Michigan Monday: Ranks the Big Ten and Other News

We all know that Minnesota travels to the Big House this weekend to play for the Little Brown Jug.   It looks like the Golden Gophers head coach Jerry Kill might not be with the team due to his treatment of seizures.  You might remember that Jerry suffered one on the sideline in week two and it seems his condition has not gotten better and that he continues to have them.   "The seizures continue to be a concern for me and my family," Kill said in a statement released by the school. "Rebecca (Kill's wife) and I have made the decision to do what it takes to find a solution. I hope to be back to work soon, but we believe that taking some time away to get a handle on this is the right thing to do."

Obviously, this is more important then a football game and I wish nothing but good health to Jerry and his family.  I hope the Mayo Clinic can figure out his situation and he is on the sideline soon.

•  Michigan is #19 in both polls

• Former Illinois assistant Mike Locksley was fired as the head coach of New Mexico.  His two year run included punching an assistant coach, sexual harassment allegations, giving his son's car to a potential recruit and 2 wins.   Even Rich Rod thinks that is a bad run.

• Michigan is favored by 20.5 against Minnesota

• 4 star Ohio DE and MSU recruit Se'Von Pittman visited OSU this weekend. 

• Not sure what happened here but the latest buzz on Danny O'Brien is that he will not be picking Michigan next week.  It seems he is down to Tennessee and MSU.  Does Michigan need that spot for another position?  Or has Danny warmed to another program?  Not sure.

Ranking the Big Ten Teams

This week starts the Big Ten season and there are a number of "great" games that will go along way to finding out who is going to make it to Indy for the championship game.    #8 Nebraska at #7 Wisconsin and MSU at Ohio State.

1. Wisconsin #7
2. Nebraska #8
3. Michigan #19
4. Ohio State
5. Michigan State
6. Penn State
7. Iowa
8. Illinois #24
9. Northwestern
10. Purdue
11. Minnesota
12. Indiana

It's pretty clear right now that it's Wisconsin, Nebraska and everyone else.  You could switch any team from 3-6.   I'm not sold on Illinois at all as they struggled to beat Western Michigan this weekend.  Iowa and Northwestern have semi-bad losses to Iowa State and Army.  Minnesota lost to North Dakota State on Saturday and Indiana traveled to North Texas and lost 24-21.

Side Note:  Can someone do a little research and find out, when the last time Michigan was ranked higher in the polls over all their rivals?  Ohio State, ND and Michigan State?  I was thinking 2006 but OSU was #1 most of the year that year.

Michigan Thursday: Thinks Kyle Turley has a Big Mouth

Everyone pretty much supported Brady Hoke's decision to take the Michigan job.  Why not, he went from making $700K a year to $2M and Michigan was clearly his dream job.    Win - win, right?

Ex-NFL player Kyle Turley doesn't think so, he has been very critical of Brady leaving his San Diego State program for Ann Arbor.  Of course, he continues to have that stance and opened his mouth again this week:

“I don’t care if it’s your dream job,” said Turley, who played in the NFL from 1998 to 2007. “If you’re worth your salt as a head coach, eventually you’ll get that same job. You don’t have to screw people over to get it.”

Turley said he thinks Hoke’s departure from SDSU was like a parent “running out on the family” or an “ex-wife” who one day leaves the house and doesn’t say why “until you hear from her lawyer the next day.”

So I guess Kyle would have stayed with an NFL team that was paying him a low salary instead of another team that would have paid him double that amount.  When that other team was the team he grew up cheering for.  I wouldn't recommend any of us make any business investments with Kyle in the near future.  

Here is Brady response (freep link):

“He’s a really good guy, he’s really passionate about San Diego State, and I had reached out to him early when I had taken the job there because I loved the way he played football,” Hoke said. “When you look at him as an offensive lineman, how he would finish and all those things. Kyle is passionate about his alma mater, which he should be. That doesn’t bother me one bit. He was passionate about the Aztecs when we were, and he’s still passionate. That doesn’t bother me.”It’s simply part of the excitement of college football.

“That’s a guy who’s passionate about his school,” Hoke said. “Everyone’s got an opinion, and he’s allowed to have his.”

Kyle of course hopes Brady eats crow this weekend as SDSU beats the Wolverines.  Kyle, be happy you have Steve Fisher and support your team in a positive way.  Stay Classy Big Guy!

• Happy Birthday Denard!

• Danny O'Brien is planning on announcing his college of choice on 10/6.  The rumor mill is saying Michigan or Tennessee.  I think he is Blue (close to home, been at Michigan more then any program, Michigan coaches are all about the Dline, best friend Matt Godin already heading to A2)

• Braxton Miller will start for Ohio this weekend against Colorado.

• Minnesota game is a noon kick on BTN (3 weeks in a row on BTN has to be a record for the Wolverines)

Michigan Tuesday: The Final 4 Recruits

We haven't talked recruiting in awhile, so today I am going to reset what I have been hearing and how this class might end up.  The number I'm still working with is 26 but I believe it could go to 27 with some of the transfers the Wolverines had late in the season. 

I made a comment that Michigan must feel pretty good about landing a RB in the 2012 class because they played Thomas Rawls on Saturday for a couple of snaps.    Coach Hoke said due to new redshirt rule they could still redshirt Thomas. 

The Final 4 Pool:

• Danny O'Brien, DT
• Jordan Payton, WR
• Bri'onte Dunn, RB
• Greg Garmon, RB
• Darius Powe, WR
• Amara Darboh, WR
• Monty Madaris, WR
• Zach Banner, OL
• Jordan Diamond, OL
• Josh Garnett, OL
• Yuri Wright, CB
• Stefon Diggs, WR

Here is my guess on who makes it into the class:

I believe Danny O is a lock to be in this class.  There are rumors floating that he is a silent commit and has told his friends that he is coming to Michigan.  He is planning to announce the first week in October during his homecoming. 

