This is a special thread for Jethro, who asked for ANY and ALL information regarding Michigan Football. Jethro, I hope you like this. I'm using all my extensive resources developed over the years to put this stuff together for you. You must be aware, though, that where I lack the facts and correct information that you (and others, too) will find useful, I'll just make some shit up. First up (Most comes from Scout, which I have chosen over Rivals, much to the dismay of Chris Balas):
Interesting ... players being told this.

All through the year ... there is an 'extra-curricular game' that's going to be played.

Players are grouped into about 12 mini-teams of 8 ... with each "team" having offensive and defensive players, at different positions as well.

Then there is a weekly (Mon-Sat) "competition," with points kept ... encompassing everything: academics, practice, weight room, game-performance.

The losing team each week - gets a 'reward' of a 6AM weight-room session with Coach Barwis and staff.

Good, a UofM only football thread. Cuz I don't care who's going to Eastern Tennessee St Technical Institute.

Here's some info on Ryan Mallet, from a couple friends who are "insiders", and DO have some connections:

There is a feeling that Mallet was gone even if Lloyd, Loefler, or Debord (or any combination of the three) stayed around. Mallet has been a poor fit at UM, is not well liked (to say the least) by team mates, and is regarded as a malcontent by many around Ann Arbor.
It goes as far as him being "kicked out" of frat parties, regular parties, and him being a loner looking out for himself. Reports of being "uncoachable", and telling fellow players that he was "outta here" long before bowl week and Lloyd's announcement of retiring.
In short, the Mallet transfer has come as a shock to no one, and there are whispers that Lloyd knew of it for some time.
It appears that there wasn;t much RR could do, even though RR has said he talked to Ryan about how he could mold the offense to Mallet's talents.
Take it for what it's worth, but I have heard this from more than one person.

Good, a UofM only football thread. Cuz I don't care who's going to Eastern Tennessee St Technical Institute.

They just signed Kleefbelt "The Yule Log" Bogenshlotz, a 5'7, 338 lbs lineman fromYipshhood-On-Feather, Glastonbury, Scotland. He's a 1/2 star who can double as a long snapper. Bogenshlotz was a serious target of Mark Dantonio and the Sparties, and Dantonio reportedly told the ETSTI coach that "Pride cometh before the fall".**

**Though this report is true, don't expect too much other than UM news, and then the occassional comedic relief from the drudgery of Serious Football Talk.

Article on possible starting QB Steven Threet from the Fucking Free Press:

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080111/SPORTS06/80111002/1048/SPORTS

Here's something on Pryor
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080111/SPORTS06/80111010/1048

i laughed pretty hard at that one.

I don't like the name change of this thread. I am protesting. Call it the Jethro UM Football Thread or soemthing. I'm really ticked off this time.

Thank you. Do you young guys see the Power of the Voice? Just speak up, politely, and classy, like I do when you see an injustice.

By the way, change it to this: The Jethro 34 UM Football Thread. Or else I'll go stark raving mad and I won't leave any squirrell corn out ALL winter.

Mike Martin speaks. This is one guy RR needs to get into the ear of, big time. Charlie (Young men should honor their committments) Weis is going HARD after Martin, a UM commit. Martin would probably soften the blow of losing Taylor, who all the sudden thinks he's ready to start for the New England Patriots:

From Rivals
Detroit Catholic Central defensive tackle Mike Martin was one of Michigan's strongest commitment recruiters at home games this past fall, but the change in head coaches has had the 6-1, 295-pound prospect considering other options himself.

A four-star prospect according to Rivals.com, Martin made his commitment to Michigan in July and said he is standing by that commitment still.

"It's 100 percent solid right now," said Martin. "I am still committed to Michigan; things haven't changed. Everything is good right now."

Martin is still listening to overtures from the Notre Dame coaching staff, however, and is looking to set up a visit with the Irish in the next couple weeks.

"I had an early interest in them, but I had never gotten an offer," Martin noted. "I always followed Notre Dame a little bit and I always had a little bit of interest in them, so this offer kind of excites me. I guess I just have to go down there and see for myself. I would just have to get a feeling that would make me change.



Martin is looking to visit Notre Dame the weekend of Jan. 18
"I talked to Coach [Charlie] Weis today. I called him and he talked to me for about 10 minutes. He was telling me what he thought about me and they are coming into the school on Tuesday. They were trying to get me to visit on the weekend of the 18th and 19th, so I'm just trying to get everything situated and hopefully I'll be able to make it out there that weekend.

Martin said Notre Dame is the only other school outside of Michigan he is seriously considering at this point. The Michigan coaching staff has also been in constant contact with him since Rich Rodriguez took over the program last month.

"I talked to Coach Rod a couple times and Coach [Tony] Dews called me after the last Michigan basketball game," Martin said. "I talked to Coach Dews and Coach [Tony] Gibson that night and the relationship is getting stronger as each day goes on. They are just a bunch of great guys and I'm getting excited to learn more about them.

"They said that they have total confidence I'm going to be able to fit in whether they go to an odd 3-front or 4-front. They know I can come in and play. They said they watched my film and know all about me. They recruited me when they were at West Virginia and Coach Dews was my recruiting coach at West Virginia. They were joking around that it was funny we were in contact again."

Recruiting is not Martin's only focus this month. He is the defending Division 1 wrestling state champion in the heavyweight division and has been dominant again this winter, getting off to an 18-0 start.

"We had a dual match yesterday and we lost both of them by close margins, but I pinned one guy in ten seconds and I pinned the other guy in under one period, so I'm doing well myself," Martin added.

Catholic Central hosts their own Invitational this coming weekend where Martin will get several more opportunities to prove his dominance.

OK. Just change it to "Jethro's UM Football Thread". It's subtle, but magnificent.

My morning search has taken me to Mgoblog.com, a great source of stuff for those of you who don't to pay $100.00 a year so you can hear "the latest hot news" from college football ten minutes before everyone else.
This one is on Tennessee commit JT Floyd, who is apparently reopening his recruiting, and considers UM and Tennessee to be the front runners now:

Per Mgoblog-Scout

One of the state's top prospects J.L. Mann WR/S J.T. Floyd has held the recruiting world in suspense over the last few months. Initially a verbal to Tennessee he opened things back up and now it appears that it's a 2 team race with the Vols and Michigan.

Scout talked to Marcus Witherspoon, a UM committ from New Jersey. Many UMers are nervous about his status, as he is going to have a look at Tennessee:

There have been conflicting reports about the commitment status of Holy Spirit High (Absecon, NJ) LB Marcus Witherspoon in recent weeks. Some have characterized him as solidly committed while others have described as uncommitted and open to other suitors. In reality, the truth is somewhere in between.

“I’m still committed (to Michigan),” Witherspoon said. “It’s a matter of this change that’s going on. I’m just going to go on a visit (to Tennessee) and see what else is going on besides this. I’m not really concerned about nothing (at Michigan). I just decided that since everybody is going through this change, I figured why not? Just like I don’t know the Tennessee coaches, I don’t know the Michigan coaches now. Had everything stayed like it was, I wouldn’t have made this decision, but since everything has changed I figured I would give this other team a chance. Why not?”

Though he still considers himself a Wolverine pledge, the opening that the 6-2, 215-pounder has given the Volunteers does bring his Michigan status into question. Based on Witherspoon’s recent conversations with Rich Rodriguez it’s obvious the new Maize & Blue headman feels the same way.

“He basically said he saw how I played and he didn’t want to lose me,” Witherspoon recalled. He wants me to stay at Michigan. There are no problems. Everything is cool. I’m going to talk with them a little bit more and get to know them better. He’s going to come up and visit.”

One topic Rodriguez won’t have to spend much time explaining is how the versatile youngster will fit into the attack-style defense that will be employed in Ann Arbor.

“I’d probably fit right in because I can blitz a lot,” admitted Witherspoon. “From a linebacker’s point of view, the defense is perfect. It fits my style. It would be perfect for me. It really would.”

Despite that realization, Witherspoon is still uncertain about what his next move should be. At this point he isn’t just waiting for the right feeling to hit him about one of two programs.

“I don’t know what (the decision) will come down to,” he said. “I couldn’t even tell you. It’s a lot to think about. A LOT to think about because I don’t see either situation as a bad situation for me. Both situations are good situations. It will probably come down to me praying about it and making sure I make the right decision. It wouldn’t have anything to do with the coaches or the system or anything because I know at both, those things are good.”

The person Witherspoon will lean on most as decision time nears will be his father.

“He still loves Michigan, but he is respecting me and my decision,” Witherspoon said. “Whatever I choose to do, he’s behind me.”

Good work. Yeah JT Floyd I forgot him in my PM Jethro.

RR has hired the 9th and final coach: Shafer, stolen from Jim Harbaugh at Stanford. No word yet who the DC will be. Possibly Tall.

Shafer spent the past two years as the defensive coordinator at Western Michigan, where he led a defensive unit that ranked among the best in the nation. Shafer, a 1990 graduate of Baldwin-Wallace, was the defensive coordinator while also coaching defensive backs at Western Michigan in 2005 and '06.

During his career, he has also coached at Indiana, Rhode Island, Northern Illinois and Illinois.

