Kilroy1872 wrote:Y'all can keep tellin' yourselves whatever you want, but given how much wonderful publicity Rodriguez has been getting of late and the fact that Pryor might actually want to be an NFL quarterback someday (a dream he can pretty much kiss bye-bye if he signs on to run a gimmick College offense) do you really think he's going to Ann Arbor?
Really?
Ya know, as much time as UM fans like to spend in the Ohio State thread flapping their gums I really do need to come in here more.
Really.
I agree that no one knows whether RR can put top prospects in the NFL as QBs, but saying he should come to OSU because they will prepare him for the NFL is a major stretch. The list of OSU QBs who have been anything in the NFL looks like this:
1. ?
Um, where in my post did I say that Pryor should go to Ohio State because they'd better prepare Pryor for the NFL?
My point was (and is) that if Pryor wants to be a QB in the NFL that playing in the Spread Option for RR ain't gonna open many doors for him in that regard. It's got less to do with Michigan than it does with the Offense now in place there.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." -- Voltaire
Kilroy1872 wrote:Y'all can keep tellin' yourselves whatever you want, but given how much wonderful publicity Rodriguez has been getting of late and the fact that Pryor might actually want to be an NFL quarterback someday (a dream he can pretty much kiss bye-bye if he signs on to run a gimmick College offense) do you really think he's going to Ann Arbor?
Really?
Ya know, as much time as UM fans like to spend in the Ohio State thread flapping their gums I really do need to come in here more.
Really.
I agree that no one knows whether RR can put top prospects in the NFL as QBs, but saying he should come to OSU because they will prepare him for the NFL is a major stretch. The list of OSU QBs who have been anything in the NFL looks like this:
1. ?
Um, where in my post did I say that Pryor should go to Ohio State because they'd better prepare Pryor for the NFL?
My point was (and is) that if Pryor wants to be a QB in the NFL that playing in the Spread Option for RR ain't gonna open many doors for him in that regard. It's got less to do with Michigan than it does with the Offense now in place there.
He should go to Florida, I mean look at Danny Wuerfel, Doug Johnson, and the Bachelor
Friday, February 8, 2008 College football: Recruiting notebook Purdue coach cries foul at U-M Angelique S. Chengelis and Tom Markowski / The Detroit News
Purdue coach Joe Tiller, angered that one of the recruits who had given him a verbal commitment reneged and signed with Michigan, said he's concerned about the loss of integrity among Big Ten coaches.
Tiller, entering his final season with the Boilermakers, clearly was pointing the finger at U-M coach Rich Rodriguez. Roy Roundtree, a highly-ranked receiver/kick returner, was one of 23 high school seniors who signed with Michigan on Wednesday, the first day of the national signing period.
Roundtree, of Trotwood, Ohio, had committed to Purdue last May. Tiller and his staff had recruited him for two years.
"There has been an unspoken rule that if a guy commits and you've been recruiting him hard, you always call them up and say, 'Are you sure about this?' If he says, 'Yes,' you back off," Tiller told the Indianapolis Star for Thursday's editions.
Roundtree visited Michigan last weekend, and the Wolverines made an offer shortly after. Roundtree, one of three student-athletes from Trotwood-Madison High, near Dayton, to commit to U-M, announced his change of heart in dramatic fashion. He took the placard before him during a signing-day news conference, crossed out "Purdue" and then wrote in "Michigan."
"I stayed up until 3 o'clock in the morning talking it over," Roundtree told the Dayton Daily News of his change of mind.
Michael Shaw, a running back and teammate of Roundtree's, had committed to Penn State. Shaw's change of heart led him to Michigan, as well.
"Words can't describe how I feel about Coach Rod and the staff," Shaw said. "Even though they got a late jump on me, they recruited me hard, and when they came in, they made sure they showed me I was wanted and I was important."
Tiller was especially upset that Purdue lost one of its top prospects to a Big Ten rival.
"If we had an early signing date, you wouldn't have another outfit with a guy in a wizard hat selling snake oil get a guy at the last minute, but that's what happened," Tiller said.