I still think Michigan wants to take 2 WR's still in this class.  Amara Darboh is planning to make his last visit to Ann Arbor with his guardians in November.  The recruiting insiders feel that could lock his commitment to the Wolverines. 

Jordan Payton was blown away by his Michigan visit and is not afraid to state that Michigan is on the top of his list.   If it comes down to 1 WR spot this could be a race between Jordan and Amara and who commits first. 

Zach Banner is another guy that was blown away by his Michigan - ND game experience.   He lives in the Pacific Northwest so if playing away from home isn't a problem, I think Michigan has a great shot at this 6'9 lineman who also wants to play basketball.  

That is who I think will end up in this class.  BUT and it's a big BUT if these guys have a change of heart, Michigan would take them in a NY minute. 

Bri'onte Dunn:  I believe is more on the board then many people expect.  His good friend Kyle Kalis is coming to Ann Arbor and now his cousin is as well.   He keeps saying he will take an official to Michigan.  I think Mr. Dunn isn't Dunn with his recruitment.

Stefon Diggs: is a 5 star WR that wants more "love" from the Wolverines.  He won't get it until he gets to where he needs to be in the classroom.  If he does, he is another guy they would find room for.

Yuri Wright is planning a Michigan visit and now with TRich back on board, this isn't a urgent need but Wright's talent might be too good to pass up.

The word out of Schembechler hall is they are working with the team and not really focusing on recruiting right now.  Don't believe that, I think they have some guys they really want and are willing to play the final 4 commits out for a few weeks. 

Eastern Michigan Post Game

John T. Greilick / The Detroit News

What did we learn?

There are a couple of reasons why you play an EMU early in the season.  Its good to get another check in the win column but you also hope to learn more about your team and your players.  So the question remains did we learn anything on Saturday about the 2011 Wolverines?

I think we did, here are my observations:

• Have you heard the saying, that you have to run to set up the pass?  Michigan needs to run the Spread to set up the Pro Style offense.  Al Borges seems to have one game plan in mind and then throws that out the window after two drives. 
• Hawthorne has locked down one of starting LB roles.  He has a nose for the ball and is pretty quick.
• Michigan still needs Cam Gordon to get better soon. Jake Ryan did some good things but I think that's Cam job when healthy.
• Raymon Taylor was the first freshman DB off the bench.  Which was a surprise.
• Michigan is feeling good about landing a RB in the 2012 class, why? Thomas Rawls got a few meaningless snaps.  Which would wipe out his redshirt unless he gets a mysterious back injury. 
• Both lines have improved but still have a long way to go.
• Al needs to give Denard some easy throws to start the game, he is so hyped up he is trying to throw the ball through a brick wall.
• Vincent Smith needs more touches at RB.

How is this team different then last year?  I'm not sure we are ready to answer that yet.  They seem fundamentally better on defense but still have a ways to go.  The slow starts concern me on both sides of the ball.  Defense I can understand but it seems Al Borges is trying to fit something into the offense that just isn't there.  I really need to see Michigan's WR's integrated better and some more creative running plays.  Sure you don't want to show a ton against The Eagles but I would like to see some more consistency out of the offensive unit.   Where is Roy Roundtree?  Not enough stuff to the TE's?  It seems to me, Denard is missing the open guy.

I have the same feeling I did last year.  It's good to be 3-0 but with too many question marks.  Look for Michigan to break the top 25 this week with a good SDSU team coming to town next week.   On Saturday we might have learned more about Michigan's rivals and the rest of the Big Ten, then we did about our own Wolverines.

Michigan Tuesday: Trying to De-code the Injury Updates and Some Recruiting Briefs

With a new coaching staff at Schembechler Hall you get new and different things.  One of the changes has to do with injuries.  I will give you an example:

Lloyd Carr when asked about injuries would smile and give a short response like this, "next question"

Rich Rodriguez:  Put out an injury report on Thursday night listing 3 level of injuries:  Probable, Questionable and Out.

Brady Hoke yesterday on the status of Troy Woolfolk:  Were you concerned about him being a little hobbled on his ankle? “He’s fine.”

It's clear Coach Hoke leans more towards Carr's policy then Rich Rod's.  Which some will argue is a good thing, "why give your opponent more news then they need?".  Others will argue the Vegas point, which was the reason the NFL made injuries public so betting insiders wouldn't have an edge. 

It seems Odoms, Cam Gordon and Brandon Herron continued to be banged up and probably won't play against Eastern.  I am willing to bet a beer we won't see Troy either.  That guy had more tape on Saturday then my first car. 

If we are not going to redshirt the likes of Blake Countess and Greg Brown, let's hope they get some good experience this weekend.   Blake has played on special teams and Greg looked pretty good in the spring game.

Craig Roh was suffering from Mono like symptoms during fall camp.  I don't think he is 100% yet as he has ZERO tackles in two games.

Fitz continues to get banged up in every game he plays. We didn't see him at all against ND and I would say he is questionable for EMU as well.

Back to Back Noon Starts

Michigan will have two back to back noon kick offs on the Big Ten Network.  Which seems like a big change coming off a 3:30 and 8:00 kick offs.   The one thing to consider is the "jet lag" of playing SDSU at noon.   I sort of thought that ESPN or ABC might pick up the SDSU game since there is plenty of intrigue playing Coach Hoke's former team.   BTW: SDSU beat Army 23-20 last week and has Washington State this weekend before heading to the Big House (they also play TCU the week after Michigan and Boise State in November).

• Denard was named the Big Ten Player of the week.

• Brady and Chad both played well last night on MNF.  Brady played better.  They nearly combined for 1000 yards passing.

