Michigan Golf Team Update

The University of (6 Seed)Michigan Golf Team defeated (3) Southern California 3-2 in the 1st round of Match Play at the NCAA Championships. UM advanced to match play by finishing in the top 8 after 3 rounds of stroke play. Lion Kim (2 and 1), Alexander Sitompul (5 and 3), and Matt Thompson (4 and 3) were victorious for the Wolverines. Michigan is currently battling (7)Texas A and M in the afternoon round with the winner advancing to tomorrows championship match VS the Georgia-Arkansas winner.

Note that Michigan was ranked #39 by Golfstat coming into the Championships and was not expected to advance. Southern California was ranked #3.

-Post written by: Pioneer J

Big House Friday Update

• Lee Corso pulls a "not so fast" on life, after suffering a minor stroke: Corso suffered no permanent damage in the minor stroke, which was caused by the blockage to a small artery, according to a statement from Corso. He is expected to make a full recovery.
  
  "This is just a small bump in the road," Corso said in a statement issued by ESPN. "A 'not so fast, my friend' in my game of life. I look forward to making a full recovery and returning to ESPN for my 23rd season analyzing the greatest sport in the world -- college football." Things I didn't know about Lee include: that he coached Louisville and was a head coach in the USFL. Glad to hear he will be ok.

• The Wolverine Softball Team beat Bama 6-1 last night in the World Series.

• Mike Hart and Marlin Jackson are healing nicely and should be ready in the Fall for the new season. Both players had injured their ACL. Jackson was more serious.

• Big House BBQ is tomorrow! Let's hope for good weather and a couple of commits!

• Here is an early look at Michigan's 2010 Schedule:
  9/11 - at Notre Dame
  9/18 - vs. Massachusetts
  9/25 - vs. Bowling Green
  10/2 - at Indiana
  10/9 - vs. Michigan State
  10/16 - vs. Iowa (Homecoming)
  10/23 - BYE
  10/30 - at Penn State
  11/6 - vs. Illinois
  11/13 - at Purdue
  11/20 - vs. Wisconsin
  11/27 - at Ohio State

• The Motor City Bowl will be kicking off at 1:00 the day after Christmas. The 2010 Schedule and the Motor City Bowl are not related in anyway. I'm serious, not in anyway!

UMass and Bowling Green to come to the Big House in 2010

Michigan is one opponent away from finalizing it's 2010 football schedule. Michigan announced on Thursday that UMass (September 18th) and Bowling Green (September 25th) will fill two out of the three non-conference home games in 2010.

"We appreciate the efforts made by both UMass and Bowling Green to accept one-year contracts to play at The Big House," Athletic Director Bill Martin said in a statement issued by U-M. "The scheduling landscape is becoming more difficult and we discussed the open dates with a number of institutions and want to thank them for their time and effort during this process."

So who will open the New Big House? "We are working hard to line up an opponent for the opening game in renovated Michigan Stadium," Martin said. "We hope to have an announcement in the near future."

Michigan gets it's 11th Verbal Commitment for the 2010 Class

Michigan added a position of need for the 2010 class in getting the verbal commitment from PA Weakside DE/Linebacker Jordan Paskorz. Jordan is rated a 3 star LB from Rivals with offers from Minnesota, Pittsburgh, and Virgina. Jordan is the 11th commitment to the 2010 recruiting class and is expected to play the "spinner" position in Greg Robinson's Defense. His reported 4.7 to 4.9 40 could be a concern for that role.

Here is the write up from Varsity Blue:

Recruiting Notes:
Paskorz has always been a slightly under-the-radar type, but Sam Webb reported on WTKA a few weeks ago that the Wolverines had offered, and Jordan was favoring Michigan. Paskorz’s older brother, Steve, is a linebacker for Notre Dame, but that didn’t prevent Jordan from making the right choice and picking Michigan. He made the official commitment today in Ann Arbor, where he was unofficially visiting. He had always planned to commit before his senior season, but most Michigan fans were surprised that he committed to the Wolverines this early. He picked the Maize-and-Blue over Virginia and Pittsburgh.

Player Notes:
Paskorz is something of a tweener, and he could likely play either defensive end or linebacker in college, though a reported 40-yard dash time of 4.9 might mean he’s destined for the defensive line. Both Scout and Rivals list him as a 3-star defensive end prospect,though Rivals does point out that he’s a weakside - or pass-rushing - DE. In order to play defensive end in college, he’ll almost certainly have to add some weight by the time he eventually hits the field. Despite not that much mass, he is indeed a strong football player, excelling in the shotput in high school track and field. With Michigan adding a pair of defensive ends in the class of 2009, Jordan will hopefully be able top redshirt to add strength and technique to his game. Recruiting guru Jim Stefani actually has Paskorz ranked the #2 tight end in the class of 2010, behind only IL TE CJ Fiedorowicz.

Is Recruiting Dangerous? A Michigan Coach meets with an LA Coach before one of his Players was Killed

This from the LA times:

Narbonne High School football coach Manuel Douglas gathered his varsity team Tuesday morning to talk about losing their teammate Dannie Farber Jr.

He said the last time he spoke with Farber was Thursday, when he was escorting a Michigan football scout out of the school. In the hall, Farber took his hand and pulled him, as if wanting to speak with him.

I said, 'Hold on, I'll be back,' " Douglas recalled.

