Michigan Friday: Recruiting News and Notes

• 2011 WR from Warren, Michigan, Ben McCord made it to Michigan's Junior Day last weekend: "I went to the junior day at Michigan this past weekend. It was very good. It was my second time being up there for a visit. They are interested in me. They just want me to work harder and keep doing good in school and on the field."

• Per Sam Webb at WTKA and Scout, Michigan is still in the running for one of the best basketball players in the state, Mt. Pleasant's Trey Zeigler. John Beilein needs a big recruiting win after the year the Wolverines have had on the court.

• Scott Van Pelt gives his take on Michigan's Allegations on his ESPN Radio show. (It's positive)

• Michigan's DB Coach, Tony Gibson thinks Donovan Warren will have a long career in the NFL:“I think he’ll be a guy that plays at least 10 years in the league as long as he can stay away from injury and that kind of thing because he’s a talented kid,” Gibson said.

• TomVH Recruiting insider from Mgoblog says that recruits are talking about the allegations and the what it will all mean. At least this will be over in Late Summer/Early Fall.

• 2011 wide receiver DeAnthony Arnett (Saginaw, Mich) got an Oklahoma offer today.
  "Oklahoma just offered," Arnett said. "I called up one of their coaches, Jay Norvell. He said I have the offer. He said they would get the papers out as soon as possible.
  "Oklahoma certified my list, but I'm still waiting on Ohio State." That doesn't seem to promising for the Maize and Blue.
  

Michigan Thursday: Time to Talk About Other Things

Being a Michigan Football Blogger these days is like following your favorite NFL Team, there is always something to talk about. As a Michigan fan, I'm sick and tired of reading what Quality Control Staffers do and incomplete practice forms that didn't take warming up or stretching into consideration. So I scoured the Internet looking for other Michigan Football news to give to you.

• More Michigan Walk On News: Kristian Mateus, a football player from Forest Hills Central will join the 2010 Wolverines as a Preferred Walk On. Kristian is 6'8 and 285 pounds offensive lineman. That is not a typo he is really 6'8! Kristian gives the standard walk on quote: “Coach (Rich) Rodriguez was a walk-on himself, so he has made a commitment to make a walk-on feel as comfortable as possible,” Mateus said. “I was recruited by Michigan, took a visit there, went to camp there last summer, and it’s the place I want to be.” Mateus is not rated by either recruiting service and didn't seem to have any D1 offers. At 6"8 and nearly 300 pounds, I would say that is an interesting pick up for a walk on.

• 2011 DT from Ohio has MSU family ties: Kevin Williams High School Coach believes that Kevin is about to explode on the recruiting trial: "Being a former college coach and NFL coach, I knew he was going to blow up when I put his film out there and started making the calls," Marrow said. "My belief is that Kevin Williams is not just the top D-tackle in the Midwest, he is one of the top D-tackles in the country. I'm talking top five." Kevin' step-dad with a MSU guy and for every fathers day they go back to East Lansing for Pizza and Couching burning (just kidding Sparty! - it's actually to walk the campus). Kevin was at Michigan on Saturday for it's junior day and Sunday up to Michigan State. He is planning trips to ND, Ohio State, and Nebraska. His high school coach it friends with Bo Pelini. So this is going to be a tussle for the Wolverines to pick Kevin away from the Spartans and Cornhuskers.

• Ohio 2011 DE Bryan Baird visited the Wolverines this past weekend as well: “When I went there, I had a great time. I met Coach Rod. It’s been my fourth visit up there, so I mean I’m getting to know all of them a lot. It’s getting more personal. I was with my recruiting coach, Tony Dews, and we watched the basketball game and just had a lot of fun.”

• The NFL Combine in Indy kicks off today and there will be 4 Wolverines in attendance: Brandon Graham is of course the highest rated Wolverine draftee, Donovan Warren is the Michigan junior who is heading to the NFL early, Brandon Minor is the former Michigan running back that will not participate in any of the workouts due to his off season shoulder surgery, and Zoltan Mesko the highest rated punter in this years draft. Good luck on the Wonderlick Boys!
  
  

What does this mean for Michigan Football?

Now what?

Is what most Michigan fans are thinking today. What happens now?

90 days seems like a long time and August seems even longer. In this day and age, we don't like to wait. We want answers and answers fast. The NCAA doesn't work that way, they are slow and make people wait. USC has been waiting 5 years to figure out the Reggie Bush situation.

The thing we do know, is this won't effect Rich Rodriquez job in 2010. But! With the findings/penalties most likely out in the Fall, RR can't have another losing season and keep his job. In his 3 years, he will have gone to zero bowl games and gotten the program on probation. If 2010 is anything like 2008 or 2009 on the field, Coach Rod will be looking for another job. At this point, I think that is pretty obvious.

So this is a make or break year for Coach Rod, no doubt. Before the NCAA letter, I would have said, he has until the end of his contract. Now he has to he end of 2010. A bowl game will maybe keep his job an 8-3 record will get people to forget "practice watch gate" ever happened. RR's contract has a cause in it for major violations. If Brandon wants to get rid of RR after 2010 he will have proper cause and most likely will not have to pay his buyout.

So that's the deal with the coaching situation. What about the overall program?

Brian at Mgoblog, did a great interview with a guy that runs an NCAA compliance blog. (isn't the Internet great!). You should read the full interview but here is what the compliance guy thinks Michigan is looking at in August:

Brian: Is there any possibility Michigan escapes a major infraction at this point? What do you think Michigan's penalties will be? If you think some of the accusations are walked back, what would they be in that case?

It's almost a certainty that come October or November, Michigan will be back on probation. The Committee on Infractions generally doesn't start flimsy cases. Look again at USC. Since the original Yahoo! Sports report about Reggie Bush, the COI could have sent a Notice of Allegations as a fishing expedition. But given the fact that they were dealing with a major football program, they couldn't afford to have the case blow up in their face. So they continued investigating, interview, asking for documentation, and working with USC to develop the case until they had a slam dunk.

I'm also confident the same five charges in the Notice of Allegations will be in the final report. Like I said earlier, the excessive practice is the most likely candidate to be reduced, but Michigan lacks the best tool for doing so: detailed logging of practice time during that period. Consistent and timely logs, though mistaken, would have been the best evidence that the violations were all an honest mistake.

I expect a lengthy list of penalties, but none of which are too severe. Despite Michigan's status as a repeat violator due to the Ed Martin case, the death penalty is clearly not in the cards. [Editor's note: I think this is meant to be reassuring.] Neither are more severe penalties like a postseason or TV ban. In fact, Michigan doesn't even need to vacate wins (unless it self-imposes) because these violations do not affect eligibility. I think you'll see a list like this:

- A reduction in countable coaches (one coach will have to be reassigned to a noncoaching position);

- A reduction in practice with a shorter spring season in 2011 and/or reduced hour limits;
Possibly recruiting restrictions, including limiting the number of coaches off-campus at any one time;

-Possibly a reduction of around three scholarships for a year or two;

-3-4 years probation (longer due to repeat violator status)

Combined I think they are a setback (which they're intended to be), but they aren't program crushing penalties that will take years to crawl out from like the Ed Martin penalties were.

Who Won? RR or The Freep

The answer is: Neither

This is Loss - Loss for both sides.

Freep's shotty reporting started a Michigan investigation which started an NCAA investigation. The report today is the results of what happens when the NCAA goes over your program/any program with a fine toothed comb. Did the Freep uncover Michigan cheating on purpose to gain an edge or did they waste thousands of dollars and hours? You can make your own decision, but I think you know where I stand on that topic. I think many of us would be happy if the Detroit News was the only "Detroit" paper in town. Does a city the size of Detroit really need two?

The Free Press thinks they were right. Michigan over exceeded some practice times by minutes and a couple of hours. Not by the 2 or 3x times they exaggerated in their original report. The guy that is suing U of M for the topics of the closed door Regents meeting should sue the Freep for exaggerating the truth or lack of research.

They were right in that some of the Quality Control Staff were working with players in coaching type of situations. This is really the only "real" charge in the report, in my opinion. Some state the opinion by the NCAA that RR failed to adequately monitor its football program to assure compliance is a damning statement. I find it overblown and a bit ridiculous. Since the NCAA basically said they broke the rules by a couple of hours of practice that may or may not have to do with preparing to practice with activities like stretching. One statement in the report, says by 20 minutes. Are you kidding me? What a waste of time and money.

If Michigan's QCS group did act like coaches during off season work outs then, Michigan should be punished with some type of wrist slap. Alex Herron, the grad assistant in the report is probably already looking for new work. The minor practice time overages will be fixed with the new tracking system. So it's too bad this is going to take 6 months to get resolved, when it seems like it could be wrapped up in 6 weeks.