For the past two years, he helped the Broncos register the biggest turnaround in MAC history. Western Michigan was 1-10 the year before he arrived, then went 7-4 in 2005 and 8-5 in 2006. Shafer's defensive unit was a large part of WMU's success.

In 2006, Shafer spearheaded a defensive group that ranked first in the nation in interceptions (24) and sacks (46), sixth in run defense, seventh in turnover margin and 11th in total defense. His defense included linebacker Ameer Ismail, the MAC Defensive Player of the Year and a Second Team All-American, and All-MAC defensive back London Fryar.

The Broncos' rush defense (76.1 ypg) in 2006 set a MAC record for fewest rushing yards allowed per game. Shafer was a nominee for the Broyles Award as the top assistant coach in the nation.

In his first season, Shafer's defense was a major reason why the Broncos were able to turn a 1-10 team into a 7-4 club. His defense, led by All-MAC defensive back Louis Delmas, recorded 13 forced fumbles and 15 interceptions.

Shafer was the secondary coach at Illinois in 2004 under head coach Ron Turner prior to moving to Western Michigan. While in Champaign, he coached cornerback Kelvin Hayden, who led the Big Ten in interceptions and was drafted in the second round.

Shafer coached at Northern Illinois for eight seasons (1996-2003), including the last four as defensive coordinator. He was also the defensive backs coach during his entire tenure in DeKalb, Ill. As defensive coordinator, Shafer's unit was a driving force in the Huskies going 30-16 and winning two MAC West Division championships (2001, '02) from 2000-03.

Throughout his career at NIU, Shafer's players earned 13 All-MAC selections. During the 2003 season, Northern Illinois was ranked as high as No. 12 in the AP poll, recorded its first 10-win season in 20 years, and had three victories over BCS teams while holding them to an average of 15 points per game.

NIU also led the nation in interceptions with 23 in 2003 and had five defensive players named to the All-MAC team. In 2002, Shafer's defense led the conference in interceptions, takeaways, sacks, scoring defense and run defense.

He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Indiana under head coach Bill Mallory in 1991 and '92. He spent the next three seasons (1993-95) as the defensive backs coach at Rhode Island.

Shafer played quarterback at Ohio University in 1985, then completed his collegiate career at Baldwin-Wallace from 1986-90. In 1987, he was ranked 17th in the nation in passing efficiency and earned team MVP honors. He earned a Bachelors degree in education from Baldwin-Wallace in 1990 and a Masters degree in education from Indiana in 1993.

A native of Painesville, Ohio, Shafer and his wife, Missy, have a son, Wolfgang, and a daughter, Elsa

Per Scout, here are the defensive coaches by position.

Shafer - DC
Tall - DL
Hopson - LB
Gibson - DB



Like many others are saying, this is alot of guys who have spent their careers coaching defensive backs.
That MUST be an area of concern for RR. Does He have in mind some sort of new "Galactic Defense" that will feature defensive backs who cover receivers, tackle, contain running QB's, make interceptions, recover fumbles, AND create peace in the Middle East?

I've taken the time and effort to rate this thread a Five Star.

They just signed Kleefbelt "The Yule Log" Bogenshlotz, a 5'7, 338 lbs lineman fromYipshhood-On-Feather, Glastonbury, Scotland. He's a 1/2 star who can double as a long snapper. Bogenshlotz was a serious target of Mark Dantonio and the Sparties, and Dantonio reportedly told the ETSTI coach that "Pride cometh before the fall".


http://bluraysucks.com/media/entities/1168-416-rofl.jpg

They just signed Kleefbelt "The Yule Log" Bogenshlotz, a 5'7, 338 lbs lineman fromYipshhood-On-Feather, Glastonbury, Scotland. He's a 1/2 star who can double as a long snapper. Bogenshlotz was a serious target of Mark Dantonio and the Sparties, and Dantonio reportedly told the ETSTI coach that "Pride cometh before the fall".**



They got him? Damn

Lamarr Woodley was on some radio show in Detroit and said he has spoken with T Taylor, advising him to STAY IN SCHOOL, and thinks Taylor will come back to UM next season. WHEW!

So who is our best player next year Zip? AA, MM, RM leaving... who our best guy?

WOW.
Donovan Warren?

TERRELLE PRYOR

K.C. Lopata

Warren is a badass. A freshman that shut down his entire side of the field... He'll be even better next year.

So has Jethro even read the "Jethro UM Football Thread"?

Is this a dedication or did you sell a sponsorship/naming rights for your thread, Zip?

I'm seeing alternate revenue streams, here.

Donovan Warren?

I had to go look him up. Uh oh.

Anyways...I was just wondering who the networks will be promoting as "As Donovan Warren goes, so go the Wolverines" or something. They always have to have at least one guy to talk about the entire game.

I'd give him another hour and if he doesn't post, I think it should be named the 'Tahoe UM football thread' but thats just me.

I really think they'll talk about Warren like they talked about Jackson next year. Maybe I'm overrating him, but he was great last year.

It had a very elegant name (this thread) to begin with: The Jethro 34 UM Info Thread. That's because Jethro made the request yesterday. Then someone changed it to UM Football Info, and I rightly and jutifiably protested with vehemence! "THIS is outrageous!" I exclaimed to the masses. Then it was changed to Jethro UM football Thread.
How droll. How gauche.

And I am saying now, and here, that I will accept suggestions unless Jethro ackowleges all the work Tahoe has put into this thing.
Jethro, you have until 7:00PM tonight to respond!

I dont like your poop flag.

So has Jethro even read the "Jethro UM Football Thread"?

Is this a dedication or did you sell a sponsorship/naming rights for your thread, Zip?

I'm seeing alternate revenue streams, here.


Hells yeah.

I'm feelin the love - in a strictly heterosexual way.

This made my day.

It had a very elegant name (this thread) to begin with: The Jethro 34 UM Info Thread. That's because Jethro made the request yesterday. Then someone changed it to UM Football Info, and I rightly and jutifiably protested with vehemence! "THIS is outrageous!" I exclaimed to the masses. Then it was changed to Jethro UM football Thread.
How droll. How gauche.

And I am saying now, and here, that I will accept suggestions unless Jethro ackowleges all the work Tahoe has put into this thing.
Jethro, you have until 7:00PM tonight to respond!

7pm east coast or west coast?

Seriously, Zip good thread

That was meant to be Central time.
But, per Glenn's suggestion: Any ideas?

Jethro34 All Michigan All the Time??

Not bad at all Zip. All American All the time.

Can't we get Jethro and RR in the same title somehow? I mean they both deserve it.

Look closely, I think I saw Tahoe!!

kSiDa044cNM

Jethro34's Rod Out Michigan Football Thread

I can't believe someone actually took the time to write that thing. Is he serious? Self pitty.

Did you see in the RR thread that his mom or something is getting death threats?

Yes I did. I'm sure there's a realtor in Ann Arbor looking for a house that's just close enough for her to visit once a week, but too far away to visit every day.

Here's a little quote from Shafer, the new DC. If this doesn;t give you a boner, you're not human.

"Scheme is overrated, I've always believed that," Shafer said. "What's not overrated is getting your kids to play with great effort, great attitude and great enthusiasm. Those are things we can control on a daily basis, and that will be my primary goal. ... The philosophy of our defense is attack-oriented, attack and react. We want to be a defense this is multiple, that is always putting pressure and forcing the hand of the offense. We want to be a penetrating defense.
"If you're going to (ask) what our objectives are? The one thing we want to do is stop the run, force them to throw the ball on first down, create negative plays on first down ... and get ourselves in position to force them to throw the ball. Get them one-dimensional. We don't want to be a defense that sits back. We want to be a defense that creates turnovers and scores touchdowns. Lead the conference in sacks, interceptions and defensive scores. That's how it's always been everywhere I've coached and how it will be at Michigan

Jethro: You need to name this thread!! What the hell do you think Tahoe is doing all this work for?
This is going to be the Primo Thread of America, and your lackadaisical approach has me somewhat baffled.

More Boner Talk: BARWIS. Chuck Norris, when questioned recently while chewing some glass and beating the hell out of Vladimir Putin while mowing his lawn and wrestling a polar bear, said this: "When I grow up, I want to be Mike Barwis"

http://michigan.scout.com/2/719134.html

If you haven't watched the Barwis video from the link Tahoe has provided in the above post, DO IT NOW.
I'm purposely going to gain 100 lbs of fat in the next six weeks just so I can start working out this spring and my only motivation is going to be playing that video clip. I'm totally Barwissed. ARE YOU??

Michigan Hockey is Barwissed. They barwissed Western Michigan tonight, 6-1. Apparently, they were chanting "Barwis Ohio State and get Pryor". This is unbarwissable. The whole world had gone completely mad! Just a few seconds ago, my daughter was so barwissed, she asked me to help her with her homework! I fuckin' barwissed her into next Tuesday with a hip check half gainer. Fuck that punk!
Anyway, UM football is going to Barwis the Big Ten for the next twenty years. I'm totally barwissed about this shit.

Why are you asking me to name this thread? It already has an amazing name?

Maybe a subtitle - powered by Tahoe with contributions from Zip?

