Friday, December 3, 2010

Michigan Friday: Is Dee's Heart with Michigan?

One of the things that Michigan fans were worried about in David Brandon's timetable to make a decision on Rich Rodriguez and the future of this program is it's impact on recruiting to the 2011 class.  When people say "impact" they are really talking about *Dee Hart.   The reason this timetable effects Dee more then any other recruit are a few things
  1. Dee plans to enroll early
  2. Dee believes he fits the RR spread very well
  3. Dee's best friend is going to Alabama
  4. Dee has been invited to play in the Army All American game 
If David Brandon plans to make a decision in early January that means Dee would have to make a "leap of faith" and enroll early and hope RR stays.  Or he waits until Summer to enroll at Michigan.  He also has to decide if he wants to play in the Army All American Bowl which is on January 8th. 

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

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

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

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



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


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

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

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

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


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

Some of the second hand information on the night:
  • Denard told the seniors that they were going to get a Win in the bowl game and send the seniors out right.

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

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

6 comments:

uncle ron said...

Bob,
Help me out here, I see all this noise coming from "alumni" to get rid of Rich, did anyone of them stop and think how long it took them to get through school at Michigan ? What 4-6-8 years and were they succesfull in life as soon as they graduated or did it take a few more years to accomplish that task.
At least we so called Wal-Mart wolverines care about the school, the football program, The Coaches, and especially the kids on this team.
We also believe in the theory that the glass is half full instead of half empty, as is preached by the Alumni.
So is this all about the "money" again...sad.
I'll take faith any day over verbal rambling from the cultured masses anyday.

Bob said...

I know winning is important but it has to be more then that and DB has always said that.

Thats what so strange about his timeline. I just don't see an upside in it.

If RR is his guy, say it now. If he isn't then fire him and have Greg Robinson coach the bowl game. (that is a joke!)

What is he going to see in the next 3 weeks that is going to change his mind? A bowl win or loss? That is too short sided for my taste.

Voice of Reason said...

There was a caller on today's Recruiting Roundup that finished out the segment with a good point; David Brandon's hold out only makes sense if he has already made a decision to make a coaching change, because if you keep him and announce it later then you lose some of RR's key recruits by waiting.

I personally would give RR one more year, and if you need to use this time to evaluate specific coaches on his staff that's another thing. If players aren't developing then you have to look at position coaches.

David Brandon I guess believes that the bottom line is to do what is best for the Michigan program, and I agree with that, however, in this case I believe that waiting to announce does more harm than good.

JQP said...

I also think a change is going to happen. I think DB is being patient to announce in respect for the new coach and his former school, a classy move. Something Martin didn't do.

Who wants a crybaby coach let alone a crybaby coach who's devastated a proud program? Last night's performance sounds simply pathetic. I wasn't there, but I'm feeling embarrassed.

Voice of Reason said...

This entire fiasco was created by David Brandon himself. He "announced" that he would reevaluate the program after the season. That gave legs to the rumors of a possible coaching change. Had David Brandon been smart about it, he would have kept this under his hat, evaluated the program and then announced any change if he felt it was necessary to do so.

Now DB has created a monster that needs to be fed or destroyed. If Mary Sue Coleman made a statement, that she will evaluate the athletic department at the end of the year, what sort of rumor do you think that would start?

maize n blue blood said...

Is this the loss for the gain or what? This s**t has become so frustrating and the coaching decision. Fire him, keep him......... WTF.

RR has done a pretty decent so far and i believe it will get better as long as we get another DC, which is our only problem.

Back to the days of transitions and decommits. We will soon be in the MAC conference if we keep this up.

Get it through your heads that Harbaugh is not coming. Hoke would probably be the next in line. Who know's and who cares at this point. We have a big date with BAMA in 2012 and with all this goin on we won't be ready and this will be a big embarrasment.

Carr just needed a S&C coach.
RR just needed a DC.
? just needs a ??????????

this is the words of a pissed off wolverine fan. let's stick with RR and look forward. he deserves 2more years and a new DC. with that in place we should have another national championship in our hand. I BELIEVE!!!!!!!

ask suck a** herbstreit former suckeye, who leaked the LES MILES michigan story cause he was scared for the SUCKEYES. so ask is suck a** who is the next MICHIGAN HC