If you interested in reading a fair write up on this situation, please see ESPN's Adam Rittenberg and Rival's and Yahoo's Dr. Saturday.

Michigan's Notice of Allegations from the NCAA

The University of Michigan received a notice of allegations from the NCAA yesterday morning. They have 90 days to respond and will meet with the NCAA in August. Here are the charges:

• Quality Control Staff (QCS) engaged in some type of "coaching" activity with football players. QCS members were not able to be in coaching meeting or give advice to athletes watching film, on specific skills. etc. The NCAA recently changed the rule that QCS members could now be in coaches meetings.
• The specifics around exceeding practice time allegations were very small. The NCAA found that there were 2 hours in out-of-season conditioning that where exceeded, a Sunday during the season where less then a hour was exceeded, and 20 minutes during the weekly in-season practices were exceeded.
• There was also an allegation where coaches disciplined a player or players for missing class during the summer. This is allowed during the season but not during the summer months. For example, a student athlete might have missed a couple of summer classes and had to run the stairs at the Big House (this is just a hypothetical example).
• Also a Grad Assistant had in-appropriate conduct during the investigation.

So there you have it. Here is my take:

First off, David Brandon handled the press conference like a pro. He is going to be a great addition to the Athletic Department. He was also very clear that the NCAA is not alleging any loss of institutional control, which comes with heavy penalties. These all seem to be minor charges on the NCAA penalty meter and have already been fixed internally at Michigan.

The QCS "coaching" seems to be the biggest of all the charges and what those staff members did or didn't do. There also seems to be wide spread confusion on the roles of those staff members across the country, since they just updated the rule that QCS members could now be in coaches meetings. Brandon was clear that those issues with the QCS have been fixed. Michigan's QCS members will not be in coaching meetings moving forward.

The practice hours exceeded seems trivial at best. Brandon said, there will be a new on-line system in place this Fall with work flow that goes all the way up to him and the University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman. This new system will track compliance practice hours to make sure they are not exceeded. The overage in time has to do with the definition "stretching" and whether it's practicing or not. (Really? Free Press you started this entire mess on over stretching? Well done, you guys really earned you pay check last fall. Nice Fish Wrap! )

The summer discipline and the grad assistant issues, should be easily cleared up with coaches education and personnel changes.

The next steps for U of M is to compare their findings with those of the NCAA. They will then respond to the changes in place to fix the issues and whether they want self sanction. The NCAA and U of M officials will meet in August to agree or disagree on the current changes and whether it deserves a harsher penalty. The one got ya here is the problems the basketball team had back in the 90's, the NCAA could see this as a double offense.

I don't expect a big penalty here, this is not academic fraud, paying players, gambling, and there wasn't any findings of anyone trying to deceive or knowingly break the rules (there is the issue of the grad assistant not being 100% truthful on his involvement) . The above charges can be found at any program across the country.

Update: the findings state that some of these charges are potentially considered major violations and that if U of M feels they are secondary violations they should state that in their response.

Michigan Tuesday is Storm Watching

There are some rumors flying around that Michigan is planning a press conference today to announce the finding of NCAA's investigation on "practice gate". This has not been confirmed by anyone, so we will see if this is true or not. As soon as I hear, you will get an update!

Update: Yes, it's official. The media will be briefed at 1:00 on the investigation today.

• How about them Winter Wolverines? A Pair of Wolverines win a Silver Medal in ice dancing.
• Per TomVH: Michigan has offered Dallas Crawford a DB from Fort Myers, Florida.
• Tom VH also says that 2011 DE Brennen Beyer is still a big fan of the Wolverines. I would say he is a strong Michigan lean right now.
• Michigan's DB coach Tony Gibson, says that JT Turner (5 star DB from the 2009 class) will start at one corner and they were very close to burning his redshirt last year.
• Michigan continued to have the highest average football attendance last year in over 108,000 a game.
• ESPN Rise says that Dondi Kirby, Gateway (Monroeville, Pa.) Defensive Back and teammate Armstead Williams, Linebacker both have a Michigan offer.

Michigan Monday: Weekend Wolverine Recruiting News

As we know, Michigan hosted it's second Junior Day of the recruiting season this past weekend. No matter if you love or hate Rich Rodriguez, you have to admit he has brought a number of new/positive events to the Michigan Football Program. Having a number of Junior Days gets players on campus and gets them familiar with the University of Michigan and they become more comfortable in being a future Wolverine.

Here are some news and notes from Junior Day:

• Michigan got Shawn Conway's commitment to the 2011 class this weekend. One of things missing from my post yesterday was his junior year stat's. Per Sam Web of WTKA and Scout: 79 catches, 800 yards, and 10 touchdowns. He also averages a double-double in basketball, 22 points and 10 boards per game.
• 2011 Athlete Cheatem Norrils from Toledo, Ohio made it to Junior Day.
• Melvin Gordon an Athlete (RB/WR) and the best player in the State of Wisconsin made it to Ann Arbor this weekend. He currently has offers from Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa.
• Andre Walker, a 6'5 355 pound offensive tackle prospect from Glenville in Ohio. He was by far the biggest guy at Junior Day. We know Glenville is basically OSU High School but it's a very good sign for the Wolverines to have this "huge" prospect in Ann Arbor early in the process.
• James Ross, Jr. a big time prospect for the 2012 class got a Michigan offer this weekend. So yes, Michigan is in early on a top instate prospect for 2012.
• 4 star DE Brennen Beyer from Plymouth, MI was in Ann Arbor on Saturday and at MSU on Sunday
• West Branch, MI Offensive Lineman prospect Anthony Zettel was in Ann Arbor as well.
• 2011 RB/WR prospect Justice Hayes from Grand Blanc was in Ann Arbor.
• AJ Jordan a WR prospect from Trotwood - Madison in Ohio made it North for the weekend. Michigan has signed 3 prospects from Trotwood the past couple of years with the names of Shaw, Roundtree, and Moore.
• 2011 DT prospect from Ohio, Kevin Williams also made it in.

There was another event this weekend and it was the first Victors Rally, an event that supports the Michigan Football program past, present, and future. Here are some highlights:

USA USA USA!

How about the USA Hockey Team beating Canada last night! A Spartan in goal and a Wolverine playing defense. I have never been so proud of a Sparty in all my life. Ryan Miller played a heck of a game. Jack Johnson is the former Wolverine on defense who was born and raised in Ann Arbor. I know it wasn't for a medal or anything but a win is a win.

A special shout out goes to the Bode Miller on getting his Gold Medal in Men's Skiing. We know Bode likes to party and this year he has partied all the way to two medals!

Michigan Receives it's 3rd Commitment for the 2011 Class

Michigan had it's junior day yesterday and some recruits even attended that "so called" basketball game. One junior from Birmingham decided that his Michigan offer was too good to pass up. That was WR prospect Shawn Conway. Shawn is 6'4 and 183 pounds and runs around a 4.5 40.

Shawn hasn't been rated by any of the recruiting services. Which isn't too strange, since the 2011 recruiting season is still pretty young, but still somewhat surprising that he didn't hit the radar of any of the local recruiting experts. Here is a quote from the local Oakland Press HS reporter via Mgoblog: I was out at Seaholm practice this morning and let me tell you, junior wide receiver Shawn Conway is the real deal holyfield. This kid runs like a gazelle, has hops like Kobe Bryant, and hands the size of King Kong.

That quote seems promising but a little overblown. I'm guessing he ends up a high 3 star in the next rankings on both sites. He will get to showcase his talents for both recruiting services next weekend at Michigan's 7 on 7 challenge. So his ceiling is a 4 stars with a great performance but he most likely ends up with 3 just on his 6'4 frame.

Speaking of his frame, a 6'4 WR that can jump and has great hands is something that sounds pretty exciting. The 183 pounds is a little scary, but hopefully he can add some weight this summer and during his senior year. If he can't put on 30+ pounds of muscle he is looking at a guaranteed redshirt. Shawn also plays basketball for Seaholm and had a very young inexperienced QB trying to get the ball to him.

With around 15 scholarships available for 2011, look for Michigan to add maybe one more "high profile" WR in this class. Michigan took plenty of WR's in 2010 and that position won't be a huge focus in 2011.

There is also a good short interview with Shawn from TomVH at Mgoblog.

Here is an excerpt:

TOM: Not a lot of people really know about you, how would you describe yourself?

SHAWN: I’m a hard worker, and I’m 6’4 with a 38 inch vertical. I tell my quarterback, if you feel pressure, just throw the ball up, and I’ll go get it. I’ll go up and make a play. My best 40 time was a 4.49, but on average it’s a 4.56

Michigan Friday: Misses Golf

How about that for a winter wonderland at Augusta National? With my luck, the day I finally get a tee time there would be the day this happens.

