Tag: Rich Rodriguez

Final Rivals 250 Released for 2012

Joe Bolden is the nation’s 111th-best player

Rivals released its Rivals 250 on Wednesday.  This comes on the heels of yesterday’s Rivals 100, which I discussed yesterday.  Here’s what it looked like in May 2011, August 2011, and then November 2011.

Michigan commits have made the following moves since November:

– Joe Bolden moved from #152 to #111
– James Ross dropped from #163 to #172
– Royce Jenkins-Stone dropped slightly from #182 to #184
– Amara Darboh dropped from #208 to #215
– Terry Richardson dropped from #217 to #224

There are still a couple weeks remaining to recruit class of 2012 kids, but at this point, Michigan has offered 115 of the top 250 (or 46%) players in the country.  During the last recruiting cycle, Michigan offered 84 of the top 250 players (or 33.6%).  Brady Hoke has sent out 190 reported offers this season, while Rodriguez (with a small dose of Hoke at the end) offered 195 kids in the 2011 recruiting class.  This supports my opinion that I’ve held since last spring that Brady Hoke is targeting a higher level of talent than Rich Rodriguez did during his tenure.

Here are the rest of Michigan’s 2012 offerees on the Rivals 250:

103. Aaron Burbridge – WR – Michigan (Michigan State)
105. Dillon Lee – LB – Georgia (Alabama)
111. Joe Bolden – LB – Ohio (Michigan)
113. Elijah Shumate – S – New Jersey (Notre Dame)
127. Peter Jinkens – LB – Texas (Texas)
128. Scott Starr – LB – California (USC)
130. Drae Bowles – WR – Tennessee (Tennessee)
133. Keith Brown – LB – Florida (Louisville)
137. John Michael McGee – OG – Texas (Oklahoma)
138. Bri’onte Dunn – RB – Ohio (Ohio State)
147. Paul Thurston – OT – Colorado (Nebraska)
148. Evan Boehm – OG – Missouri (Missouri)
149. Dalvin Tomlinson – DT – Georgia
153. Dan Voltz – OT – Illinois (Wisconsin)
154. Pharaoh Brown – DE – Ohio (Oregon)
158. Sean Price – TE – Florida (South Florida)
159. David Perkins – ATH – Indiana (Ohio State)
161. Danny O’Brien – DT – Michigan (Tennessee)
163. Ty Darlington – C – Florida (Oklahoma)
164. Dwayne Stanford – WR – Ohio (Oregon)
165. Jake Rodrigues – QB – California (Oregon)
166. Leonte Carroo – WR – New Jersey (Rutgers)
167. Camren Williams – LB – Massachusetts (Penn State)
169. Deontay McManus – WR – Maryland (West Virginia)
170. Devonte Fields – DE – Texas (TCU)
171. Dominique Wheeler – WR – Texas (Texas Tech)
172. James Ross – LB – Michigan (Michigan)
173. Jaleel Johnson – DT – Illinois (Iowa)
175. Michael Starts – DE – Texas (Texas Tech)
178. Kyle Dodson – OT – Ohio (Wisconsin)
184. Royce Jenkins-Stone – LB – Michigan (Michigan)
188. Wes Brown – RB – Maryland (Maryland)
189. Taylor McNamara – TE – California (Oklahoma)
190. Matt Jones – RB – Florida (Florida)
191. Michael Moore – DE – Maryland (Virginia)
192. Greg McMullen – DE – Ohio (Nebraska)
193. Warren Ball – RB – Ohio (Ohio State)
195. Jonathan Williams – RB – Texas (Arkansas)
199. Jarron Jones – DT – New York (Notre Dame)
203. Adam Bisnowaty – OT – Pennsylvania (Pitt)
209. Ken Ekanem – LB – Virginia
212. Shane Callahan – OT – Colorado (Auburn)
215. Amara Darboh – WR – Iowa (Michigan)
216. Derrick Woods – WR – California (Oklahoma)
218. Latroy Pittman – WR – Florida (Florida)
219. Armani Reeves – CB – Massachusetts (Penn State)
221. Taylor Decker – OT – Ohio (Ohio State)
222. Kenny Lawler – CB – Washington, D.C.
224. Terry Richardson – CB – Michigan (Michigan)
226. Darius Powe – WR – California (Cal)
230. Jody Fuller – WR – North Carolina (South Carolina)
237. Reginald Davis – WR – Texas (Texas Tech)
239. Troy Hinds – DE – Utah (BYU)
244. Sheldon Day – DT – Indiana (Notre Dame)
246. Jason Croom – WR – Georgia (Tennessee)
247. Avery Johnson – WR – Florida (LSU)
249. Faith Ekakitie – DT – Illinois (Iowa)

