On National Signing Day, dual-threat quarterback Denard Robinson signed on the line to become a Michigan Wolverine. Robinson stands 6-0, 190, and has been clocked in the 40-yard dash at 4.38 seconds. Robinson became the 21st commit in the class of 2009.

Recruiting Notes
Following the decommitments of Kevin Newsome and Shavodrick Beaver, recruiting a second quarterback for the class of 2009 became a priority for the Wolverines. Several prospects became options, including Raymond Cotton, Tajh Boyd, and one Denard Robinson. Robinson immediately got the full-court press from Michigan, who knew they had a tough compeition for Robinson’s signature, going mostly against the home-state Florida Gators. Florida and Michigan were the only two of Robinson’s offers that offered him the opportunity to be a signal-caller at the next level. Robinson took his official visit to Michigan the January 9th recruiting weekend, along with his teammate, corner Adrian Witty. Within a couple weeks, he knew that he wanted to play in the Rich Rodriguez spread offense, but held off on announcing a decision until Signing Day. At his 11AM press conference at his high school, Robinson gave a fake-out by showing up in a Florida Gators hat. However, when he announced his actual intentions, he picked the Michigan Wolverines.

Player Notes
Robinson is a definite dual-threat quarterback, and has speed and moves that Wolverine fans haven’t seen from the quarterback position in ages. He is not only accomplished as a runner, but he can really throw the ball, as well. Robinson has a strong arm, and with some coaching at the next level, could become a very good passer. He has been compared to Rich’s former WVU quarterback, Pat White. The one major knock on Denard Robinson (at least as far the the QB position goes) is size. He is (generously?) listed at just 6 feet tall. One advantage Robinson has over other QB prospects is the ability to switch positions. If playing quarterback doesn’t pan out (i.e. if he gets beaten out by Tate Forcier and/or other QBs down the road), he will be able to switch positions.

Video

Posted under Football, Recruiting

Rich Rodriguez uses his press conferences much like a politician does. He takes the attention, especially on big days, and uses it to shape the message and control the commentary. There were 3 major themes that he came back to and stressed throughout the press conference. It seems like a lot of his responses were directed to local columnists who, for some reason or another, seem hellbent on proving he’s a current or future failure.  This was put together from my recollection and the tweets I banged out during the conference. Statements in quotation marks are actual quotes. The full press conference can be viewed on MGoBlue.com.

Recruiting the State of Michigan

Coach Rodriguez came back to this point 4 or 5 times during the press conference, which seemed fairly telling. A lot of the local papers have accused the new coaching staff of forsaking the state of Michigan in favor of Florida and other southern states in which the coaches had connections during their tenure at WVU (or, for many of them, South Florida).  On first look, that may  appear to be valid, since there are only 4 players in the class from Michigan, and MSU snagged the better half of the state’s top 10 recruits.

Rodriguez addressed this bluntly a few times. At one point he said “people who say we don’t recruit the state of Michigan are way off-base,” and  “it’s the first place we look.” He mentioned that Michigan is the place where the first targets on the board come from.  He also said that he’s not going to take a Michigan kid just because he’s from Michigan. They’re going after guys who fit their system, and they’ll look in Michigan first, and go national if they can’t find what they need in the home state.

One reason for the lack of commitments from kids in Michigan is that the coaching staff hasn’t had the time to develop the relationships with the high school coaches. Coach Rodriguez’s coaches clinics have a good reputation, so this should turn around quickly. Expect Michigan to push hard after the big name in state prospects (Devin Gardner, William Gholston, et al).

Effects of a 3-9 Season/Negative Recruiting

This was another recurring theme during the press conference.  He said that some of the recruits had some questions about the season and the issues that the team faced. The struggles made some people a little wary, but Rodriguez also said that because of some of the weaknesses on the team, he was able to promise every recruit the opportunity to come in and immediately compete and make an impact.