And then another subtitle, a subsubtitle per say:
driven by Barwis

Jethro:

Jethro's Big Rod Michigan Football Thread

Presented by Tahoe
Powered by Barwis

Outstanding, but one more suggestion -
subsubsubtitle
Connected tenuously

Here's some juicy info on Shafer (now that he's the UM DC, no first name needed. His parents probably looked at him when he was born and thought "Someday, he'll coach Mighigan. No stupid first name could equal "Michigan Defensive Coordinator", let's just call him Shafer". This is from a coach in Ohio who writes for Scout:

(Thanks to CoachBt for this! These are his words. TJB)

I have seen Coach Scott Shafer talk three times and have visited him for practice also. He was at Northern Illinois at the time. NIU was very successful then (1996-2003) and their coaches were in big demand. The first time I heard his clinic presentation he was DB coach, and last two he was Defense Coordinator. Everything I am sharing comes from my notes at the clinic or what I witnessed at his practice seesions.

I have seen hundreds of guys talk over my 20+ years in coaching, and you can tell that many just show up because they have to. But Coach Scafer impressed the HELL out of the entire room. He was really trying to help us. He was very open, a gave out his card and phone number.

He talked about same things all three times.

The Fronts:

One thing he said all three times was not to get hung about fronts, 4-3 , 3-4, or whatever. because it was what you did out of fronts that was key.

As most of you know by now, Coach Scafer uses what he calls an "Attack 4-3." But he also used some 3-4 as nickel, and even occasionally some 4-2. The first thing Coach emphaszed each time has being fundamentally sound. He spent at least half of each sessions talking about being, drilling, fundamentals. Those fundamnettals included sound tackling, proper hustle and pursuit to the ball, and staying in lanes. Next thing he did was turn to the ball and write in big letters HUSTLE. With hustle he talked about getting as many hats to the ball as possible, getting to fumbles, and never quitting on a play.

Basic Principles:

Some of the basic principals about his defense philosophy were attacking or "stressing" the offense. He said he did not want to be in position of sitting back and letting the offense take fight to the defense -- because that would give all advantage to offense. He said he felt it was important for the defense to make the offense make mistakes -- and that those mistakes had to be forced. With offenses being so multi-dimensional, they would pick a defense apart if the defense did not attack them aggresively. You could hear in his voice and his mannerisms that he was serious about this "attack" philosophy. Some coaches just keep the same monotone voice throughout, some you can tell are just acting to try and impress you -- but Coach Scafer was serious and genuine. He meant every word he said.

Defensive Keys:

He listed a number of keys that he felt were necessary to the defense being successful.
-- #1 each time has stop the run, to make offense as one dimensional as possible. I chuckled when I read the press release -- it was the exact same thing he told us.
-- #2 was creating negative plays, especially on early downs.
-- #3 was confuse the offense: he talked about mixing fronts, coverages, and blitzes.
-- #4 was to create TO's. He gave us some drills -- chase and punch: 1st guy enwrap the ball carrier, next man go for ball, etc., to create TO's.
-- #5, SCORE. Coach Scafer talked about the defense scoring being a momentum switcher and having an unreal effect on a game.

Shafer at Practice:

At practice Coach Shafer was as detail oriented as any coach I have seen. He stopped practice to correct the smallest detail and it seemed like nothing escaped him. He moved DB's over an inch, and moved their feet small distances. He explained that 1 inch would become 2 and before you knew it the fundamental positioning would be lost. Coach Scafer even coached up other coaches, making sure they knew exactly what he wanted and why. He demanded 100% on every play/rep from his players. What intensity he showed! Every drill, every little thing was just as important as the big stuff. Not sure of the exact quote, but he said something like: a big thing happening well is nothing more than a lot of little things all coming together -- sweat the small-stuff. He did even the small details with passion and fire.


Men, this thing is growing by the minute. Michigan Football is poised to assert itself as the Supreme Czar of the Universe.

Hey Zip, Art or anyone else............

What are you hearing about RR making a push to contact Charles Burrell for the purpose of having him play QB???

I've seen nothing on that on either Rivals or Scout (Burell).
Right now UM is courting Pryor, and seems to be making a play for Star Jackson. The Souct boards are hyping BJ Daniels as well.

FillyCheeseSteak:

Here are some preliminary scheduled visits by recroots (per Scout):

Weekend of Jan. 18th
-- Adrian Bushell. Visited OKST, and has Fla Jan. 11 and T-Tech Jan. 25.
-- J.T. Floyd (Tenn the 25th)
-- Mike Martin (also... visiting ND the 25th now)
-- D.J. Woods
-- Boubacar Cissoko?

Weekend of Jan. 25th
-- Nick Perry ... USC, U-M, Miami on consecutive weekends
-- Jaron Brown ... Clem and SCAR, his big leaders, on 2 weekends prior.

Weekend of Feb. 1st
-- Terrelle Pryor ... visited OSU in Nov., possibly PSU Jan. 18, possibly Fla.

Others possibly visiting in January:
-- Keanon Cooper. Visited Minn, visiting Wis. Will U-M still be set up?
-- A.J. Price. Will also visit PSU in Jan., visited Vir. in Dec. ... **U-Mvisit a little less likely at this moment.
-- Vaughn Carraway? ... we'll see if U-M brings him in

++++++++++++++++++

Other Possible new QB recruits:
-- Run-pass QB Star Jackson (6-1, 195, 4.5) from Lake Worth, Fla (ALA commit, former WVA recruit).
-- Run-pass QB Dominic Britt (6-5, 195, 4.65) from Trottwood-Madison, Ohio.
-- Run-pass QB D.J. Daniels (6-1, 195, 4.5) from Tallahassee Lincoln.
-- Run-pass QB Charles Burrell from Det. Southeastern.

Possible new RB recruits:
-- RB Cyrus Gray (5-11, 200, 4.45) from DeSoto, Texas (CB Adrian Bushell's teammate)
-- PSU decommit Michael Shaw (6-0, 190, 4.45) from Trottwood-Madison, Ohio.

Possible new LB recruits:
-- LB Taylor Hill (6-2, 205) from Youngstown Cardinal Mooney, Ohio ... WVA commit, he reportedly has a U-M offer at this point. He is visiting MSU this weekend.
-- LB Lerentee McRay (6-2, 200, 4.5) from Dunnellon, Fla. He's visiting FSU this weekend and Fla. next, and has already visited Tennessee ... he reportedly has a U-M offer now.

Here's some juicy info:
The Free Press fucktard who wrote the article about how Pryor should choose OSU over UM?
A Sparty grad who is a huge buckeye fan, a native of Ohio.
http://statenews.com/index.php/article/2000/11/it0146s_ok_to_be_a_huge

What's more pathetic, that this guy wrote that shit, or that the Free Press published it?

Here's a few tips if you want to Barwis yourself so you can get Barwishiously huge and healthy:

Also you don't know what is in the chocolate milk. Might not just be milk.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/ebp/pbwhey.html
"EB's PB and Whey Bars and their chocolate chip protein cookies, Dynabites, are integral parts of our nutrition program at West Virginia University. They provide quick and healthy choices for our athletes after workouts. Replenishing glucose stores and increasing protein levels immediately post workout are essential to muscle growth. We feel these products are excellent providers of the necessary nutrients for muscular development."

Mike Barwis
Director Of Strength And Conditioning of the University of Michigan, and the S&C Coach for the Gods of Olympus


http://www.supplementstogo.com/1ststforenli.html
1st STEP liquid multivitamin and mineral supplement has become an integral part of the nutritional regimen for our athletes at West Virginia University. 1st STEP has become our daily insurance policy with our athletes. Not all of our athletes take the time to prepare the proper nutritional meals on a daily basis, and I know that when our athletes take 1st STEP daily, that they are receiving proper amounts of vitamins and minerals needed to perform at their highest athletic level. I highly recommend 1st STEP as the multivitamin and mineral supplement of choice for anyone who lives an active lifestyle.”

Mike Barwis, Head Strength & Conditioning Coach of the University of Michigan, and recognized as the S&C Coach of the Universe

I really hope that people knew about Chocolate Milk before this. There was a study done a few years ago at Indiania University about the pros of drinking chocolate milk after a workout and its been used by many universities. I love Barwis so far, but he is far from the pioneer of the Chocolate Milk and not even the first one in the Big Ten to use it.

What I hope Barwis discovers next is eating Oreos with milk INSTEAD of working out.

Here's some interesting infor from something called "Jockrap"

The Jock Rap.com has learned from a reliable Michigan booster that Louisiana State head football coach Les Miles will be facing serious NCAA recruiting violations in the coming year. According to the source, these violations were made in the last two recruiting seasons, and the NCAA is considering an in-depth investigation into Miles’ and LSU’s recruiting practices. The allegations stem from violations allegedly made on the national college signing day over the past several years.

The source told us that the University of Michigan’s Athletic Department was made aware of the possible violations committed by Miles and that caused the Wolverines to back off their pursuit of him. If these allegations are true it would certainly validate the rumors circulating - that for years Les Miles’ recruiting practices and principles have been dirty. It would also raise questions of the Tigers’ national championship win on Monday night. We will let you know more as the story unfolds.

As for the NCAA’s pursuit of the violations, we are confident something will be made public in the coming months, but not holding our breaths. USC has been skirting punishment for alleged recruiting violations with a number of high profile players - including Reggie Bush and Joe McKnight - for a number of years.