• Sports By Brooks has photos from the charity event in question for the suspended OSU players.  It seems this "charity" event has been a good gig for OSU players for a number of years.  The NCAA spent 14 months in Ann Arbor and found a couple practice overages due to stretching and non-coaches coaching.  The NCAA is spending time in C-Bus and coming up with this type of stuff.  If Toledo had scored on the final drive last week, there would be a huge meltdown in Ohio right now.

• It  will be really strange for Mike Hart to be on the other sideline on Saturday as an EMU coach.  It's a great opportunity for Mike, just feels strange.

• Vegas isn't buying MSU right now as they are a 5 point dog to ND in South Bend.  MSU played three good teams last year and went 1-2.  The two losses weren't close.

Recruiting Updates

• 5 Star Mitch McGary spent the weekend on Tobacco Road at NC and Duke.  He enjoyed both visits.  
• One thing I hadn't considered is Michigan is recruiting lineman Zach Banner for Football and Basketball.  Michigan would let him play both if he is interested.  He is 6'9 310 pounds.  So, yes please!
• Brionte Dunn visited Penn State last weekend for the Alabama game as his cousin was committing to the Wolverines.  So it seems Brionte is serious about looking around as he stays verballed to the Buckeyes.

Michigan Monday: Helps Kelly With Anger Management

David Guralnick/The Detroit News

Kelly Anger Management

10 turnovers in 2 games is enough for any head coach to lose his mind on the sideline.  Brian Kelly has spent a lot of last week explaining his behavior on the sideline of the South Florida game. 

He had a couple of flare ups during the Michigan game but nothing major and do you want to know why?

He had a Grad assistant or team manager tap him on the back or shoulder when he started to lose his cool. If you re-watch the game, check it out.  It is pretty clear on TV a couple of times.  Many times, Kelly turns his back to the TV cameras when talking to players on Saturday Night.

I heard a Kelly interview about a month ago on ESPN radio, he said the #1 key to a successful season was success early.  They are now 0-2 with MSU paying a visit to South Bend this weekend.  Call in the tapper!

BTW: How did ND's last two trips to the State of Michigan turn out?  80 yards in 28 seconds for a loss at the Big House and the fake OT field goal in East Lansing.   Not a very good home coming for the former GVSU and CMU coach. 

2013 in the house!

The excitement of the entire day has moved at least one kid to verbal to Michigan.  The first player to drop a commitment for Michigan is Ohio athlete Dymonte Thomas.  Dymonte plays running back and safety in high school but probably projects to safety at the next level.   Mgoblog did a great write up of  Dymonte, so I won't re-create but he is a nice addition to 5 star QB Shane Morris in the 2013 class.    DT had offers from Illinois, Iowa, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Pitt, Tennessee, UCLA, and West Virginia, he also had interest from Ohio State, Alabama, Florida, Cincinnati, and Northwestern.  He is expected to be a 4 star recruit when the rest of the 2013 rankings come out.

The wild card here is that Dymonte is cousins with 2012 RB Brionte Dunn.   This can only work in Michigan's favor of persuading Brionte to Ann Arbor next Fall. 

2012 Recruiting Updates

• The uncommitted 3:  Banner, Payton and O'Brien all had incredible things to say about the ND experience.  There was even a rumor that Danny O had committed on Saturday.  That turned out not to be true and his tentative announcement date is 10/7. Keep an eye on Payton for commitment watch this week. 

• Yuri Wright is planning to visit A2 for the SDSU or Minnesota games.

• The rumor mill is also saying that Michigan just needs to get Amara Darboh's guardians on campus in Ann Arbor for the Iowa WR to commit to the Wolverines.

Michigan Thursday: Recruiting Updates

Big Weekend for the Big House, lights, camera's and football for the first time.

Here is some notes from the recruiting world:

• With TRich not taking visits and sticking with Michigan, the thought was that maybe Michigan was going to back off Yuri Wright.  Nope, they still want him in this class for sure.

• Danny O'Brien's recruitment continues to look positive for Michigan.  I think he still wants to take visits but the "pull" of the Big House at night might convince him to be a Wolverine.  He will be in Ann Arbor on Saturday night.

• Jordan Payton the former USC commit will be in Ann Arbor for his official this weekend.  He is down to Michigan and CAL.   The word on the street is Michigan should have WR commit in the next week or so. 

• Not coming this weekend is WR Powe and OL Garnett.  Both want to reschedule and it seems Garnett is going to take visits after the season.  Both are on the West Coast and hard to travel across country with a game on Friday.

• There continues to be rumors that Bri'onte Dunn's verbal to Ohio is a "soft one".  He is 50/50 that he will be in A2 on Saturday night.

• Amara Darboh's legal guardian wasn't real excited about Brian Kelly's rage last weekend: “I know how emotional it gets out there,” [Dan Schafer, the guardian] said. “I understand that’s part of the game. I really do. But it did shock me. You hold Notre Dame up a little higher than that. It made me wonder how I would feel if Amara was treated like that on national TV.”

• Wow it continues to look good for a match between 5 star center Mitch McGary and Michigan Basketball.  I still don't want to think about it, because the awesomeness of M2 coming to A2 would be mind blowing.

• Current verbal Eric Magnuson will be in town on Saturday.

• There should be plenty of 2013 guys and current instate commits under the lights as well.

Wolverine Wednesday: Likes the Art

Some of you might have heard about the new ESPN Ann Arbor web site that was taking some of the best Michigan beat writers and recruiting guys.  TomVH one of the best connected recruiting guys left Mgoblog for ESPN and has already started.   The site isn't called ESPN Ann Arbor it's called WolverineNation.  There is some good video's up already with Tom interviewing Danny O and Shane Morris showing off his arm (btw the kid can throw!).   Most of the stuff will be behind the pay wall but if you subscribe to ESPN the Magazine you can get access for free.  BTW, there are deals out there on the magazine for like $4 a year for a full subscription.

