Thursday, August 27, 2009

Mailbag question: Defensive tackle recruiting?


Mailbag question: Defensive tackle recruiting?

Hello,

I recently read a post that made a less than favorable comment on the coaching ability of secondary coach Gibson. Would you either confirm or deny if the secondary coaching is up to par. Just curious.

Why is UM struggling to get DT depth in this system? Michigan did get Lalota and Campbell and Talbott and Paskorz could be moved to DT down the line. You had mentioned previously that the defensive line coach didn't recruit as hard as you would prefer.

How many more DT's would you like in this class? Would one more top DT put your mind at ease for this year even though that may not be ideal?

Cordially,
John W.

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Thanks for the question.

Coach Gibson is probably the best recruiter on the coaching staff.

We can also tell you Ryan Mundy speaks very highly of Coach Gibson. Coach Gibson had the difficult task of replacing a very popular and experienced defensive back coach who is now with the Florida Gators, a team that won two of the last three BCS National Championships. Not an easy task.

We are taking a wait and see approach on Coach Gibson. We want to see how he does when Michigan gets the type of athletes that coach likes to play in the Michigan defensive backfield.

Concerning defensive tackles: this is generally the toughest position to recruit. Finding big bodies that can run and are aggressive is not easy.

That is why we believe defensive linemen need to be a priority every recruiting year, because there is no certainty concerning how they will react to the college level and when asked to gain weight how each will handle it. Sometimes dt’s are so hard to project at the next level until they arrive on campus and see how they do and grow while on campus.

Anthony LaLota was playing "quick" the entire spring, so counting him at defensive tackle at this time is difficult.

William Campbell, if he improves his fundamentals and pad level, has the talent to be very good.

Terry Talbott, we think, was a very good pick up.

Jordan Paskorz, plays a two-point defensive end in high school, so he is a huge project who in our opinion will take longer to get a true read on.

This is why we have been concerned with the defensive recruiting for some time now. Yes, there are some bodies there, but we need quality depth that will not only help on Saturday's, but will cause all to perform better in practices. Having the first group go against a bunch of walk-ons and kids that just arrived in January did not really help anyone in spring practice.

Thanks for stopping by Go Blue Michigan Wolverine
If you have any questions please E-Mail

Written by CoachBt and ErocWolverine


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It also doesn't help that we lost 2 defensive tackles last year on signing day. Not that anyone expected both to sign, but having Graves right now would make a large difference in our defensive tackle depth.

Anonymous said...

I think UofM's defensive line is in a little better shape than most think.

Look we have Graham 5*, Martin (high 4*), and Campbell 5*, all high recruits. All will play this year.

Also Patterson was a 4 star recruit. Ryan Van Bergen was a 4 star recruit, and now we have the young guys coming in with Roh and LaLota (I believe both 4*). I think we have a "small" but good group. I think if we add one more big name (4 to 5 star DT)this year, we will be ok.

Then look for two more next year.

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