When Douglas returned a few minutes later, Farber was gone. Now, Douglas keeps thinking about how he didn't give Farber a hug, something he always did.

"That's what's bothering me," he said.

Farber was shot later that night at a restaurant in Compton. Brown said that Farber was not in a gang and that police are still looking for the gunman. A surveillance camera inside the restaurant recorded the shooting, but the gunman's face is blocked by the hood and cap, Brown said.

It's unclear who from Michigan was at the school and which prospect he was there to see.

• Michigan to play at Wrigley Field? Maybe? The game could happen between Northwestern and Michigan in 2011. Northwestern could also work a deal with Illinois as well.

• Michigan Basketball Team to play Utah in Salt Lake. The game will be on December 9th and this was part of the football contract from last year where Utah opened their undefeated 2008 campaign in Ann Arbor.

• Fomer Wolverine Safety is now an Eskimo! The Edmonton Eskimos announced yesterday the signing of Michigan's Brandent Englemon.

See Below for new Walk On News!

More Wolverine Walk On News

One of the tricks of the trade for Division 1 football coaches is to give an "athlete" a track scholarship when they have reached their limit of 25 scholarship in one recruiting year. This way the young man can get a scholarship, run track and still play football.

This was not the case with Joe Reynolds from Rochester Adams in Michigan. U of M's track coach Fred LaPlante took Joe's high school football video over to Rich Rod's office and Rich gave Joe a preferred walk on spot on the 2009 squad.

"He liked what he saw," said Reynolds, who is at U-M on the track scholarship and will run in the winter and spring. "He said I ran great routes and attacked the ball well."

Joe played DB and WR in high school and accounted for 700 yards receiving and 7 touchdowns as a senior. My guess is Joe should focus on the DB position if he wants to have a clearer path to playing time. Either way, I hope it works out for the soon to be Freshman, because we always can use more speed at the Big House.

Joe plans to enroll at U of M for summer classes so he can start participating in the "player" 7-7 practices.

Big House Blog Claps for the Wolverine Softball and Golf Teams

The Michigan Softball Team advanced to the college world series this weekend by taking Baylor to the woodshed 15-2 in two games. They will take on Alabama on Thursday at 7:00 on ESPN.

The Michigan Golf Team has qualified for the National Championship Golf Tournament that starts today at Inverness Golf Club in Toledo. Here is to the Wolverines getting some "bite" on the greens on a difficult PGA Major quality course.

• Rich Rodriguez celebrated his 46th birthday over the weekend. For those that wanted Les Miles back coaching the Wolverines. Rich is 10 years younger the Les.

• Michigan is planning their second annual BBQ at the Big House this weekend. This is another chance for recruits to visit the campus and get a feel for the Wolverine program. Michigan's first summer football camp also kicks off soon on June 14-17. Rivals says: Among those expected to attend include committed linebacker Antonio Kinard, defensive backs Latwan Anderson and Cullen Christian, linebacker Ken Wilkins, offensive linemen Skyler Schofner and Andrew Donnal, running backs Tony Jones and Andre Givens, defensive ends Jibreel Black and Marcus Rush and wide receivers Brandon Ifill and Andrew Carswell. This is, of course, in addition to the majority of the top prospects in the state of Michigan. More news to come on who is attending the BBQ and Camp as we get closer to the events.

• William Gholston is one of the high profile recruits that has RSVP'd for the BBQ.

• Evan Smotrycz was pretty much a no name when John Beilein got him to commit to the Wolverines a short time a go. Well, things have changed for Evan in the 2010 player recruiting rankings; Evan starting lighting up camps with some great shooting and some nice low post moves and ESPN recently just put him in their top 100 and all the way up to #47.

Michigan Looking to Sure up the Kicking Game

As a regular follower of this blog, I'm sure you have seen that Michigan has been very active in signing walk on kickers and punters for 2009. In fact, Michigan just added another preferred walk-on punter from outside Indy just this week to the class of 2009.

Not using a scholarship on Punters and Kickers right out of high school is a pretty regular practice in college football. Most programs try to get a number of them to enroll in school and join the team as a walk-on. Recently, Rich Rod and staff have been offering scholarships to some of the top kickers and punters in the country. Zoltan Mesko got a scholarship right out of high school (Carr Era) and soon to be Freshman Kicker Brendan Gibbons is also on scholarship.

The next scholarship kicker/punter candidate is Will Hagerup who is one of the best punters in the country with an average of 41.2 yards per punt as a Junior.

“Michigan offered me,” he reported, adding, “It definitely has a football tradition that is hard to beat and the school itself is in the top two or three in the Big Ten probably. It makes my decision harder.”

Will is sporting 11 scholarship offers from across the Big Ten and from schools like Florida, Arkansas, and Tennessee.

• CAL and Michigan were in talks to play each other but CAL wanted a home and home series. Michigan won't do a home and home so they can maximize revenue with one more home game. Michigan also has a terrible record going to the West Coast to play. So not a good idea at all. HT: MSC
  


• Lane Kiffin has fired his S&C Coach after 6 months: Don't you just love Lane Kiffin? He has a news story every week. Sources told ESPN.com that Kiffin and his strength and conditioning coach, Mark Smith, met on Thursday and agreed to part ways. The details of Smith's departure as strength coach were still being finalized, and Tennessee athletic department officials declined to comment.
  