Posted In: The Illadelph: College Football 24 /7 on January 11, 2008 Comments (36)

Jockrap = DrTre..............hmmmmm!!!

Here's some late recruiting infor from Scout:

A "new list" has to start with "The Great One: Western Pa. Run-pass QB Terrelle Pryor. But he's far from the only one:

Other Possible new QB recruits:

-- Run-pass QB Star Jackson (6-1, 195, 4.5) from Lake Worth, Fla (ALA commit, former WVA recruit).

-- Run-pass QB Justin Feagin (6-0, 195, 4.6) from Delray Beach Fla., American Heritage. Reportedly getting visited by QB Coach Rod Smith soon.

-- Run-pass QB B.J. Daniels (6-1, 195, 4.5) from Tallahassee Lincoln.

-- Run-pass QB Dominic Britt (6-5, 195, 4.65) from Trottwood-Madison, Ohio.

-- Run-pass QB Charles Burrell from Det. Southeastern.

Possible new RB recruits:

-- RB Cyrus Gray (5-11, 200, 4.45) from DeSoto, Texas (CB Adrian Bushell's teammate)

-- PSU decommit Michael Shaw (6-0, 190, 4.45) from Trottwood-Madison, Ohio.

Possible new WR recruits (looking for slot guys):

-- WR D.J. Woods (6-0, 170, 4.35) from Strongsville, Ohio (visiting Jan. 18, he is a definite recruit)

-- Slot WR Onterio McCalebb (6-0, 170) from Ft. Meade, Fla.

-- Slot WR Terrance Robinson (5-9, 175) from Houston Klein Oak.

-- WR/S T.J. Lawrence (6-2, 190, 4.5) from Lakeland, Fla., Kathleen.

(*BTW, the 'looking for slot WRs' could be why Price and Carraway are more on hold for the momrent - click here: http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=162&f=2004&t=1842335&sto=pagestart)

Possible new LB recruits:

-- LB Lerentee McCray (6-2, 200, 4.5) from Dunnellon, Fla. He's visiting FSU this weekend and Fla. next, and has already visited Tennessee ... he reportedly has a U-M offer now.
-- LB Taylor Hill (6-2, 205) from Youngstown Cardinal Mooney, Ohio ... WVA commit, he reportedly has a U-M offer at this point. He is visiting MSU this (Jan. 11) weekend

Thanks for posting that Zip. I'll continue forwarding the info to you and then you post it. Seems to be working well so far.

I prolly have too much confidence in RR, but I feel like he will get a QB that might not be on everyones radar and then the experts will say, 'he's a perfect fit for RR's offense'.

Thanks for posting that Zip. I'll continue forwarding the info to you and then you post it. Seems to be working well so far.

Thanks Tahoe. It helps that you are working so hard with this, I hope the guys appreciate your efforts. Good work!

Even though this is the Jethro/Tahoe/Barwis thread I have devoted about 73% of my "awake time" to it. I check this thread in the neighborhood of 8-10 times a day and consider it my official source for Michigan recruiting, news and everything Terrelle Pryor.

Thanks guys!!!

I prolly have too much confidence in RR, but I feel like he will get a QB that might not be on everyones radar and then the experts will say, 'he's a perfect fit for RR's offense'.

I'm the same way. I give RR so much credit as an offensive innovator that I'm just assuming any QB he goes with will have a custom fit offense that takes advantage of that players greatest strengths and perfectly covers for any weaknesses they might have.
Why do I give RR so much credit? Not sure, perhaps because he has been barwised for so long that he rolls out of bed, eats some nails, chases it with chocolate milk, and gets on the task of innovation.

Guys, right now the connection with Fitzgerald, Witherspoon, and Wilson looks to be tenuous, at best. RR has some in home visits coming up with the three of them. They all have taken their official visits to UM, so if they visit anywhere else, the warm 'n fuzzy may not be overcome. Though all three remain committed, Scout is calling them "SOFT" verbals right now.
I'd say that UM will lose one of the three, probably Wilson. I still think UM is solid to keep Fitzgerald (his other possibilities seem to to BC and Rutgers) and Witherspoon (looking at Tennessee). Wilson seems to be giving off the vibe that he doesn;t see a place for him under RR.
More news later! First class after winter break starts in two minutes!

I'm the same way. I give RR so much credit as an offensive innovator that I'm just assuming any QB he goes with will have a custom fit offense that takes advantage of that players greatest strengths and perfectly covers for any weaknesses they might have.
Why do I give RR so much credit? Not sure, perhaps because he has been barwised for so long that he rolls out of bed, eats some nails, chases it with chocolate milk, and gets on the task of innovation.

And I bet when the QB leaves the school (most likely after the NC game as a sophmore :) ) he will be a better QB than when he came. I think Zip makes a good point on that, our QBs aren't developed to the extent that most want with Carr.

I'm the same way. I give RR so much credit as an offensive innovator that I'm just assuming any QB he goes with will have a custom fit offense that takes advantage of that players greatest strengths and perfectly covers for any weaknesses they might have.
Why do I give RR so much credit? Not sure, perhaps because he has been barwised for so long that he rolls out of bed, eats some nails, chases it with chocolate milk, and gets on the task of innovation.

Could it be because WVU has gone 33-6, and won two BCS bowl games over the last three years with a running back at the QB position? And they have been faster, stronger, and more determined than the teams they whupped in the BCS bowl games? AND, done this at West Virginia???

New recruit info (no new commits) From the Tahoe Recruiting Service (but first shown on Scout):

As far as "New Recruits" go ... who are legit?

Possible new QB recruits:
Yessiriebub! -- Run-pass QB Star Jackson (6-2.5, 195, 4.5) from Lake Worth, Fla (ALA commit, former WVA recruit).
possibl-dependin... -- Run-pass QB Justin Feagin (6-0, 195, 4.6) from Delray Beach Fla., American Heritage. Reportedly getting visited by QB Coach Rod Smith soon.
possibl-dependin... -- Run-pass QB B.J. Daniels (6-1, 195, 4.5) from Tallahassee Lincoln.
Nupe -- Run-pass QB Charles Burrell from Det. Southeastern.
Nupe -- Run-pass QB Dominic Britt (6-5, 195, 4.65) from Trottwood-Madison, Ohio.

Possible new RB recruits:
Nupe -- RB Cyrus Gray (5-11, 200, 4.45) from DeSoto, Texas (CB Adrian Bushell's teammate)
Nupe -- PSU decommit Michael Shaw (6-0, 190, 4.45) from Trottwood-Madison, Ohio.
(McGuffie still casts his long shadow...)

Possible new WR recruits (looking for see-lot guys):
Yessiriebub! -- Terrance Robinson (5-9, 175) from Houston Klein Oak.
Yessiriebub! -- T.J. Lawrence (6-2, 190, 4.5) from Lakeland, Fla., Kathleen.
possibl-dependin... -- Slot WR Onterio McCaleb (6-0, 170) from Ft. Meade, Fla.
(*BTW, the 'looking for slot WRs' could be why Price and Carraway are moreso on hold for the momrent)

Possible new LB recruits:
Strong-possibl, 'cause-you-know-why -- LB Taylor Hill (6-2, 205) from Youngstown Cardinal Mooney, Ohio ... WVA commit, he reportedly has a U-M offer at this point. He visited MSU the Jan 11 weekend.
Strong-possibl, 'cause-you-know-why -- LB Lerentee McRay (6-2, 200, 4.5) from Dunnellon, Fla. He's visiting FSU this weekend and Fla. next, and has already visited Tennessee ... he reportedly has a U-M offer now.

Interesting post on The Big House in Scout:

I never post so dont shoot the messenger. Just passing along what I was told today. So, Im standing at the shredder and this friend of mine starts telling me how his daughters apartment got broke into. (She goes to UofM and dates one of the B-ball players) He says he stopped over and Brandon Graham is there. So they start talking and Brandon tells him the new coaches want him to lose 20 or 30 pounds and go back to his old position. Which, Im guessing would be linebacker? Anyways, he tells my friend that Terelle Pryor told RR that if Mallet leaves hes coming to AA. He also said Coach Barwis is the real deal. I tried to milk him for every last detail of their conversation but he had to leave. I knew this guys daughter knows a lot of football and basketball players but this is the first time hes given me some insider info. Like I said please dont shoot the messenger.

I knew this guys daughter knows a lot of football and basketball players

means


Trust me, this guy's daughter gets around. And I would know.

Don't we have a thread for this somewhere?

Our man Twins has outscooped the great Tahoe to inform us of a cimmittment from Taylor Hill:

WLB, 6'2 205; Three Star
Youngstown Ohio Cardinal Mooney (Yes, a steal from Ohio!)
#27 rated at his position
First committed to the Sooners, then WVU, and now he is BLUE! (Twins is right, had a visit to Lansing over the weekend)

Important recruit to get Fitzgerald and Witherspoon to shit or get off the pot.
Fucking A dudes: Rich Rodriguez, time, tide, and trolley wait for no man!!!

It's officially over for manningham. Good luck! Can't argue. Great speed, and the injuries he's had would be enough to convince me to go. Plus, hed actually have to WORK this upcoming season.

