Jim Stefani has a few QBs of interest to add to the recruiting board:

Barry Brunetti QB 6′1 206 4.65 Memphis University School Tennessee
Anthony Gonzalez QB/DB 6′2 193 Bethlehem Liberty Pennsylvania
Ricardo Young QB/ATH 6′0 155 4.78 Washington Woodson D.C.
Kain Colter QB/WR/DB 6′1 185 4.60 Greenwood Village Cherry Creek Colorado
Gavin Webster QB/DB 6′0 200 4.45 Lutcher Louisiana
Santez Emory QB 6′3 200 4.57 Franklin Heard County Georgia

…and also some good information on a few guys who are already there, so check out the article.

GA QB Barry Bostic has been offered by Georgia Tech, and they are his new leader (info in header).

Fluff on 2009 WR Commit Cameron Gordon, which also mentions his class of 2010 teammate, QB Devin Gardner:

Next year it will be Devin Gardner’s turn to celebrate his college choice with the Inkster faithful. The Vikings’ star quarterback could be throwing passes to Gordon at U-M or be the opposition if Gardner chooses to attend Ohio State, a school so high on him that head coach Jim Tressel visited recently and watched Gardner play in Inkster’s basketball game against Wyandotte Roosevelt…

“I was pretty excited at first,” said the 6-foot-5, 200-pound Gardner of the Tressel visit. “My heart was beating really fast, but as the game went on I just settled down and played within the team. I like basketball, but football is my first love.

Despite Tressel’s visit, Gardner is still not sporting an Ohio State offer.

The “other” instate QB, OLSM’s Robert Bolden, was recently the feature of an article by Sam Webb in the Detroit News. It’s pretty clear that Gardner is probably a higher priority for the staff (and with good reason), but Bolden might be a good fallback guy in the class.

The Free Press has an early in-state top-10 for next recruiting year, and The Sporting News had a national top-10 like substance. Gardner is on both lists, and Bolden is on the former while FL WR Commit Ricardo Miller is on the latter. From the former, I’ve added MI RB Chris Robinson from Ovid-Elsie to the Recruiting Board.

While we’re on the topic of early top-X lists, how about top-30 offerings from two of the biggest football counties in south Florida. Broward top-30, and Miami-Dade top-30.

Some Rivals fluff on VA QB Phillip Sims, who is still not mentioning Michigan (though he does talk about West Virginia). With his insistence on playing in a pro-style scheme, and no mention of the Wolverines yet, his tenure on the board may be close to coming to an end.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

Michigan 2009 WR/LB commit Cameron Gordon and 2010 QB prospect Devin Gardner in the MHSAA Division 3 championship game.

 

 Podcast Video: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Posted under Recruiting, Video

Recruiting Boards, as always, are here:
2009 & 2010
and in the sidebar to the left.

Standard RichRod recruiting fluff from the Freep.

This is a little late, but Shavodrick Beaver has been moved from committed and completely removed from the board in the wake of his bizarre decommitment to Tulsa. His player page has been removed from the 2009 Commit HQ (also available to the left).

So what’s the upshot for the rest of the class from the Beaver commitment? Most likely a more intense focus on FL QB Denard Robinson, the only remaining quarterback on the board. The Sun-Sentinel had some kind things to say about his fit in the Michigan offense, and mentions his upcoming visit (more on that in a moment). The header of a Scout article by Allen Wallace is a little more specific:

Denard Robinson still plans to visit Michigan on Jan. 9, Kansas State on Jan. 16 and Central Florida on Jan. 23. “I like Michigan because the old coaches from West Virginia are there,” Robinson said. “Coach Rich Rodriguez is trying to install his system there and I think I’d be a good fit. They need a good dual-threat quarterback like me. I won’t be making a final decision until after my visits.”

…so it certainly sounds like Michigan is much more involved than they were a couple weeks ago, and are back to recruiting Robinson as a QB. Finally, there’s another Scout article, entitled “Is U-M near the top for Robinson?” This is the type of teaser to which the answer is almost always “yes.”

If Michigan doesn’t land Denard Robinson, there’s a good chance that guys like Tajh Boyd, Eugene Smith, and Raymond Cotton come back into play.

…and while we’re up in arms about who will fill the second QB slot, don’t forget about the quarterback still committed in this class. Tate Forcier was recently interviewed on WDFN (audio | transcript). What did he have to say about Beaver?

It didn’t really phase me, I wasn’t worried about him. I knew I was going to have to come in and compete regardless of whether it was against him or against Threet. Him leaving it didn’t phase me.

