ranking systems of the recruiting sites. A better indication of his skills is his being invited to the 2011 U.S. Army All-American game. He is the top shelf kicker that the Wolverines so desperately need.
I am hoping for more commits from the recruiting visits this weekend, but certainly Hoke has done some great work so far. Hopefully he can land a few more before the signing period starts in a little more than one week.
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I definitely believe that our recruiting has taken a major step up already since Hoke has been in charge. If we can somehow get McClure to come to Ann Arbor, that will give us 3 4-star DB’s to build off of. Definitely something to get excited about!
On a side note, where do you get your information from?
I get most of my recruiting info from Rivals
You can get through through the links on any one of the player names. But I search all over the Internet for info as well. I would like to say that I have a secret inside source, but not really. At least not consistently anyway.
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Also, 4-star WR Hakeem Flowers is expected to make his commitment tonight at 7:30. Apparently, the decisions comes down to us and South Carolina.
I think Michigan has an outside chance at McClure...
but not having a DBs coach is probably hurting them some there. Still, we have a chance at him. He is supposed to announce his choice sometime this week..
I think Michigan has an excellent chance of landing four star offensive lineman Chris Bryant. He seems to have Michigan as his favorite at the moment. He will announce his commitment on Friday.
It also looks like three star running back Thomas Rawls has gotten his academic issues straightened out and he will probably join the Wolverines. Michigan was always a huge favorite for Rawls. Rawls will announce on January 31st.
Three star linebacker Frank Clark seemed to connect really well with the coaches and players he talked to during his visit to Michigan. He seems to be favoring the Wolverines. He will also announce his choice on Friday.
Four star linebacker Leilon Willingham was very impressed during his visit to Michigan. The Wolverines are definitely in the running for him, maybe even a favorite.
Add to that one more recruiting weekend and this could be a good recruiting class after all.
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from what ive heard, there is no reason that any of these guys should not be apart of our class come feb. 1st.
getting willingham would be a real coup and could see time at ILB rather quickly.
by zakattackthe on Jan 24, 2011 11:10 AM CST up reply actions
Willingham would be
a great sign IMO. This kid is going to be a special player. McClure would be a great bonus sign if indead he committs, he wasn’t even on UM’s radar until Hoke became HC so he would be a nice surprise.
As soon as McClue complained about the weather ...
He was gone..I wanted him here.but he says he cant handle the cold.
Lions Super Bowl 2012
Great roundup
Thanks TuffLynx. It sounds like Michigan had a great weekend recruiting wise and may actually come out of it with two new DB’s and two more good linebackers. I’m keeping my fingers crossed, but a great start to the coach’s recruiting.
Maize n Brew
Because Football is Better with Beer
by Maize n Brew Dave on Jan 24, 2011 10:35 AM CST reply actions
According to rumors...
Michigan has two more silent commits right now. One is thought to be Frank Clark. I don’t have a read on the other one, but it may be Thomas Rawls. He has always wanted to go to Michigan but had to get his academic qualification straightened off.
I've heard that rumor.
I’m not sure if rawls was offered yet. If he is, he’ll commit. I thought the rumormill had Willingham and Clark as silents.
Maize n Brew
Because Football is Better with Beer
by Maize n Brew Dave on Jan 25, 2011 2:58 PM CST up reply actions
More commits to Michigan!
Antonio Poole has committed to the Wolverines. He is a 3 or 4 star linebacker depending on what site you go to. Poole played outside linebacker at Winton Woods H.S. in Cincinnati, OH.
Michigan also replaced Tate Forcier with Texas Dual-threat quarterback Russell Bellomy. Bellomy is a three star prospect that will provide depth behind Denard Robinson and Devin Gardner.
Tony Posada and Blake Countess have reconfirmed their commitment to Michigan.
Stefan McClure press conference set for Thursday Jan 27 @ 8:00 AM
We will find out Tomorrow morning if McClure is coming to Michigan.
awesome
Hoke’s had one hell of a start to his tenure. Most importantly he’s doing it on the defensive side of the ball. But just when you think that’s all he’s going to do we snags a crucial backup QB.
wow….
Maize n Brew
Because Football is Better with Beer
by Maize n Brew Dave on Jan 26, 2011 7:31 AM CST reply actions
Stefan McClure is going to Cal
It looks like Michigan never has a much chance as McClure led us to believe. He ended up narrowing the field down to two California schools: Cal and UCLA. He would have been nice to get, but I am sure that Michigan will fill their scholarship slots anyway.
The Wolverines landed Chris Bryant!
Four star offensive lineman Chris Bryant has committed to Michigan! Sweet!
We can add Thomas Rawls to the incoming class
Rawls coach has mentioned that he will commit to Michigan. Since that coach also happens to be Fred Jackson Jr, the son of the Michigan running backs coach, I am pretty sure this is a reliable source.
Frank Clark committs to Michigan!
The Wolverines added another four star recruit to the incoming class by adding Frank Clark. Clark will likely play either tight end or linebacker with the Maize and Blue. Nice catch that brings the recruiting class to 19.
We still have decent hopes for Leilon Willingham and Chris Barnett. Willingham will commit tomorrow and Barnett may not commit till the weekend.
Chris Barnett to wear Maize and Blue!
Michigan got their 20th commit when Chris Barnett surprised everyone by committing early to Michigan. He was not expected to make a final decision until near the weekend.
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