The Art, The Art, The Art has done some great PC wall papers in past years.  The one for the Big House under the lights is pretty good.    If you want to download this free wall paper hit the above link and enjoy this imagine on your PC or Ipad.




Pretty Boy Al Borges and Greg Mattison did their regular coach speak yesterday, below are the highlights:

• Woolfolk is healthy and will play on Saturday.  He will also stay on special teams.
• They will cover Floyd with more then one CB.  The thought was that Woolfolk might shadow Floyd the entire game.  I vote for covering Floyd with TWolf and Marvin Robinson.
• Al Borges plans to use less shotgun.  (don't believe him)
• Barnum will start and play on Saturday.
• Hopkins (now off suspension) will get time at RB against ND.  Maybe some two back stuff with him a FB? 
• There was pretty much agreement from all coaches that the D-line did not play well against WMU. 

Check out the new seats (updated link, not sure how a mgoblue link could link to SMU Tennis)  in Crisler Arena.  Is that really Crisler?  Looks good.

It seems the visitors list this weekend is very fluid.  The latest is that WR Powe will not make it in this weekend due to his late game on Friday night in California.   Jordan Payton is still planning on coming in.  The rumor mill is saying that Michigan should have a new WR commit in the 2012 class in the next week or so.  I'm betting on Darboh or Payton.   There is also some positive buzz around Danny O, who might be on commitment watch on Saturday.  Danny and Yuri Wright seem to be the last two defensive players left on Michigan's 2012 board.

• Braylon's latest mistake cost him a $50K NFL Fine. 

Michigan Tuesday: Confidence = Good Defense

You can point to many successes in life in whether you are confident or not.  Think about some job interviews you have had.  The ones you were confident in you probably got an offer, the jobs you weren't quite sure about, you probably didn't do as well.   I have coached Little League Baseball for a number of years. The kids that go into the batters box knowing they are going to get a hit, usually do.   The ones that don't - don't.  A player in a slump just doesn't forget how to field or hit, the only thing they have lost is confidence.   The Michigan defense hasn't had confidence for the past 3 years.

That lack of confidence was evident during the first 3 drives of the ball game.  It was the same old story for the Michigan defense until Jake Ryan hit the Western QB and Brandon Herron took it to the house for a touchdown.  After that pick the game changed.

Sure some things changed like scheme and defensive personnel.  Greg Mattison also realized that Western wasn't going to even try to run the ball and started blitzing from all over the field.    Those things helped Michigan on Saturday but the big difference was confidence.   You could see it in effort and how the team started to stop Western on a regular basis.  Western came into the Big House having confidence they could move the ball on the Wolverines and it happened.   Michigan's Defense didn't have any confidence they could stop any offense and they didn't.   Then the game changed and so did the confidence on both sides.

Related to this topic is Brady Hoke and some of the chatter that he wasn't wearing a head set full time on the sideline.  Good leaders are confident leaders.  They also understand their own strengths and weaknesses. Brady is a defensive guy and respects Al Borgus decision making and lets him do his job.  Brady also has one of the best defensive minds in Greg Mattison and is confident he will make the right calls.   You can draw similar examples from the business world.  Bill Gates knew he was a technology guy not a company leader or a PR guy that would need to meet with the media and Wall Street.  Early on he hired Steve Ballmer to do that stuff while he focused on building products and future technology trends and vision.  That strategy helped Microsoft become one of the most successful companies in US history. 

Having the coordinators do their job is somewhat of a foreign concept to Michigan Football.  Go back to the Carr years, when Lloyd clearly had his hands on the conservative play calls on both sides of the ball.  Same with RR, he hired two defensive coordinators and didn't let either run the defense they knew best.  (we know Bo was very hands on every part of the program, but football was a different game back then)  I think a case could be made for the last 10 years or so that what Michigan Football really needed was a head man that just let his staff do what they do best.  I guess we will see what happens from here on out.    

Michigan Updates

• Woolfolk and Cam Gordon are expected to play against ND on Saturday.
• Special Teams is going to be a focus this week.
• Michigan won't change preparation for ND on their QB situation. 
• Fitz will continue to be the starting RB
• Focus on tighter coverage in zone and will have to do better in man coverage against the Floyd's of the world this week.
• Vegas has ND is favored by 3.5 points on Saturday right now

Recruiting Updates

• Terry Richardson was at the game on Saturday and has decided not to take anymore visits and will stick and stay with Michigan.
• This weekend will be one of the biggest recruiting weekends of the year for the 2012 and 2013 class.
• Does Michigan really have a legit shot at landing 5 star Center Mitch McGary?  He had a great visit to Michigan and the answer is YES!.  Michigan will have to fight it out with college basketball elite (Kentucky, Duke, NC, Florida and others) but Michigan has a very good chance to land this young man.    I think this would be Michigan's highest ranked recruit since Tractor Traylor.

Michigan Thursday: Danny O, Kyle Kalis and That Purdue ACL Elephant

When Kyle Kalis de-committed from Ohio State and a few weeks later picked Michigan.  He got "light up" on twitter and other social media from Buckeye Fans that couldn't believe he picked Ann Arbor over Columbus.   Since that date there have been a ton of rumors that Kyle will eventually end up in OSU's 2012 class.  Mostly if the NCAA doesn't drop the hammer and crush the Buckeyes for the next few years.   I expect the NCAA to drop more then 3 years "Show Clause" on Tressel, maybe cut 5 scholarships from the Buckeyes for the next 2 years and 2 years of probation.
It's hard to know what will happen between now and signing day but I sure how Kyle stays Blue. 

The next recruit we are looking at today is Danny O'Brien a 4 star DT recruit from Flint.  Tennessee was his early leader but Michigan popped their head up in his recruitment this summer.   His best friend happens to be Matt Godin who is also committed to the Wolverines in the 2012 class.  Danny recently cut his list to 6 and plans to cut it even further soon.  