He’s also ready to go at Michigan, having already enrolled (as detailed here earlier this week), and he’s ready to learn and help Michigan win:

I’m actually heading out there in less than two weeks. Right away right when I get out there, coach Smith and coach Rodriguez both told me I’m going to be spending most of my time with them learning that playbook. And with coach Barwis getting me prepared for next season – that’s the main goal right now, to get ready and hope to lead Michigan to a good season next year.

And how is he going to help Michigan win?

I have everything you want in a quarterback. I’m not the tallest guy, but I know how to get the job done. I have a feel for the game. I feel the pressure. I have a great feel for everything. I have great arm strength. I have good enough speed. Overall it’s just the balance of me as a quarterback. I’m not over the top on anything, but that’s what the Michigan coaches are going to try to get me to do – be the best of the best… My goal is to be a little bit like Colt McCoy. It’s almost nearly the same size and speed. It’s possible I may have a stronger arm than him. That’s kind of a lot to say, but I think if I worked hard I could maybe follow in his footsteps and be the type of quarterback that he is.

And that should be just about everything in regards to 2009. Let’s stick with the quarterbacks theme, however, and move along to 2010.

Sometime early next week, I should (finally) have some video up of 2010 MI QB Devin Gardner‘s performance in theDivision III State Championship game (and of course, some film on his teammate, Michigan commit Cameron Gordon, but that doesn’t really fit with the QB theme, now does it?). Look forward to that somewhere within the next round of updates.

Virginia Tech’s inability to land Kevin Newsome this year may lead them to more heavily pursue another local product next year, in Phillip Sims. Despite his good speed, Sims insists that he wantas to be looked at as a pro-style QB. His current schools of interest (including UVa, BC, and Tennessee) seems to bear that out. Hell remain on the board until he says he’s no longer interested in the Wolverines or a spread offense.

Speaking of other QB prospects Michigan may be a little behind in recruiting, 2010 OH QB Spencer Ware will likely end up at a different position in college, but he’s an electifying athlete either way that Michigan would certainly love to have. The current list for Ware is Ohio State, some SEC schools (including Georgia, his favorite), then a bunch of slightly lesser-tiered schools (including the hometown Bearcats).

…and before I wrap up the QBs-only edition of the Recruiting Update, I may as well take care of a couple things not related to signal-callers:
Removed 2009 MD DE/LB Jason Ankrah. He has committed to Nebraska.
Removed 2009 PA LB Dan Mason, who will choose between Pitt, WVU, and Penn State.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

Obviously I don’t want this to become a recruiting-only site (and there is a recruiting update coming sometime today or tomorrow, though I foresee there being at least one post and likely two about the Oakland basketball game), but when something big happens, I think it’s important to address. This, obviously, is considered a big event.

After assuring everyone who would listen that he was firmly committed to Michigan, and would consider no other schools, Shavodrick Beaver pulled the old bait-and-switch on us all Friday, and decommitted from Michigan, giving his verbal pledge to Tulsa. That is correct, Shavodrick Beaver picked a Conference-USA team over one of the most storied programs in college football history.

Why did he do it?

So what could have possibly been Beaver’s motivation for changing his commitment? Rumors (and many of them complete guesses) have been thrown around from all corners of the internet, and nobody really knows which are true and which aren’t. One of the prevailing theories is that he wants to be closer to his mom, or his mom gave him no choice but to go somewhere closer to home. That may be the case, but then why not go somewhere closer? His original runner-up to Michigan was TCU. The Horned Frogs are based in Fort Worth, much closer to Wichita Falls than Tulsa is. Regardless, that factor may have been an issue in his commitment to Michigan sticking.

Another issue may have been the fact that he would have likely started – on account of his shoulder surgery – stuck behind Tate Forcier on the depth chart.Perhaps Beaver didn’t see a situation in which he would ever be able to play, being slotted behind a guy in his own class, with other guys coming in the future. The final theory is related to the first, and holds that he didn’t want the pressure of playing in a bigtime program, choosing instead to head to Conference-USA, where he could be a big-time player without the pressure of being in a program expecting big-time success. The one theory that doesn’t really make much sense is that the Michigan staff cut him loose. Despite his comments that the Tulsa coaches made him feel more like a member of the family (which every recruit has been saying about Michigan, as well), I think the Michigan coaching staff would have had a better contingency plan in place if they had any idea a decommitment was on the way.

As another side note, regardless of what those “in the know” say, almost nobody saw this coming (except perhaps the coaches themselves). Any retroactive “well I knew this was going to happen” is simply revisionist history, since just last week, most recruiting experts were trying to assure everyone that Beaver was still solid, and that the comments on his MySpace page were nothing to worry about. Being blindsided by an event like this is nothing to be ashamed of, and one shouldn’t rewrite history to give the appearance of seeing this sort of event come to fruition.