Football does not allow high school players to sign a letter-of-intent before their senior season. Tiller is among coaches campaigning for an early signing day, the Star reported.
No second fiddle Trotwood-Madison quarterback Domonick Britt reneged on a commitment to Cincinnati but signed with Jackson State. He told the Dayton Daily News that Michigan did not offer but was interested in case Terrelle Pryor , the standout quarterback recruit from Jeannette, Pa., went elsewhere.
"I didn't want to wait to be somebody's second choice," Britt said.
Final rankings Scout.com left Michigan at No. 8, where the Wolverines' class was ranked nationally late Wednesday. Rivals.com moved U-M from No. 9 to No. 10. Tom Lemming of CSTV and Prep Football Report has U-M No. 12, down from No. 11.
"Michigan didn't gain anything on signing day," Lemming said.
"They got a lot good players but not any super ones."
Fantasy Football: "Luck is where preparation meets opportunity"
Purdue is just pissed Roundtree didn't go there. If you want a player, you recruit him as much as you can, not to mention that RR had a major disadvantage seeing as he just got to Michigan...
Rodriguez's first Michigan class solid with or without Pryor Feb. 6, 2008 CBSSports.com wire reports
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Rich Rodriguez's first recruiting class at Michigan might be remembered by the star he didn't get.
Terrelle Pryor, the quarterback rated by some as the nation's No. 1 player, had a news conference Wednesday at Jeannette (Pa.) High School to say he was not ready to make a decision.
"He told us on CSTV that he was probably going to announce for Ohio State, but his dad talked him out of it," recruiting analyst Tom Lemming said.
It might be good news for the Wolverines, who can keep recruiting Pryor. But it may turn out to be bad for them because Penn State has made a late push and schools such as Oregon and possibly others may woo him to another campus.
"The only thing I can talk about are the guys that signed on this list," Rodriguez said when asked about Pryor.
Takkle.com's Bill Urbanik said it will not be a big loss for Rodriguez if the 6-foot-6, 235-pound Pryor chooses to play elsewhere.
"He's an athlete, but he's nothing like Pat White was at West Virginia for Rodriguez," said Urbanik, a former coach and scout. "He's about twice (White's) size, which hurts his quickness, so perhaps Rodriguez can find a better fit for his offense."
After Rodriguez's news conference, the school announced two more players signed, including YouTube sensation Sam McGuffie.
The star running back from Texas had committed to former coach Lloyd Carr and recently reiterated his desire to stick with the school under Rodriguez.
Despite missing out on Pryor -- at least temporarily -- Michigan's recruiting class stacked up relatively well.
The Wolverines' class was ranked No. 9 by Rivals.com and No. 11 by Lemming, and both put Michigan second in the Big Ten behind the Buckeyes, before the addition of McGuffie.
"I don't get caught up in the rankings as much," Rodriguez said.
Michigan's class includes standouts such as offensive linemen Ricky Barnum of Florida and Grand Haven's Dann O'Neill, defensive backs Boubacar Cissoko of Detroit and New Jersey's Brandon Smith.
Wide receiver Darryl Stonum of Texas, who is a part of the class, is already enrolled in classes and working out in Ann Arbor.
While Rodriguez didn't sign Pryor, he did add a quarterback -- Justin Feagin -- to a team lacking depth at the position because freshman Ryan Mallett transferred to Arkansas.
"I know everybody is concerned about the quarterback position because that is the focal point of everybody's offense," Rodriguez said. "But we'll be OK."
Fantasy Football: "Luck is where preparation meets opportunity"
Saturday, February 9, 2008 College football U-M's McGuffie can finally relax Recruit has anxious moments, but decided to turn down Cal and stick with commitment. Angelique S. Chengelis / The Detroit News
Sam McGuffie, Michigan's prized incoming running back, kept the Wolverines waiting on Wednesday, the first day of the national football signing period.