  Smith, who was previously the strength coach at South Carolina under Steve Spurrier, was one of the first hires Kiffin made after being named the Vols' coach on Dec. 1. Smith was given a $50,000 raise to come to Tennessee, bumping his annual salary up to $190,000.
  


• Bill Martin, Michigan's AD wants one more Big Ten football game during the season so he doesn't have the headache of scheduling nonconference opponents like Utah or App. State (that end up being good): "We talk about that at every meeting," said Michigan athletic director Bill Martin, who added that the drive for nine is getting more support. "As the guarantees [for nonconference games] go up and up and up and the fans want to play our sister institutions in the conference, to me it's a nobrainer. Play 'em." Martin ideally would want to play a true round robin in the Big Ten, but he admits it's "not realistic" because of the revenue from home games that league members need to sustain their athletic programs. The Michigan AD said he has even tried to schedule the two teams Michigan doesn't play during the Big Ten schedule as nonconference opponents.
  

BHB Likes those Rankings!

Tom Lemming has been a bit of a wild card when it comes to high school football recruiting. Don't get me wrong he has been doing this for years, but sometimes has very different opinion on players then say Rivals, Scouts, or even ESPN (sort of known as a recruiting service rookie). One of those things was Michigan's State's 2009 recruiting class. Right before signing day, Tom thought MSU had a better class to date then Michigan. Most every other service disagreed and he and Sam Webb from Scouts and the Detroit News had a heated debate on local Ann Arbor radio about it. There has even been "talk" that Tom doesn't like the Wolverines for one reason or another. It's all just rumors.

Anyway, the reason I bring this up is Tom just released his Top 100 players and a couple current Wolverine commits are ranked high, very high. Let's take a look:

#9: Devin Gardner
#12: William Gholston (has not committed to any school yet)
#36: Marvin Robinson

Devin in the top 10 is amazing. Let's hope Tom is right and the rest of the services follow suit in the next 9 months.

• Sam Webb from Scout and The Detroit News: Let's us know that Michigan likes to recruit Pahokee, Fla which is nicknamed "the Muck". The most famous Pahokee players are Anquan Boldin and Santonio Holmes. While were on this topic, Jerome Bettis is from Detroit, it's hot in Florida in the summer, and Michigan's record was 3-9 last year under a new head coach. :-)

• Denard Robinson Makes SI! In the faces in the crowd section for his track exploits.

• Do you want to get season tickets to see Michigan play? This is your year and it's only for one year!

• Delaware State is getting $550,000 large for it's effort in Ann Arbor next fall.

• This from NBC News in Columbus: The Ohio State University committed more than one out of every three NCAA level one violations in the Big Ten conference during the 2007-08 school year, accounting for 13 of 34 total level one violations that typically deal with recruiting mistakes. The football program was cited for two recruiting violations—both pertained to Assistant Coach Dick Tressel having inadvertent contact with prospects. Head Coach Jim Tressel was present during one of the secondary violations. oops!

• Former Michigan WR, Toney Clemons has picked Colorado. The former singing group of Tony! Toni! Toné had no comment but they did say: Tony! Toni! Toné had done it again!

Grady gets out of one Big House

Will he be thrown out of the "famous" Big House next?

Kevin Grady was released 2 days early from jail on Tuesday after serving 5 days of a 7 day sentence for violation of his probation from a DUI charge last year.

Coach Rich Rodriguez said this past weekend that he would sit down and talk to Kevin before he makes a decision on his future with the Wolverines. I believe Coach Rod has two options; throw Kevin off the team (hopefully let him keep his scholarship so he can earn his degree) or two give his a severe punishment that would include a long suspension and running the stars at Michigan stadium every morning at 5:00 AM.

Stay tuned on how this one plays out.

Michigan adds New Walk-On Punter

As you know, I am a big fan of unique college football player names. With that said, Michigan has added a new preferred walk on to it's 2009 recruiting class and his name is Kristopher Pauloski who might back up current Punter Zoltan Mesko. Pauloski the Punter has a nice ring to it. BTW: Pauloski Punted for Pike (High School outside of Indianapolis) he had a 37.9 average on his punts and also had 31 touchbacks on kickoffs.

Michigan Football Recruiting Blitz

• Interview of CB Corvin Lamb from Miami, FL who just broke his leg: Q: Do you still have high interest in Michigan? Lamb: “Yes sir.” Q: You know Torrian Wilson made a visit to Michigan; has he talked to you about it? Lamb: “Yeah, he’s been wearing his Michigan gear everyday.”

• per Mgoblog: Lo Wood will make a decision between Notre Dame and Michigan next month.

• Also Per Mgoblog: Michigan is still in the hunt for Tate Forcier's former teammate Brennan Clay who is one of the best RB's in the country: TOM: What’s all this I’ve been hearing about you and Michigan? BRENNAN: There’s been a lot lately. I really like them a lot right now.

• Orchard Lake St. Mary’s Robert Bolden (6-4, 195 pounds), Saline’s Joe Boisture (6-6, 220) and Inkster’s Devin Gardner (6-4, 210) all participated in the Midwest Elite Camp over the weekend.

• Jerrell Priester (5-10, 185) Athlete from Allendale-Fairfax S.C., plans to Camp at Michigan this summer (along with camps at ND, GT, Clemson, Georgia, Alabama, and Vandy) That's a lot of camps!