Short-Term Trouble

The 2009 recruiting class has suddenly gone from greatly shoring up a major position of need, with two 4-star quarterback commits, to still needing another body, much less a great player, to even come close to filling the numbers necessary to field a team at the position. Now, Threet and Sheridan are the only options other than Forcier, and if any of the three goes down, regardless of who was the starter, there is already a depth issue arising. The coaching staff will need to find another quarterback in this class, simply in case one or more of the existing QBs gets injured this year. That said, they will likely go with a player with very good running ability and a passing game that needs some work. That way, there is potential for a move to the defensive backfield or slot receiver if the numbers at QB look better in the future.

Might we see Justin Feagin playing a little bit at the QB position (instead of moving to slot, as had been announced) in 2009? It’s not likely, unless the Wolverines can’t pull in another QB/Ath in the class of ’09. Another bummer from the Beaver situation is that Michigan will now go from two quarterbacks enrolling early to one enrolling early, with another hopefully coming in the fall. The preparedness of the group as a whole will undoubtedly be decreased.

Long-Term Ramifications

Without Beaver in the class of 2009, what are the effects on the Wolverines down the road (that is, further in the future than the 2009 season)? It appears likely that whoever they pick up to fill the other QB slot in the 2009 class will likely move to slot or defensive back down the road, when the numbers get back up to where they should be. That give Michigan much better spacing between classes at the QB position, as there won’t be many in a single class. This means the Wolverines are less likely to graduate all their players at the position in a single year, jeopardizing future years.

That takes us to future recruiting classes. Only having one true QB in the class of 2009 certainly makes Michigan more attractive to signal-callers in the class of 2010, namely one Devin Gardner, an in-state product who has great potential as a run-pass threat in this offensive system. Gardner will likely be rated a high-4 or 5-star prospect, and rated more highly than either Tate Forcier or Shavodrick Beaver (of course, there’s the little issue that he won’t be able to play for Michigan until the 2010 season holding him back from being the current #1 target). Though the Beaver situation is unfortunate, it may help Michigan in the long run, provided the Wolverines aren’t completely screwed short-term.

So What Does It All Mean?

Decommitments are almost never a good thing. They provide ammo for an inexplicably-ruthless local press, and open the door to negative recruiting pitches from other schools. This particular decommitment particularly hurts Michigan, especially in the short term. As an aside, I don’t understand why Beaver had to speak ill of Michigan, considering he didn’t seem to harbor any ill will, he’s just hurting the coaches who have done nothing but good for him. In the long run, Michigan will go on. Might the 2009 season suffer because of a lack of QB depth? Perhaps, but the long-term picture is changed very little, and the Michigan Wolverines will go on without Shavodrick Beaver.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

Recruiting Boards: 2009 & 2010

Removed:
2009 FL CB Josh Robinson. Teammate of Vladimir Emilien commits to UCF.
2010 FL DT Todd Chandler. Commits to Miami of Florida.
2010 PA LB Mike Hull. Committed to Penn State a while back.

QB Devin Gardner of Inkster is likely to be one of Michigan’s top prospects in the class of 2010. His Vikings played East Grand Rapids in the state finals on Saturday, and we’ll hopefully have some video soon.

Some fluff from Sam Webb in the Detroit News:

His attendance this summer at the prestigious Elite 11 quarterback camp, sandwiched by camp visits to Michigan, Notre Dame and Michigan State, all helped to better hone his skills. “I’m stronger, faster, and my throwing motion has gotten better,” he said. “(The motion) is way higher than it used to be. Most of (the improvement) is decision-making, though.

There’s lots of talk about how awesome the coach at Inkster is. I’ve heard the same thing from lots of sources (many of them about 2009 WR Cameron Gordon) about Greg Carter. He seems to be a good disciplinarian and teacher of the fundamentals, and one of the best coaches in the state. More from Gardner:

“I think I can fit into Michigan real easy,” he continued. “They run the exact same offense that we run right now. I already knew the spread offense, but I’m learning (more). I’m doing everything better — way better. If I go to Michigan, I wouldn’t have to adjust that much.”

That sounds promising, but Gardner also has nice things to say about Michigan State and Ohio State, so don’t get too excited just yet.

I never really thought Michigan would have a great chance with 2010 CA RB Malcolm Jones (Michigan isn’t recruiting California as heavily anymore, the school is a traditional USC pipeline, etc.). I didn’t even realize, however, that he has an older brother at USC:

Sarkisian attended Friday night’s Oaks Christian High School playoff game. The Trojans have not yet offered a scholarship to junior tailback Malcolm Jones, the younger brother of USC safety Marshall Jones. Several Pacific-10 Conference schools already offered Malcolm Jones.