He also said that negative recruiting often comes back and bites the person spreading the rumors. One example he gave was southern schools trying to scare kids by talking about the weather in Michigan. A lot of kids from Florida were braced for an Arctic expedition only to find it wasn’t as bad as they thought.

Obviously Rodriguez didn’t name any specific coaches, but at the beginning of his statement he made a statement to the effect of “there was a lot of negative recruiting out there we had to fight through.” He kind of pulled back a little bit and said that, in general, most coaches don’t do any negative recruiting. Usually it’s a young, over-ambitious assistant trying to reach.

Rodriguez, predictably, stated in no uncertain terms that neither he, nor anyone on his staff recruit negatively. He said, “if you got a good enough program to sell, why bash someone else’s?” Also, as previously mentioned, there is a real chance of backlash when recruiting goes negative.

Decommitments

This got brought up more than once, a lot of times by the reporters asking questions. Rodriguez said he “wasn’t surprised by anything on Signing Day.” This may be spin, but it was apparent that he had a pretty good idea of what was going down, especially with the two defensive tackles. He basically conceded that a commitment from a kid who is still taking visits doesn’t really mean anything; you still have to recruit him hard, since the commitment basically doesn’t exist.

He also said 2 or 3 time that “sometimes you want people to decommit, sometimes you don’t.”  I’m pretty sure he didn’t want both DTs to decommit, but it makes sense in the case of Jordan Barnes, DeWayne Peace, and their ilk. The offer still stands, but the communication and constant salesmanship flags until eventually the recruit realizes he is no longer wanted, and chooses someone else.  Seems a bit ethically dubious, but better than the alternative of over-signing. Recruiting is, in essence, seamy, so it’s all shades of gray to a certain extent.

If you have any specific questions about Rich Rodriguez’s portion of the press conference, feel free to leave them in the comments.

Posted under Coaching, Football

At the top of his press conference Rich Rodriguez basically went through the list and talked briefly about each commit. A lot of it was coach-speak and praising the high school coaches, but there was quite a bit of useful information (as opposed to Lloyd Carr press conferences, which were awesome in their own way) on most of the players. One interesting thing in general is that Rodriguez let us know who the lead recruiter was for each player, and for just about everyone from Florida it was Rod Smith. I guess that’s why need a de facto third QB coach. On to the players:

Isaiah Bell

Coach mentioned that the staff is really tight with Youngstown Liberty coach Jeff Whittaker. It’s not that stacked of a school, but seems to produce a bit of talent ona regular.  He said that Bell would start competing as a safety, but if he can but on enough weight, may move up to outside linebacker.

William Campbell

Looking at depth chart would probably tell you this too, but Rodriguez said that Campbell will play defense only and will compete for playing time right at the outset.  Campbell got the instant impact tag from the coach.  Will said himself that his goal is to start his freshman year.  Even though he is a really funny, kind of goofy guy, I get the feeling that he’s super competative; I sure as hell wouldn’t want to be a RB/QB playing against Michigan in two years. Campbell is now doing the full Barwis workout and says the toughest part was the running becuase since the all star game he’s been relaxing and “got fat.”

Vlad Emilien

Coach said he could play either Safety position and will probably be moved around to positions of need.

Tate Forcier

Apparently in the Spring, Jason Forcier was in town and talked with Rodriguez. He basically said he’d recruit Tate for Michigan.  I just can’t help but wonder how different this last year would have been if Forcier hadn’t transferred… Oh well.  Obviously will come and compete right away for time at QB. When a reporter asked Rodriguez if he was confident that he’ll end up with a really good quarterback he responded that “we’ll have a really good competition.”  Tate says he works much more on accuracy and a quick release than arm strength. In some passing drills he claims he hit Mike Cox and Kevin Koger in the back of the head because they weren’t expecting the ball to get there as quickly as it did.  After his interview with the TV crews at the press conference, most reporters were surprised at how well he handled himself.  He really seemed like a pro.