• Under the Really? file goes this statement from Tom Lemming: Tom Lemming of CBS College Sports has rated high school football prospects for 30 years. His magazine, Prep Football Report, is well respected throughout recruiting circles. He said the class of 2010 in Michigan is one of the best he's seen in this state.
  
  "It's a very good year," he said. "I'll probably have two players from Michigan in my top 10. (Quarterback) Devin Gardner (Inkster) is the real thing. He has an NFL body. William Gholston (Detroit Southeastern) has long arms, quick feet and a good burst. It's a good year for defensive ends and he's right there with the best of them." (bold mine) Top 10 Wow! OK, that's great news.

• 4 Star CB Nickell Robey from Florida plans to camp at Michigan this summer.

• 4 Star Safety Latwan Anderson from Cleveland plans to camp at Michigan this summer.
  
  

Was Greg Robinson a good hire for Michigan?

At first, I was not a big fan of the hire of Greg Robinson for Michigan's defensive coordinator. He had just come off a 10-37 record as the head coach of Syracuse, so I'm sure many shared my same feelings. That was my initial reaction to the hiring.

Then I thought, what if Michigan had hired former Notre Dame and Washington coach Ty Willingham? I thought that would have been a very good hire for Michigan. What would have made the Ty hire a good one and the actual hire of Greg a bad one? I needed to look into why I felt this way.

Then Mark Snyder from the Free Press wrote a story about Greg yesterday and totally changed my mind. If you read Big House Blog regularly you know that I believe good coordinators don't always make a good head coach. Not everyone has leadership skills.

I also believe that good coaches run together. They have respect for each other, hire each other, and keep in touch with each other. I was surprised to learn that Greg's former teammate and friend in college Pete Carroll helped him get his first job. I was also surprised to learn that Greg was first hired by Monte Kiffin, one of the best defensive coaches ever. To quote Snyder for the Freep: Kiffin and Carroll are regarded as two of the top defensive minds in football at any level, and that only can help improve a Michigan defense that allowed the most points in modern program history. I also believe, Pete, Monte, and Greg are good examples that being a great coordinator does not make a great head coach. Pete failed as a head coach a number of times in the NFL before he found his perfect situation at USC and Monte just left Tampa Bay to be the DC under his son at Tennessee, which pretty much gives up on him getting another head coaching job.

Mac Brown, Texas head coach also called Robinson, "the best defensive coordinator in the country". So what does Mac Brown, Pete Carroll, and Monte Kiffin know about Greg that I don't? It actually looks like a lot! Here are a couple of highlights from Greg's resume:

• 10 years experience as an NFL DC
• 2 Super Bowl Rings
• Experience as an offensive coordinator at UCLA
• Experience as an defensive coordinator at Texas
• Former Head Coach at Syracuse

That is an impressive resume and he came to Michigan for $275,000 a year. Now don't get me wrong, that is good money in today's economy but when you compare it other DC's salaries at major program's that are over or close to a Million dollars a year, Greg's pay check wouldn't compare. Heck, Michigan's now famous strength and conditioning coach makes $250,000 a year.

So was this a good hire for Michigan? The proof will be on the field, but the answer has to be Yes. Rich Rod got a guy with great experience that has a chance to turn around a defense that gave up the most points in Michigan history, while paying him only $275K a year. Yes, I would call that a good hire.

• Redshirt freshman offensive lineman Kurt Wermers won't return to Wolverines this fall. He wasn't on the two deep depth chart for this Fall and hadn't gotten any spring practice buzz. So he most likely left to find some playing time.

• What about Grady? Rodriguez also said he plans to talk with senior running back Kevin Grady, who was jailed last week for probation violations related to a drunk driving conviction. The coach said he wouldn't decide on Grady's future with the team until the two had a discussion.
  
  
• More to departures to come? "Stay tuned," he said. "There's a couple guys I'm gonna sit with here. Just guys that maybe if they're not doing all their responsibilities and doing what they need to do to be part of our football program may not be back. I hope that's not too many."

Kevin Grady is in Jail and Most likely done as a Wolverine

From the Grand Rapids Press:

Grady pleaded guilty Thursday to a probation violation and Wyoming District Judge Steven Timmers sentenced him to the jail term.

Grady, 22, had avoided jail until now, but was serving a year of probation after he pleaded guilty in August to driving while intoxicated. A Wyoming police officer stopped his 2007 GMC Yukon Denali in the early morning hours of July 2 near 44th Street SW and Byron Center Avenue. Police later tested his blood-alcohol level at .24 -- three times the legal limit.

Court officials said he failed to properly report to probation agents in Ann Arbor, failed to complete a victim impact panel and alcohol highway safety education class, failed to complete 24 hours of community service and tested positive for opiates, a type of pain killer.

BHB Perspective: Grady had a huge upside when he arrived in Ann Arbor as a 5 star running back and rated as one of the best players in the country. When he got on the field, he showed glimpses of greatness but mostly poor vision in finding the holes and lost most of his playing time to Michigan legend Mike Hart.

Grady then suffered an ACL injury that cost him an entire season, rehabbed his injury and was reportedly ready for a break out year when he received the above DUI. Grady got a slap on the wrist as a first time violator from the court and from Coach Rod only missing one game. I thought at the time that Grady might be kicked off the team, I was wrong in the fact that kids do make mistakes and this was his first. He deserved a second chance.