So he was already included on the board only tenuously – he’s now a candidate for removal at the next sign that he won’t be interested in Michigan.

2010 OH RB Erick Howard was going to move to Seattle but didn’t end up doing so, a factoid that, until recently, had confused the hell out of me. Well, now it’s a little more clear:

Howard’s mother, Ruth, wanted him to move to Seattle with her so he could spend time with his sister, who had just given birth to her first child. Howard resisted but followed and respected his mother’s wishes…
He missed his friends and teammates. He begged his mother to let him return… She was reluctant but eventually gave in.

…and now that makes a little bit of sense.

”Now, I always carry a pencil and I go to all of my classes trying to be as prepared as I can,” he said. ”I’m working toward stepping it up and being a better student and earning a scholarship to play football in college because my dream is to play in the NFL.”

So he’s trying to succeed through football, etc., etc. He was the district player of the year, and Michigan may get involved with his recruitment down the road.

2010 FL OL Jose Jose might be similarly unlikely to end up at Michigan (he loves the hometown Miami Hurricanes), but he is certainly a prospect that Michigan fans may find intriguing. Luke Stampini of SoFlaFootball.com brings the video:

2009 IL OL Commit Michael Schofield is playing in a high school all-star game in Hawaii. That rules.

Luk Stampini of SoFlaFootball.com on Pahokee 2010 Slot De’Joshua Johnson:

When De’Joshua told me before the game he was going to be the starting QB, I didn’t believe him. He does like to joke around a bit. After watching him play, he looks to be the best QB Pahokee has put on the field this year. Accurate passer, and when you have the athletes PK does, that’s all you really need to be as a QB. He doesn’t have the little things true QB’s have like knowing when to throw the ball away or when to tuck and run.

Verrry interesting. Might he be the type of guy Michigan tries to bring in to play slot, but giving him a chance to try his hand at QB first? It looks like some of the problems with his game at QB are a matter of inexperience at the position (aside from the fact that he’s 5-9, of course).

Ohio All-State teams:

Division 1
WR Michael Edwards (Cle. Glenville) 6-1, 180. 2009
OT Marcus Hall (Cle. Glenville) 6-6, 305. 2009
RB Erick Howard (N. Canton Hoover) 5-10, 210. 2010
LB Scott McVey (Cle. St. Ignatius) 6-1, 215. 2010
LB Jordan Hicks (Lakota W.) 6-2, 210. 2010
LB Jewone Snow (Canton McKinley) 6-2, 237. 2010
DB J.T. Turner (Massillon Washington) 6-2, 180. 2009

Division 2
OL Andrew Norwell (Cin. Anderson) 6-7, 275. 2010
DB Courtney Avery (Lexington) 5-11, 170. 2010 (QB)

Division 3
RB Fitzgerald Toussaint (Youngs. Liberty) 5-10, 195. 2009
DB Isaiah Bell (Youngs. Liberty) 6-2, 215. 2009

So, all of Michigan’s commits from Ohio were first team all-state in their divisions. Also: Fitz was the co-offensive Player of the Year in Division III.

Interesting comment from Black Shoe Diaries on Jelani Jenkins’s recruitment:

I have no concerns in this area whether we get Jenkins or not.

I’m sure it’s intended to sound so flippant, but it really comes off as though PSU fans couldn’t care one way or the other whether they land Jelani Jenkins. I’m sure Michigan fans don’t feel that way, and want Jenkins as the cornerstone of the 2009 LB class, not some cherry on top of it.

The new format for recruiting posts is still something of a work-in-progress, so feel free to comment on it.

Posted under Football

The Board.

Added:
4 from Jim Stefani:
NJ OL Dante Weaver
TX DT De’Aires Cotton
FL RB Roy Finch
OH WR Jerald Robinson

New Information:
VA QB Phillip Sims. Fluff.
TX RB Lache Seastrunk. Closing in on his school’s all-time yardage record.
SC RB Marcus Lattimore. He already has 20 offers. Yeah, he’s kind of a big deal.
FL WR Commit Ricardo Miller. One of the fluffiest articles in history.
OH DE/LB Jamel Turner. He didn’t grow up with a favorite school, and considers himself a “free agent.”
NC DE Prince Shembo. NC State has offered (info in header).

Removed:
SC DT Kelcy Quarles. South Carolina commit.

Etc.:
MI QB Devin Gardner and RB Nick Hill played each other in the playoffs. Gardner’s team won, and is going to the state championship game.

Posted under Football