Michigan offerees who fell out of the top 250 are:
– Indiana QB Zeke Pike (Auburn)
– Arizona QB Connor Brewer (Texas)
– North Carolina OT Brock Stadnik (South Carolina)
– Louisiana OT Derek Edinburgh (LSU)
– South Carolina DE Martin Aiken (Clemson)
– Tennessee RB I’Tavius Mathers (Ole Miss)
– Colorado OG Alex Kozan

Ex-Wolverine Updates: Rodriguez’s Staff

Former safeties coach Adam Braithwaite arguably had the most success of any former Rodriguez staffer in 2011, as his Christopher Newport team almost finished in the top third of D-III defenses and the team went 8-3. (image via Daily Press)

Former head coach Rich Rodriguez spent the 2011 season as an NCAA football analyst for CBS Sports.

Former offensive coordinator Calvin Magee spent the 2011 season as the offensive coordinator at Pitt.  The Panthers finished the regular season #68 in rushing offense (151 yards per game), #75 in passing offense (211 yards per game), #83 in total offense (362 yards per game), and #69 in scoring offense (25.75 points per game).  They also allowed more sacks than any other team with 4.75 per game.  Magee has been hired to re-join Rodriguez at Arizona and coordinate the offense.

Former defensive coordinator Scott Shafer (’08) has spent the last few seasons at Syracuse.  In 2011 the Orangemen finished #32 in rushing defense, #98 in passing defense, #64 in total defense, and #74 in scoring defense.

Former defensive coordinator Greg Robinson (’09-’10) spent the 2011 season away from football.

Former quarterbacks coach Rod Smith (’08-’10) spent the 2011 season as the quarterbacks coach at Indiana.  The Hoosiers went 1-11 with a victory over South Carolina State.  True freshman Tre Roberson finished the season  at 81-for-142 passing for 937 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions.  He also ran the ball 109 times for 426 yards (3.9 yards per carry) and 2 touchdowns.  Sophomore Edward Wright-Backer finished the year at 91-for-153 passing for 1,029 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 4 interceptions.  He ran the ball 46 times for 68 yards and 0 touchdowns.  Overall, the Hoosiers had the #80 passing offense, the #85 total offense, and the #101 scoring offense (21.4 points per game).

Running backs coach Fred Jackson (’08-’10) spent the 2011 season at Michigan, turning Fitzgerald Toussaint into an awesome running back.

Former wide receivers coach Tony Dews (’08-’10) spent the 2011 season as the tight ends coach at Pitt.  Starter Hubie Graham finished the year with 27 catches for 307 yards and 3 touchdowns.  Dews has been hired to re-join Rodriguez at Arizona as the wide receivers coach.

Former offensive line coach Greg Frey (’08-’10) spent the 2011 season as the offensive line coach at Indiana.  The Hoosiers finished #58 in rushing (161 yards per game) and #95 in sacks allowed (2.58 per game).

Former defensive line coach Bruce Tall (’08-’10) was hired as the defensive coordinator at Charlotte, a fledgling football program that won’t begin playing until 2013.

Former linebackers coach Jay Hopson (’08-’09) spent 2010 and the first part of 2011 at Memphis.  However, he resigned at Memphis after the first two games of the season, when he gave up 59 and 47 points to Mississippi State and Arkansas State, respectively.  His current job situation is unknown.

Former secondary coach Tony Gibson (’08-’10) spent the 2011 season as the secondary coach at Pitt.  The Panthers finished #71 in the country in pass defense (233 yards per game) and his defensive backs made just 4 total interceptions.  Gibson has been hired to re-join Rodriguez at Arizona as the Wildcats’ secondary coach.

