Tag: schools in the news

School in the News: Texas

After many rumors and much turmoil, Texas head coach Mack Brown stepped down from coaching the Longhorns on Saturday. Here’s a look at their recruits and players that Michigan has pursued:

2014 commits: LB Otaro Alaka, CB Jermaine Roberts
2015 commit: OG Aaron Garza
Roster players: CB Antwuan Davis (Fr.), S Sheroid Evans (Jr.), K Anthony Fera (Sr.)*, OT Garrett Greenlea (So.), LB Jordan Hicks (Jr.), DT Desmond Jackson (Jr.), DE Jackson Jeffcoat (Sr.)*, LB Peter Jinkens (So.), WR Jake Oliver (Fr.), RB Jalen Overstreet (So.), C Jake Raulerson (Fr.), WR Kendall Sanders (So.), LB Dalton Santos (So.), S Josh Turner (So.)

*Seniors who would be unable to transfer

None of Texas’s players or commits visited Michigan during the recruiting process, as far as I know. Most of them are from Texas or at least Big 12 country, and Jordan Hicks – who’s from Ohio – never seemed interested in the Wolverines. Therefore, I don’t expect that the coaching change in Austin will have any tangible impact on Michigan. Alabama head coach Nick Saban was thought to be a potential replacement for Brown, but now that Saban has signed an extension with the Crimson Tide, the Longhorns will presumably have to go in a different direction. Some of the names mentioned for the head job at Texas include Baylor’s Art Briles, Florida State’s Jimbo Fisher, Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy, Auburn’s Gus Malzahn, Ohio State’s Urban Meyer, LSU’s Les Miles, UCLA’s Jim Mora Jr., Stanford’s David Shaw, and Louisville’s Charlie Strong.

Schools in the News: Washington, USC

Southern California hired Washington head coach Steve Sarkisian away from the Huskies, which opens up recruiting season in the Pac-12. Michigan doesn’t typically compete with Washington for recruits, but here’s a look at the players and commits for each program that were recruited by Michigan.

WASHINGTON
2014 commits: None
Current players: TE Darrell Daniels, DE Joe Mathis, DT Elijah Qualls, S Sean Parker*, WR John Ross, WR Da’morea Stringfellow, S Shaq Thompson

USC
2014 commits: None
Current players: Hit the link.

USC’s coaching/recruiting situation was addressed in the link above, which included a couple guys who thought seriously about Michigan. If they don’t like what Sarkisian brings to the table, they could look to transfer. However, Sarkisian’s history at USC and his relatively similar style of play to what the Trojans have been running will probably result in very little change of direction for the program.

As for the Huskies, we’ll see whom they hire. Parker very nearly signed with Michigan several years ago, but that’s water under the bridge. Mathis was very high on Michigan at one point, but he supposedly had some grade issues that scared off some teams, and he was also prone to saying very nice things about every school. Qualls was a part-time high school running back and seemed like another kid with fairly high interest in Michigan, but he never visited. Thompson, a 5-star safety, made some noise about visiting but was never a serious option, and the rest of the guys never showed much interest.

I do not expect this coaching development to have any effect on Michigan, but the guys to look at most closely would be Washington’s Mathis and Qualls, plus USC’s Ty Isaac and Leon McQuay III.

*Senior in 2013

School in the News: Oregon

Oregon head coach Chip Kelly will now be coaching another mostly green team with wings on its helmets, the Philadelphia Eagles.  Chances are slim that Michigan might benefit from this turn of events, but it’s worth taking a look anyway.

2013 Oregon commit with Michigan offer: WR Darren Carrington
Current roster players recruited by Michigan: DE Arik Armstead, TE Evan Baylis, TE Pharaoh Brown, OT Jake Fisher, DT Ricky Heimuli, CB Dior Mathis, QB Jake Rodrigues, WR Dwayne Stanford, OT Andre Yruretagoyena

Oregon is expected to promote offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich to head coach, so the program won’t change much, and I wouldn’t expect mass defections.

Schools in the News: Wisconsin

News came out this afternoon that Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema, who played linebacker at Iowa, has been hired as the new Arkansas Razorbacks head coach.  The Badgers have generally lost to Michigan and other big-time teams in recruiting battles, but they have a few offerees who might be of Michigan fans’ interest.

2013 Wisconsin commits: Rob Wheelwright
2014 Wisconsin commits: Conor Sheehy
Current roster players: LB Vince Biegel, RB Melvin Gordon, RB Vonte Jackson, OG Dan Voltz, RB James White

For what it’s worth, I really liked Biegel and Voltz when they were coming out of high school; regardless, it’s unlikely that Michigan could grab any current roster members from Wisconsin because players usually don’t transfer within the conference.  Sometimes it’s interesting to think about what could have been, though.

Meanwhile, Sheehy visited Michigan, and the Wolverines were supposedly high on his list, so it might be possible to coax him into decommitting.  Wheelwright never seemed to be seriously interested in the Wolverines, although Michigan would still like to add a wide receiver to the class.  The Badgers also have a commitment from 2014 quarterback Chance Stewart, a pro-style guy from Sturgis (MI) Sturgis. Several Michigan people thought that he would jump on an offer from Michigan, but he never earned that offer and one didn’t seem to be forthcoming anytime soon.

I am somewhat surprised by Bielema’s departure from Madison because he seemed like a Big Ten guy, but he may have realized that a national championship would be difficult to achieve at Wisconsin.  While he did an excellent job of taking mid-level recruits and turning them into Big Ten champions, record holders, and such, he just didn’t seem to garner the elite athletes that one needs to win national championships and dominate the conference.  Now he’ll have the SEC name, the weather, and the recruiting territory to build an even more athletic version of his teams at Wisconsin.  The biggest question to me is whether he’ll be able to make the guys in the south buy into his program as well as he did with the Badgers.  Personally, I have never been a fan of Bielema because of his pompous attitude, so he’ll fit just fine in SEC country.

It may be interesting to see what direction the Badgers go now with their coaching situation.  I would not be surprised to see former offensive coordinator Paul Chryst come back to Wisconsin.  He did a great job of running their offense prior to this season and would seem like a natural fit to keep that program running without any hiccups.  And that would be quite unfortunate for the Pitt Panthers, who could be on the cusp of losing a second coach after just a one-year stint.  Todd Graham coached there for the 2011 season before bolting for Arizona State, and now Chryst’s old stomping grounds might lure him back after just one season in Pittsburgh.

Schools in the News

Danny Hope at Purdue, Tom O’Brien at North Carolina State, and Gene Chizik at Auburn have reportedly been fired.  This post is more for posterity’s sake than anything, since Michigan rarely gets transfers and probably can’t grab any of the commits listed, but it’s still interesting to consider.

Here’s a look at the guys on their respective rosters and commitment lists who were offered by Michigan:

Purdue 2013 commits: None
Purdue roster members: CB Ricardo Allen, WR O.J. Ross, DT Ryan Watson, LB Armstead Williams

North Carolina State 2013 commits: None
North Carolina State roster members: OT Rob Crisp, WR Hakeem Flowers

Auburn 2013 commits: DE Tashawn Bower, RB Jordan Wilkins
Auburn roster members: RB Mike Blakely, WR Quan Bray, OT Shane Callahan, OT Jordan Diamond, QB Kiehl Frazier, LB Kris Frost, TE Brandon Fulse, C Alex Kozan, DE Corey Lemonier, RB Tre Mason, CB Jonathan Mincy, WR Trovon Reed, OG Greg Robinson, OG Christian Westerman, WR JaQuay Williams, OT Avery Young