• Remember that Lansing Sexton RB Onaje Miller that has a Michigan offer? Well, he committed to MSU yesterday. So that was fast.
  


• Robert Davis sues the University of Michigan due to the meeting the Regents had on the NCAA Investigation a few weeks ago. Don't you guys have homes?

• Augustana College football coach Brad Salem has left his head coaching job to coach the running backs at Michigan State. I guess that is a promotion.

• Speaking of MSU running backs, Glenn Winston pleaded guilty to assault for the fight in a MSU dorm that got him kicked off the team for the second and final time. Sounds like he is going to have an extended term in jail this time.

Michigan Thursday Goes Kiper on Michigan's Draft Picks

Mel Kiper chimed in on Michigan's NFL draft prospects:

1) Brandon Graham: “I think his character and his every game bringing it and performing the way he did production wise, there’s a reason why now he’s a pick to go anywhere between say 20 and 32,” Kiper said.

2)Donovan Warren: likely will land in the third or fourth round. “He’s a physical corner, no question about that,” Kiper said. “He likes going head to head on an island with the best receivers in the country, he’s never had an issue with that. Anticipation is good. Gambler, though. Gave up some big plays.”

3)Brandon Minor: “I don’t think he goes before the fifth, sixth, seventh round, but he’s going to have a chance to make a football team in my opinion. Brandon Minor’s got ability.” - The recent shoulder surgery and his injury filled senior year hurt Brandon's status.

4) Zoltan Mesko: is the highest-rated punter in the draft, but that doesn’t mean he gets drafted. “I would say he probably goes undrafted,” Kiper said

Pretty much what I expected. I know Donovan prefers to be drafted higher and I thought Zoltan would for sure to get drafted. We will see.

• Former Michigan assistant coach Teryl Austin is Florida's new Defensive Coordinator. Seems like a unique choice to me.


• 2011 running back Andrew Buie from Jacksonville, FL has a Michigan offer.


• Mgoblog runs down the visitors for Junior Day this weekend.


• The #2 DB in the Nation for 2011, Doran Grant is from Ohio and has ties to Michigan State, ND, and of course OSU. He still is considering Michigan and will visit for Junior Day. He also has recent offers from USC and WVU.
• Ryan Mallett broke his foot and is out 3-4 months.

Wolverine Wednesday: Takes on Concussions

If you follow this blog, you know I have a "thing" for concussions. I believe that football teams don't take concussions seriously and put kids back in the game way too fast. It can happen at any level of football, High School, College and of course in the NFL. If you remember when Sam McGuffie was a Wolverine, I was of the opinion he should probably quit football altogether (he actually transferred from Michigan to Rice). Having 3 concussions in one year is very serious.

If you follow HBO's "Real Sports" program, they have done a number of reports on concussions and have studied the brains of NFL players that have died in their 50's. What they have found is that NFL players that have had a number of concussions have had an onset of early dementia or another way to say it is, their brains were equivalent to an 80-90 year old when they were only in their 50's. The show also talked about that it may not just be concussions that have an effect on the brain, the number of "regular" hits in practice and games can also cause serious damage. With that said, the University of Michigan believes they have developed a test where football players can take right on the sideline to see if they have a concussion or not: Using a long stick weighted with a hockey puck, the person administering the test must drop the device while the athlete tries to catch it as quickly as possible. Marks on the stick measure how quickly the athlete was able to react. The researchers gave the test to more than 200 uninjured athletes in Division 1 football, wrestling and women's soccer to test their reaction times. During the sports season, eight of those athletes suffered a concussion and took the test again. For seven of those athletes, it took 15 percent longer to catch the cylinder. The researchers say further clinical trials are needed, and the test wouldn't replace computerized diagnosis, but could be a more practical way to evaluate athletes soon after an injury.

This test is a inexpensive way for all football teams no matter what level to have on the sideline to test for concussions. As you might imagine, going back into a football game after getting a concussion can cause serious damage or even death.

• Safety Redshirt Freshman Isaiah Bell has put on some weight and now is a linebacker. "Redshirting was good for Isaiah in many ways," Liberty High School coach Jeff Whittaker said. "He needed some time to make the transition from high school to college football and just from high school to college. But he's excited about the opportunity to compete for playing time now and I think a year off has provided him extra incentive to get back on the field, doing what he loves."

• Michigan beat Iowa at Iowa last night in OT. DeShawn Sims hit a 3 to tie the game in regulation.

• 2011 Lansing Sexton running back Onaje Miller has a Michigan offer. The 5-foot-11, 190-pounder ran 216 times for 1,758 yards (8.1 yards per carry) and 26 touchdowns last fall, and also had seven more TDs as a kickoff/punt returner for a Sexton single-season record total of 33 scores. He also played safety.
  


• Tom Brady and Brandon Graham? It could happen. This article says The Patriots might draft BG!

• Marquise Williams a 2011 quarterback from North Carolina, is considering a visit up to Ann Arbor. Marquis is 6-4 and 220-pounds.

Michigan Tuesday: Wolverine News and Notes

• Vincent Smith is jogging after having ACL surgery 7 weeks ago and says he will be ready for Fall Camp. “Everything’s going good,” Smith said. “I’m getting the strength back and getting the balancing back and just walking good and jogging good on it, so everything looks good.”

• Cam Gordon is making a change from WR to Safety. “I just wanted to help the team,” Gordon said last week at a charity function for Michigan’s intramural sports programs. “That was my whole outlook on it. However possibly way I could help the team, that’s what I was doing, so if free safety was the position than that’s the position for me.”

• 50 Cent is shooting a new movie on Grand Valley's football field. Just think of the recruiting possibilities if he shot that at the Big House! :)

• New 2011 Wolverine Offers include: Cleveland Glenville QB Cardale Jones and Houston lineman, Kourtland Akins.

Michigan Tuesday: Should Devin Gardner Redshirt This Year?

One of the big questions around the Michigan football team this Spring and Summer is whether highly recruited dual threat QB Devin Gardner should redshirt during the 2010 season.

First off, I don't fully understand the redshirt rules. I thought you were able to participate in a few plays (like less then 10%) in the non-Big Ten season and still keep your redshirt status. The NCAA web sites says something completely different: You should know that NCAA rules indicate that any competition, regardless of time, during a season counts as one of your seasons of competition in that sport. It does not matter how long you were involved in a particular competition (for example, one play in a football game, one point in a volleyball match); you will be charged with one season of competition.

So with that explanation from the NCAA, let's talk about a few facts we didn't have a month ago:

• Devin has enrolled early. He got in late but got in.


• Since Devin had to catch up on class, he didn't start football training until earlier this month.


• Devin will be able to get 15 extra practices in the Spring and participate in the Spring Game.


• It seems that Nick Sheridan will become a graduate assistant and not play during his senior year.


• Devin's throwing mechanics digressed during his senior season and he dropped a few places in the QB rankings.

With the new news above, it seems Devin will be at worst the 3rd string QB going into the season with Nick not participating this year. There is also the belief that Michigan is going to try to get the ball in the hands of Denard Robinson more often. Devin is Michigan's talented and fast backup QB. We could see Denard at running back, slot WR, and even returning kickoffs in 2010. If you expose your second string QB to more hits, of course that increases his chances for injury. You will need a QB that is ready to play if both Tate and Denard go down, which would be Mr. Gardner.

On the other side of that, Michigan fans and Michigan coaches don't want to go through another year of a true freshman running the Rich Rod offense. Two years in a row is two too many! The best scenario I believe for Michigan fans and the Michigan program is for Devin to be the 3rd string QB, being ready to play, but not having to. This would give Devin more then a year practicing RR's offense and would separate Tate and Devin another year in eligibility. So my vote is to prepare like your going to play but let's hope he gets a redshirt. It would also be great if he could get some snaps against UMass and Bowling Green if he didn't have to burn a redshirt.

Another question you might have is: If it becomes an emergency situation and both Tate and Denard go down, does Michigan have another QB if they don't want to burn Devin's redshirt?

Answer: Yes, they have two guys. "President" Jack Kennedy, a redshirt Sophomore from Walled Lake, Michigan. Jack got a couple snaps against Delaware State last year. Also, Nadar Furrha, a redshirt Freshman for Ann Arbor Pioneer. Both guys are walk-on's and both are 5'11. It will be interesting to see how many snaps they both get in the Spring Game. That might go along way in forecasting what Michigan's QB strategy will be in 2010.

