MSU Red Cedar Message Board

qft.

apparently he needs academics.

Stop being rational. It makes it harder for tRCMB to hate on you

There are a ton of Big Ten undergrads that go to Ivy League schools for grad school, my wife included. I agree it's the greatest collection of universities in the world, but they wouldn't take so many Big Ten grads if they didn't think they were prepared. In this instance I think their reputation exceeds academics to a certain degree.

Irrelevant - somewhat... but remember, we're competing over recruits so its a worthy discussion. A program like Michigan's isn't staying down forever... the difference is what happens in *our* program. We're not going to suffer though the problems that gave Michigan a leg up in the 80's and 90's. With limitations in scholarships for all schools and us not being on probation, I expect a more level playing field. I also think having a Big-10 Championship game at the end of the season is going to work against them long term.

As for the recruiting, Its part of their strategy to go after sophomores and juniors heavily. They push for the early committment and then have time to focus again on next year's sophomores and juniors. They focus heavily on just a few select seniors.

Contrast that with our (and most other) programs where we are studying film and recruiting most of our class as seniors and simply meeting/greeting the juniors. MD is going to have to adjust his strategy somewhat to meet Michigan's tactics but still will keep his plan as a whole.

If you looked at the rest of the Big-10, we're off to actually a better start than past years. We're in the top 3 currently (Michigan has 11 four-stars, Ohio State has 4 four-stars or better, MSU has 1 four-star with potentially a second (rivals has no rank for our second), Nebraska has 1 four-star... Wisconsin has 1 recruit period... the other SEVEN Big-10 teams don't have any recruits).

Hoke's strategy... its both GOOD and BAD for us.. it'll mean that some of the guys we want are going to be already gone or heavily in bed with the weasels. Others though, will still be blossoming and our recruiting may be more accurate against talent at positions where Michigan is full.

This is basically something I noticed PSU doing about 5-10 years ago. It *kinda* worked for them but they missed out on a bunch of good guys late because they were full so they backed off on it. They also got some guys who had peaked as Juniors and didn't really pan out as Seniors...

That is why it is overrated.

we need more big will recruits

The SEC on the whole is actually beginning its "down cycle" right now. They will be on top for another 4-6 years, at which time the B10 will supplant them.

From all the video I've watched, the next "Big Will" caliber in-state recruit is Malik McDowell from the 2014 class. This is a case where it would be nice to have Enos on board.

Stanford's haul was just bizarre. The lack of offers form USC has to play a role in that, because that school has never recruited that well even when they had great success in the past.

I agree and this is key. Recruiting highly rated players does matter - But keeping and developing them is the other part of the equation. Many on these boards shrug off UofM's recruiting momentum and say "they've had better classes the past few years and we still beat them." Yes, this is true - HOWEVER, the RichRod years at Michigan were marred with attrition - Heavy attrition - Which saw highly rated kids leave campus or not make it at all - These players include Tate Forcier, Demar Dorsey, Adrian Witty, Justin Turner, Cullen Christina, Boubacar Cissoko, Carvin Johnson, Austin White, Vlad Emilien, Anthony LaLota, Jeron Stokes, Taylor Smith, Sam McGuffie, Taylor Hill..............the list goes on. These are all Four/Mid to High Three star players.

On paper on signing day, Michigan's classes looked better than MSU's - However when all was said and done, the kids that actually made it to campus or stayed weren't much more highly rated than MSUs.

Add to the fact that Michigan was in a constant state of uncertainty with rotating coordinators and really ineptness of the coaching staff - there was little to no development of talent. Look at Will Campbell - He moved to Offensive Line in RichRod's final year!

The best thing that Dantonio did was weather the "state of uncertainty" that had plagued the MSU program for a long time. This gave him the opportunity to recruit a good staff and good players that developed in his system. Add to the fact that he developed some very high level players out of "meh" rated guys - Jones & Worthy to be precise.

I think Dantonio has done a great job at MSU and will continue to do so because he has built a foundation that will continue to churn out teams that reflect his system. Recruits have already taken notice as it seems that MSU is recruiting better than they historicall have.

Having said that, don't discount Michigan's recruiting success with the "they've always had better rated classes and we've beat them four in a row." We hired Hoke so the RichRod years would'nt happen again, and early returns show that he can develop talent and keep kids in his program, unlike RichRod was able to. Because of this, Michigan will be back to being Michigan - especially if we can keep recruiting like we are.

Will it mean we'll go back to pounding you guys annually? Nope - Dantonio has built a good program and it will be very competitive. But don't expect last year, in which we looked overmatched, to continue.

Not sure what you expect them to deliver...From 97-2007, they won or shared 5 Big Ten championships, and in 2006 absolutely destroyed the entire Big Ten until the ohio state game. Not exactly how that's "doing less with more." It's not like they were bringing in the #1 class every year and not winning national championships. The Rich Rod era speaks for itself, which you acknowledged.

Last season could have been a flash in the pan, but I don't expect it. Something to be said for continuity with the coaching staff and system (especially on D). msu has become successful and will continue to be successful because the system is not changing. Guys come in during the summer and upperclassmen are able to teach them the system, rather than having to wait until fall to learn a new one (like Michigan during the RR years and msu with JLS).

First of all, for him to call Coach D and Stanford before he committed to UM says that the kid gets it. Lots of kids these days lack proper manners.. This kid sounds like he has proper respect for the process and handled things as well as he could.

I hate Michigan, but I this kid seems like a good guy.

It will be tough but a Notre Dame melt down this season sure wouldn't hurt. This is going to be the make or break season for Kelly.