Michigan is really INNOVATING in the recruiting world!!!!

[Evil_Jim_Delany]

And as your conference commissioner, I must say that I approve of Jim Harbaugh's "recruiting innovations"! These "recruiting innovations" increases the chances of Michigan winning a National Championship --- which is a GOOD thing for our conference!

Please join me in congratulating Jim Harbaugh for his "recruiting innovations." I am confident that in short order, Jim Harbaugh will join the quartet of Lloyd Carr, Jim Tressel, Woody Hayes and Urban Meyer as "best Head Coaches in B1G history over the last 40 years."

Now, of course, these "recruiting innovations" cannot be used by everyone. Harbaugh has intellectual rights to his "recruiting innovations", and I am taking it upon myself to look out for his "intellectual property."

Therefore, I am hereby issuing an executive order mandating that none of Harbaugh's "recruiting innovations" can be used by any of the following schools: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers, and Wisconsin.

Any violations of my executive order will result in "severe penalties." As Penn State fans, please consider you and your coaches forewarned.

 

[AvalonJohn]

If I were a commit/parent I'd be praying that I don't get injured ..... Five star or not, bye-bye.

 

[91Joe95]

If you're a highschool coach who actually cares about his players, do you warn players about scUM?

 

[ChiTownLion]

Another innovation: straight-up lying to recruits.

 

[81b&w]

I honestly would be completely embarassed
if our coach acted like or did the things JH has been doing. I have a good friend that is a die hard Michigan fan and he said he doesn't care how many games Harbaugh can win, he can't leave Ann Arbor soon enough. I couldn't believe he said that

 

[OldTiredLion]

Come To Ann Arbor!

 

[91Joe95]

I honestly would be completely embarassed
if our coach acted like or did the things JH has been doing. I have a good friend that is a die hard Michigan fan and he said he doesn't care how many games Harbaugh can win, he can't leave Ann Arbor soon enough. I couldn't believe he said that

I can't believe he lectured Michigan a few years ago about keeping high academic standards, and he does this? I'm in complete agreement, I find it disgusting.

 

[pandaczar12]

Is having the refs steal games for you also Michigan intellectual property?

 

[LukeIamYourFather]

If there was ever an independent advocacy group that sent recruiting pamphlets to high school coaches in all sports regarding their responsibilities in assisting players in modern recruiting, I think you would see a conglomeration of Jim Harbaugh's work at Stanford with 18 decommits/walking papers in one year and now the testimonials from long time UM commits whose offers were rescinded a week or two from NSD as the crowning jewel of unethical recruiting practices to be on the look out.

It would be a great service to educate coaches, athletes, and parents on the process as a whole and some of the many unfortunate pitfalls. Not sure how much money it would cost but this is the type of thing that they NCAA should spend money on to help student athletes but never would. Probably would need to be spearheaded by someone with lots of money to donate towards a good cause but is unwilling to donate that money to their school.

 

[Virginia Joe]

And as your conference commissioner, I must say that I approve of Jim Harbaugh's "recruiting innovations"! These "recruiting innovations" increases the chances of Michigan winning a National Championship --- which is a GOOD thing for our conference!

Please join me in congratulating Jim Harbaugh for his "recruiting innovations." I am confident that in short order, Jim Harbaugh will join the quartet of Lloyd Carr, Jim Tressel, Woody Hayes and Urban Meyer as "best Head Coaches in B1G history over the last 40 years."

Now, of course, these "recruiting innovations" cannot be used by everyone. Harbaugh has intellectual rights to his "recruiting innovations", and I am taking it upon myself to look out for his "intellectual property."

Therefore, I am hereby issuing an executive order mandating that none of Harbaugh's "recruiting innovations" can be used by any of the following schools: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers, and Wisconsin.

Any violations of my executive order will result in "severe penalties." As Penn State fans, please consider you and your coaches forewarned.

Four star DT Jordan Elliott decommited from the yesterday. Will probably go to Texas.

 

[HazletonLion]

Ask the players on the 49ers about Jim and his innovations

 

[Franklin_Restores_TheTradition]

The lying, spinning disingenuous statements of our little scUM "guests" notwithstanding.... This article, like several others I have previously linked, again cites a figure of only something in the high teens for grants available to give on NSD coming up in about a week given the number of RETURNING SCHOLARSHIP PLAYERS WITH ELIGIBILITY and the b1g "85 + 3" max limit (IOW, doing the math, it would suggest returning scholarship players with eligibility ~70)....and it was just written within the last several weeks as evidenced by the reference to Michigan's just completed season record which includes the bowl game. So our scUM visitor is clearly lying and spinning when he claims the 69 and 70 numbers referenced in the other articles I linked "are not accurate" and are extremely out of date, LMFAO - go figure!).