Michigan Monday: The Victors Rally

Rick Leach and others are hosting the first annual Victors Rally at the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor on Sunday, February 21st. This will be a celebration of Michigan Football past, present, and future. The guest speakers include Rich Rodriguez, Rick Leach, and other former players and coaches. I also expect a number of current players will be on hand to sign autographs. They are also saying there might be a few surprises??

Here are the logistics again: Michigan Theater, this Sunday from 1:00-3:30. Tickets are $5 for Adults, Students $2, and kids 12 and under are free. 734-668-time.

• Michigan has offered 2011 WR prospect from Massilon, OH Devin Smith. Devin is 6'1 and 175 pounds. Michigan will most likely only take 2 WR's in this class, so they will be very picky on who they offer. Devin right now has offers from MSU, Toledo, and Ball State. OSU is showing interest. Recent Michigan signee from the 2009 class, Justin Turner is also from Massilon.

• The New Big House Club Seats and Suites are selling well: Parker says 58 of the 81 suites are spoken for and 47 of them have been paid for completely, adding he's confident the other 11 will be soon.---- Parker said the school has commitments for 2,822 of its 3,685 club seats. How much you ask? Suites range in price from $55,000 to $85,000 and include 16 tickets, parking and a three-, five- or seven-year pledge. Club seats cost between $1,500 to $4,000 per seat plus the cost of tickets and include a one-year term. Eighty percent of costs for the suites and club seats are tax deductible.

• Former 5 star LB Arthur Brown leaves the University of Miami's program and heads home. His dad said that he was the one that made the decision: "I thought it was time for him to come home. He needed the support,'' Arthur Sr. said. " He has spent a tremendous amount of time away from people who love him." The above article states that Arthur was having a hard time grasping the Canes Defense the past two years.
  

Michigan Friday: 2011 State of Ohio Prospects

The University of Michigan Football program has a love hate relationship with the State of Ohio. Some Michigan fans might even question the use of the term, "Love" when it comes to the Buckeye state. When you consider that Ohio has produced Heisman Trophy winners like Desmond Howard and Charles Woodson, I would say there is some love there.

Ohio is also known as a great state for high school football and high school football talent. They are in the same discussion with the states of Texas and Florida for producing top collegiate talent.

So when the Michigan media starts to talk about, "Michigan State owning ( the state of ) Michigan recruiting", I say so what? I would rather have Michigan do well in Ohio, Texas, and Florida. Don't get me wrong, instate recruiting is important but on a year to year basis there is much more talent in other states.

Below is a list of Rival's 2011 Watch List prospect from Ohio. Compared to the list of Michigan recruits on the watch list, Ohio has 12 players on the list to Michigan's 5. Coach Rod already has one Ohio commitment for 2011, DB Greg Brown from Ross, OH.

Rival's Ohio List of 2011 Prospects (from their top 250 watch list):

Braxton Miller, Huber Heights (OH) Wayne QB
Cole Stoudt, Dublin (OH) Coffman QB
Trayion Durham, Cincinnati (OH) Colerain RB
Devin Smith, Massillon (OH) Washington WR
Shane Wynn, Cleveland (OH) Glenville WR
Aundrey Walker Cleveland (OH) OL
Kenny Hayes Toledo (OH) Whitmer DE verballed to OSU
Steve Miller Canton (OH) McKinley DE verballed to OSU (I wonder if he will be bringing his band as well to Columbus?)
Trey DePriest Springfield (OH) Springfield LB
Jarrett Grace Cincinnati (OH) Colerain LB
Andre Sturdivant Cleveland (OH) Glenville Academic Campus LB
Doran Grant Akron (OH) St. Vincent-St. Mary DB

Michigan has a number of offers out to the above group with Trey DePriest as the top priority.

As I mentioned yesterday, Michigan is hosting another Junior Day a week from Saturday. TomVH from Mgoblog ran down a list of who is planning to attend:

Trey DePriest LB - OH

AJ Jordan WR - Trotwood, OH Good friends with Roy Roundtree and Mike Shaw.
Ray Hamilton TE - OH
Brennen Beyer DE/TE - Michigan
Kevin Williams DT - Ohio
Valdez Showers RB/WR - Michigan
Robert Mincey DE - Fairfield, OH
Rico Butler RB/WR - Ohio
Orlando Dr. Philips: Demetrius Hart, Hasean Clinton-Dix, and Laquentin Smith (BHB: I wish the Florida kids would visit during the Summer or Early Fall)
Vincent Croce DT - From Maryland
Ryan Griffin DB - Ann Arbor Pioneer

Michigan Names New Outside Linebackers/Safeties Coach

Your first reaction to this news might be, Who?

Adam Braithwaite gets a promotion from Staff Assistant to LB/Safeties coach. Here is the official wording from the Michigan Athletic Department:

Feb. 11, 2010
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- University of Michigan football head coach Rich Rodriguez announced Thursday (Feb. 11) the hiring of Adam Braithwaite as the program's safeties/outside linebackers coach. Braithwaite joins the Wolverines' staff as a full-time assistant coach after spending the past two seasons as a staff assistant.
"We are excited to promote Adam to be our safeties/outside linebackers coach," said Rodriguez. "He has been a loyal hard-working member of our staff for several years and knows our system. I believe he will bring a lot of energy both in coaching and recruiting."

As previously announced during Rodriguez's signing day press conference (Wednesday, Feb. 3), defensive coordinator Greg Robinson will coach the linebackers. Bruce Tall will continue to work with the defensive line.

Assistant head coach Tony Gibson will coach the cornerbacks and free safety position. He will also add the responsibility of coordinating the special teams. Rodriguez will continue to have all of the coaches remain involved with a certain phase of special teams, but Gibson will manage that phase of the game on a daily basis and on game day.

Braithwaite was the defensive coordinator at Hampden-Sydney College (Va.) during the 2007 season. He worked with the linebackers and coordinated the special teams for the program's conference championship team and Division III National Playoff run. Prior to accepting his position at Hampden-Sydney, Braithwaite was a defensive graduate assistant for Rodriguez at West Virginia (2005-06). He assisted with the secondary and linebackers and helped the Mountaineers win a pair of bowl games (2006 Sugar and 2007 Gator) and the 2005 Big East title.

Braithwaite was the safeties coach at William & Mary in 2004 when the Tribe claimed the Atlantic 10 Championship and reached the semifinals of the Division I-AA National Championship. He gained his first college coaching position as the wide receivers and tight end coach at West Liberty State College (2003).

Braithwaite was a four-year letterman at defensive back for William & Mary (1997-2001), and was the starting strong safety on the Tribe's 2001 Atlantic 10 co-Championship team. He earned his bachelor of arts from William & Mary (2002) and his master's degree in athletic coaching education from West Virginia (2007).

As a Michigan fan you might have a couple of questions for Coach Rod after this hire. Here are some that I have:

• Has Adam been paying his dues in the program and now was the right time for a promotion?
• What actually does a staff assistant do? He is helping game plan or is he doing Starbucks runs?
• Was this a move to save money on coaching salaries or to move some dollars to other coaches?
• Why not hire a guy with a proven BCS coaching record that has recruiting ties to a specific area like Florida or Texas?
• How many guys did you interview for this role?
• With Greg Robinson's experience it seems to make sense that he coach the linebackers, what was your reason for the move?
• What are you gaining by having Tony Gibson work with the special teams? Why not have Tony work with the safeties and outside LB's and have Adam run special teams? Gibson is already working with the other DB's.

My guess, the number one reason for this hire has something to do with money. I'm guessing RR gave Adam a raise and took the rest of Jay Hobson's salary and split it between Robinson and Gibson.

Michigan Thursday: Time to Focus on 2011 Recruits

There is one thing about college football that has to suck for assistant coaches, recruiting never ends. The 2010 class just signed a week ago and the coaches have been evaluating and offering 2011 talent since last summer. As we have all heard from the media this week, USC even took a verbal commitment from a 13 year old QB. Now that is going overboard but it's not too early to start to think about Michigan's 2011 class. First lets start out with the needs:

1. Offensive Lineman - Michigan only took 1 in the 2010 class.


2. Defensive Tackles - Michigan needs some big run stopper guys up front.


3. Inside Linebacker - Would like a true middle linebacker that plays LB in high school and projects to LB in college. Michigan took a number of rush linebackers or "Spinners" in the 2010 class.


4. A big time running back - Michigan got 2 solid RB's in 2010, they need a real play maker in 2011.
   

I expect the 2011 class to be less then 20 players and maybe even as low as 15 with the big 2010 class. Michigan will also look for maybe one more QB, maybe one more WR and they already have "verbals" from two DB's so I believe they are done at the CB position for 2010. Expect Michigan not to flood the nation with offers like they did in 2010, they will need to be pretty picky in who they offer in a small class.

