Michigan Friday: Is Dee's Heart with Michigan?

One of the things that Michigan fans were worried about in David Brandon's timetable to make a decision on Rich Rodriguez and the future of this program is it's impact on recruiting to the 2011 class.  When people say "impact" they are really talking about *Dee Hart.   The reason this timetable effects Dee more then any other recruit are a few things

1. Dee plans to enroll early
2. Dee believes he fits the RR spread very well
3. Dee's best friend is going to Alabama
4. Dee has been invited to play in the Army All American game 

If David Brandon plans to make a decision in early January that means Dee would have to make a "leap of faith" and enroll early and hope RR stays.  Or he waits until Summer to enroll at Michigan.  He also has to decide if he wants to play in the Army All American Bowl which is on January 8th. 

The last point is that Dee was interested in the commitment of Michigan RB Justice Hayes.   RR had a conversation with Dee this past weekend that Justice was coming to Michigan as a slot WR or cornerback. 

With all that said, it seems Michigan is losing it's commitment on Dee Hart.  The rumor mill is running wild that Dee is planning on committing to Alabama today.  The Hart family has shut down all communications with all Michigan insiders.  Which is not a good sign. 

Michigan last hope is an in-school visit with Dee today to try to change his mind.  Which seems unlikely at this point.

Here is a quote from an ESPN article after he committed (bold is mine):  There was some speculation that one of the reasons Hart didn't commit to Michigan earlier was due to the tenuous job status of Wolverines coach Rich Rodriguez. But Hart dismissed that line of thinking.



"I liked Michigan either way and if he were to leave it wouldn't affect me because I think I can play in any offensive system," Hart said. "So it really wasn't my concern.


"That being said I wanted to make sure everything came together. He's winning ball games right now and the future looks good, so it's coming together."

David Brandon's timeline on this process seems to come under heavy scrutiny and I agree.  If he keeps RR he has potentially killed the recruitment of some of the "big name" players that the staff has been working on for years.   Which basically effects the future success of the program.   If he makes a change, he gives the new coach little to no time to build his class.   Not sure if I fully understand how this "lame duck" status can benefit either situation. 

What are the coaches telling recruits when they come to Ann Arbor the next two weeks?  If I was a recruit, the only person I would want to talk to is David Brandon.

*There are two other guys that also could be enrolling early on Michigan's list.  Those two guys are Avery Walls and Kris Frost.  Both would have to be enrolled at Michigan before they would play in the All Star games where they plan to annouce. 


Michigan had it's Bust last night (which seems to be the appropriate word).

Some of the second hand information on the night:

• Denard told the seniors that they were going to get a Win in the bowl game and send the seniors out right.

• AD Dave Brandon on bowl destination: "Frank (Beckmann) thinks we might be going west, I think we might be going in a different direction." (BHB:  I hope that direction is up.)

• RR was emotional talking about they were building something special here at Michigan and that he was honored to be Michigan's head coach.