McGuffie, an 18-year-old from Cy-Fair High in Cypress, Texas, had committed to Michigan last summer, but a recent visit to California left him confused. He eventually signed with Michigan late Wednesday evening, but not without some serious second thoughts.
He remained sequestered at home Wednesday, skipping school and the planned signing-day celebration.
"I thought I was going to have a heart attack and die," McGuffie told the Houston Chronicle in a story published Friday. "I couldn't sleep all night."
He admitted to getting cold feet. He began to seriously consider signing with Cal, but part of him was still tugging him toward Michigan, he told the Chronicle.
"I was locked up in my house trying to decide where I wanted to go," McGuffie said. "It wasn't a long list -- Cal and Michigan -- but it's where you're going to be for the next four years, and I wanted to make sure I was making the right choice.
"I really liked (Cal's) offense. And coach (Jeff) Tedford was a great guy. I haven't met too many people like him in my life. Plus, California was beautiful. I had never been there before, and it's a great place."
But then again, there was Michigan.
"I didn't want to let coach (Rich) Rodriguez down and all the recruits that I helped recruit -- guys that maybe decided to go to Michigan because I helped convince them," McGuffie said.
"What would they think if I switched?"
He had concerns about the coaching change from Lloyd Carr, who retired last November after 13 seasons, to Rodriguez. McGuffie told the Chronicle that the fact he has family in Michigan helped him make the decision to sign.
McGuffie finished his high school career with 5,823 rushing yards and 81 touchdowns in three seasons.
Fantasy Football: "Luck is where preparation meets opportunity"
CC wrote:I agree that no one knows whether RR can put top prospects in the NFL as QBs, but saying he should come to OSU because they will prepare him for the NFL is a major stretch. The list of OSU QBs who have been anything in the NFL looks like this:
1. ?
It wasn't Michigan or Ohio State producing those QBs. It was the coaching staffs. I won't argue with you on Cooper's QBs. They have been pretty awful. But look at Tressel's guys.
- Give Troy Smith another 3 inches and he would've been a 1st-Round pick... - I think Boeckman is more than capable of performing as well as Grbac, Griese, Navarre, etc... - Henton and Schoenoft (now at Delaware) haven't seen enough time to be judged...And Zwick never got his opportunity once Troy took over.
Congratulations on Tom Brady. You win that portion. And I won't argue that Lloyd and his crew did a good job of creating NFL-caliber...er, backups mostly with the exception of Brady. But Tressel is producing more NFL QBs than Rodriguez, and until I see RR and his system produce something resembling an NFL QB, I'm sticking to my opinion that Pryor would be better off at The Shoe than at The Big House.
U-M coach Rich Rodriguez hosting football reunion, trying to settle in February 14, 2008 By LARRY LAGE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ANN ARBOR — Rich Rodriguez’s office walls are bare.
Behind his desk, Michigan football helmets rest atop wooden shelves just above some pictures of his wife and their two kids along with playbooks from his years at West Virginia.
Sun pours through the glass-filled wall facing the south, where earth-moving equipment is paving the way for a 100,000-plus square foot football facility.
Not far away, a massive construction project is also under way at Michigan Stadium.
“I guess you could say change is in the air,” Rodriguez said Thursday morning at Schembechler Hall.
Rodriguez has gone back to school at Michigan, welcoming the 1969 team to speak to the team last week and more than 200 former players this weekend.
“When you’re new, you want to learn as much as you can about the tradition of the program, the university and the community and I’m trying to do it as quickly as I can,” said Rodriguez, who was hired away from West Virginia in December to succeed retiring coach Lloyd Carr. “I’ve read one book, “Bo’s Lasting Lessons,” by John Bacon, and several other books have been sent to me by fans.
“I’m having fun with it.”
Rodriguez was hired to lead college football’s winningest program two months ago and it was a rare day when he and his former employer were not in the news.
“Too much drama,” Rodriguez said with a sigh.
Indeed.
A lawsuit regarding a $4 million buyout clause in Rodriguez’s contract at West Virginia has contributed to a continuing feud.