Now he doesn't. I know expect that Kevin will kicked off the Michigan football team after this latest incident. I really had hoped Kevin had learned his lesson but he has now crossed the line with his second offense. Rich Rod was in Chicago yesterday for an event and could not be reached for a comment, expect something official from him this weekend.

Michigan had both Grady brothers, one on the basketball court and one of the football field. Now one is gone and the other one, has a foot out the door.

Big House Thursday: Volunteers to Forfeit a game

Question: How would the Michigan football team help North Carolina A&T get a win next season?

Answer: No this is not a trick question and the answers aren't: 1) By playing them or 2) having something to do with Lary Raper.

The real answer is: Delaware State can't agree with North Carolina A&T on a reschedule date for October 17th when Delaware State plays Michigan in Ann Arbor. So basically, Delaware State is taking the money for hopefully two loses (for those keeping score at home - One to Michigan and one to NC A&T).

• Charlie Weis Tweets about preparing for Michigan: "Today is Day 3 of Michigan week. While the assistant coaches cover the nation recruiting, I’m now on our second opponent...This preparation is different than preparation for Nevada for two reasons. Offensively, Michigan is in year two of a new system. ... Defensively, a new defensive coordinator causes you to study Michigan’s personnel from last year, but Syracuse’s scheme ...This is far less predictable. One big difference between Nevada & Michigan is that Michigan will have played 1 game prior to ours.

• Greg Paulus picks Syracuse - and no it wasn't over Michigan. That possibility died a month ago. His two final choices were Nebraska or Syracuse.

• Brian Griese is expected to be cut by Tampa Bay this week. I'm sure the 34 year old Griese will find another back up job with another NFL team.

• Tennessee Transfer to play at Grand Valley State University: Darris Sawtelle a 6"6, 320 lbs. Offensive Tackle has left the Volunteers and will head back to Michigan to play at GVSU. Darris was a top 15 recruit in the state of Michigan two years ago. Darris recalls his conversation with Lane Kiffin: "He pretty much told me I didn't fit into the offense," Sawtelle said. Sawtelle, a Birmingham Brother Rice graduate, is the second high-profile transfer since last football season to choose Grand Valley. James Stallons, a quarterback from Macomb, left Wisconsin and will join the Lakers in the fall.

Video of RR at a Alumni Event

Lion King reference coming..........




HT: Michigan Sports Center

Wolverine Wednesday - News and Notes

• Michigan's spring game finished 7th nationally in attendance. Look for that 50k to grow in upcoming years if they keep up the fun events and the admission free.

• Offensive lineman Eric Mack (6-4, 310) from Calhoun County High in South Carolina picked up a Michigan offer last week.

• Friend of the family, Brad Darr was elected into U of M's Track and Field Hall of Fame. Brad was the first and only man to clear 18-feet in the pole vault in school history and won the Big Ten outdoor title as a senior. Brad also earned two indoor and one outdoor All-American distinction during his career with the Wolverines. His indoor (17-10 1/4) and outdoor pole vault records still stand.

• Tim Floyd might have used cash to get OJ Mayo to USC. Yikes. Reggie Bush had no comment on the story. If you remember, Tommy Amaker was really recruiting OJ hard. I'm glad Tommy didn't give OJ a $1000 handshake.

Michigan loses it's Strength and Conditioning Coach

No, not that one. It was announced on Monday that Mike Curtis is heading back to his alma mater Virgina to be the S&C coach for the men's basketball team. Mike was the S&C coach for the Men's and Women's Michigan basketball squads in 2008 and made a big difference in conditioning for both programs.

As many know, both John Beilein and Rich Rodriguez upgraded the conditioning programs when they came from WVU. When I say updated, they went from Michigan's traditional "caveman" like program to a high intensity modern program. Mike Barwis who works with the football team is already at "rock star" status and Mike Curtis who was from the Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA brought in a new type of professionalism to the Michigan Basketball program and surely had a impact on the Wolverines making it to the NCAA tournament last year.

Here is what Mike had to say about leaving Michigan and his new opportunity:

“It was a difficult decision to leave a great institution like the University of Michigan and a fine coach in John Beilein, but the state of Virginia and the University are, and always will be, home for me. I am eager to utilize my experiences both at the University and professionally to better prepare our basketball athletes for their experiences in the Atlantic Coast Conference and beyond.”

• Threet gives his thoughts on who might start next year. Wow, thanks Steve. Maybe you should worry about ASU now. "I feel like Tate has a good opportunity coming in early with the extra reps in the spring and that should be beneficial," he said. "But Nick does a good job of executing the offense the way they want it to be run. People may point out the physical things Tate or Denard may have at a physical advantage, but a lot of time at quarterback in this system comes down to decision-making."

• Michigan is still a big fan of Pahokee High School and just offered three more Blue Devils: linebacker Zachary Allen, cornerback Merrill Noel and defensive tackle Richard Ash. They also have offered wide receiver Chris Dunkley, who will be transferring to Pahokee from Royal Palm Beach High for his senior season. All Panhokee players with Michigan offers are planning to attend Michigan's camp in June with thier head coach Blaze Thompson.

• Deanrd Robinson runs 3rd in the State of Florida in the 100. Maybe he shouldn't have run in those work boots. He is in lane 2.

