Lot's of folks on here discussing the new Michigan shift away from the Midwest to a more southerly and westward approach by Jim Harbaugh. The fact is that football in the midwest is no where near as competitive and strong as it is in the south and west (California). The days of strong high school football coming out of Pennsylvania and Ohio are over with as the economy and population shifted. Football in Ohio and Penn is pretty good in spots but no where near what it is from North Carolina to Florida to Texas. Football is also pretty much played year around down here as compared to the midwest where wrestling, hockey, basketball are still very important. Football is king in the south and that is why the SEC is so good every year. Tom Osborne figured that out in his recruiting after getting his brains beat out by the Florida teams in the 1980's, So he began recruiting Florida and California which resulted in Nebraska's 1990's championship runs. Harbaugh knows this and although he will cherry pick in Michigan for the very top recruits, he will turn Michigan into a national program like Tressel and Meyer have done at OSU. Kids from all over play for the Bucks BUT they have stopped UM from recruiting on Ohio itself and thats ok. Hoke (after RR tried to do what Harbaugh is doing now) shifted the recruiting focus back to the Midwest BUT Harbaugh wants to be right there with OSU and Alabama and knows he has to rake the south for players to do so. Just plain facts folks. I am not in way comparing RR to Harbaugh in my previous comments. RR did try and want to bring in recruits outside of the Midwest BUT many of those could not cut it academically or behaviorally which pissed the Michigan folks off. Harbaugh (knowing the UM environment knows what kind of player to bring to UM so its much more acceptable now) than it was from 2008-2010.
Harbaugh's Recruitment Focus
- Thread starter scfanblue
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I agree that if you want to be a national contender annually, then you need to recruit nationally. Even Alabama recruits nationally. But I still think that it is important to recruit within your geographic footprint if the talent is there. There is enough top talent in Ohio for the state to make up the bulk of OSU recruits and be important cogs for programs like UM, MSU, and Notre Dame.
I do think that it is important for Michigan to get talent from Ohio because it is so close geographically and has a tradition that Ohio kids understand. When both are doing well the programs are similar in levels of talent, levels of success, and the interest they draw. I think that's why Meyer is making the effort he does in Michigan with the top prospects from your state.
Don't get me wrong, I would love nothing more than for Harbaugh to skip Ohio on his next recruiting trip, but it will be hard to sustain the number of top talent if you focus only on far away states.
I expect Harbaugh to get more Ohio prospects,going forward with success on the field.
I do think that it is important for Michigan to get talent from Ohio because it is so close geographically and has a tradition that Ohio kids understand. When both are doing well the programs are similar in levels of talent, levels of success, and the interest they draw. I think that's why Meyer is making the effort he does in Michigan with the top prospects from your state.
Don't get me wrong, I would love nothing more than for Harbaugh to skip Ohio on his next recruiting trip, but it will be hard to sustain the number of top talent if you focus only on far away states.
I expect Harbaugh to get more Ohio prospects,going forward with success on the field.
I agree with your assessment and you make some very good claims. I do think it is important for Harbaugh to not abandon Michigan and Ohio OR the entire midwest because it is the geographical footprint of the Big Ten. I don't really think he has though. He signed a few top tier athletes from Michigan and in the midwest, however, the Ohio talent was thin for Michigan this year after signing day. I also believe he will hit Ohio pretty hard next year. Its hard not to.
I suspect he's working his way back into Ohio by reestablishing our team's on field reputation and displaying a distinctive style from Meyers. Michigan is going hard after 10 or so players in state this year and it's only a matter of time before OH players look again seriously at UM.
Without going into a lot of schedule detail, there is no question that kids in Florida get both more coaching as well as competition than in Midwestern states.
I live in central Florida now, but when the family home was in the Chicago suburbs, the vast majority of high school football players were finished with supervised coaching and competition by late October. Even the various class state hampionships were on Thanksgiving weekend. And organized spring practice was formally limited and truncated compared to Florida. The actual fall season had a specific mid-August start date.
Here in Florida more teams are included in playoffs and the class championships are closer the Christmas than Thanksgiving. Supervised football weight training is pretty much year around and organized spring practice is spread over a longer period and often completed with a formal game against a serious rival with fans, cheerleaders and all the trimmings.
My rough estimate is that a Florida high school football player gets roughly 20-25% more formal coaching over his four year high school career than kids up North. It shows in their skills and ability to step onto a college practice field better prepared to be a college player.
do you think that weather plays a part in where a kid goes to school? As I recall LC used playing in the Midwest weather was important to the NFL teams, most in cold weather cities.
Weather plays a major role. Here in South Carolina, football is literally a full year. The playoffs end by December 15 and supervised weightlifting begins in the first week of January. Spring practice in May. Summer passing leagues. Kids never get a break and in some programs I know, there is so much scheduled in the summer that kids cannot work. Therefore, some great athletes who need to work choose to not play football anymore. Its way too much and I have wondered if this is the reason for so many ACL tears now.
Here is what I have gathered about Harbaugh's approach so far....
When he got here, we had a MAJOR lack of athleticism. We had some big strong guys who were stiff, and it needed to change asap. We needed more speed (this was painfully evident at LB in particular) and that is what Harbaugh tried to inject with this class. On top of that, you have OSU fresh off of a national championship, and Ohio recruits were not going to be easy to snag. Now that we have some athleticism injected into the program, as well as some great talent, the product on the field will start to churn out some positive results, which will help us in getting back into Ohio to snag a few guys. I think more attention will be paid in Ohio in 2017 for sure. One solid season under his belt will start to gain attention, and if he follows up with another one, we'll be able to get a foot in the door with some of these kids.
When he got here, we had a MAJOR lack of athleticism. We had some big strong guys who were stiff, and it needed to change asap. We needed more speed (this was painfully evident at LB in particular) and that is what Harbaugh tried to inject with this class. On top of that, you have OSU fresh off of a national championship, and Ohio recruits were not going to be easy to snag. Now that we have some athleticism injected into the program, as well as some great talent, the product on the field will start to churn out some positive results, which will help us in getting back into Ohio to snag a few guys. I think more attention will be paid in Ohio in 2017 for sure. One solid season under his belt will start to gain attention, and if he follows up with another one, we'll be able to get a foot in the door with some of these kids.
Tough to get guys out of Ohio....going to back to Carr/Moeller. Not impossible but 1-2 guys a year would be ideal.
UM is in good hands with Harbaugh as a coach. Florida is the one way to try and level the playing field with OSU. Not going to do it entirely but a very smart move. I think the Northeast approach is also very smart.
Here is what I am trying to say...UM is never going to start raiding Ohio with quality and volume. Only a small number of guys. Use Ohio the same way as PA or CA. This is an ancillary recruiting state even though it is right next door.
Create a better option for quality and numbers which is FL and NJ/Maryland because they are now are receptive to joining the BT because of Rutgers/Maryland and they are both non football powerhouses...at least for the time being.
RM
UM is in good hands with Harbaugh as a coach. Florida is the one way to try and level the playing field with OSU. Not going to do it entirely but a very smart move. I think the Northeast approach is also very smart.
Here is what I am trying to say...UM is never going to start raiding Ohio with quality and volume. Only a small number of guys. Use Ohio the same way as PA or CA. This is an ancillary recruiting state even though it is right next door.
Create a better option for quality and numbers which is FL and NJ/Maryland because they are now are receptive to joining the BT because of Rutgers/Maryland and they are both non football powerhouses...at least for the time being.
RM
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