The latest development came Monday, when a U.S. District Judge said West Virginia University is essentially an arm of state government and any lawsuit involving it can be heard only in the state court system.
The case was sent back to Monongalia County Circuit Court in Morgantown, where it was filed Dec. 27 after Rodriguez resigned to take the job at Michigan.
The school wants the $4 million because Rodriguez broke his contract early, but he has repeatedly claimed it broke the terms of his contract first by failing to honor a variety of verbal promises, including one to reduce or eliminate the buyout.
Rodriguez is living in an Ann Arbor hotel, hoping his wife along with their son and daughter will move into a house with him next month.
“My kids are texting me, saying they’re ready to move,” he said.
Bitter fans back in West Virginia are probably adding to their eagerness to join their father in Michigan.
“Where my kids go to school, it’s been pretty good,” Rodriguez said. “But outside of school, they see T-shirts and signs with derogatory messages about their dad and that’s not fun for them to see.
“But at the end of the day, you just want the truth to be out there.”
Rodriguez acknowledged a $4 million check could make some of the West Virginia-related problems go away, but said it’s not that simple.
“Well, there were some things that were not right about that situation,” he said. “I would think everybody on both sides wants to move forward, but when you’re integrity and character was attacked — particularly like mine has wrongly — it makes more sense to go through this process.”
Rodriguez has tried to focus on his future with the Wolverines as best he can, and has asked for help from the past to assist.
About 30 players from the 1969 team, Schembechler’s first in Ann Arbor, spoke to the team last Tuesday.
“We wanted to really send the message that we know what they’re going through more than any other team because we were there when a non-Michigan man — Bo Schembechler — came to town,” Jim Brandstatter said. “Reggie McKenzie gave an outstanding and fiery talk. Dan Dierdorf was spectacular, too.”
Athletic director Bill Martin said it was a necessary gathering for Rodriguez and his program.
“It was important to bridge the gap because it has been 39 years since we’ve had a transition like this,” Martin said. “The day after the guys from ’69 spoke to the team, Rich was right here in my office and I could tell he was really moved by the whole experience and how connected those guys could be to the current players.”
This weekend, 220 former Wolverines from all classes are expected to come to town for meet-and-greet sessions with the new staff and current players.
“I want everyone who played here to know he is welcomed back any time,” Rodriguez said. “Hopefully, this will be one of the first steps toward getting that message out.”
And if any player wants to chat with Rodriguez in his office, he can help himself to a piece of candy. Jars filled with sweet treats and a box of chocolate are within a foot of his door inside his office.
“That’s how I get people to come in here and talk to me,” Rodriguez joked.
Fantasy Football: "Luck is where preparation meets opportunity"
RICH RODRIGUEZ SPEAKS, PART I: On a Tressel-esque speech, the spread offense and Steven Threet February 14, 2008 FREE PRESS STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES
U-M coach Rich Rodriguez appeared on WDFN-AM (1130) Wednesday. Highlights of the chat:
On settling in after seven weeks on the job:
“Everybody in the community has been great. Everybody at the university has been great. Most of January—for three weeks—I was on the road Sunday through Friday and then here for the weekends for recruiting visits, so when I was here I was just going where I’m still going, from my hotel to the office. I haven’t moved into a home yet, but hopefully that will happen in the next few weeks, but everybody here has been great, the transition has been pretty good from this standpoint over here. The people that work at the school, the people in the community have been outstanding and I know obviously I’m in a honeymoon and haven’t lost a game yet and all that, but I can see why this is a special place and why coaches really like to come here.”
On meeting former players and embracing the Michigan tradition:
“I think we’re going to have over 200 former players come in this weekend. We actually have about 30 former players from the 1969 team that came in last week and spoke to the team, and I got a chance to meet with them. I thought that was great and they gave great talks and then this weekend we’re going to have a couple of things Saturday night and the basketball game on Sunday, a chance for them to get to know the new coaches and sit and visit a little bit. I’m looking forward to that. We’re certainly going to reach out to them, we have such great tradition here and you’d be foolish not to enhance or embrace everything that’s going on here from a positive standpoint.”