The big question in Danny's recruitment to Ann Arbor is; Will Michigan take another DT in this class?
Sounds like they will:  "Hoke said to me, 'Take your time. I know you're one of those guys that is really making a decision in cutting them down.' He said, 'Take your time and we will take you whenever.' That stood out to me. I was never the guy that had a dream school picked out. That was big for me because I've been down to Tennessee a few times and that's what I liked about them. They said, 'Take your time. It's your decision. You are your own man and you have to make your own decision.' When Coach Hoke finally said that (also), that was big for me with Michigan."
Danny will take his official to U of M for the ND game.  That will be a huge recruiting weekend for the Wolverines.

• Purdue keeps their ACL streak alive, QB Rob Henry is the latest victim. 

Michigan Friday: Small Group - Lots of Stars

One guy jumped out of the 2012 boat today as CB recruit Armani Reeves picked Penn State.  Michigan was in early on Armani and late but there was a gap in the middle that PSU filled, end of story.

The next CB on Michigan's board is 4 Star Yuri Wright.  If your wondering if the Michigan coaches really want another corner in this class, You Would Be Right. :-) 

The potential guys on Michigan's board is now getting smaller and smaller.  I don't have any direct knowledge of their priority list.  So this is my best guess. 

1. WR Amara Darboh


2. WR Jordan Payton


3. CB Yuri Wright


4. OL's: Jason Garrnet, Andrus Peat or Jordan Diamond


5. DT: Danny O'Brien, Aziz Shittu, DE Adolphus Washington

There are 4 spots left so something has to give.  It seems clear Michigan wants 2 WR's and the Yuri Wright recruitment might be because of Terry Richardson wanting to take a few visits.   The one thing I assume but could be incorrect on, is Michigan still wanting another DT.  I think they would take O'Brien or Shittu is they wanted to jump on a spot pretty quickly.

It seems QB and RB are the odd positions out this year.  If that is the case, then Michigan would look to fill future spots at those positions in 2013 with Share Morris at QB already committed.  

What about Bri'onte Dunn?  Michigan would take his commit in a heart beat but as the OSU NCAA continues to play out so does guys jumping at Michigan offers.   I think the timeline doesn't look good for a commitment from him.  (Unless other guys jump out of Michigan's class).   I sort of think you could put Jordan Diamond in that same position.     If he doesn't jump soon, someone like Garrnett that is coming in for a visit could. 

Michigan Thursday: Has a Hat Issue

I think Al Borgus is going to take the Michigan offense to places it's never seen before.  Michigan will be a well balanced machine running and passing in the next couple of years.   My only concern (besides we haven't played a game yet) is Al finding a Michigan hat that looks good on him.  Here is the latest evidence from his press conference (courtesy of Tim at Mgoblog)


Another example:



Work that hat in big fella or go like Coach Hoke does and not wear one at all.  For some reason the "Rickie Fowler" look is not working for me on Coach Al.  (I joke because I care!)


Notes from his presser:

• Denard's footwork is much better. They're trying to continue getting him to step up in the pocket. "It not only allows him to see a little better, but he can threaten run better once he gets underneath the rush." Denard is on schedule to be where they want him. "Because he's so athletic and he can create... now he has to understand about creating, yet don't try to do something that simply isn't there."


• Won't know about the RB's until they are in full pads.


• "I'm not committing to anything" in terms of number of carries for Denard. "Less" is a clear goal, but how much is still in question. Try not to get him beaten up, but want him to make plays. Not sure where the fine line is between those two. Sometimes you need to remind Denard to get out of bounds when he's running. He won't do a lot of sliding, but there are times to avoid taking punishment. "With the ball under his arms, anything can happen," so you don't want him sliding down in front of a guy he can juke past. "You coach Denard different than you coach Ryan Lindley."


• "The only thing I've really got a bead on so far is how much more they know." The players have worked to understand the offense. They still don't know enough, but every team in America is at that point three practices in."

Recruiting Info

• 5 Star DT Tommy Schutt who got turned down by ND and Michigan last week landed at Penn State.  JoPa is building a very nice  2012 class with more guys expected to commit.  I guess the old guy can recruit with a bad hip and a bad arm.

• Ondre Pipkins committed to Michigan last Thursday and that is why Michigan turned down the visit from Tommy.   This means two things for Danny O'Brien, 1 - He has a spot on Michigan's 2012 roster if he wants it or 2- Michigan really only wants to take 1 DT and they have it. 

• Michigan is listed right now as Scout's top 2012 recruiting class.

• 24/7 Sports new top 100 has 5 Michigan commits:  #40 Kalis, #56 Wormley, #63 Magnuson, #88 Pipkins, and #100 Ross.  Prospects:  #5 Peat, #9 Marshall, #10 Diggs, #18 Wright, #39 Garnett, #59 Reeves and #60 Diamond.

• WR recruiting starting to heat up:  Iowa 4 star Amara Darboh will be back in A2 for the opener against Western and California 4 star Jordan Payton is coming in for ND.   Some expect that Michigan might be done with thier WR recruiting after the ND game for 2012.  Let's hope they are right. 

Wolverine Wednesday: Day 2 of Practice - Weight, Defense and some Recruiting

DC Greg Mattison took the mike yesterday at his press conference and had a few quote-ables.  My favorite one was this one:  "I do" expect them to set the world on fire. "I wouldn't be coaching if I didn't think we'd be able to get this defense up to the level that Michigan expects." If players play hard and execute assignments, they can succeed.   "I know in my heart what's about to happen here. We're going to have a Michigan football program that Bo, Coach Moeller and Coach Carr are going to be proud of again."