Former safeties coach Adam Braithwaite (’10) spent the 2011 season as the defensive coordinator at Christopher Newport, a Division III program.  CNU finished #85 in rushing defense, #94 in pass defense, #83 in total defense, and #116 in scoring defense while going 8-3 on the year.  There are 238 teams in Division III.

Rich Rodriguez, Arizona Wildcat

Rich Rodriguez

Former Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez has been hired as the new head coach at Arizona.  The news was announced Monday evening, and he will be introduced by the athletic director on Wednesday.  From the press release on Arizona’s website:

Rodriguez carries a career college coaching record of 120-84-2 in 18 seasons, marked by Division I records of 60-26 at West Virginia from 2001-2006 and 15-22 at Michigan, where he coached from 2008-10. He began his coaching career at Salem in 1988 and then coached at Glenville State from 1990-96. He has worked as a CBS Sports football analyst this year.

Rodriguez’ West Virginia teams were Big East Champion four seasons – 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2007, appearing in two BCS bowls, the 2005 Sugar Bowl with a victory over Georgia for an 11-1 record and a loss to Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl to finish 10-2. His 2006 club finished 11-2 after a victory over Georgia Tech in the Gator Bowl.

 I want to wish Coach Rodriguez, his family, and the Arizona Wildcats program well in the coming years.  I always felt badly for Rodriguez, his family, his colleagues, and his players when he was at Michigan.  His name was unjustly dragged through the mud by West Virginia before he even started coaching in Ann Arbor, and a lot of Michigan fans, players, alumni, and critics never gave him a chance.  Tuned-in Michigan fans knew this well before the release of John U. Bacon’s book Three and Out in October, but Rodriguez was doomed from the beginning when he began work in Ann Arbor.

This is not to say that Rodriguez didn’t make mistakes of his own.  He did, and those have been well documented.  The biggest mistake he made was failing to win games, and that was a direct result of hiring defensive coaches who were either incompetent or a poor fit with the rest of the staff.  When your football team is allowing 35 points a game in your third season as head coach, then something is wrong.  There was no reason to believe that the defense would have improved in 2011 and, therefore, he needed to go.

Regardless of how Rodriguez fared in Ann Arbor, he runs an offense that can work anywhere in college football.  There will be struggles in Tucson like there were at his last job, because the Wildcats are not a team prepared to play spread option football.  The roster includes purely pro-style quarterbacks, including Pennsylvanian Tom Savage, who was heavily interested in Michigan a few years ago but whose interest was not reciprocated.  Starting quarterback Nick Foles is slow-footed like Ryan Mallett, although Foles is a senior and will be gone by 2012.  The Wildcats have two quarterbacks currently committed for the class of 2012, but both are pro-style kids and I would guess that neither one will end up signing with Arizona in February.

Much like when Rodriguez came to Michigan, he will either be starting a true freshman “athlete” at quarterback (recruited out of Florida, most likely) or a pro-style kid who’s ill suited to the spread option but willing to give it a go.  Furthermore, every receiver on the roster is 6’0″ or taller – although there’s a 5’10” kid named Jarrell Bennett (with dreadlocks, no less) who might be the Martavious Odoms of the Arizona Wildcats; the first highlight on Bennett’s Rivals.com film is of him blocking a cornerback into the ground.

As Rodriguez mentioned in Three and Out, when a coach builds a program, there are several steps: first you lose big, then you lose close, then you win close, and then you win big.  I’ll be rooting for the Wildcats to skip a couple of those steps . . . but if they don’t, I’ll be rooting for Rodriguez to be given enough time to hit that fourth stage.

Good luck, Coach.

Mailbag: Does Hoke deserve blame for lack of OL depth?