Here is Rival's (Michigan Players only) Top 250 2011 Watch List:

• Justice Hayes: RB Grand Blanc


• DeAnthony Arnett, WR Saginaw


• Anthony Zettel, OL West Branch


• Lawrence Thomas Detroit (Renaissance)


• Delonte Hollowell, CB - Detroit (Cass Tech) Already committed to Michigan

All the above players have a Michigan offer. We will list the players from the high school talent rich state of Ohio's tomorrow. Michigan will also host another junior day a week from this Saturday.

• Jordan Kovacs makes a list of the top walk-on players in 2009. With the number of safeties in the 2010 class, I think Jordan will have to fight for his role next season. I can see Greg Robinson using Kovacs in more tradition running downs and one of the freshman in the passing downs due to their speed.

• Sam Webb lists his top 5 impact players from Michigan's 2010 class: Demar Dorsey, Jibreel Black, Cullen Christian, Devin Gardner, and Marvin Robinson.
  


• Andre Rison is the leading candidate to take over the head coaching role at Flint Northwestern. If this happens, it would not equal good news for future players from Northwestern heading to Ann Arbor.
  


• Former Michigan assistant coach and current DB's coach for the Arizona Cardinals, Teryl Austin is a candidate for Florida's open DC position. That poor Urban Meyer just can't get any rest with all this work to do.

• RIP sports lawyer Mark Rosenthal who just passed at the age of 61. He was a graduate of Michigan's Law School.

Wolverine Wednesday: New Recruiting Rules for Coaches in Waiting

There is a new NCAA rule that "coaches in waiting" will now have the same recruiting restrictions as head coaches do. There have been a number of high profile jobs that have had coaches in waiting the last few years including; Florida State, Oregon, and Texas. UT is the only big time program that continues to have a "coach in waiting" with Will Muschamp as it's defensive coordinator. We all know Texas basically picks the best of the best from in state and fills up it's recruiting classes in a couple of weeks. So I don't think this will be a big deal for them. Here are the specific rules if your interested:

13.1.2.6 Head Coach Restrictions -- Bowl Subdivision Football. 13.1.2.6.1 Assistant Coach Publicly Designated as Institution's Next Head Coach. An institution's assistant coach who has been publicly designated by the institution to become its next head coach shall be subject to the recruiting restrictions applicable to the institution's head coach.

B. Bylaws: Amend 13.1.8.4, as follows:
13.1.8.4 Limitations on Number of Evaluations -- Football. In football, institutional staff members shall be limited to three evaluations during the academic year during which the prospective student athlete competes or practices on any team. Not more than one evaluation may be used during the fall evaluation period and not more than two evaluations may be used during the April 15 through May 31 evaluation period. An authorized off-campus recruiter may use one evaluation to assess the prospective student-athlete's athletics ability and one evaluation to assess the prospective student athlete's academic qualifications during the April 15 through May 31 evaluation period. If an institution's coaching staff member conducts both an athletics and an academic evaluation of a prospective student-athlete on the same day during the April 15 through May 31 evaluation period, the institution shall be charged with the use of an academic evaluation only and shall be permitted to conduct a second athletics evaluation of the prospective student-athlete on a separate day during the evaluation period.

13.1.8.4.1 Head Coach Restriction -- Spring Evaluation Period. In bowl subdivision football, during the April 15 through May 31 evaluation period, the head coach [and any assistant coach who has been publicly designated by the institution to become the next head coach (see Bylaw 13.1.2.6.1)] shall not engage in off-campus recruiting activities, participating in off-campus recruiting activities, participating in an off-campus coaching clinic, visit a prospective student-athlete's educational institution for any reason or meet with a prospective student athlete's coach at an off-campus location.

• Tyrone Wheatley gets a new job with Syracuse. Ty coached the running backs for the 0-12 Eastern Michigan Eagles last year and now will take over the same position for Syracuse. Ty was working for former Michigan DC Ron English at Eastern during his first year as a head coach. Congratulations to Ty on getting a job at a BCS school. Might there be a race between Ty and Mike Hart on who gets the Michigan running backs coach job when Fred Jackson leaves or retires?
  


• Christian Westerman one of the top offensive tackles in the country in the 2011 class will visit Michigan for the Spring Game. On April 27, the Westermans are planning to attend Michigan's spring game. There they will likely catch up with former Scottsdale Chaparral linemen Craig Roh and Tayler Lewan. Lewan, an offensive lineman, was red-shirted lasrt season. Roh started all 12 games as a hybrid defensive end/outside linebacker for the Wolverines as a true freshman.

A Kick in Time: A Interview with Michigan's Newest Place Kicker

As some of you may know that follow this blog, I'm a proud alumnus of Pioneer High School which is directly across the street from the Big House. I'm proud that two former Pioneer's will be joining the 2010 Wolverines this year. One of course is Florida high school transfer Ricardo Miller and the other is walk-on kicker Jeremy Ross. Jeremy was nice enough to do an interview talking about the opportunity he has at Michigan:

Background:

• 5"5 and 145 pounds
• Named Free Press Dream Team Kicker
• Associated Press Division 1/2 All State First Team
• 22/25 career field goals at Pioneer
• 8 career field goals over 40 yards
• Senior season was 9/10 in field goals and made all 48 PAT's

BHB:I see that you have graduated from Pioneer early. When do you plan on enrolling at Michigan?

JR: I plan on enrolling at Michigan in June for the summer. I chose to graduate early so I can get in the weight room more often and kick too. Also being a walk on I've got to pay my way in, so I'm also taking this time to work, having the opportunity to play for Michigan and Coach Rod was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

BHB: What has the Michigan coaches said to you about kicking for the Wolverines?

JR: The Michigan coaches have told me their kicking situation. With Brendan on scholarship and Will coming in, I will have to earn my playing time but I'm not afraid of the challenge.

BHB: If you were a evaluating Jeremy as a kicker what would you say about him?

JR: If I was evaluating Jeremy as a kicker I would say that he is very consistent. His form makes up for his lack of size and he proves it with every kick. He shows his worth with his consistency. If he was asked to go out there and make 10/10 kick he wouldn't shy away from it.(Unless it was from 37 yards, in my career I'm 22/25 and every one that I missed has been from 37 yards, its really weird and when I go out on the field I don't even think about it.

BHB: What is the longest field goal you have kicked in a game or at practice?

JR: In a game my longest field goal is 45 yards, in practice I've hit from 55 yards, and out of my 22 field goals in high school 8 are from 40+ yards.

BHB: I know Ricardo Miller was only at PiHi for one season but can you talk about your relationship and what it means to be teammates again at Michigan?

JR: Ricardo and I met right before he came into camp and I went up to him and introduced myself. I didn't know much about him and vice versa. It became evident that we might be teammates when I was invited to the first game vs Western Michigan. We kind of hit it off from there and now we get a long really well. As I look at it now I feel some comfort because I'm not going in alone, and I've got somebody to show me around because he'll have been there for a semester. But to sum it all up I look forward to spending the next four years with him as a teammate.

BHB: What are your goals at Michigan as a student and a kicker?

JR: At Michigan my goals are just like the other student athletes. Football wise, I'm going to work towards being a starter, maybe be the next Reggie Ho, except from Michigan of course. Academically I want to get in to The Ross School of Business, from there I'd like to earn my BBA.

BHB: Did you have an opportunity to kick at any other Universities?

JR: I did have opportunities to kick at other Universities, there were a couple other D1 programs that I spoke with about walking on and I also talked to a lot of D2 programs and they may have offered me a scholarship but I was honest and didn't lead them on if I wasn't initially interested.

BHB: Do you think you could kick a football from the Pioneer High sign on the corner of Stadium and Main into the Big House?

JR: That's a really good question. I think it's definitely worth a shot and I'll have to try it some time. I'd say it's a possibility though.

Michigan Tuesday: Continued

Do you think the big man could have been an offensive lineman?



• Michigan 2010 CB signee Courtney Avery is quite the athlete. He was picked #1 in his local highschool basketball all star game: "It feels good; it feels great," said Avery, his No. 1 honor coming just five days after he signed a national letter of intent to play football for Michigan. "Growing up, I always looked forward to going to the game and watching a lot of the old Lexington players. I've probably been going to the games since fifth grade."
  


• Interview with 2011 defensive tackle from Springfield Ohio, Kevin Williams from TomVH at Mgoblog: TOM: What about Michigan stands out to you? KEVIN: I love their tradition. Like I said, when I went to that basketball game when I was younger, it was just a crazy feeling. To know that much history is there, it’s overwhelming.
  