"I'm really, really impressed and excited about the effort of our guys. I couldn't be around them in the summer ? but I think you saw it starting in the summer," he said. "You saw these guys trying to do the right thing, trying to improve themselves and then it just carried over when they started practice."

"We're only two in. We've got miles and miles to go to where we want to be, but in effort and preparation, I'm very excited about it."

I haven't been this excited about a DC since Ron English.

Michigan published the new roster yesterday and there was some notable weight gain and losses:

Running Backs: Mike Shaw is up 8 pounds and Vincent Smith is down 8.

WR:  Gallon is up 5 pound and Robinson is up 7.

TE: Ricardo Miller is up an amazing 17 pounds.

OL: Taylor Lewan is up 8 pounds and now over 300.

DL:  Roh is up 18 pounds!, Big Will down 11, Q Washington down 13, Kenny Wilkins up 10, Will Heininger is up 28 pounds! and Richard Ash is down 19.

LB: Cameron Gordon up 15 and Mike Jones up 16.

BHB Take: The weight on Roh is very good.  I expect a huge year out of him.  Ricardo Miller is changing his body to be a true TE.   Big Will ,Q and Ash needed to cut some weight which they did.  Will adding 28 pounds is amazing and hopefully he will be regular this year on the DL.

Recuiting Tid Bits

• Armani Reeves the 4 star CB that Michigan just got re-acquainted with, has scheduled a press conference for Friday at 10:00 to pick his school.  This quick of a decision is not good for the Wolverines.  My best guess is Penn State.

• 5 Star Offensive Guard Joshua Garnett from Seattle is planning a visit to Ann Arbor for the ND game with his friend Erik Magnuson.  This would be a huge pick up for the last OL spot on in the 2012 class.

• Michigan is the top 2 for 4 star California WR Jordan Payton.  (CAL and Michigan).  Jordan has yet to visit Ann Arbor. 

• Do you think Michigan is back in basketball recruiting?  Here is 5 star 2012 recruit Mitch McGary's top 6 list:  Florida, Maryland, North Carolina, Michigan, Duke and Kentucky

Breaking News: Ondre Pipkins Makes the Call for Michigan

Michigan secured the Defensive Tackle they wanted today with the commitment of Ondre Pipkins. 

Ondre became the 22nd commitment to the 2012 class and second DT with instate recruit Matt Godin.  Ondre might have told the coaches a few days ago because Michigan turned down a visit from a 5 star DT from Illinois, letting him know his position group was already filled.  The Michigan coaches have been telling recruits that they would take one more DT and Ondre didn't want to miss his chance. 

Ondre is a 4 star prospect to Rivals, Scouts and 24/7 and ranked 102 player in the nation by Scouts, 246 by Rivals and 149 by 24/7.  Expect his ranking to move way up, when they re-rank players:  Pipkins became a candidate to crack the Rivals.com top 100 (to be updated later this month) with an outstanding summer in which he put on a show. He dominated at the Ohio State NIKE Camp as one of the top defensive performers and also showed well at ESPN's The Opening event in Oregon.

"The big defensive tackle was able to use his lower body strength to beat every opposing lineman in one-on-one drills," Rivals.com reported. "Pipkins still looks about the same weight as when we saw him at the U.S. Army Junior Combine in January, but the weight is proportioned differently now. Pipkins is built like a brick house, and when he decided it was time to get upfield, no offensive lineman showed the ability to stop him."

I heard great things about him at the Nike OSU camp.  He went in to the camp with the goal of being the MVP and got it.

His offer list is one of a 5 star prospect:  Alabama, Florida, Iowa, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Missouri, Tennessee and many others.   He was Michigan's top DT prospect and the Wolverines locked him up.

What does this mean for Danny O'Brien? That is a good question and I still feel the Michigan staff would take him, but he can't wait too long.   Ondre was the last position of need for the Wolverines and from here on out can be picky for the next 3-4 spots.   We know that the coaches are targeting one more CB prospect for sure and at least one wide receiver and probably two. 


Didn't find any online highlight videos for Ondre.


Extra recruiting news:

• Michigan recruit Erik Magnuson had offers from all of the PAC 12 schools with the exception of USC.  That offer came but Erik is sticking and staying with the Wolverines.

Michigan Monday: Practice, Suspensions, Red Shirts and Recruiting --- O My!

Today starts Fall Camp for the 2011 Michigan Wolverines.  Today officially starts the preparation for year 1 in the Brady Hoke era.  There should be plenty of motivation and expectations for this group of Wolverines.
With the start of practice came a press release last night on 3 players: senior wide receiver Darryl Stonum, senior wide receiver Terrance Robinson and sophomore punter Will Hagerup.

We know Stonum has multiple DUI's and the coaches have decided to redshirt him this year to get his life together:  "While it would be great to have Darryl on the field this season, we feel it is in his best interest and the best interest of our program for him to redshirt," Hoke said. "Darryl will continue to be an important part of our team and family. He has done everything we have asked him to do, but our number one priority is to help Darryl grow as a person."  With Stonum using a scholarship in 2012 now, I wonder if the 2012 class size is now down to 25 players instead of 26?

Terrance Robinson will be suspended for season opener and Will Hagerup will be suspended for 4 games, both players broke team rules. 

Here is my take:  This was the right decision for Michigan and Stonum.  I hope he gets everything together and has a great 5th year next year and heads to the NFL.    Not sure what T-Rob did but he really hasn't ever contributed on the field for the Wolverines.  

Now to Hagerup.............What is going on Big Fella?  You are a punter and now have been suspended for the 2010 Ohio State game and for the first 4 games of the year.  Get your off field stuff in order and keep booming punts in Michigan Stadium.

Hoke:    "In order to build a championship-caliber culture, you have to be accountable to each other on and off the field. There are expectations at the University of Michigan you must live up to." 