Do you think Hoke deserves any blame for not going after OL/DL last year? I realize time was short, but he managed to snag a QB, TE, DE and LB – guys that hadn’t been targeted before.
Shouldn’t he have seen the potential train-wreck coming at OL and tried to address the situation? I’d imagine there were some marginal 3-star types available that could have at least contributed to depth. DT is probably a different story – since competition is so stiff and freshman can contribute right away. But OL…the needs been there for a long time. Besides Rodriguez’s class of 6 guys in ’08 Michigan has under-recruited the OL position since 2005 (no more than 3 OL in a class). Rodriguez recognized the need and immediately worked to rectify it. Yeah, he had more time, but we didn’t even hear of any new names pop up at OL in the 2011 class.

I think that Rodriguez deserves a little less blame for the OL situation. 1st, he was forced by Carr into recruiting a giant OL class in ’08. with all the other needs around he couldn’t keep taking 5 guys a year. So, the small OL classes in 09 and 10 were somewhat justifiable. 2011 was looking strong but the transition cost UM Fisher and probably some other OL recruit. I don’t think it’s all on him that the ’09 and ’10 OL classes now look to be so damaging.

The question above comes from a commenter in Tuesday’s recruiting update post.

No, I don’t think Brady Hoke deserves blame for not going after offensive linemen and defensive linemen last year.  First of all, he was hired less than a month before National Signing Day.  With that short of a start, I don’t think he can really accept any blame whatsoever.  But secondly, he did  go after linemen.  Hoke offered:

• Ohio DE/DT Keith Heitzman (Michigan)
• New Jersey DE Max Issaka (Rutgers)
• Arizona OT Ryan Nowicki (Penn State)
• Florida DT Trevarris Saulsberry (Tennessee)
• Florida DE Jordan Williams (Tennessee)

Furthermore, he continued to recruit former Michigan commit Jake Fisher, who ended up signing with Oregon.  I got the feeling that the new coaches were really pushing for Fisher and wanting to make him believe that he was their priority at the position.  The fact that Fisher chose Oregon was very disappointing to me, because I think Fisher is going to be an excellent lineman and he has already earned solid reviews in Eugene.

Rodriguez offered just 17 linemen in the class of 2010; one committed (center Christian Pace, who has since left the program).  Rodriguez offered just 13 linemen in the class of 2009; three committed (Taylor Lewan, Michael Schofield, and Quinton Washington, who has switched to defensive tackle).  Furthermore, by the time Rodriguez was fired in January 2011, he only had three offensive linemen committed (Fisher, Jack Miller, and Tony Posada).

The offensive line recruiting at this point has nothing to do with Lloyd Carr.  Carr left behind a mediocre group (Justin Boren, David Molk, and Steve Schilling along with a bunch of journeyman types), but Rodriguez had a few years to fix it.  And while Rodriguez did a decent job of bringing in talent, he clearly didn’t bring in enough of it.  This roster is full of Rodriguez recruits, Mark Huyge, David Molk, Rocko Khoury, and Elliott Mealer; Lloyd Carr hasn’t coached a game since January 1, 2008, yet two starters and two key backups remain from his regime.  Here’s a breakdown of who’s responsible for the expected 2012 offensive line:

• Carr: Rocko Khoury, Elliott Mealer
• Rodriguez: Ricky Barnum, Chris Bryant, Taylor Lewan, Jack Miller, Patrick Omameh, Michael Schofield
• Hoke: Blake Bars, Ben Braden, Kyle Kalis, Erik Magnuson, Caleb Stacey (plus a presumed sixth commit)

Lastly, you state that Rodriguez had so many other needs that he couldn’t commit more scholarships to linemen.  I think that’s a farce.  Every team has 85 scholarships to use.  Every team needs roughly the same number of cornerbacks, receivers, quarterbacks, etc.  Rodriguez had five slot receivers on the roster by the time he started recruiting for 2011 (Martavious Odoms, Jeremy Gallon, Terrence Robinson, Drew Dileo, and D.J. Williamson), yet he still offered five more slot receivers for the 2011 class.  Virtually every coach – except perhaps Rodriguez – would tell you that offensive linemen are more important than slot receivers, but Rodriguez whiffed on too many offensive linemen in the class of 2011.  After taking only one in 2010, he was on his way to taking only three in 2011.  The position group was going to continue to be thin under Rodriguez.  We’re talking about a difference of one guy (Fisher) between the current team and the team Rodriguez would have had.

