Mailbag question: What is going on with Michigan recruiting

Hey Guys,

Love the blog and check it everyday.

You guys seem very evenly keeled, compared to some of the other Michigan blogs that do nothing but drink the Coach Rod kool-aid. Anyways, I was just wondering, what is going on with Michigan's recruiting? They have nine recruits, six of which are receivers. Williamson and Drake have no offers worth noting, and Dileo has two per rivals.

Does the coaches read your blog? We are in the fold for many top recruits, but honestly, I am getting a little worried with the plethora of wide receiver commitments and the lack of them on the defensive side of the ball.

Thanks,

Sam (sdw21)

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I doubt Coach Rod himself reads this blog or for that matter any other blog around, but I am sure they have people looking around the web. If he was looking at our blog, well, he has not taken our advice on several things such as defensive recruiting the past year, and the depth of the defense.

We 100% understand anyone who is concerned with the status of Michigan’s defense. That includes defensive recruiting. When we watched spring practice, and the team broke off into offensive and defensive groups, there were twice as many offensive players as defensive players.

We admit Michigan needed an upgrade at split end and slot receiver. They lack quality and depth at those positions. But for the record, we have signed or received verbals from eight slots in three classes now (and counting). That is alot of players at one offensive position -- what about tight end which is used as a slot receiver as well at times? Right now we have: Odoms, T-Rob, Roundtree, Stokes, Jones, Gallon, Drake, Dileo -- and how they use some of the running backs and if they move them in motion to the slot position, many of the running backs could be counted as well.

We understand that at least one player might not make it with grades, but that is why you do your homework and make sure to recruit players that can succeed on the football field and the classroom, especially when they have to be able to handle a school like Michigan. This happens at every school, but we do not care about every other school -- WE only care about what happens at Michigan!

That is more bodies than the four scholarships we had for linebacker (one was injuried) this spring at two positions in our defense.

In our opinion slot and split end have been taken care of, and it is time to hit the defense, and hit it hard. Depth at every position on defense is non-existent, and there was only one elite level talent on defensive side his spring -- B. Graham.

We hope that the defense soon gets an influx of top-level talent because they need it very badly. Anybody that watched this year's spring game or practices with the 1st team offense vs. 2nd team defense will know what we are talking about. The 2nd team defense was lined with walk-ons and players that arrived early.

We understand the crowd that says, “It is only the beginning of May,” but the problem is that we had this same issue last year and in our opinion, we still did not end up with enough quality defensive players in the 2009 class. We need to get some players that can come in and compete right away, or at least be in the two deep.

Also, we would rather have a kid actually come to Michigan for a visit before he ever commits. That goes for every recruit -- especially the southern kids who seem to change their mind with how the wind blows.

We need to get quality players throughout the roster, but the defense needs them badly. We need them for quality starting, depth, and reserve issues. If Warren, Martin, and Mouton miss time during the regular season because injuries happen; right now, Michigan cannot afford them.

Just to let people know CoachBt and ErocWolverine are both people that feel like you win with a great defense and special teams. We favor a strong defense and not an offense that has to score forty points a game to make sure it wins, because sooner or later that will not happen. And then people, just like last year, will blame the defensive players, defensive coordinators, etc.

The stats do not lie. People still want to blame the defense for the problems, but in many cases, the defense was better than some of the top programs in the country last year in total defense. The defense simply had no help, no time to make adjustments. Anyone who takes a look at the stats below should understand that the defense was put to a test not many could have survived (not to mention the overblown expectations).

Offensive Stats:
112th out of 119 teams in Three and Outs with 56 drives.
112th out of 119 teams in Passing Efficiency.
111th out of 119 teams in Fumbles with 38.
109th out of 119 teams in Total Offense.
108th out of 119 teams in Negative Yards with 111 plays.
108th out of 119 teams in Passing.
105th out of 119 teams in Turnover Margin.
98th out of 119 teams in Scoring.
60th out of 119 teams in Rushing.

Michigan punted the ball 83 times ... they were 3 out of 119 teams for attempts. Most teams were around the 50-60 average for punts.

Failed to average 300 yards per game for the first time since 1967.

40% of Offensive Plays were either 0 or negative yards.

Defensive Stats:
87th out of 119 teams in Pass Defense.
84th out of 119 teams in Scoring Defense.
79th out of 119 teams in Pass Efficiency Defense.
76th out of 119 teams in Interceptions.
67th out of 119 teams in Total Defense.
50th out of 119 teams in Rushing Defense.

Special Teams Stats:
64th out of 119 teams in Punt Returns.
57th out of 119 teams in Kickoff Returns.
5th out of 119 teams in Net Punting.

Then there is perception vs. reality: Were defenses such as Oklahoma or Texas really that good? The only difference between Michigan and the teams listed below is the other guys had an offense to help them out.

Total defense out of 119 teams:
Texas 50, Michigan State 62, Oklahoma 65, Michigan 68, Louisville 69, Texas Tech 72, Stanford 75, Tulsa 84, and Oklahoma State 86.

Just think if the defense actually had a little help last year. We would not have had to play so many snaps on defense per game and would not have had to substitute so many players (many of them not ready for big time football). The defense could have made in-game adjustments, players could have been brought along more slowly, and again the biggest thing again the quality of depth comes into play.

Thanks for stopping by http://gobluemichiganwolverine.blogspot.com/
If you have any questions please e-mail erocwolverine@gmail.com

Written by CoachBt and ErocWolverine