Many remember the disaster that was the Ohio State game punting and are worried about how Michigan will punt for the first 4 games of the year.  Well, don't worry too much (worry a little) but incoming kicker Matt Wile is a pretty good punter as well.  He punted in the Army All American game and averaged 41 yards per kick.   I can hear the coaches talking to him today:  "Matt welcome to practice you now have 2 starting positions!"  I hope this kid has a ton of confidence.

Recruiting Weekend Re-cap:

• Michigan wants another elite corner in the 2012 class and they have targeted two guys out East.  We know about Armani Reeves and the second one is 4 star CB from NJ, Yuri Wright.  I expect both players to visit Ann Arbor for a game this season and maybe announce after the season.  Yuri plans to announce at the Army All American game.

• 2013 Offensive line prospect from Wheaton, Illinois Kyle Bosch visited Ann Arbor on Sunday.

• John Beilein has offered another 2012 prospect, this latest offer goes out to 6'8 200 pound forward Marshall Wood from Lynchburg, VA.  

• For those wondering whatever happened to Demar Dorsey, he ended up at Grand Rapids Community College. 

Michigan Friday: Coaches Say No Thanks To a 5 Star Players Visit?

With only 5 spots left in this class, the Michigan coaches can target the players they want.   Twitter was "hot" yesterday with the information that 5 star DT Tommy Schutt (4 stars to Rivals) was ready to take a visit to Ann Arbor.   Tommy is rated the top player in Illinois and is 6'3 300 pounds.  His offer list includes Florida, ND, Penn State, Wisconsin, Miami and many others.

Tommy was also interested in ND but they filled their spot with Sheldon Day yesterday.  Then Twitter got "hot" again with the news that the Michigan coaches told him they didn't have any spots at DT left and it didn't make sense for him to visit. 

So why would the Michigan coaches turn down a visit from Schutt (assuming they did turn it down)?

• It could mean they really are only going to take 1 DT which they have told both Pipkins and O'Brien. 
• They feel confident they will get Pipkins or O'Brien.
• One is a silent commit (they both have said they are not).

It was clear from Pipkins that he still wants to take some more time to make a decision and Danny is getting a ton of calls asking if he is going to commit soon.  He wanted to make it clear he is not going to commit soon and is going to take 3 official visits.

My best guess is that they feel confident they will get either Pipkins or O'Brien.  I hope they know something I don't, becuase I don't see too much of a down side for Tommy taking a visit. 

• Jordan Diamond visited Mississippi this weekend and had a better time then he expected.

• Sione Houma is now a 3 star FB to Scouts.

• TomVH reports that Armani Reeves will put Michigan in his top 3:  I'm going to put [Michigan] in the top three. Just because I like them so much that I was willing to look into what they have to offer. Pretty much everything I said before that they have academics, the whole thing with Michigan. I haven't really thought about what's next or if I'll visit any time soon yet. I don't know when I'm going to make my final decision either, this kind of changes things a little bit.

• With Fairley out for awhile with a broken foot, the Lions signed Greg Banks from Michigan.

Michigan Thursday: 2012 Recruiting Starting to Get Clearer

Indianapolis 4 star DT Sheldon Day was high on Michigan early on in his recruitment.  Many thought he was primed for a commit, he delayed and Michigan continued to recruit him and other players.  Sheldon picked Notre Dame yesterday.   So he is officially off the board and now it's pretty clear it's Pipkins and O'Brien or bust at DT. 
The recruitment of Jordan Diamond is starting to take a different turn.  The longer his recruitment plays out the less and less a chance Jordan becomes a Wolverine.  Jordan's high school program prefers their kids don't commit early to any school, so they can continue to get more "exposure" for the program and other players on the team. Jordan is a 5 star player so he will have a number or options if Michigan's class fills up.  With 5 offensive lineman in this class and still a number of 5 star guys still considering Michigan, I am guessing Michigan is not pushing this recruitment as there were 3 months ago. 

Like I mentioned yesterday, Michigan re-opened it's recruitment of 4 star athlete/DB Armani Reeves, this could be the result of Terry Richardson taking visits or Michigan still wanting one more athlete in this class.

The recruitment of the Cincinnati teammates Dwayne Stanford and Adolphus Washington seems to be stalled.  Stanford has LSU #1 and many believe Washington will eventually head to Ohio State.

2013 RB/DB prospect  Dymonte Thomas tells his cousin Bri'onte Dunn on Facebook that if he (Dunn) signs with Michigan he will commit.

Ondre Pipkins tells Sam Webb after the BBQ:  "It was so fun, lots of fun meeting the recruits and seeing the Big House for the first time" 

"Seeing Michigan was way better then I expected"

His time table for a decision is still after the football season.

If I had to guess on Michigan's priority list for the next 5 spots, here is what I predict:

1. Ondre Pipkins
2. Danny O'Brien
3. WR (Payton or Darboh)
4. WR (Powe, Chesson, Madris)
5. OL, RB, DB  (Diamond, Dunn, Reeves, Morgan)

I think Michigan wants both Pipkins and O'Brien on the defensive line.  I also believe they want to take 2 WR's and they are recruiting 5 guys pretty hard.   Then I think the last spot could go a number of ways, if Dunn wants to come to Michigan it's his. Or there still could be a spot for Diamond or another 5/4 star OL that still list Michigan (Peat, Garnett, Banner or Bisnowaty).  

My gut is telling me the commit train could be slowing down with only a few spots left.  The only position Michigan could see a run on commits is WR, because there is some pressure to get at least one guy in and then we would see who would follow.

Wolverine Wednesday: Asks if Armani is a Good Fit For Michigan?

One of the things that I keep hearing on the recruiting trail is that Michigan is looking for another top DB in the 2012 class.  Which seems strange with the number of guys they have in the 2011 class and the couple in the 2012.