With all that out of the way, take a look at what Hoke is doing now.  He threw out a late offer to Nowicki and didn’t get him.  Rather than poaching 3-star linemen from places like Vanderbilt and Purdue, he decided to throw himself into grabbing 4- and 5-star linemen for the class of 2012.  The Wolverines have enough depth for the 2011 season, so we’re talking about 2012 (and beyond).  Is a 3-star redshirt freshman loads better than a true freshman Kyle Kalis or Erik Magnuson?  Yes, it’s ideal that every lineman redshirts, but that doesn’t mean you necessarily take age over talent.

The 2012 offensive line looks to be:

LT: Taylor Lewan
LG: Ricky Barnum
C: Rocko Khoury
RG: Patrick Omameh
RT: Michael Schofield

The backups will be Elliott Mealer, Jack Miller, and Chris Bryant, plus a bunch of freshmen.  It looks like a pretty good starting offensive line, but whether the next guy in is a 3-star redshirt freshman or a 4-star true freshman, there’s bound to be a significant drop-off.

I don’t blame Hoke for any of the 2011 recruiting class, but I give him credit for Russell Bellomy, Tamani Carter, Keith Heitzman, Antonio Poole, and Matt Wile.  I also don’t blame Rodriguez for not getting a viable quarterback in 2008, but I do give him credit for pulling in Ricky Barnum, Justin Feagin, J.T. Floyd, Taylor Hill, Martavious Odoms, Patrick Omameh, Terrence Robinson, Roy Roundtree, and Brandon Smith.  But I will hold Hoke responsible if any of those five players wash out, just like I blame Rodriguez for wasting scholarships on Feagin, Hill, and Smith.

Scout 300 Released

Dorial Green-Beckham is the #2 prospect in the country, according to Scout.com

Scout.com released its top 300 players for the Class of 2012, and it shows an interesting recruiting trend, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Brady Hoke and his staff were receiving some flak for offering so many prospects early in the recruiting cycle.  By my count the Wolverines have offered scholarships to 139 players at this juncture.  You will find 108 of them on this list, which means 77.7% of Michigan’s offers are to players considered to be in the top 300 prospects nationwide.

Compare that to Rich Rodriguez.  By the end of the 2011 recruiting cycle, he (and Brady Hoke, who tossed out a handful of offers between his hiring and National Signing Day) had offered 190 players.  On the final Scout 300 list, there were only 94 Rodriguez/Hoke offerees.  So only 49.5% of Rodriguez offers went to the top 300 players in the country [Thanks to commenter Anonymous for catching my math error.].

Of course, this isn’t the final Scout 300.  Prospects could move up or down on this list, they could fall out of the top 300, etc.  But if you were unsure about the quality of recruits Michigan is pursuing, it seems that our new staff has taken a different – and dare I say better – approach to the recruiting process.

Here are the players Michigan has offered, with any current pledges noted in parentheses:

1. Arik Armstead – DT – California (USC)
2. Dorial Green-Beckham – WR – Missouri
3. Andrus Peat – OT – Arizona
4. John Theus – OT – Florida
5. Keith Marshall – RB – North Carolina
6. Noah Spence – DE – Pennsylvania
8. Mario Edwards – DE – Texas (Florida State)
12. Jarron Jones – DT – New York
13. Avery Young – OT – Florida
14. Eddie Goldman – DT – Washington, DC
15. Kwon Alexander – LB – Alabama
16. Stefon Diggs – S – Maryland
17. Gunner Kiel – QB – Indiana
20. Malcolm Brown – RB – Texas (Texas)
21. Adolphus Washington – DE – Ohio
22. Kyle Kalis – OT – Ohio (Ohio State)
24. Josh Garnett – OG – Washington
25. Zeke Pike – QB – Kentucky
26. Darius Hamilton – DE – New Jersey
27. D.J. Humphries – OT – North Carolina
28. Brionte Dunn – RB – Ohio (Ohio State)
30. Jordan Simmons – OG – California
31. Leonte Carroo – WR – New Jersey
34. Kyle Murphy – OT – California
38. Ellis McCarthy – DT – California
40. Jordan Diamond – OT – Illinois
41. Brian Poole – CB – Florida
43. Jordan Jenkins – DE – Georgia
44. Wes Brown – RB – Maryland
45. Zach Banner – OT – Washington
46. Tommy Schutt – DT – Illinois
47. Ronald Darby – CB – Maryland
49. Tee Shepard – CB – California (Notre Dame)
50. Aziz Shittu – DT – California
52. LaDarrell McNeil – S – Texas
56. Matt Jones – RB – Florida (Florida)
58. Ifeadi Odenigbo – DE – Ohio
60. Jordan Payton – WR – California (USC)
63. Brock Stadnik – OT – North Carolina
64. Sheldon Day – DT – Indiana
65. Greg Garmon – RB – Pennsylvania
69. Michael Starts – OG – Texas
71. Troy Hinds – DE – Utah
72. James Ross – LB – Michigan
73. Jonathan Taylor – DT – Georgia
76. Avery Johnson – WR – Florida (LSU)
78. Se’von Pittman – DE – Ohio
84. Aaron Burbridge – WR – Michigan
86. Bryce Treggs – WR – California
90. Taylor Decker – OT – Ohio (Notre Dame)
91. Elijah Shumate – S – New Jersey
95. Peter Jinkens – LB – Texas (Texas)
96. Erik Magnuson – OT – California
98. Vincent Valentine – DT – Illinois
99. Dan Voltz – OT – Illinois (Wisconsin)
100. Evan Boehm – C – Missouri
101. Deaysean Rippy – LB – Pennsylvania
102. Jabari Ruffin – LB – California (USC)
104. Martin Aiken – DE – South Carolina
105. Royce Jenkins-Stone – LB – Michigan
106. Dwayne Stanford – WR – Ohio
107. Kendall Sanders – CB – Texas (Oklahoma State)
110. J.J. Denman – OT – Pennsylvania
111. Paul Thurston – OT – Colorado
112. Chris Wormley – DE – Ohio
116. Maty Mauk – QB – Ohio
119. Reginald Davis – WR – Texas (Texas Tech)
125. Jaquay Williams – WR – Georgia
127. Connor Brewer – QB – Arizona (Texas)
131. Danny O’Brien – DT – Michigan
137. Ron Thompson – TE – Michigan
139. Terry Richardson – CB – Michigan
143. Camren Williams – LB – Maryland (Penn State)
146. Devin Funchess – TE – Michigan
150. Devonte Fields – DE – Texas
151. Jarrod Wilson – S – Ohio
153. Ryan Watson – OG – Maryland
159. Greg McMullen – DE – Ohio
163. Devin Fuller – QB – New Jersey
164. Amara Darboh – WR – Iowa
165. Taylor McNamara – TE – California
166. Dalton Santos – LB – Texas (Oklahoma State)
170. Mike Madaras – OT – Maryland (Maryland)
171. John Michael McGee- C – Texas
174. Shane Callahan – OT – Colorado
176. Derrick Woods – WR – California
177. Armani Reeves – CB – Maryland
180. Mario Ojemudia – DE – Michigan
185. Zach Kline – QB – California (Cal)
188. Ondre Pipkins – DT – Missouri
191. Kyle Dodson – OG – Ohio
200. Tom Strobel – DE – Ohio
202. Ty Darlington – C – Florida
206. Kaleb Ringer – LB – Ohio
218. Vince Biegel – LB – Wisconsin
222. Deon Bush – CB – Florida
224. Evan Baylis – TE – Colorado
226. Jeremiah Tshimanga – LB – Texas (Oklahoma State)
237. Drew Harris – RB – Pennsylvania
238. Joe Bolden – LB – Ohio
246. D.J. Singleton – S – New Jersey
255. Sean Price – TE – Florida
259. Malik Gilmore – WR – California
260. Raphael Kirby – LB – Georgia
263. Wayne Morgan – CB – New York
264. Vonte Jackson – RB – Wisconsin (Wisconsin)
271. Brent Wilkerson – DE – Maryland (Penn State)
281. Latroy Pittman – WR – Florida (Florida)