• Remember when I said Jevohn Shepherd should be getting more time on the court for the Michigan Basketball team? Well, he now has a pre-draft work out for the Toronto Raptors. Jevohn is originally from Toronto. Maybe another D-league star!

2 Wolverine Recurits Earn MVP honors at Scout.com Chicago Combine

One of these guys was not a surprise, the other was.

The defensive MVP went to: Mylan "clamps" Hicks a cornerback from Detroit Renaissance. Here are some highlights from his MVP performance:

• Measured in at over 5"11
• Ran a 4.49 on a tweaked hamstring
• Shuttle time at 4.23
• per Alan Trieu at Scouts: This kid is confident, aggressive and cannot stand giving up completions. He is a competitor and a battler. He came up and pressed several receivers into the ground and into the sideline. His feet are very quick and his makeup speed is good, so that, combined with his physicality really makes him a great all-around package.
• Current offers from: Syracuse, Missouri, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Purdue and Michigan

The Offensive MVP went to a 2011 WR recruit from Saginaw, Michigan: DeAnthony Arnett. Getting these awards are harder for younger players but DeAnthony was impressive in Chicago.

• Ran a 4.51 in the 40 while recovering from a sprained ankle from earlier in the week
• A 4.32 Shuttle time as well
• Was smooth and quick out of his breaks
• Alan from Scouts on DeAnthony: In 1-1s, his route running was impressive and his quickness off the line allowed him to get off the line against some of the more physical defenders. He made a couple of great leaping grabs and drew some oohs and aahhs from the peanut gallery on several double moves where he left his man.
• Offers: Only one from Michigan. Tennessee, MSU and Wisconsin have shown recent interest.

Michigan isn't the only school that losses players due to a Coaching Change

Last year Michigan lost a few high profile players off it's team due to the retirement of Lloyd Carr. They lost a 5 star QB (Ryan Mallet) and an offensive lineman (Justin Boren) that would rather pay his own way at Ohio State, then face Mike Barwis in the weight room everyday. Justin even threw a blast as he was heading out the door at Rich Rod and staff by saying, "Michigan had lost it's family values". Which is funny because some may question that Justin choose to pay his own way at Ohio State so his lower rated brother could get a scholarship in Ohio State's 2009 recruiting class.

Anyway, this post isn't about Justin Boren, it's about player losses when a new coach takes over a program. Over the past two years, I have counted 11 Wolverines that have "left the program" for one reason or another: Zion Babb, Justin Boren, Artis Chambers, Avery Horn, Jason Kates, Ryan Mallett, Sam McGuffie, Quinton Patilla, Marques Slocum and the recent departures of Stephen Threet (Transfer Hall of Fame) and Toney Clemons.

There were 22 coaching changes in division 1 NCAA college football last year. Out of those 22 new jobs; 17 of them were hires outside the current coaching staff. So I thought I would take a look a few high profile schools (Tennessee, Syracuse, Auburn, & Washington) and see how many players they have lost so far this Spring.

We have all heard by now the "unique" coaching style that Lane Kiffin has brought to the Volunteers and none of us are surprised that he has lost the most players to date with 11. Lane is just going to be Lane and will continue to sign players with past rape charges and say "no thanks" to 5 star quarterbacks that had already verbally committed to his school. I thought Rich Rod got a lot of attention in his first few months. Lane has taken the media attention up a couple of notches. Keep up the good work Lane! The SEC needed some more coaches with strong personalities.

Next is Syracuse, where former Orangemen and New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator Doug Marrone took over the reigns from current Michigan defensive coordinator Greg Robinson. It seems Michigan and Syracuse worked some type of trade in the off season where Syracuse sent Michigan it's un-successful head coach and Michigan traded their un-successful defensive coordinator (Scott Shafer) to the Orangemen. So far the change in management in northern New York has caused at least 5 defections that we know of so far. We will see how the rest of the summer plays out.

Auburn who made one of the most controversial hires this past off season by hiring Gene Chizik, the former Auburn defensive coordinator and now the former head coach at Iowa State. Gene was an un-impressive 5-19 in two seasons leading Iowa State's rebuilding process. So did Aubrun get a guy on the verge of becoming one of the hottest candidates out there (if he turned Iowa State around in a year or two) or did they get a guy that really doesn't know how to be a head coach yet? Only time will tell, but being a good coordinator doesn't mean you will be a good head coach. Not everyone has leadership skills. So you ask, how many players have left the Auburn program so far? The list comes in at 4 at this point. Which is not too bad for a new head coach.

Maybe the most impressive job of keeping your players in tact is at U of W, where Steve Sarkisian replaced Tyrone Willingham and the win-less Huskies in 2008. Steve has manged to only lose 2 players, one to academic reasons and the other was to injury and not wanting to play football anymore. Those departures could be seen as a normal occurrence to any program across the nation. Well done Steve on keeping your guys in the boat, now let's see if they can all row in the same direction.

The moral of this story is that when you make a major change in leadership in college football or in any organization you are going to lose people. These changes could be good or they could be bad, but thinking that everyone is going to be happy with change is not realistic. Everyone will have their reasons, for Mallett and Threet it was because they didn't fit the system, for Boren it was because he didn't have Carr has his security blanket anymore.

I'm sure each player that leaves Kiffin's closet will have their reasons as well. I just hope for the boosters that are helping pay these million dollar salaries that these changes equal more wins and championships or these fellas are going to have a short lease.