Here is a LINK to the article and here is the excerpt on the conundrum as to how scUM is going to grant as many as 28-30 scholarships this year (at the time of the writing it was only at 23) when they only appear to have room to grant high teens:

2. Where are the scholarships coming from?
It’s a little surprising that this doesn’t get a lot more attention. If you look at the number of players with eligibility to return in 2016, Michigan has only 17 scholarships to hand out for the class that will sign in February. The problem is, the Wolverines already have 23 verbal commitments and are still aggressively recruiting others. That’s a significant gap that could keep widening with added pledges.

It’s safe to assume that there’s a plan there. Harbaugh isn’t the sort to run face first into a wall and then wonder where it came from. But what exactly that plan is remains unclear.
Keep in mind, no matter how popular he is as a first-year head coach, there are standards at Michigan that will still apply. He can’t follow the SEC practice of cutting players that aren’t pan out without there being a massive controversy around the issue.
Would-be fifth-year players could be cut. The expectations has for a long time been that four years are guaranteed and the fifth is by invitation. Every player on the team was brought in under that basic premise. But taking a look at the list of options, there’s not exactly a lot of fat to cut there.

Jehu Chesson, Amara Darboh, Ben Braden, Kyle Kalis, Erik Magnuson, Jeremy Clark, Chris Wormley, Willie Henry and Ryan Glasgow (who was granted a carrying over scholarship) are all starters in line for a fifth year. Drake Johnson is a regular contributor and will be in the fight to win the running back job in the spring and fall. So there should be every expectation to see all of them back, with the lone exception possibly being Henry, who could potentially leave early for the NFL.

Allen Gant certainly didn’t play a lot, but he was the first one in to see action when James Ross III was kicked out for targeting against Northwestern. Plus, the linebacker position is so lacking of proven players that getting as many bodies back increases the odds of finding starters and depth. So it’s hard to see him getting the axe.

Matt Godin and Tom Strobel saw more action than Gant, but are at positions on the defensive line where the Wolverines could handle the loss a lot better. Glasgow and Bryan Mone returning from injury will allow Maurice Hurst to move around more on the line, and Michigan could also possibly get contributions on the defensive line from the freshmen class.

Offensive lineman Blake Bars and cornerback Terry Richardson will be the only other two to watch. Neither had played much at all in their careers. In the case of Bars, he was arguably Michigan’s No. 8 offensive lineman during the season, behind the starters, Grant Newsome and Dave Dawson. What makes him at least one to watch is that he has practiced at center at times over the last four years, and that’s the one spot Michigan must replace on the line.

But assuming those last four mentioned aren’t back in 2016, it still puts Michigan over by two scholarships with efforts ongoing to make that number larger. So there are some losses expected from the team.

Will a verbal commitment or two be encouraged to take a grayshirt, delaying their enrollment to be counted as members of the 2017 class? Are there other players that could transfer? People will certainly be watching running back Derrick Green as a possibility after he got just 47 carries this season and didn’t make the trip to Orlando because of internal program matters. Are there players that might get moved to a medical scholarship, ending their playing career? Is Henry going to return or go pro?

Will Michigan over-sign by two or three in February and let some of these issues work themselves out over the six months that follow? It might make sense to do that, inviting back Bars, Godin and Strobel for spring tryouts on the assumption that other players could transfer or quit, opening up spots for them.
The answer is quite clearly "churn and burn" via really questionable tactics including lying, cajoling, haranguing, etc... -- the fact that this is being done to kids that scUM said they were fully committed to is just disgusting and unseemly as the article references. I got a kick out of how negative the article is and even then is being overly generous in its final paragraph because according to the knowledgeable sources on this board, scUM is not allowed to "over-sign" on NSD in early February on the hope that the "issues work themselves out" -- if sleaze-ball Harbaugh over-signs, he is limited to +3 and there has to be a detailed plan submitted as to how the max scholarship number is returning to 85 within 6 months.

 

[Franklin_Restores_TheTradition]

Dear esteemed Oz, eeerrrrrr......I mean Commissioner, I would never question your infinite propaganda, eeerrrrrr......I mean wisdom, but should you not have dedicated a portion of your statement to threaten, eeerrrrr......I mean "talk to" recruits and their families about making statements to the media that do not put Sith Lord Jimmy in the highest light? I mean, who do these people think they are effectively calling Sith Lord Jimmy "a liar" and demanding that Sith Lord Jimmy honor his words to them when it is beyond obvious that those promises were just being used to garner a Verbal Commitment from them? Do these people not understand that they owe complete allegiance and unconditioned fealty to Sith Lord Jimmy, not the opposite? Again, who do these people think they are?!?!