Tom Strobel
Tom Strobel, who finished his redshirt junior year at Michigan, will not return to the Wolverines in the fall. It was announced on National Signing Day that he would be transferring to Ohio University to become a Bobcat.
Strobel was a class of 2012 prospect who was highly ranked at the time. He was a 6’6″, 240-pounder who was a 247 Composite 4-star, the #10 weakside end, and #178 overall. He picked Michigan over offers from Iowa, Michigan State, Northwestern, Notre Dame, and Ohio State, among others. I gave him a TTB Rating of 84.
Hit the jump for more on Strobel’s departure.
Unfortunately, Strobel never saw the field much during his career. He wasn’t athletic enough to play weakside end at Michigan (an odd designation by 247 Sports, by the way), and he wasn’t strong enough to hold his own on the strong side or the interior. He bounced back and forth between defense and offense for Jim Harbaugh, and he did see time as an extra offensive lineman, a tight end, and a defensive tackle. His career include 2 tackles as a redshirt freshman in 2013, 1 tackle in 2014, and 3 tackles this past season.
He will now head to Ohio, which was the final landing spot of fellow Ohioan and former Wolverine Keith Heitzman. Heitzman had a similar career to Strobel, playing defensive end and tight end at Michigan from 2011-2014. He used his grad transfer status to become a Bobcat, where he became the team’s tight end (and only TE to catch a pass), finishing the year with 22 catches for 288 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Strobel is the sixth member of the 2012 class to finish his career somewhere other than Michigan, joining Allen Gant (destination TBD), Dennis Norfleet (Tuskegee), Ondre Pipkins (Texas Tech), Terry Richardson (TBD), and Kaleb Ringer (Ferris State/Georgia State). Michigan is now down to 91 scholarship players for 2016 (LINK), so six more players need to depart before the fall.
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Harbaugh and the staff are sending the clear message that the program will not carry dead weight, and it’s long past time. For too long, this team has carried too many guys who will never be better than 2nd or 3rd stringers for four or five years, and you don’t go 11-1 or 12-0 every year that way, nor do you win championships. Elite programs have a preponderance of players who either ARE starters, or who are going to be starters.
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You know, people said the exact same thing about Rodriguez and Hoke.
Not saying it’s incorrect – I think Harbaugh is a better coach and college program manager than those guys – but this kind of NEW ATTITUDE talk doesn’t carry much water with me because it gets said about literally every new coach.
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For whatever it’s worth, I do think we’re going to see some more cut-throat roster management under Harbaugh than we did under Hoke or Rodriguez. I think we’ve already seen indications of that with some of these fifth-year guys not returning, the recruiting stuff (Swenson, Enis, Weaver, etc.), etc.
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Agree, though I understand Lanknow’s point. Every new coach brings out the hopes of the fan base.
By the way, here in Tucson on local sports radio there is increasing grumbling about Rodriguez. Last year’s 7-6 record was blamed — fairly or not — on Rodriguez’s failure to pay attention to defense. Exit DC Casteel.
Now, after a “meh” recruiting class, the complaints are he does not focus enough on recruiting. This week I heard an interview where he stated he and his staff need to step up the intensity of their recruiting efforts. Those who don’t, he said, will find themselves on the way out.
The heat is on. The natives are restless … at least the local sports media is. The 2016 season is going to be one of some scrutiny for Rodriguez.
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That’s a good point. You know his defensive recruits were never that good… I remember him just landing bunch of MAC type of guys for defense at Michigan (except a few guys like Jake Ryan who panned out) and I always thought his lack of attention to defense was his downfall. His defenses were just never that good even at height of his powers at WVU.
Now Pac-12 coaches are starting to figure him out and he might be on his way out if he doesn’t produce quickly.
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More cut-throat for sure. I mean I remember Thunder complaining about Hoke’s decision to not take QB recruits in 2012 because that might “offend” Shane Morris…. Pssh. Harbaugh will just drop dead weights everywhere if they don’t produce.
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Frankly, I don’t recall anyone saying exactly the same thing about either of them. Yes, most every new coach evokes the “grass is greener” optimism of change in one way or another, but neither Hoke nor Rodriguez imposed such a strict meritocracy on the program. Hoke in particular was soft and sentimental, and ran things so that no one would dislike him. He quickly discovered that sentiment may win friends, but it doesn’t win championships.
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I wish Strobel well, like I wish all players who played at Michigan for 4 years well. Good luck to him and I hope he finds success at Ohio.
For me Strobel will be remembered as a recruit who I thought would exceed his high recruiting rankings. Obviously, he did not.
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I too do not recall anyone saying RR or Hoke(yeah right as if)would tell fifth yr seniors they wouldn’t be back. Never been a senior day with that many players that I’ve seen…ever. Now the message is already sent…perform at the level expected..or above..or u likely won’t be back. Crazy to hear some criticism of Harbaugh for this..I go to Alabama once or twice a year. Saban almost never is criticized. Only time I saw it down there was about a player accused of a sexual assault. Certainly not about this kind of thing. Do we as a fan base want to win or be nice? To do the former a coach can’t always be the cool uncle…talking about you Brady Hoke.
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