Michigan's 2010 Recruiting Class Player Rankings

Well, quite frankly they are all over the board and will continue to change from now until signing day. Coming into the season most Michigan fans thought, Devin Gardner, Ricardo Miller, and Marvin Robinson were borderline 5 star guys or very high 4 star players.

In Rivals latest top 100: none of them were in it: Marvin Robinson # 109, Ricardo Miller #139, Devin Gardner #189.

Scout is not as bad but close: Devin Gardner #77, Ricardo Miller #115, Marvin Robinson #147.

But the Sporting News top 100 makes a little more sense to Wolverine fans: Ricardo Miller #26, Devin Gardner #31 and Marvin Robinson # 90.

These ranking are more in line what the Michigan faithful had hoped for. Let's hope Rivals and Scout see the light before signing day.

• Sharrif Floyd, plans to announce at the 2010 Army All American Game in January. He will also visit Florida this summer. Michigan is on his long list of offers and schools he is interested in.

Michigan's New QB is Fast, Really Fast....................

Photo courtesy of the Miami Herald: From left, Deerfield Beach track coach Kenny Brown, Cassius McDowell, Adrian Witty, Denard Robinson and Donte Dotson.

Of course we are talking about Denard Robinson and his current and future Wolverine team- mate Adrian Witty.

This from the Miami Herald today:

Robinson enters with a career-best 10.44 in the 100, which ranks second to Tampa Chamberlain's Dentarius Locke (10.31) -- the top seed in Florida and No. 10 in the nation by MileSplit.com.

The Bucks believe victory is a foregone conclusion if Robinson gets the baton tied or even a few steps behind the lead on the anchor leg.

''Coach has pushed me way more and my teammates have pushed me,'' Robinson said. ``I feel very good in the 100. I'm stronger in the 200, too. I'm hoping to win all three. It means a lot to defend our relay title. We can't settle for anything less.''

Denard's track coach also believes Denard will eventually end up in the NFL. I can't wait to see that break away speed next Fall. Could Adrian be a diamond in the rough? He was only ranked as a 3 star player but with his track speed, could also be a surprisingly nice talent for the Wolverines the next 4-5 years.

• 6"4 178 pound athlete from Detroit Cass Tech, Daniel Easterly recently got an offer from Missouri. The Wolverines have yet to offered the Cass Tech star. Daniel's current offer list includes: Wisconsin, Illinois, Purdue, Louisville, Minnesota, and MSU. If Easterly is to get a Wolverine offer, expect it to happen this summer during Camp season.

• U of M Sports did very well in the NCAA's APR (Academic Progress Rate) Scoring: All of U-M's varsity sports teams scored above the NCAA's desired 925 level, with four teams -- men's cross-country, men's golf, women's golf and women's tennis -- obtaining perfect scores. Men's indoor and outdoor track finished within the top 10% of all sports as well.

Another Gholston at Ohio State?

As Michigan fans we hope Ohio State doesn't get anymore Gholston family members. Some of you may not know the #1 ranked player prospect out of the state of Michigan this year is William Gholston who is a 6"7 237 pound defensive end. As you may have guessed by now, Williams is the cousin of former Buckeye and first round draft pick by the NY Jets Vernon Gholston.

We all remember this don't we:

Vernon ironically has been seen as one of the biggest "busts" from last year draft. He was available for 15 games last year for the Jets and only made 13 tackles. This year he has a new defensive minded head coach who said some good things about him during last months mini camp: Ryan said he's pleased with LB Vernon Gholston through three practices. "He's out there flying to the ball," said Ryan. "He has made a couple of sacks. I'm happy he's here."

So will William follow in his cousins footsteps? Well, that wasn't an option until yesterday, because the Buckeye's hadn't offered the 47th ranked player in the nation. But now they have and all the other top programs will have to deal with the Gholston legacy in Columbus. Some of the other top programs that have offered William include: Michigan, MSU, Alabama, Oklahoma, LSU, Florida, Florida State, Tennessee, and many others.

Only time will tell what happens in his recruitment, but I'm sure Rich Rod and staff are going to try to keep the 2010 version of "Big Will" to stay close to home in Ann Arbor but the team to beat could be the Spartans who William named his leader some time ago. Getting William's signature on signing day would be huge for Mark Dantonio and the Michigan State program, who are regularly not a factor in recruiting some of the highest ranked players in the country.

• Michigan is still in need of defensive tackles in the 2010 class: They currently have offered: Salt Lake Cities Ricky Heimuli who comes in at 6-4, 280-pounds and Philadelphia's George Washington Sharrif Floyd who is 6-3, 294 pounds and just had a very good performance at the Penn State Nike Camp last weekend.

• Larry Foote has agreed to a one year deal with the Detroit Lions.

• DB Tony Grimes (6-0 170) of Hollywood, FL is sporting a Wolverine offer as well as other programs you may have heard of like: West Virginia, Texas Tech, Vanderbilt, Purdue, Oregon, Florida Atlantic, South Florida, Toledo and Ole Miss.

• From the Sporting News: Spring football is officially over. What was the single-biggest development? Hayes: Michigan may have found a quarterback, and I stress the word may. Tate Forcier put up those huge numbers against second- and third-team defenders, but he picked up the offense quickly and understands what they want him to do within the scheme. The two guys last year couldn't do that in an entire season.