One of the guys that Michigan was on early but had kind of flamed out was Mass. Catholic Memorial cornerback Armani Reeves (4 star CB 5'11 185 pounds). The Michigan coaches wanted Armani to commit to Michigan early this past Spring, he wasn't ready and they both decided to see other people.  Armani put ND and Penn State in his top group and Michigan got a commit from Terry Richardson and Anthony Standifer.

The Michigan coaches have reached out to Armani again and have him re-thinking his top list of ND and PSU.  Armani is/was high on Michigan because of academics, tradition and ability to get on the field early.  I kind of had mixed feelings because I wished I could have avoided the way everything happened, but they've always been one of my favorites. There was happiness and relief in there too. Penn State and Notre Dame are my top two so this shakes things up a little bit. It changes my path. It makes me want to think about everything and how I like the school so much with the academics. My major is there and the campus is great and all the guys there are really cool.

• Sam Webb interviewed Ondre Pipkins, which should be up on the WTKA site today.

• There have been some rumors that Michigan is still alive in 5 star WR Stefon Diggs recruitment.   He is a talented young man but has some work to do in the classroom to qualify.  With still his senior year left it still could happen.

• Michigan's 2012 class is currently ranked #2 in the Country by Scouts.  Which is pretty consistent with the other services.

Michigan Monday: Wonders if there are any left over commits from the BBQ?

We now know that Chris Wormely thought the hot dogs and burgers at the Big House BBQ were too good to pass up and committed to the Wolverines on Sunday.   Michigan fans have wanted Chris to commit for some time now, so it was a good feeling to have him in this class. 

The big question is who is next?  Michigan has 5 spots left in this class and still with some needs.   The largest outstanding need is DT.  The coaches keep saying they will only take 1, I believe they will take 2.   Those two are Ondre Pipkins and Danny O'Brien.  

Ondre's father lives in Michigan (Ondre lives in Missouri) and from what I have heard Ondre is still in the Great Lake State and might make it back to Ann Arbor for another visit real soon.   Sunday was his first visit and some insiders that spoke to him feel like he might have been a bit over whelmed with the day and was just trying to take everything in.   The Michigan fans were hoping for a BBQ commit from Ondre which didn't happen.  Will it happen this week?  We have to wait and see.   I would like Ondre to do what Kalis did, visit take a few days to think about it and discuss with his family.   Come back to Ann Arbor spend some 1 on 1 time with the coaches and then make his decision.

Danny O is his nickname and he had another good visit to A2 for the BBQ.  I'm going to think about my comfort level this week and where I'm at with everything. I have a top six of Michigan, Tennessee, Florida, Alabama, Michigan State, and Iowa right now. I'm going to cut that down to three and then take official visits to those schools. I know Michigan said they're only taking one defensive tackle, but if they want to take two I will still consider them if someone commits before me.

I believe if both Ondre and Danny want to become Wolverines, the coaches will take both.

WR is the other need in this class and there wasn't much movement on that recruitment on Sunday with Cincinnati Madris not making it to the BBQ.   St. Louis WR Jehu Chesson visited Ann Arbor this week and so did Iowa WR Amara Darboh.  Michigan seems to be in pretty good shape with all these guys and it will be a race to who commits first.   If I had to predict a winner in this race, I think the quickest commit could come from Monty Madris.

Bri'onte Dunn enjoyed his visit up for the BBQ but I think there still needs to be some thinking for him to leave Columbus.  Having the NCAA hit them hard this Fall after their meeting in August would be huge.

Michigan also made up some ground with  some 2013 recruits at the BBQ including; OL Steve Elmer, LB Jonny Reschke, RB Ty Isaac, DE Wyatt Shallman and athlete RB/DB Dymonte Thomas.

Fall camp opens in a week, so the coaches really only have this week to spend quality time with the recruits.  After that some recruits might want to attend practice to see what how the coaches really coach.  

With only 5 spots left, I would assume many players feel like they need to make a decision sooner rather then later.

• BTW:  Jordan Diamond is visiting Iowa today. 

Wolverine Weekend Update: The BBQ Brings A 2012 Verbal for Football and One for Basketball

The Worm has finally turned as 2012 4 Star DE Chris Wormley picked Michigan over Ohio State today at the Big House BBQ. 

Chris Wormley seemly had Michigan as his #1 school for what seems like a year and he finally pulled the trigger today.   Chris is 6'5 and 250 pounds and plays fast for his size.  He is a 4 star prospect to Scouts, 24/7 and ESPN.  He is 3 stars to Rivals.    It seems some services think he is bit of a tweener on which position he might end up at.  He is a DE prospect right now but could end up as a tackle as he adds some more weight and strength.

The recruiting insiders that cover Ohio have been high on Chris for awhile and as you know a Ohio State offer is what most kids in Ohio hope for.   Chris other offers seem strange for a 4 star player of his caliber which include the likes of Indiana, Illinois, MSU, Cincinnati and Toledo.   So either the other schools didn't bother to offer a guy who was either heading to Michigan or OSU or they were unsure of his position. 

Either way, Chris has been high on Michigan fans wish list for a long time and it's nice to have him on board.   Chris will be the last DE Michigan takes in this class, unless Washington wants to commit. 

The needs still remain at DT (probably 2), 1 more offensive lineman, and a couple WR's.  With this commit, Michigan has 21 guys wrapped up in this class and will take 5 more guys.   So I assume the coaches will be pretty selected.



Michigan fans had hoped for 1 or 2 2013  commits today and one highly ranked 2012 DT whose name rhymes with Ripken.   Still could happen but nothing yet.

• Michigan Basketball also got a commitment from Zak Irvin from Indiana who picked Michigan over the likes of Butler, IU, Tennessee and Purdue.   Zak is a 6'6 small forward and a commitment to the 2013 class.   Zak is pretty much a top 100 player to all the services and the third commitment to the 2013 class.