From the Cleveland Plains Dealer (No word on whether the Free Press Staff is having a "Good Bye Mario" party tonight)

Posted by Associated Press January 14, 2008 16:33PM
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Mario Manningham will skip his senior football season at Michigan to enter the NFL draft.

"It was a hard decision, but after discussing it with my family it was the right one for me to make right now," Manningham said today in an interview with The Associated Press while driving home to Ohio. "I've heard I will be drafted in the first round because of the lack of depth at wide receiver."

Manningham said he will work out in Cleveland while preparing for the April draft.

(Major??) Applewhite, the OC at Alabama is no longer with the Crimson Tide. Speculation is that he had a huge role in them landing UM hopeful (since RR came) Star Jackson. With Applewhite gone, and UM seriously interested????
Many say Jackson would make UM feel alot better if TP goes Evil

"It was a hard decision, but after discussing it with my family it was the right one for me to make right now," Manningham said today in an interview with The Associated Press while driving home to Ohio. "I've heard I will be drafted in the first round because of the lack of depth at wide receiver."



Way to show some confidence, Mario.

I'll go in the first round. Not because I'm good, but because everyone else is bad.

Wasn't Applewhite a college QB just a few years back?

It's also another way of saying: Mario, you ain't that good.

Wasn't Applewhite a college QB just a few years back?

Yes, at Texas. I thought he was a hot name this past season.

Wow, it didn't take him long to go from college QB to college OC.

Our friend Ryan Mallet has landed in Arkansas, btw. He's gonna be a Hog!

An apology is in order for whatshisface.

"dear bukdow, because you are a huge douchebag i have never taken one thing your written seriously. i am sorry for the way you are." hows that?

im feeling that ho's inside info on TP. i think alot of people assumed that anyway. its too perfect of a fit not to happen.

also, btw. the more totally unreliable internet rumors posted here the better. my fave was the one with the tuna coaching michigan. i love that stuff.

Did you hear they may bring in Cam Cameron as UM's OC?!?!?!?!
How's that, b-diddy?

i cant wait to tell everyone i know that juicy nugget.

I can't believe I didn't get this one posted. I hope Tahoe isn't mad about it (From Scout)



Sam talked to J.B. Fitgerald briefly ... J.B. was hesitant to talk ...

J.B. is understandably reticent to talk much -- it's a tricky situation for a so-called-committed kid ... to be visiting elsewhere, which is contradictory to 'commited' ... it's a little embarrassing, etc.

J.B. didn't commit to MSU of course, has Rutgers (Jan. 25) and maybe BC to visit.

******************************

***Look, at this point, you have to consider J.B.'s U-M commit 'sooooooft' ... Witherspoon ( www.govolsxtra.com/news/2008/j...114witherspoon/ ) (altho Spoon's coach still wants him to be committed: www.pressofatlanticcity.com/sp...p-7429364c.html ) and Wilson too ... what with them taking visits ( mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=162&am...p;sto=pagestart ) -- we have to come to our senses here.***

It could end up that in the end J.B. is the most likely to stick (or to 're-stick') however, because of the academics/athletics combo at U-M ... we'll see.

***As we've said, we expect Coach Rod to make his first in-homes to the Jersey kids today/tomorrow -- that will be key as far as U-M trying to get ahead of the curve on these guys again -- but, once again face it -- it hurts that these other visits came FIRST, BEFORE R-Rod's in-home ... gets the kids feeling 'open' again.***

So, are J.B. Fitzgerald, Marcus Witherspoon, Christian Wilson U-M commits ar this point ... only in the loosiest-goosiest definition ... 'air-soft'?, 'ether-soft', 'invisibly-soft'?

***The MORE***
What hurts with the Jersey kids, and Wilson, is that they've already taken their U-M official visits. Of course RR will make inhomes with them. But if they want to get back to A2 to check out the "new vibe," they have to pay for their own trip ... and the Jersy kids are not really in driving distance. We DO expect Christian to make an A2 road trip. Will the other 2 too?


I'm not going to give up on keeping these guys. They were early committs, and seemed to be fired up about UM even after RR was hired. I'm feeling good. I have seen nothing on any other boards (yet) indicating that the schools they are visiting should be excited.
Witherspoon did speak highly of Tennessee, but really, he's got to kee his options open too.

EDIT: Nothing on Witherspoon on the Tennessee boards on Scout. Interesting.

Did you hear they may bring in Cam Cameron as UM's OC?!?!?!?!
How's that, b-diddy?

Maybe Alabama??

Zip - I have to hand it to you. I've never cared for recruiting, as I just think that it's boring and something that isn't important enough for me to worry about. But I come in here every morning to check rumors about dudes I've never heard of and get excited. And the whole Terrell Pryor thing has me on the edge of my seat.

Props to you Zip. You are a master of suspense.

I've always found recruiting to be interesting, Motown. I think it's because I really only have interest in two sports: college football and Tiger Woods.

Well, today is a Big Day for the Blue, and Rich Rodriguez. From Scout, we get this interesting little nugget:

Today is the R-Rod Does Jersey day.
-- J.B. Fitzgerald
-- Marcus Witherspoon
Regardless of picking up Hill yesterday, these two are the key LB-guys (not my opinion here folks) ... and IMO U-M would loooooove to stop the taking-visits-bleeding with them -- right now! Only way to possibly do that is to get RR into the home (and school) NOW. No in-school by Hopson will stop this in its tracks -- maybe RR can't do it either, but at least they'll know after tonight what kind of battle they're in for these 2.

BTW, both Spoon and J.B. are running-types, percect for RR ... Spoon is fast, and JB is fast-for-a-MLB.

Brandon Smith ... he'll get his RR inhome today too ... this one is a happier situation of course ... and don't forget BS as a potential future LB-who-can-run as well.

Good article on Pryor.

Time is rapidly running out for Jeannette, Pa., quarterback Terrelle Pryor. The nation's top prospect at his position, Pryor plans to make a final decision on National Signing Day. However, this week could go a long way toward which school he picks in early February. BuckeyeSports.com has the latest.

Although there has been no major change in the life of Terrelle Pryor, this week should go a long way toward showing where he might be going to college.

The nation’s top quarterback prospect will entertain head coaches this week and prepare himself for the final few weeks until National Signing Day. But while Jeannette, Pa., head coach Ray Reitz said he does not feel Pryor has a clear-cut favorite, he will know a lot more by the time this week is finished.


“I think he’s starting to narrow it down to a couple of schools,” Reitz told BuckeyeSports.com. “I think this week is going to tell the tale in a lot of things. He’s going to meet with these guys and that’s going to tell. Tressel’s coming in Wednesday, I think somebody said that. He met Michigan (Monday). He’s going to meet Oregon and Duke (Tuesday). Once this week goes by, he obviously has to start narrowing it down.”


Pryor has listed a top five of OSU, Oregon, Michigan, Penn State and West Virginia. However, Duke is a new player for his services and Reitz said he thinks the Mountaineers are off Pryor’s list.


The Blue Devils might appear to be a head-scratching inclusion, but their recent hiring of David Cutcliffe is why Pryor is talking to them. A former offensive coordinator at the University of Tennessee – where he coached Peyton Manning – and a former head coach at Mississippi – where he coached Eli Manning – Cutcliffe’s credentials have Pryor considering playing for him.


“He’s got a pretty good relationship with the head coach, Cutcliffe,” Reitz said. “I think basketball is gravy, but he really likes Cutcliffe. I guess it’s his preference. I think he’s talking about who he feels comfortable with and the guy is ranked as one of the top quarterback coaches in the country. I think that’s what he’s looking at.”


WVU dropped when head coach Rich Rodriguez took his spread offense and headed to Michigan. The Wolverines had been in on Pryor early, but they appear to be even bigger players for his services now with a clear path for playing time laid out in front of him.


Thought to be an OSU lean for some time, he faces a battle to earn snaps should he opt to become a Buckeye. According to Reitz, either situation will be beneficial for Pryor.


“I think he is intrigued by the spread where you’re more of a runner/thrower,” he said. “At Ohio State you’re going to be more handing the ball off and running a pro-style offense. They both have their benefits.


“I think the familiarity for Terrelle with the Michigan offense (helps) because it’s sort of like we did in high school. That’s not to say there’s anything the matter with what Ohio State does. It’s just a matter of philosophy with coaches.”


Pryor has taken just one official visit when he checked out OSU on Nov. 2. Reitz said he is still firming up where he will take his remaining visits, but it appears he will be checking out the Ducks and the Wolverines. He has taken several unofficial visits to PSU and will likely not take an official there, Reitz said.


A 6-6, 225-pound prospect who has been timed at 4.4 seconds in the 40-yard dash, Pryor was named the Pennsylvania Class AA player of the year after leading the Jayhawks to a state championship.


Although he has maintained all along that he enjoys the recruiting process and that he does not feel pressure to make a commitment, Reitz said that outlook might be changing.


“Terrelle’s problem is he can’t say ‘no’ to anyone,” he said. “I think that’s what’s hard. These guys at these universities are very good coaches and they are impressive, so when they come in they’re all good at what they do and I think it’s hard for him to tell one over the other.”


Once he sees the coaches coming to town this week, Pryor will have to start coming to grips with telling them he does not want to go there. Reitz said it will not be easy but that Pryor recognizes it is necessary.