Jeremy Gallon

For some reason, I gor the feeling that Rodriguez is especially excited about Gallon, but I’m probably just projecting my own excitement.  Coach said he’ll compete immediately at slot.  Tim has made this argument that Odoms is a pretty good slot receiver, but the concept of the slot receiver may be more appealing than Odoms himself.  Rodriguez also mentioned that he’ll immediately be in the mix for returning kicks.  Obviously, Coach didn’t talk about grade issues in specifics, but he mentioned that there are about 2-3 recruits who haven’t been approved by the Clearinghouse and that all of those recruits of realistic plans to follow that will allow them to qualify.  Rodriguez didn’t really seem to worried about grade issues.

Check out Varsity Blue throughout the day for the tidbits on the rest of recruits.

Posted under Football, Personnel, Recruiting

On Signing Day, Florida cornerback Adrian Witty of Deerfield Beach pledged his word to become a Michigan Wolverine. Witty, who stands 5-9 ans 175 pounds, was Michigan’s 20th commit of the 2009 recruiting class, and the 7th from the Sunshine State. His name is also often spelled “Whitty,” in case you’re one to scour the internets for information of your own.

Recruiting Notes
Michigan’s recruitment of Adrian Witty picked up pace rapidly through a matter of circumstance. Following the decommitment of Shavodrick Beaver, the Wolverines needed to add a second quarterback to the class of 2009. The best option available was Deerfield Beach quarterback Denard Robinson, a good friend and high school teammate of Witty. The Michigan coaching staff immediately starting recruiting both prospects heavily, as Witty himself plays a position of need for the class. The two came on a visit to Ann Arbor together for the January 9th recruiting weekend, and enjoyed themselves despite the snowy atmosphere. On the contrary, they actually partook in a snowball fight with various members of the coaching staff, and a good time was had by all. Witty was offered by the Wolverines on the visit. He also had offers from Kansas State and Florida International, and was picking up steam with a Florida recruitment (likely because the Gators also wanted an in with Robinson). However, a Florida offer never materialized, and on Signing Day, Witty went with the Wolverines.

Player Notes
The only other offers for Witty being KSU and FIU is evidence of why he was a lesser-regarded prospect. He missed his entire junior year with an ACL injury, and didn’t get fully healthy during his senior year. If healthy, Witty likely would have been a much more highly-regarded player. He is a smallish corner with good speed (described to be as fast as Robinson prior to the knee injury), and may be a good complement to the taller Justin Turner as the class’s other corner. Witty garnered a 2-star rating from Scout and Rivals. Even if his guru rankings prove to be accurate, he is certainly worth taking if only to assist with Denard Robinson’s recruitment.

Video

Posted under Football, Recruiting

In the hustle and bustle of the world’s most stressful LiveBlog, I didn’t have time to put up commitment posts of Michigan’s three newest commits. Here’s Je’Ron Stokes, Michigan’s final commit (thus far) of the class. Adrian Witty and Denard Robinson in the days to come.

Je’Ron Stokes, a wide receiver from Philadelphia Northeast High School, has pledged his intentions to become a Michigan Wolverine. Stokes is a 6-1, 180-lber with enough speed to be a legitimate deep threat from the split end position. He is Michigan’s 22nd commitment of the 2009 recruiting season.

Recruiting Notes
Very early in the recruiting process, Stokes made it clear that he coveted a Michigan offer, and if he were to receive one, the Wolverines would be right in his top group of schools. Eventually, Stokes received that offer – just days after he had committed to the Tennessee Volunteers. Stokes cited his relationship with the Tennessee coaches as one of the deciding factors in his commitment, though if he had waited just a little while longer for that offer to come through, he may not have committed to Tennessee at all. Of course, when Phil Fulmer was fired, that naturally gave Je’Ron a little pause regarding his commitment to the Volunteers. He backed down from his commitment, especially after new coach Lane Kiffin encouraged both 2009 QB commits to explore their other options. Stokes took his Michigan took advantage of his newly “soft” status, and invited Je’Ron to campus for the January 16th recruiting weekend. The recruits took in the Michigan basketball loss against Ohio State Saturday night. Leading up to Signing Day, there was alternating optimism and pessimism on Stokes from the Michigan side of things. When he announced his decision on CSNPhilly.com at 3:00, however, Michigan was his choice.