On giving a Jim Tressel-like halftime speech:
“No, I didn’t really plan on a speech. Obviously we have a few new coaches and I want them to be introduced, then I just want a chance for everybody to see the former players. I think it’s always neat when the former players have great pride in our institution and want to come back. I know that’s the case here. Yeah I’ve heard about (Tressel), and that’s usually not something I’ll do very often.”
On the misconceptions of the spread offense:
“One is that the spread will really fit the talents of your offensive skill players. It starts with the quarterback, everybody knows that. But you could also fit the skills of your other offensive skill players. There’s a lot of flexibility, that’s one reason why we like the spread, because you can go a lot of different ways as far as what you emphasize and your offense. The other misconception is that it’s a finesse offense. I think that’s been dispelled, the last few years we’ve had some great rushing teams and been up in the top two or three in rushing, but the finesse part is really not true. That’s more of a mentality than it is a scheme. Outside of that, there’s a lot of different spreads. Not every spread is alike. We’ve been doing this thing for about 17 years now, so we have a little bit more flexibility and different ways to go, but we’ve had different types of quarterbacks and obviously if you have a special quarterback that can make people miss, that can run in the open field and also can throw the ball, then you will get a whole lot of big plays. We were able to get those kinds of guys and there’s a lot of those guys out there. But we can fit it to the skills of our players and more than anything else, it’s a mentality that I could take with that spread.”
On Steven Threet’s ability to run the spread offense and spring and fall practices:
“Well I haven’t seen him and I probably won’t be able to make a true evaluation until after spring practice. Give them 15 days to see what they learn and what their strengths are. I know the guys we have are very, very intelligent. They’re eager to learn, eager to improve themselves, and that’s the first start. There’s a lot of times where guys, they know they’re maybe missing one area or aspect of their game, that they get better on. If they’re smart guys and they’re competitive guys, they’ll work to get better at that. That’s one thing that we’ll find out this spring. We certainly think we’re going to have enough pieces in place to have success, but really until after spring practice and maybe even after August camp, we’ll all have a better feel on what we’re going to be able to emphasize offensively.”
On what the defense could be in the fall:
“I have a grasp as far as scheme-wise goes. Again, I’m going to evaluate the players in practices, but that’s always important. People sometimes get a misnomer about ‘Coach Rodriguez is all offense,’ you know, ‘The system’s all offense,’ but that’s not the truth. When you have a great program, you have a great program all the way through, not just on one phase of the game. For us, if you just look at the personnel we lost, all the big guns on offense, from Chad Henne to (Mike) Hart, to Adrian Arrington and Mario (Manningham) and Jake Long and Adam Kraus, you lost probably all of your top players offensively. Most of our experience is going to be on defense, and our defense is maybe going to have to—while our offense gets experienced—hold the big share of the rope. I’m encouraged by the guys we have coming back, we have some experience. I think I have a great defensive staff put together. Scott Shafer will be our coordinator, and he’s run a very aggressive even-front and odd-front defense that we’ll be able to mix a little bit of what we did in the past and we’ll have a nice package put together I believe.”
On other Big Ten coaches being nervous about Rodriguez and his different styles:
“I don’t think so much of that, I think things have changed so much. Everything is so public now with the internet, recruiting sites and all that. There’s information out there that sometimes you get misled and as a coach it’s probably made our job tougher in one respect but also in a way has made it easier, because you can get on there sometimes and you have to be able to sort fact from fiction and that causes you to maybe stay on top of things. Most kids are usually pretty honest, and most high school coaches are, but a lot of times on the internet you have to deal with false stories and you have to follow through with that. But I think there’s ways to help in recruiting. I think an early signing day most coaches would agree would help to clear some of this up.”