Once he figures out which schools he truly likes, that is.


“His biggest thing is he has to start telling people that their school is not for him,” Reitz said. “I don’t know what schools they are, to be honest with you. He has been pretty open to all of them.”

One last HOT item for the day. West Virginia is now crying "Foul" over RR reportedly shredding the personal files of Mountaineer players and recroots. This is somewhere in between X Files, Separation Anxiety, and Psychosis on the part of West Virginia by now. And the OSU free boards on Scout are LIT UP over it! One has to wonder: When will OSU stop obsessing over Michigan???
MORGANTOWN — West Virginia officials are wondering if assistant coaches aren’t all that Rich Rodriguez took with him to Michigan. They believe he may also have destroyed all or most of the paperwork files relating to every player on the current Mountaineer roster and virtually all of the activities conducted by the program over the past seven years.
Soon after returning to work after the Fiesta Bowl a little more than a week ago, the staff at the Puskar Center found that most of the files — including all of the player files — that had been stored in Rodriguez’s private office were missing. In addition, all of the players’ strength and conditioning files in the weight room were gone.

“It’s unbelievable. Everything is gone, like it never existed,’’ said a source within the athletic department, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “Good, bad or indifferent, we don’t have a record of anything that has happened.’’

According to the source, the files in Rodriguez’s office that are now missing included everything from records regarding summer camps — financial and otherwise — to data on boosters, recruiting and most everything related to activities within the program during Rodriguez’s seven years at WVU.

Most disturbing, though, is the absence of all of the players’ personal files, which included, among other things, contact information, scholarship money awarded, class attendance records and records on personal conduct and community service, be it positive or negative.

“If a player spoke to a school or did public service, we don’t have a record of it,’’ said the source. “If he broke a rule or missed class, we don’t have a record of that, either. We don’t have anything. All the good things these kids have done over the years, there’s nothing — not a picture of somebody speaking to a class, nothing. Why would somebody do that?’’

West Virginia athletic director Ed Pastilong did not return a message seeking comment Monday night. Neither could Rodriguez be reached for comment.

The files went missing sometime between when Rodriguez resigned on Dec. 16 and the time the team and staff returned from the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 3. It could have happened as early as the first days following Rodriguez’s resignation because his old office was largely ignored by the support staff and the coaching staff between the time he left and Dec. 26, when the team and support staff all went to Arizona for the Fiesta Bowl.

According to multiple sources, several people in the Puskar Center reported seeing Rodriguez and at least one member of his inner circle, video coordinator Dusty Rutledge, in Rodriguez’s private office shredding paperwork on Dec. 18. That’s the day he returned to clean out his office after being introduced as the Michigan coach at a press conference in Ann Arbor the day before. At the time, those who say they witnessed it either did not know what was being destroyed or paid it little attention to it until the files were discovered missing more than two weeks later.


While the files in Rodriguez’s office held a wide range of information, those that were discovered missing from the weight room office were more specific. Those included every aspect of strength and conditioning progress made by players under former strength and conditioning coordinator Mike Barwis, who along with most of his immediate staff followed Rodriguez to Michigan after the Fiesta Bowl. Those files included the progression made by each player in every specific area, from bench-press totals to 40-yard dash times. The files even included pictures of the players at different points in their careers.
While a source within the athletic department said the department itself wasn’t launching any type of investigation into the missing files — “Our plate is pretty full right now with trying to put together a staff and everything else,’’ the source said, “and we don’t have time to deal with [stuff] like this right now.’’ — it has apparently drawn the interest of the university’s legal counsel.

WVU lawyers are in the process of trying to recover $4 million from Rodriguez as a condition of breaking his contract with six years remaining to become the coach at Michigan. While Rodriguez has maintained that West Virginia breached the contract by not fulfilling all of its terms — an argument the university denies — the school filed suit in Monongalia County Circuit Court last month detailing what it claims are breaches by Rodriguez above and beyond simply breaking the contract. Those include calling recruits to tell them of his decision to switch schools before he told his own team. It certainly would not help Rodriguez’s case if the school can prove that he also destroyed what WVU officials consider state files on his way out.

I would have to believe that this article would somehow find its way into the hands of every UM recruit. It may even fall out of Jim Tressel's pocket when he visits Terelle Pryor this week.

Here's some advice for RR: Kill anyone who saw you shredding the files and then DENY DENY DENY.
Also: WVU is trying so hard to look like the spurned lover in this one. This stuff probably relates to kids like Devine, and some other questionable recroots (grades, criminal records, ect) that RR got into Morgantown. Of course, the Univesity would be complicit in this type of stuff, and if anything untoward was going on, well, RR is at UM, and WVU would be on probation!!!
The West Virginians are entering Hillary Clinton territory. They looked good attached to a great leader, but now they are shrill screamers who need to shut the fuck up and go away. I'll probably go over to their boards and tell them that.

Looks like RR can play a lil hard ball. The 'filegate' will be fun to watch, as long as it doesn't cost us a recruit.

Good posting zip.

It's all beginning to happen so fast!!

The D.J. Woods family continues to stay in touch (as does the RM family ... oh well...).

D.J.is being recruited as a outside/slot combo guy by new-U-M.

D.J. is definitely making his official visit to U-M this weekend.

He was at Cincy last week - met Lovie Smith whose kid is going to walk on there ... Lovie stressed academics to them, and a degree, which can only help Michigan's cause!

D.J. needs to hear a little more from new-U-M on where he'll be used, and that the ball will be in the air.

TJB IMO: things look pretty good ... will D.J. be #19? Possible.

Thanks again to Tahoe, and Scout

Quick hitter on the inhome visit to Pryor:

One More Thing* -- don't expect R-Rod to be by himself on his Jersey travels today ... Hopson too.

Terrelle Pryor was visited by all U-M offensive assistants yesterday ... smart, made an impact.

Now they are breaking up, and going to position-groups more.

Smith - the new QBs.
Frey - the OL commits.
etc.

Will some of the key guys get double-teamed or more going forward ... you bet - it's not that there are a lotta guys to go see.

++++++++++

If I recall the rules correctly.

Asst coach-or-coaches can make up to 6 inschools or inhomes. Doesn't matter how many at each visit.

Head Coach - one shot.

Frey visited Kurt Wermers in Indiana yesterday, great time was had by all. UM is bringing in a real good OL class. It may lack depth, but at least Wermers and Oneill are giving many grown men "College Football Boners"

If the filegate is true, it does make rr sound pretty crazy. Even more crazy would be the fact that wvu has not introduced computers into the athletic department. Who the hell uses paper files exclusively in this day and age. Maybe I should go over there to get a gig as an IT consultant. I could make up some great excel charts to show weight room progress.

NEWS ON TPRYOR will be visiting this weekend. Not sure if this is a good thing and it looks like LSU is now in the mix those scummy basterds. I sure hope we can secure a commitment this weekend that would be tits.

oh and I also know that Mcguffie will be in town as well so that may help

Two things:

1 - If Pryor is in town this weekend I'll be looking for him at the UM-Iowa game and give him a shout out.

2 - If all the filegate stuff was true, why is the story coming out now? Seriously, if a coach was leaving wouldn't they want him to get all his stuff out quickly and with people watching, especially knowing how they would pursue the buyout? So under those circumstances, how could he have done it, and if it really happened, how could they just now be finding out?

smear campaign

I thought that was in the Champagne Room? Something about 2 chicks and a cup?

Everyone realizes that all this is coming from West Virginia, right? The state most often referenced when making incest jokes? Home of fewer teeth per capita than the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Official Recruiting Visit Lineup:

The January Official VIsit List- for now

Weekend of Jan. 18th

-- *NEW* -- Terrelle Pryor ... visited OSU in Nov., possibly PSU Jan. 18, possibly Fla.
-- J.T. Floyd. (Tenn the 25th)
-- Mike Martin. (also... visiting ND the 25th now)
-- D.J. Woods.
-- Boubacar Cissoko.
-- Vaughn Carraway? ... we'll see if U-M brings him in
-- DROPPED (U-M didn't schedule him) Adrian Bushell.


Weekend of Jan. 25th
-- Nick Perry. USC, U-M, Miami on consecutive weekends
-- Jaron Brown. Clem and SCAR, his big leaders, on 2 weekends prior.
-- WR/S T.J. Lawrence (6-2, 190, 4.5) from Lakeland, Fla., Kathleen. He's visited VA and Fla. (Jan. 11), and will visit SCAR (Jan. 18) and U-M (Jan. 25)
-- Slot WR Terrance Robinson (5-9, 175) from Klein Oak (Houston), Tex. Visiting BC Jan. 18 and also considering Wake.

Others possibly visiting in January:
-- Keanon Cooper. Visited Minn, visiting Wis. Will U-M still be set up?
-- A.J. Price. Will also visit PSU in Jan., visited Vir. in Dec. ... **still hasn't heard from new-U-M, visit getting doubtful?
-- see the "new recruits"

File Gate:

Here's a great post from Scout. Read it.

Three questions I have:

1)Wouldn't anything important regarding student athletes records be kept in something called a "registrar's office" or a "student records office"?
2)Were said files (that no one has proven are missing in the first place) part of any investigation?
3)If they were RR's files, then he can do whatever he wants with them, right?