  


• For those of you who were pro wrestling fans in the 80's a very good write up on Andre the Giant. I had no idea he was such the drinker: When Andre arrived in New York to begin his long working relationship with the McMahon family, his reputation as both a serious student of the nightlife and an extravagant spender was already a topic of speculation and wonder among East Coast wrestlers and promoters. Andre might make $15,000-$20,000 for a single appearance at Madison Square Garden, and a substantial amount of that went to settling the bar tabs he piled up as he boozed his way up and down Manhattan until sunrise. Andre’s generosity matched his size. He often invited a gang of fellow wrestlers along for the ride, as he disliked drinking alone, and picked up some truly staggering tabs. Andre was going to have a good time and went out of his way to make sure everyone else did too. ----- A very green rookie wrestler named Hulk Hogan toured Japan several times with Andre and witnessed the Giant’s alcohol consumption first hand. According to Hogan, Andre drank, at a minimum, a case of tall boys during each bus ride. When he finished a can Andre would belch, crush the can in his dinner-platter-sized hand, and bounce the empty off the back of Hogan’s head. Hogan learned to count each thunk, so he could anticipate when Andre was running low. Whenever the bus stopped, it was Hogan’s job to scamper off to the nearest store, buy as many cases of beer as he could carry, and make it back before the bus departed, a sight that never failed to make Andre roar his bassoon-like laugh. The story goes on to talk about Andre drinking 16 bottles of wine in 4 hours and hitting the bar for about 100 beers in one sitting. (HT mgoblog)

Michigan Tuesday: More Answers to U of M's 2010 Recruiting Class

Let's start today off with a question from John MacLean: Not a comment on your blog as much as on the "poll." My vote: give me 4 years and then we can tell. Isn't that the (way) Bo would have done it?

BHB: John, thank you for the question and yes, your 100% right on Bo and his evaluation after 4 years. Though that is sort of like saying, I can win the lotto after I have seen the numbers drawn. Sure the only way to truly tell how these kids will transition to college football is after they see the field in practice and in games. With that said, let me give you my biggest reason, why I think this is a solid class right now.

One of the reasons Michigan is having trouble on the defensive side of the ball is due to depth issues. The last few years under the Carr Era, Lloyd didn't focus on the defensive side of the ball in his recruiting efforts and it's now showing the effects. Coach Rod said at his NSD presser that last year they had 24 defensive players on scholarship and you want between 38-40. That's a huge issue.

So, John to go back to your question. Recruiting classes have a number of goals including: replacing starters (CB- Donovan Warren, both safety positions, DE- Brandon Graham, Punter - Zoltan) but they also need to fill the important depth positions with 2nd and 3rd team players as well. So when you see Michigan sign 16 quality defensive players to add depth, I consider that a good recruiting year. Thanks again for your question.


Star Rankings? So I have seen a number of messages boards, radio shows, etc talking about Michigan and it's lack of 4 and 5 star players in the 2010 class. Or another way to say it is: Too many 3 stars!!

Would you be surprised to learn that no college program averaged 4 stars in their overall rankings on Scout's recruiting service? #1 Florida came in at 3.89 and Michigan's average was 3.33. Now to be fair on Rival's, there was one school that was over the magic 4 star average: that was USC at 4.20, Florida was at 3.89 and Texas at 3.92. Michigan's class on Rival's has an average star rating of 3.19.


CollegeFootballNews.com liked Michigan's class and ranked them in the top 10:

9. Michigan The Class Is Heavy On ... Defensive backs. If Rich Rodriguez was in trouble, you wouldn't know if from this fantastic class. The offense got more options with Devin Gardner a 6-4 playmaking quarterback to give Tate Forcier a push, while RB Austin White is a dangerous running back prospect with speed and good all-around skills. RichRod also stepped up the receiving corps with Ricardo Miller and Jerald Robinson leading the way. But for all the good things about this class, nothing was bigger than pulling off a shocker with the signing of Demar Dorsey out of Florida on Signing Day to join Josh Furman and Marvin Robinson as some of the team's new safety stars. Cullen Christian out of Pittsburgh is one of the nation's best corner prospects with NFL size and quickness.


More Walk On News: Quintin Tucker a former teammate of Tate Forcier at San Diego Scripps Ranch will walk on at Michigan and join their 2010 recruiting class. Quintin is a middle linebacker and comes to Ann Arbor at 6"1 and 230 pounds. Quintin said, he turned down some scholarship offers to play at Michigan. As you may have noticed from the recruiting class, Michigan signed a number of defensive backs and rush linebackers, not a lot of middle linebackers. Quintin seems to be a solid pick up at a position of need.

Michigan Monday: 2 Wolverines 2 Super Bowl Rings

• Congratulations to The New Orleans Saints and two Wolverines on the roster. Starter at center Jonathan Goodwin and WR (did not play) Adrian Arrington. I would also like to extend congratulations to Mike Hart who got cut twice this past season and got two carries in the Super Bowl and played on special teams for the Colts. Former Wolverine Mike Mallory and former assistant Terry Malone are also assistant coaches for the Saints.

• The mysterious recruitment of Latwan Anderson a 5 star safety out of Cleveland. First, Latwan transferred into Ted Ginn, Sr. football program at Glenville last year. Then Latwan camped at Michigan in the summer and had showed some interest into join the Wolverines. That interest faded fast and West Virgina started to become his leader, which lead to a verbal commitment. The rumor was that Latwan's family was giving him some pressure to go to stay in-state and go to Ohio State. So he didn't sign his LOI on NSD and the reports are that he is planning a visit to USC. Now, this weekend he said he was planning to "shock the world" and listed Michigan is his top schools. Michigan Insider from WTKA/Michigan's Scout site Sam Webb said there is some interest from Michigan but the Wolverines would not offer unless Latwan visits Ann Arbor. There are also some reports out there that Latwan's OSU offer was pulled. I guess we will see how this one pans out. If Seantrel Henderson and Latwan Anderson want to be Wolverines, I'm sure the Wolverines can find some room. :)

• Nick Sheridan: I don't believe I have spoken about this here on BHB yet, but it seems that Nick will be a grad assistant for the Wolverines this year and not suit up as a back up QB. After everything is said and done, Nick is a real Michigan man. He has given all he has to U fo M and now will even be a grad assistant so he can continue to be part of the program. Nick gave his heart and soul for the Wolverines, he just didn't have the skills to be a QB. He is a smart kid and I hope he works with Devin Gardner on learning RR's offense.

• Michigan Basketball Disappointment: The Michigan Basketball team continues to disappoint this year. Ranked in the top 20 after a trip and a win in the NCAA Tournament last year, this team continues to under achieve. There are many reason why this team has preformed poorly, but most of the blame has to go to one man and that is John Beilein. Don't get me wrong, I think John is one of the 10 best NCAA coaches in the country, he just has had a huge miss with this team this year. When a player doesn't step up as a leader, the head coach needs to fill that role. This team has been asleep for most of the year and that falls on the head coach. As this Michigan team continues to limp to the finish line, I'm hoping he understand what he needs to fix for 2011.

Michigan Wolverines in the Super Bowl

Editors Note: Post was re-purposed from Thursday due to the Super Bowl being tomorrow.

Now that National Signing Day is over, I'm told there is one more football game to be played this season. Of course, the Super Bowl is on Sunday and a number of former Wolverines have interesting stories.

#1: Mike Hart, Indianapolis: My goodness what a wild ride Mike has had this year. He was out injured during his rookie season and during his second season he was on and off the practice squad and cut and resigned twice. He is now getting a few snaps a game at running back and even got his first NFL TD this year. Mike has run 26 times for 70 yards this season and has 5 catches for 54 yards. I know there has been a lot of talk about Mike being a coach and someday coaching Michigan. I am 100% comfortable about Mike being Michigan's running backs coach and working his way up the ladder. I am more interested in Mike winning the Super Bowl and getting the Championship he so deserves.

#2: Adrian Arrington, New Orleans: I was very critical of AA leaving Michigan early for the NFL. I thought his draft "stock" could have used another a year. As it turned out, I was right and Adrian was taken in the 6th round. He has yet to see the field and has lived on the practice squad for two years. He did get a chance to dress in the playoffs due to some WR's injuries. I hope AA gets a chance at playing time next year.

#3: Jonathan Goodwin, New Orleans: Was drafted by the Jets in 2002 and signed with the Saints in 2006. Jonathan is a starter at the center position and has been in all 16 games this season. JG will see the most action (of all the former Wolverines) on Sunday.

#4: Marlin Jackson, Indianapolis: Marlin is hurt this year and out for the season.