On the program adapting to the change he brings:
“That’s exactly what you are. And to Bill Martin, our athletic director, and Mary Sue Coleman, our president, that’s exactly what we talked about when I talked with them. There are things here that are in place that have been in place for a long time that are great things that you’d be foolish to change. I also have to be myself. If I wasn’t myself, then they wouldn’t have been talking to me in the first place and I wouldn’t be as effective in doing what I’m doing. I don’t feel that I have to come out and change my ways completely, but there are things you have to adjust to, and every institution is different. I’m learning those and doing them the right way, but I am going to be myself and I want my staff to be themselves because we know a certain way to do things and we can adapt to our people, our personnel, and the area we’re in, but I would be less effective if I didn’t do what I thought was right.”
RICH RODRIGUEZ SPEAKS, PART 2: On U-M recruiting and Purdue coach's attacks against him February 14, 2008 FREE PRESS STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES
U-M coach Rich Rodriguez appeared on WDFN-AM (1130) Wednesday. Here are some highlights of the chat:
On when the recruiting process will end:
“Well, as most people know now, when the signing day was, that’s just the first date to sign, not the last date. The last date you can officially sign a bonding letter is the end of March. A lot of people don’t know that. Most young men will sign their commitment letter of intent before then for obvious reasons. I don’t think it’s a trend but last year, for instance, we signed Noel Devine, who was a well-thought of running back on the very last day at about 10:00 at night. So it was a last minute deal. We’ve been through this before, but then you have to do it. For a lot of young men, they’re busy, multi-sport athletes. They go right from football to basketball and they don’t really have time to decipher all the information and really pick what they think is best for them. We’ll go through this process hopefully not every year, but certainly this year it looks like we’re going to be going through that.”
On his first recruiting class and how he held it together:
“Well, it was quite busy as you can imagine. The biggest difficulty was, of course, the staff wasn’t all together because there’s two teams in bowl games that we were tied with. Obviously our bowl game here with Florida kept things busy until after the first of the year and a lot of the coaches that we hired were tied with bowl games until after January. We had about three weeks to hold onto a nice group of commitments and generally, you usually lose about half of them. I think we kept 14 of the 16 or something like that and we needed to add some guys that fit our system that we thought we were lacking in the numbers on our roster so we were able to grab a handful. I was really pleased with that and encouraged with what we can do with a full year, and rankings are nice and all that, but you’ve really got to wait two to three years to judge how the class panned out.”
On Purdue coach Joe Tiller’s comments about Big Ten recruiting (Tiller called Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez “a guy in a wizard hat selling snake oil” because high school receiver Roy Roundtree switched from his commitment to Purdue by signing with Michigan):
“Yeah, I heard that. I know Joe, I’ve known him for several years. He’s a great guy, a great coach, and has done tremendous things at Purdue. But I’m a little surprised, just from the standpoint that in our profession, you recruit all the way until the end. It happens to everybody every year. It happens to us, it’s happened to me every year. You know, guys make commitments and if a guy that’s recruiting him leaves or if he has a change of heart and they make a decision to go. I think if we had an early signing date in December, around the third week of December, it would eliminate some of these hard feelings but certainly as a coach, we had to work with several guys until the eve of signing day, even the guys that were committed to us because other schools were recruiting them, and that’s just part of it. I didn’t take it personal, we just had to keep working it and hope the guy signed with us. I know there were hard feelings, but maybe the young man didn’t communicate with him. Usually if you’re recruiting a young man, if he’s committed to you but yet he’s still visiting someone else, that’s usually a pretty good red flag that, ‘Hey, you better stay on him.’ If a guy is verbally committed to you yet he still visits other places and talks to other coaches, then that doesn’t mean he’s truly committed, that means he’s very interested. There’s a difference. If a guy is really committed to you, he doesn’t visit anywhere else or he doesn’t talk to any other coaches then that he tells you he’s pretty solid. When the young man visits our campus or something like that, that’s usually a pretty good sign to that recruiting coach or those coaches that, ‘Hey, there’s an issue here, we’ve got to try and keep a hold of him.’”
Fantasy Football: "Luck is where preparation meets opportunity"
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