From Scout:

First of all, let me say I hate it when "gate" is attached to scandals. Doesn't make sense. But I just did it, so I guess I hate myself now. Damn.

Anyway, some of this story simply doesn't make sense. Here are my problems with this story.

Motive:
Simply put, I can't figure out what RR would have to gain by shredding/destroying files on current and former players. Usually in crimes of this nature, the way to find "who dunnit" is to find the person with the most to gain. The WVU unnamed sources say all the files of class attendance, community service, scholarship money, weight room performance, etc. are all missing. What exactly does RR have to gain by destroying this information? How would it benefit him?

If the allegation was that RR took files on recruits or possible transfers then I could see where he would have an incentive to take the files. But that's not the allegation. If someone can explain to me what RR would gain by destroying photos of former players doing charity work (one of the allegations) then I'm all ears.

Frankly, there's a strong dis-incentive for RR to do anything illegal or even questionable. He's in a lawsuit over his buyout which he knew was an issue on the date of the alleged events. No person in his right mind would want to compromise his position in a lawsuit of that nature by acting inappropriately, especially when part of his argument in the buyout lawsuit was that WVU didn't keep its word to him.

Unnamed sources:
I am always skeptical when I read accusations from "unnamed sources", particularly when there is prior animosity between the accuser and the accused. In my position as a prosecutor, we don't deal in accusations by "unnamed sources" for very good reasons. The main reason being they are completely unreliable. You don't know the information the "unnamed source" is relying on; you don't know what motives the "unnamed source" has in making his/her accusation; you can't test the credibility of the "unnamed source".

This also leads to the question of why an "unnamed source" would be the person giving this information to the press. If these allegations were true (or at least had some basis in truth) then why wouldn't WVU tell the press? Why wouldn't a member of the Athletic Department, which RR had major conflicts with, not come forward to report this openly?

I can not think of a reason that such allegations, if true, would not be reported by WVU. Because if it's true, then WVU is in the right and should make all of RR's transgressions public knowledge. They would have nothing to lose by doing so.

I can, however, think of reasons why WVU would let "unnamed sources" report this rather than disclosing it publicly through the university. The first reason would be that there is no evidence that RR actually did anything. The second reason would be as an intimidation tactic to RR in the pending lawsuit. If RR agreed to pay the $4 million that WVU is demanding then you can bet these "unnamed sources" would go away or suddenly be discredited.

Facts:
Ah, yes. The facts. The bane of liars throughout time. Here's the facts that I see in this story. RR returned to WVU the day after being introduced as UM's next coach. He then went to his office and began systematically shredding documents that he's been compiling for the last six or seven years on all players that have come through the program. Remember, according to the unnamed sources, all the files are gone. Even the strength and conditioning files. And he was viewed doing this by members of the WVU athletic department (or school employees of some sort; who knows since they're unnamed sources). And while this was happening, nobody suspected a thing a just let him go about his merry shredding business.

First of all, who here believes that no WVU employee would have found it strange or suspicious that he was shredding all those files? Please keep in mind that the sheer volume of files involved would mean this required a great deal of time to shred/destroy. We're talking about the files of all players from the time RR was hired at WVU and those files supposedly included all discipline, awards, scholarships, community service and S&C records for each player and apparently included things such as photos of accomplishments. It wouldn't be a stretch to think these files also contained players' medical histories. And RR was supposedly allowed to shred this huge number of documents without anyone ever saying, "hey, whatcha doin' coach?"

Second, at the time this alleged destruction of files took place, RR had not yet finalized his staff. He was still pursuing Stewart and Barwis and others. Only Magee and Gibson were locks to come. So what we're supposed to believe is RR destroyed the files created by all these men over the course of several years without their knowledge and then said, "Hey, wanna come to Ann Arbor with me?" and most of them agreed to let it slide and follow him. We're supposed to believe that RR would jeopardize the hiring of his assistants (including Barwis) and thereby jeopardize his chances of success just so he could destroy the files of people who were no longer in the program. To believe the scenario of RR secretly destroying files, you also have to believe that Barwis and other assistants didn't care that all their work was destroyed and even decided they still wanted to go with RR to coach at UM. So basically, all of his assistants would have to be complicit in the destruction and just say, "No big deal, RR. Let's go to UM!" (and keep in mind that destroying all those S&C files would be a huge blow to a program which needs to keep detailed records to see the effects of different techniques over time, which Barwis probably might be a little upset by).

Additionally, to believe that RR destroyed all these files is to believe he stabbed the men on his staff in the back but they have not come forward to say anything about it. This would be a huge betrayal by RR to men like Stewart who followed RR for so long. A slap in the face of epic proportions. Yet the coaches who stayed behind have not said word one about these missing files.

It also seems curious that the files apparently weren't missed until the last couple of days. They weren't missed during all of the bowl preparation time. The coaches didn't need to check the academic records of players' files to make sure they were eligible to play. They didn't need to check the S&C records or medical records of any players to make sure they were fit to play after injury. They didn't care about tracking S&C during this period (maybe their players didn't work out before the bowl game). None of the players received any kind of academic awards or conference awards to put in their files. The files were completely forgotten and unnecessary until the last couple of days when suddenly everyone noticed they were missing. Sure.


I know this is more than anyone wanted to hear (or read) from me, but I just had to do it. Sorry, this stuff just doesn't make sense. Of course, that doesn't mean it never happened. Anything's possible. But this is way off the charts in terms of credibility and believability in my book.

It is official: Terence Taylor is....STAYING.

Another Pryor article, and SURPRISE! Another school enters the mix.
I think it may be time to move on.

The nation's No. 1 player, Jeannette, Pa., quarterback Terrelle Pryor, has had quite a busy week since the U.S. Army All American Bowl. He's added a recruiting mentor, he's shuffled a few of his official visit dates and he's now interested in a new team. Here's the latest on Pryor.

"I'm taking my official visit to Michigan on Jan. 18, that's this upcoming weekend," he said. "I was supposed to go to Penn State but that's changed. I'm not really sure where I'm going on Jan. 25 and if I'll even take a visit in February. Right now it's Michigan as the only one scheduled."
Pryor has been allowing his new mentor, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Charlie Batch, to help with the process now that it is getting more hectic.

"I've had to get a second cell phone because things have been so crazy," said Pryor. "It's really getting busy now."

Pryor has already visited Ohio State and is considering Florida, Oregon and now LSU for an official visit on Jan. 25 -- and that could be his last visit.

"LSU is new," he said. "Charlie spoke to them and then I spoke to coach Gary Crowton and I liked a lot of what he was saying. I wouldn't say they're as high up as the others because I am just learning about them, but I like what they're talking about in changing the offense for me."

Crowton was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Oregon while Dennis Dixon was emerging, so he has utilized the spread offense. Pryor also likes what he's hearing from Oregon.

"They've been saying some good things as well," he said. "Oregon has had me interested for a little while now. Florida is in there as well, and they obviously run a quarterback-friendly offense."

As for Penn State, the school Pryor has been to the most, he's still not sure where the Nittany Lions stand.

Excellent news about Taylor. Shafer is used to working with strong lines, and I think a returning group with Taylor and Jamison will help. Graham is a beast, but that report that he might be shedding weight to return to LB has me wondering exactly where he'll play - though I expect him to be a beast regardless.
Outside of that I think Will Johnson might have another year (not sure) and Slocum is there as well inside. If Graham moves to LB, will it be Adam Patterson starting at the other end?
We figure to have a decent line either way with Taylor as the anchor. If Mike Martin sticks around he could potentially see some time early.

Anyone know if Slocum would possibly move to OL?


As far as Pryor, I still don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing that he's coming early. The whole 5 days before signing day visit had me excited, but the whole only visit scheduled thing isn't bad either.
I hope the right people are communicating and they can pack Chrisler for this game to greet him.

Any chance he doesn't take a visit on the 1st because it's Super Bowl weekend?
I would bet on Florida getting the visit next week, just because who wouldn't want to go to Florida the last week in Jan? But I'm not sure why he would go there knowing he would never be the starter this year. He could certainly see time, but not sure how much. He knows he can be a 3-year starter here.

Slocum stays on D. He will be a beast.

Graham is losing weight to play DE. He played a lot of DT this season. Losing 20 pounds make him a DE not a LB in the 4-3.

Pryor is not going to LSU. It is between UM and OSU.

Unless LSU throws more money at him than OSU.

Rumors out there LSU could be looking at sanctions. Think no further than Jai Eugene. Someone's daddy got out of jail early and got a 20 dollar an hour job and the family got a new house after the son signed with the Tigers. This is straight poop....the Jai Eugene thing is straight poop. Sanctions from the NCAA are not what they used to be.

Nowadays if Webber and the Fab5 came, getting money would have been the norm and nothing would have happened.

Jai Eugene just reminds me not to be thrilled about a guy coming just because he says it on national TV during the Army game.
Hopefully that's not the case with Brandon Smith!

Seriously though, There's a reason why (I think Art, maybe Filly) had the sig anything can happen until the LOI is signed.

it was Art with that sig.

In hoops, specifically with Alex Legion, even a signed LOI is somewhat meaningless.

In hoops, specifically with Alex Legion, even a signed LOI is somewhat meaningless.