Player Notes
Je’Ron Stokes is a four-star receiver to both recruiting sites, and garners a rating of 82 from ESPN (high four-star). Stokes is a very speedy player, and has an ability to stretch the field for his offense. He has decent speed at about 6-1, though he will need to put on some weight to avoid injury in college, as he currently only weighs around 180 pounds. Stokes displays good hands, but at his current size, he likely isn’t going to show them off by making tough catches in traffic over the middle. He participated in the Army All-American Bowl, where he made a couple grabs.

Etc.
Je’Ron’s younger brother, Malik, is a 2010 prospect as a dual-threat QB. He is likely to end up in the high three-star/low four-star range, and may be a good complement to a more highly-rated player like Devin Gardner.

Video

Posted under Football, Recruiting

Of the five in play:

Committed:

• Denard Robinson
• Adrian Witty

Elsewhere:

• Pearlie Graves (TTU)

In Play:

• Je’Ron Stokes
• DeQuinta Jones

Posted under Football

Stay tuned right here for you signing day coverage with Tim as well as Brian and TomVH from MGoBlog. This is going to be heavily moderated. We will only accept questions or information that supplements the panelists’ answers to a question.

Around 2:30 I’ll be at the press conference and Twittering in with comments from Rich Rodriguez and other coaches. Rumor is that some of the early enrollees will be there.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

First, the important information: What will be going on at Varsity Blue tomorrow? Starting around 11AM or slightly before, we will be opening up a CoverItLive liveblog to cover all of Signing Day. I should be around most of the day, Brian from MGoBlog will be by around 11:30 or 12, and (perhaps most excitingly) Paul will attend the Rich Rodriguez press conference at 3pm.

Brian and I (and maybe MGoBlog recruiting intern TomVH, if he’s available) will be primarily answering questions from the other participants, in addition to sharing news as it becomes available to us. Paul will send in comments from the press conference via Twitter. This CIL will be more of a Q&A-type thing, rather than a free-for-all like the game chats usually are. It will run all day, so be sure to stop by every so often and check it out (the software archives all the comments, so you can drop by and see what you’ve missed).

Onto the final recruiting information:

Rivals has a convenient writeup of most of this information.

• As mentioned before, Adrian Witty’s conference is at 11 (it should be the first of the day). Denard Robinson will either announce then or wait until 7PM. SoFlaFootball’s Luke Stampini thinks Michigan leads for Robinson, with Florida gaining.
• DeQuinta Jones makes his final announcement at 1:30M ET.
• Je’Ron Stokes, who reportedly has had Michigan make a resurgence in his recruitment after being considered all-but-dead earlier today, announces live on an internet at 3:00 on CSNPhilly.com. It will re-air on Comcast SportsNet Philly at 6:30.
• Pearlie Graves signs at 9 and announces at noon.

Stop by tomorrow and take part in the CoverItLive; it should be really fun.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

Raw data in .xls format here.

Half 1

Half 2

Game totals

Individual players:

Aside from the elbow, Manny didn’t have a particularly good game. He complemented bad shooting with a bunch of turnovers as well.

LLP’s shooting is mostly frightening because he’s missing the really easy ones. That speaks to a mental hurdle. Hopefully Beilein will be able to take care of that with a long week of prectice.

Suspended, yo.

As Michigan’s best offensive weapon for most of the day, Purdue was able to concentrate on him. Both 3-point makes came early in the game (Michigan’s first 6 points).

Didn’t look to shoot the ball, and got surprisingly little playing time. As the most consistent 3-point shooter on the team, he could have been used better once Harris went out.

His makes were notable (a thunderous dunk and the tip-in to give Michigan a halftime lead), but he was fairly quiet.