Former Michigan players or coaches include: Mike Mallory as special teams coach for the Saints and Terry Mallone who coaches the tight ends.

So there you have it, your Michigan football report for the Super Bowl. I sure hope Mike gets in for a few plays, I would love to see his stats in the record book. I have even heard you can bet on each play this year. “If there is a grand tradition in modern United States sports, it revolves around Super Bowl betting, and when it comes to that great United States pastime, there isn't a better place on the face of the earth to be than on your favorite Sportsbook. If you are looking for anything and everything to do with Super Bowl betting, we truly have it down to a science, and when the big day comes you are going to be able to go from the first play to the last and you'll have something to root for every step of the way!

First get ready for the game with future wagers on the teams and players who will make an impact. Who will win the game straight-up? Who will score first? Who will win the Super Bowl MVP? How many field goals will each team kick? How many yards will each player gain? There's almost nothing that is off-limits.

There will be Super Bowl betting on each quarter, both halves, and every conceivable statistic you can imagine. As if that isn't enough, put that television on and fasten your seat belt, because you can wager on what is going to happen on each and every play using the Internet! When you're looking for Super Bowl betting, why would you want to be anywhere else?"

So your bored that signing day is over right? Well, we have one more football game to watch until August rolls around. So go buy your new big LCD TV, root for the Michigan basketball team to find what it's missing, hopefully watch two high powered offensives on Sunday light up the scoreboard, and place your bets on the action!

More Michigan Walk-On News

First off, we know that Dearborn, Michigan wide receiver Baquer Sayed who is rated 3 stars by Rivals and had scholarship offers from the MAC, decided to take a preferred walk-on status to the 2010 Michigan Wolverines.

Now comes more walk on news. The next Michigan preferred walk on is Dylan Esterline from Blissfield, Michigan. Dylan played TE in high school but could be moved to the defensive side of the ball: “It doesn’t matter to me whether its tight end or defensive end,” Esterline said. “(I’ll play) whatever position helps get me on the field and that I’ll have the best chance to succeed at.”

Dyan is eager to take on the challenge of being a Wolverine a team he grew up watching: “(Being a walk-on) will make me go up there with a little bit of an extra fire,” said Esterline, who had 21 catches for 384 yards and four touchdowns last fall for Blissfield. “I know it’s going to be a challenge. The coaches are really good with walk-ons. Coach (Rich) Rodriguez was a walk-on at West Virginia and has a place in his heart for them.”

Dylan is 6"6 and 220 and runs a 4.88 40. Good frame and of course will need to put on some weight and work on his speed. I'm guessing he will end up on defense and maybe be a special team player. (maybe he can block a few field goals?)

Another walk-on is Ann Arbor Pioneer's kicker Jeremy Ross who will join the Wolverines next season.

Michigan Football Friday: Recruiting Rankings

Don't you just love college football. It's February 5th and this week has been nothing but who might be college footballs future stars. Thank goodness NSD wasn't today, I'm not sure we could have taken the suspense all week. I believe I heard, Tennessee's new head coach (no not Lane Kiffin, the other one) Derek Dooley say that Monday and Tuesday of this week were the worst two days of the year, because waiting is the hardest part. We also know as Michigan fans that kids change their minds late in the game. Michigan lost two defensive line commitments in the 2009 class on NSD and this year Michigan lost silent commit Sean Parker to Washington. The announcement on national TV didn't help either. (BTW: I loved how ESPN kept saying USC lost out on Parker all day. Maybe ESPNU should be renamed USC TV?)

Still Michigan finished strong by getting one of the top DB's in the country, a 5 star Demar Dorsey from Florida. (ESPN is calling it the biggest surprise of signing day) They also managed to keep all their other 26 commitments in place, which is no easy task. It's funny how some analysts have attacked this class. (Herbie, you might want to review the below information before you go on Sportscenter) What they don't seem to mention is that Florida was after Courtney Avery late, UCLA wanted Richard Ash on Tuesday night, Wisconsin came after Ray Vinopal, and so on. In the end, Michigan did pretty well with this class. Here are the final rankings.

Max Sports Prep (CBS Sports): #10
Scout.com: #12
ESPN: #14
Rivals: #20

Michigan ranks #2 in the Big Ten only behind Penn State which had an impressive class.

Ohio State: #26 Rivals, #20 Scout, #16 ESPN
ND: #14 Rivals, #19 Scout, #21 ESPN
MSU: #20 on Rivals, #32 on Scouts, and didn't make ESPN's top 25 (yes, they own Michigan alright)
Iowa: #42 Rivals, #45 Scout
Wisconsin: #86 Rivals, #33 Scout
Illinois: #70 Rivals, #60 Scout
Minnesota: #50 Rivals, #70 Scout

Other News and Notes from the recruiting trial:

• Seantrel Henderson has verballed to USC but won't sign his LOI until USC meets with the NCAA on the potential infractions. Seantrel's father also called Jim Tressel "boring".
• 5 Star safety prospect Latwan Anderson from Ohio who has verballed to WVU is planning a USC visit. Ohio State also continues to be in his recruitment.
• Anthony Zittel a 6'4 255 pound offensive guard from West Branch, Michigan got a 2011 offer from Michigan.
• Aundrey Walker a 6'5 355 pound offensive tackle from Cleveland also got a Michigan 2011 offer. (he goes to an OSU feeder school - Glenville)

BHB: Puts the Media in a Dark Room and Locks the Door

By now we all know about the Texas Tech situation with Mike Leach putting one of his players in an electrical closet and shed on two different occasions. Now, it's time to put the main stream media in there with him. Do you ever wonder why the newspaper business in losing millions of dollars a day? Nobody wants to read, yesterday's news. We live in a world of "right now" and the Internet feeds that need.

So to get people interested, publications like the Free Press and others have to have an opinion or try to break a story. The Free Press did that with "Practice Gate" and I guess we will see in a couple of weeks if they were right or it was just bad reporting on a story that wasn't researched properly. I personally have a problem with reporters trying to create news instead of reporting it, but that is a subject for another day.

I have two traditional media types, I would like to put in the dark shed today. Kirk Herbstreit from ESPN and Drew Sharp from the Free Press.

Kirk on ESPN did a typical winners and losers NSD report on Sportscenter last night. First off, Kirk is a college football color man not a recruiting expert. So he really isn't qualified to have an opinion on recruiting. Who's his top 10 in 2010 would have been a better question. His winners were the regular Florida, USC, FSU, and so on. His loser was surprisingly: Michigan. He thougt RR's class would be better in his third year. Really? I usually think Kirk is a fair guy and doesn't let his OSU "homerness" shine through. Yesterday he did.

Let's look at the facts:

• Michigan took 11 players from his home state of Ohio
• Michigan won a big recruiting battle on NSD with Demar Dorsey a 5 star safety
• Michigan class is rated #19 on ESPN rankings (it's now up to #14)
• Michigan also signed the top QB in country when he enrolled (he has dropped a few spots since then)
• No other Big Ten team made any noise on signing day. In fact, Ohio State lost out on 3 major prospects in the last week and probably lost out on their top 5-6 prospects in the entire class.

So Herbie, you get a least 3 hours in the shed. I will also need your cell phone. On a positive note, you can burn the shed down when your done and write it off on your taxes.

The second person to enter the electrical closet is Drew Sharp. Raise your hand if you thought Drew Sharp was going to write an article on Demar Dorsey today? I assume everyone of you has their hands up. That's like predicting today is going to be cold day in Ann Arbor. Again, let's go to the facts:

• Demar was found not guilty for his past charge and another charge was dropped. Innocent until proven guilty right?
• Demar is a 5 star safety that pretty much everyone wanted. USC, Florida, FSU, Tennessee, and so on. If this was a bad kid, those coaches would have backed off as well.
• Coach Rod said at his press conference that they do research each kid and get feedback from everyone.
• He is related to Denard Robinson a current Wolverine.

Drew's point was, why risk it? My point is, Demar not being guilty of anything (expect being a great athlete) doesn't deserve the right to go to Michigan? There is a risk with any kid, they could turn out to be Jake Long or make bad choices and lose out on a great education. The reward that he turns out to be a great player and a even a better person is the worth the risk in my book.

Drew I assign you to a job in a dying industry. Good luck with that. BTW: The Freep is going to continue to lose readership from the Michigan faithful if this continues. We have had more then enough.

What a Day: NSD in Review..........

So to recap the day, we wake up to the news that it looked like Sean Parker a Michigan lock for months was wavering and might go to Washington instead. At 10:00 on national TV he did.