Drafted and Non-Drafted Wolverine Update

• Morgan Trent, gets a pick and then breaks his foot in Bengals Camp. On Sunday night, the Dayton Daily News reported he is out until training camp after suffering a foot injury Saturday. He had a screw inserted to repair a small bone fracture.

• Larry Foote was officially released by the Steelers. He will visit the Lions today. Look for him to sign with the Lions by the end of the week.

• Carson Butler is in a 4 TE race to make the Packers roster: "In the only practice open to reporters, Butler showed his 4.7-second speed in the 40-yard dash with a long reception down the middle of the field during a team drill. He caught passes well and comes with a lot of experience blocking in (Lloyd) Carr's run-oriented offense." I'm not sure where Carson got this rep as a good blocker. IMO, that is a exact opposite of his time in Ann Arbor. I'm not sure he ever blocked anyone as a Wolverine, except that nerd be beat up that got his suspended from the team.

• Terrance Taylor is the "largest" Colt on Defense at 319 pounds: "It makes me feel good," Taylor said. "It's always good to go to a place where they need you. You're not just there because they had another pick. They've got a lot of great veterans and leaders I can learn from."

• Curt Anes had a bad weekend. If you remember Curt led Grand Valley State's football team to a national championship back in 2002 and also set a number of passing records at the school. This weekend he was pulled over for drunk driving and the Police found cocaine in his wallet.
  

Big House Monday: New 2010 Wolverine Recruits go Camping!

Devin Gardner, Michigan's top verbal commitment at the quarterback position for 2010 was named the overall MVP at the Scout.com Combine in Cincinnati:

Gardner, who stands 6-foot-4, 200-pounds took snaps at quarterback, wide receiver and defensive back throughout the day showing great poise and ability at each position.

Not only did Gardner do it during football drills he also tested well during the combine portion of the event posting a 4.57 forty and came to Cincinnati with the desire to show he wanted to be a great player and not just another big name on the recruiting scene.

Spending time at all those positions you can tell that Devin is a really good athlete!

• Cullen Christian, a DB from Pittsburgh that is reportedly a heavy Michigan lean was named the MVP at DB at the recent Penn State Nike Camp.



• A Former Wolverine LaMarr Woodley goes to the Wolverine X-Men premier. With LaMarr's "ink" below, I think you could guess he is a big fan of the Movie and of course a proud Wolverine!


• Bashaud Breeland (6-2, 200) a Defensive back from Allendale-Fairfax, South Carolina is posting some impressive offers from: Syracuse, Penn State, Marshall, USC, Clemson, Wake Forest, NC State, Tennessee, Maryland and Michigan. He will camp this summer at Clemson, USC, Georgia Tech and possibly Alabama.
  


• South Carolina recently offered defensive back Keion Payne (6-1, 165) of Miami. He also has offers from Florida State, Mississippi, Purdue, Wake Forest and Oregon and he he’s getting contact from Florida, Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan, Tennessee, Alabama and West Virginia. He has visited Georgia, Ohio State, Florida State, Florida, Tennessee and Alabama and wants to visits USC.

What's the Dileo? Michigan gets it's 10th Commitment for 2010

Drew Dileo is a 5"11 175 pound slot receiver from Louisiana. One LSU recruiting service has him ranked as the 42nd player in the state and ESPN, Rivals, and Scouts aren't high on him either.

So why did Michigan offer him? Well, he does fit RR's system and he did have a decent offer sheet from schools like Stanford, Virgina, Northwestern, Tulane, and Rice. But come on? Don't we have like a 100 slot guys already and some top flight WR's in the 2010 class?

Believe me when I say, I hope this kid does great at Michigan, but I really don't understand this offer. Michigan has 50% of it's class filled and in on a number of guys that are 4 and 5 star talents. This kid rushed for 760 yards last year and caught 21 passes for another 360 yards. His 40 time is reported "fast" at 4.5.

I don't know Drew or really anything about him, but doing research for this post, he looks like a Northwestern player and not a Wolverine. I'm sure he is a good student and that is why some of the better academic institutions had offered him.

Either way, I give this commitment 60/40 odds (60% he decides or the Michigan coaches decide he should go elsewhere) of sticking.

As always, here is the recruiting info from Varsity Blue:

Recruiting Notes
Michigan is in on a number of slot receivers, and news about Dileo was not generally more positive than on any of the other players they were pursuing. However, when The Advocate broke the news of his commitment today, it was not shocking, as Dileo had been rumored to be favoring Michigan (if slightly) for quite some time. He committed today, but without having seen the campus. Until he manages to get in a visit to Ann Arbor, remain a little wary about his commitment sticking, DeQuinta Jones-style. He’s probably not quite that soft, but it’s tough to be firmly committed sight-unseen.

Player Notes
Dileo is a wideout/running back/db for his small Baptist school (still a powerhouse -he was the MVP of their state championship team as a sophomore in 2007), but will likely play in the slot at Michigan. Many Wolverine fans may see “5-11, 175-lb white kid” and immediately think Sam McGuffie, and perhaps a less freaky-fast version of the departed McGuffie may be a good comparison. However, if Dileo is able to start his career in the slot, rather than at running back where McGuffie took hit after hit for most of last year, he’ll hopefully be ably to stay a bit more healthy.