Shot the ball horribly, but he actually wa on a number of positive shifts.

When CJ Lee plays 3/4 of the game, your team is undermanned; he made the gritty walkon plays we’ve come to associate him with.

He is so athletic, but his basketball skill is so limited. It’s a shame Beilein didn’t have another year with him, as Jevohn could have been made into a real player if he’d had a legitimiate coach for more than 2 years.

I’m actually surprised his differential was that close to zero. He was on the floor for pretty much the entire Purdue run early in the second half that toasted Michigan’s chances to win. He can’t shoot to save his life, either..

Dude can shoot the ball, but at 150 lbs soaking wet, he’s a major defensive liability. If only players could redshirt 2 years, he could add some bulk and become a good player down the road. He should contribute in future years if he can add weight.

What This Says…

Manny Harris and Zack Novak are both really important to this team (and maybe Novak will have his shooting stroke back after an extended practice period with no games to break it up). By the way, I’m disgusted in Purdue’s reputation as this awesome defensive team: if I could describe them in one word, it would be dirty. Chris Kramer is the best example of this, as he flops more than Anderson Varejao, and does more grabbing, bumping, getting through screens using the point of his elbow, etc., than any player I can recall (and it’s a shame the conference rewarded him for it by naming him the Defensive POY last year). Coming out in a mask because he had a little cut on his skin was particularly douchey. I’m now convinced that Purdue’s defensive reputation is built more upon getting away with a bunch of dirty stuff, rather than actually being good on defense (which they are as well, to be fair).

Manny Harris’s ejection was ridiculous, as the refs changed their original call after seeing Kramer was bleeding. By the way, they thought Kramer had broken his nose, which was a fair assumption based on the rolling on the floor he did. Alas, that was all part of his acting job, since the only blood came from a small cut on his nose. Harris didn’t even hit him hard enough to knock him down (watch the replay: he falls opposite of the direction he got hit, and about a half second later), and had Harris moisturized his elbows before the game, this would have been an innocuous offensive foul.

Posted under Analysis, Basketball

GoBlueWolverine hints (in header), and MGoBlog’s Brian Cook confirms, that offensive lineman Quinton Washington of Timberland, SC, has pledged his word to sign with Michigan tomorrow, and wil announce said decision at 3PM today. Washington, a 6-4, 300-lb player who will likely end up at offensive guard, is Michigan’s 21st commitment of the 2009 class, and hopefully opens the floodgates for a few more commitments to round out the recruiting year.

Recruiting Notes
Early in the recruiting process, it appeared to be highly likely that Washington would end up at one of the South Carolina schools. His coach, Art Craig, is well-connected within the state, and it seemed he might steer his top player to either the Cocks or Tigers. When his original top 5 came out in June, the Wolverines were listed… as #6. With Quinton not expecting to make a decision until after his senior year of football, however, the Wolverines had plenty of time to make up ground. Washington visited Michigan for the Wisconsin game, and witnessed the epic comeback in the Big House. On that visit, the Wolverine staff made sure Quinton knew they wanted him to suit up in maize-and-blue when he got to college. After that time, Michigan was never far from the top of Washington’s recruitment. Despite late pushes by Tennessee and Miami of Florida, the final decision came down to Michigan and South Carolina. Washington went with his heart and his head, picking the Wolverines.

Player Notes
Washington was listed as a top-10 player in South Carolina’s lowcountry before his senior season, and his high recruiting rankings would bear that out (he is a 4-star Guard to Rivals, a 3-star to Scout). Washington was honored for his skills not only by finishing as a finalist for the state’s Mr. Football award, but also by being selected to the Shrine Bowl, as well as the ESPNU/UnderArmour All-American Bowl. Washington’s game is strength, and he won the state Weightlifting Championship in the heavyweight division. Washington’s game will be improved by working a bit on his quickness in the zone scheme once he gets to college.

Video

Posted under Football, Recruiting