The good news early was that Terry Talbott had confirmed his Michigan commitment and sent in his LOI. No North Carolina for him. 1 positive thing 1 big negative thing

As the morning went on, Michigan continued to receive all it's LOI's except one: Richard Ash. Richard was rumored to be wavering and UCLA was coming on strong. Richard stayed strong to the Wolverines and RR said at his press conference that they had to recruit him to the very last minute.

While it was good Michigan didn't get any de-commitments today on their 26 verbals, it was difficult to swallow the loss of Parker and Knight the day before. Michigan's last hope was it's longest shot: 5 star safety Demar Dorsey, a former Florida commit that had offers from every big program out there. So the reports started to flow, that Dorsey was a lock for Florida, FSU, and Michigan. Nobody could get a read on where he was going. The press conference was set for 1:00.

1:00 came and nothing happened on the Internet or on ESPNU. So we kept waiting. At 1:30 we get a report from Sports Illustrated that Dorsey committed to Michigan but still no press conference or confirmation anywhere else. The Michigan faithful even called his high school and spoke the the school Secretary a number of times. We continued to wait, and then about 2:00 the news broke all over the place that Demar had committed to the Wolverines and sent in his LOI.

A day saved by basically a hail mary recruit that nobody had coming to Ann Arbor. ESPN was reporting it was down to FSU and USC the night before. Most national insiders said they would be shocked if Dorsey went to Ann Arbor. Well he did and it makes the losses of Parker and Knight fade away into the night.

A class saved. Coach's Rod presser was the regular stuff: great class, great kids, and the staff did a great job. All in all it was a crazy ride today but a fun one.

To top off the day, Ohio State whiffed on every major recruit they were trying to sign in the last week. 0-3 on the week. (I know they have a solid class, but us Wolverines will take even small victories). Even with Penn State's good class, Michigan still made the loudest bang on signing day with Dorsey.

See you next year, same bat time, same bat station.

Good night, now!

Seantrel Henderson to USC

Seantrel Henderson just picked USC over Ohio State, Miami, and Minnesota. Seantrel is considered the #2 prospect in all of high school football this year.

Ohio State has a nice class but didn't finish strong with the losses of Seantrel, Jordan Hicks, and Matt James.

RR NSD Press Conference Notes

• Said staff did an outstanding job at relationships
• Devin has not been working out due to catching up with academics since he started class late
• Brought Devin in to compete with the other QB
• Jeremy Jackson was brought in because he is a good football player, not just because he is the son of coach Fred Jackson.
• Would have taken another offensive lineman but very happy with Christian Pace.
• Defense had 25 scholarship players last year. You want to have 38-40.
• Richard Ash was critical to the defense class. His recruitment was a battle that ended this morning.
• Jibreel Black was one of the top defensive line prospects on Michigan's board.
• Denard was basically Dorsey's recruiter.
• Carvin Johnson coach gave RR a tip that a year ago about Carvin.
• "Trail" Jones will compete at QB first and maybe moved to another position.
• Antonio Kinard has some work to do on academics and may end up at a prep school.
• Ricardo recruited strong for this class and is friends with Marvin Robinson.
• Jake Ryan had a great senior year and is one of the best players in Ohio.
• Sold on the Talbott brothers after watching film and coming to camp.
• Ray Vinopal had another great Senior year and fits everything you want in a football player. Ray was under the radar. Don't get hung up on stars and Ray is one of the most valuable players in the class.
• DJ Williamson is one of the fastest players in the class
• You can never have enough defensive lineman.
• Also need players that can play in space
• Interviewed a few coaches at coaches convention and most likely looking to hire a safeties coach and Coach Robinson will coach the linebackers.
• RR tells his staff to not negative recruit.
• RR says he does a lot of research on each prospect and he feels comfortable with every prospect. This was a question regarding Dorsey's background.
• He got a little upset with a number of questions on Dorsey's past arrest when he was 16. He was found not guilty.
• He continued to get upset and wanting the media to stop being negative.
• When coaches leave it changes the relationship with the school.
• They may have a spot for one more but they don't expect to fill it.

Next Up: Rich Rod Presser

I will have news and notes from RR's press conference at 3:00.

It's Offical: Dorsey to Michigan

Michigan saved it's signing day with the commitment of Demar Dorsey a 5 star safety to ESPN.

Wow, this is good news. Yes, his letter has been faxed in.

Dorsey Maybe to Michigan

SI is reporting that Dorsey to sign with Michigan. There are other services saying FSU. He hasn't had his press conference yet. It's expected at 1:45.


No news on ESPNU yet. Here is the blurb from SI:


1 p.m. -- Michigan lands safety Dorsey
Demar Dorsey, the safety who once said he was 66 percent committed to Florida, will 100 percent sign with Michigan.

Dorsey, from Lauderdale Lakes, Fla., fell out of Florida's class a few weeks ago, touching off a recruiting contest among Michigan, Florida State, Tennessee and USC. If the practices for the Under Armour All-America Game in December are any indication, the Wolverines have nabbed an excellent player who will certainly keep his teammates entertained.

Dorsey was always around the ball during the all-star workouts, and if you couldn't see him, you could always hear him. It's always a good sign that a defensive back is a fantastic trash-talker when the receiver he covers finishes the play doubled over in laughter. That happened a few times during the Under Armour workouts.

Walk On News: Baquer Sayed

Michigan got a preferred walk on commitment today from Baquer Sayed, who is ranked as a 3 star prospect who had offers from a number of MAC schools.

Sayed is a 6"2 WR, 190 pounds from Dearborn, Michigan. A 3 star walk on is a great pickup.

I am hearing more walk on news but would like to confirm first before I post it.

Regents get update on Practice Gate

The University of Michigan Regents had a closed door meeting today for an update on the NCAA investigation on the football team exceeding practice times.

Let me give you an update on my investigation. 5 wins demands more practice time! If they won, 11 games the NCAA and Freep would have a case.

From the Freep, which started this mess:

The 8 a.m. session, which appeared to last about 90 minutes, focused solely on the highly charged NCAA probe, according to one person familiar with the situation. Regents expect the university to announce the results of the NCAA investigation in a couple of weeks, another person familiar with the situation said.

An Hour Away from Dorsey

Michigan recruiting insiders are feeling good he is coming to Michigan.

National recruiting insiders say Florida State.

So who knows. The Michigan insiders haven't had the best day with the loss of Parker who was supposed to be a Michigan lock.

Kinard is in

Antonio Kinard LOI is in. Michigan has locked down all their 26 commitments.

That is great news. I hope we can add Dorsey to this class.

Richard Ash is in!

Whew! Richard Ash has signed and faxed his LOI to Schembechler Hall. That was a close one.

Antonio Kinard is the only one that hasn't sent his in yet. There were some rumors that he might have some academic issues.

So on the good news front, it seems Michigan won't have any signing day de-commitments from it's class of 26 players. (you could call Parker a de-commitment but his "verbal" was not public).

Could Michigan Go 0-3 Today?

It's starting to look like Michigan could go 0-3 today on it's safety recruits.

• Rashad Knight had Michigan for his leader most of the year, picked Rutgers.
• Sean Parker, had silently committed to Michigan for months decided last night to pick Washington.
• Demar Dorsey, is announcing at 1:00 and there are some reports that he is going to Florida State.

Not good! Moral of this story: Start winning more then 5 games a year and we won't lose recruits to places like Rutgers and UW.

Richard Ash, still seems to be on the fence since his LOI is not in Ann Arbor yet.

Ohio State Update

The only team that might have a worse day (as far as new signing day commitments) then Michigan is rival Ohio State.

The reports are flowing that #2 recruit in the Nation: Seantrel Henderson is picking USC over Ohio State and huge offensive lineman from Cincinnati Matt James has picked Notre Dame.

On a funny note, QB Munchie Legaux who Michigan was looking at before Devin committed. Has changed his commitment from Colorado to Cincinnati.

DJ Williamson

DJ letter is in.

Still waiting on Ash and Kinard.

Now it's due or die with Dorsey at 1:00.

Ash has a signing day thing at 2:00.

Sean Parker

Sean Parker is going to Washington. Unbelievable. This is a big loss for the Wolverines.

Jake, Jordan, Carvin, Drew are all IN

Jake Ryan
Jordan Paskorz
Carvin Johnson
Drew Dileo

Have all signed.

Just waiting on:
Richard Ash, Antonio Kinard, and DJ Williamson

and of course the annoucements.

Ken Wilkins and Davion Rogers

Both of their LOI's are in at Michigan.

Terrance, Will, and Cornelius

Terrance Talbott, Will Hagerup, and Cornelius Jones all have sent in their letters to the Wolverines.

Still to come: Sean Parker's annoucement at 10:00 (looking more like UW) and Demar Dorsey at 1:00.