Let's not get the thread off track. You know how I hate that. It's UM Football, not basketball, which I hate and therefore ban from this thread. Look, in the time it took me to type this post, some basketball ref on the take just called four fouls somewhere.

Nice little write up by the Associated Press. Looks like another ESPN schlock fest, probably something the Detroit Free Press will blow out of proportion as well:

Some of you might want to back off the ledge:


WVU investigating missing football documents

By Vicki Smith
ASSOCIATED PRESS
6:01 p.m. January 15, 2008
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia is investigating the disappearance of records associated with the school's football program, a topic the agent for former coach Rich Rodriguez says will be addressed in court documents when the time is right.
Citing anonymous sources, The Charleston Gazette reported Tuesday that files kept in Rodriguez's private office disappeared between Dec. 16 and Jan. 3, along with strength and conditioning records from the weight room.

Assistant athletic director Mike Fragale told The Associated Press some files are missing but that he does not know what was in them. The athletic department won't have any further comment until its investigation is finished, he said.

The newspaper report claimed the missing documents included players' personal contact information, scholarship payments and class attendance records, as well as strength and conditioning records and photographs that tracked players' physical progress.

WVU is suing Rodriguez, who accepted the head coaching job at Michigan last month, to collect on a $4 million buyout clause in his contract. A response is due in about a week, and agent Mike Brown told The Associated Press late Tuesday that's when his client will respond to most of the accusations in the newspaper report.

The report has “a lot of misinformation and untruthful statements,” Brown said.

Brown denied Rodriguez kept a personal file on each player and that a strength coordinator took photos of them. Every time players were tested, he added, “those records were given to the head coach and every assistant coach.”

That means current head coach Bill Stewart should have copies.

“Regarding the class attendance records, I sure hope that West Virginia's compliance and academic office keeps those records because if they don't, they have serious institutional control problems,” he said. These sentiments have been echoed by WTF Detroit's own Zip Goshboots.

Brown said the university also should have any records involving the finances of the summer camps it ran.
He declined to answer questions about whether Rodriguez removed or destroyed documents.

“There's a process that's now in place that has to be followed” because of the litigation, Brown said. “There is an appropriate time we can make comments and statements in regard to the allegations in the lawsuit and the allegations and statements that have been made by individuals in West Virginia.”

Those individuals, he noted, include both Gov. Joe Manchin and WVU president Mike Garrison.

After Rodriguez resigned, Manchin blamed “high-priced agents” for the departure of a West Virginia native who had said his lifelong goal was to coach at his alma mater.

Since his departure, relatives of Rodriguez say they've been harassed and threatened. His mother, Arleen, said the coach's home was also vandalized, and dozens of groups devoted to her son's downfall have appeared on the Facebook social networking site.

Feeding fan fury is that after seven seasons in Morgantown, Rodriguez raided the Mountaineers' program, taking assistant coaches and perhaps recruits with him, as well as the six-member strength and conditioning staff.

Several wealthy football boosters claim there was behind-the-scenes tension between Rodriguez and the WVU administration, but the coach has yet to publicly discuss the matter.

Is there any wonder as to why Rich Rod got the fuck out of that hellhole?

signonsandiego.printthis.click...p;partnerID=628

If RR intends to keep the class Lloyd left him with, he has some work to do. First and foremost is Witherspoon:

JB and Witherspoon both talked to Sam:

JB Fitzgerald
JB told Sam (more to come) he had his in-home last night, with R-Rod/Hopson. The visit went great visit, they coachesmade a great impression ... JB felt they were real outgoing .. he feels a lot better, he sees how he'll fit ... they didn't get deep into PT, it was just a feeling-out, and he got a great feeling...

JB'd talked previously about visiting Rutgers on Jan. 25 ... "anything else" is not definite, not. Sam talked to him ... more to come ... but things look pretty good there.

++++++++++++++++

Witherspoon
He told Sam (more to come)he is now completely up in the air, 50-50, U-M and Tennessee ... He had a great Tenn visit, he doesn't know what to do, there are no negatives to either school ... the Tenn visit was eye-opener. His dad wants him to stick with U-M, but once he visited and met the Tenn. coaches ... doesn't know what determining factor will be ... it'll be a Signing Day thing ... Coach Rod did come to see his yesterday. Hopson- and other asst coming back next week ... *TJB: You'd have to consider Witherspoon no longer a comit IMO*. END

I think UM can get the kid, but right now, especially with the whiny bitch that is West Virginia out there, there is ALOT of negative recruiting going on. Also, with Martin going to Notre Dame, and Charlie getting more desperate by the minute, Martin will get an earful of shit from the Irish. Martin is a kid UM kind of needs to keep, IMO. Gotta work on him.

I went down to the West Virginia boards and gave those hicks some shit, and now I'm banned. I'd encourage ALL members of this great forum to go to their free board on Scout and urge them to get over their hissy fit and move on. Sometimes this shit can backfire. Pretty soon the whole country is going to start telling them to shut the fuck up. They need to.

It seems that the football team was Barwissed on Monday, and here's a little note on how it went (from Scout). BTW: Alex Mitchell is gone, Jeremy Ciulla is gone. UM is going to be REAL thin along the OLine. Not too sure why RR doesn;t seem to be going after more OL prospects...



First, I hear Mitchell may not be the only subtraction. The names I heard arent ones that I would get upset over, but depth could become an issue.

Monday the players had their first Barwis (lite) workout. It was about 1/3 of a normal Monday workout, and by the sounds of it, it was harder than anything theyve done so far at Michigan. ALOT of work on hammy's, something that was rare, if ever under Git. They did cleans and squats as well as some manual resistance type things.

A couple players were late, and from the sounds of their punishment, they will be the last ones to be late.

Barwis,while tough and kind of nuts, will earn these guys respect though, because they like his attitude and personal work ethic. He will make sure he himself is accountable. He mentioned how hes hardly ate or slept in this past week becaus hes been so busy trying to get this stuff done.


*edit* the workout, about 2:15. Compared to the :45- 1:00 previously.
end


Now, WHO in the fuck would have the nads to be late to your FIRST workout with a new coach??? Is there ANY wonder why UM has been pushed around for the last decade?

Hey guys, there looks to be a lot of new articles up on Scout that have shown up today..............what is going on with all that? Looks like some kids from Texas are feeling us or getting a look at least.

Not much going on, really, but here's today's blog on Texas:

Fred Jackson visited Terrance Robinson and McGuff yesterday.

1. Terrance Robinson

Oregon's Bellotti was just in to see him ... Oregon, BC, Wake have all been on the kid from 'day one' so U-M playing catch-up ...Jan 25 visit tho, so U-M has its shot.

The kid IS a 'dot", 5-7-ish ... but is a blur, his film is amazing. As I told you, he was strongly recommended to old-U-M back in the spring, but old--M would not look at such a short WR, period ... now he's the proto-typ slot-dot for the new-U-M spread.

For a good interview with "the New T-Rob" last night: michigan.scout.com/a.z?s=162&p=2&c=720441

2. McGuff.
Pleeeeease ... those who see 'waffling-utter-nonsenss' being peddled, please help set the record straight ... this is-and-has-been upsetting to Sam as it is-and-has-been been a complete-and-utter lie ... he's the most solid of Wolverines ... and he's NEVER waffled - never-ever. Got it?! The 'negative-hits' he's taken elsewhere are unconsciounable IMO ... and, we're told again, by someone who should know ... expect him on the field - big-time - next Sept. ...

Great reading, as usual. Great video. Check toda's edition of MgoBlog out:

http://www.mgoblog.com/

If you're worried about JB Fitzgerald, you can just about stop. Now, let's see RR go out there and Lay the Barwis on Mike Martin (before Charlie Weiss turns him into a sandwich), Witherspoon, and Wilson:

From Scout:

Rich Rodriguez made his way to the Garden State yesterday and dropped in on all three commitments It marked J.B. Fitzgerald’s first face to face meeting with his prospective coach, and youngster indicated things couldn’t have gone much better.


“He’s awesome,” Fitzgerald said regarding Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez. “He is a pretty funny guy. He was telling us some stories and he had us laughing the whole time. He is a very personable down to earth guy. Everybody was just really excited. I thought it went great. It was a lot of fun. My whole immediate family and grandma were there and we got to sit down with Coach Rod and Coach Frye. They were great. It was a real relaxed environment and it was just getting to know everybody. It was a great trip…absolutely great. He really smoothed things over pretty much.”

One of the questions Fitzgerald has about the new defensive system is how he fits into it. That, however, wasn’t one of the primary topics of discussion last night.

“The conversation didn’t flow to too much that was football specific,” he recalled. “I actually have Coach Frye coming back with Coach Hopson, the new linebackers coach, next week. I envision that that is when things will get more football specific. He did say a little bit. He was saying that I fit in great… just like I did before. He said that before that he even looked at any of the film on the commits, he was already going to re-offer everybody no matter what. Once he did see the film he got all excited. Coach Frye was telling me that they wanted to offer me before (at West Virginia… earlier in the process, but they didn’t think they’d be able to get me because I committed early and I was all of the way up in New Jersey which is not one of their strong states. “

‘This was just time for my parents and I to really get to know Coach Rod face to face because we really hadn’t gotten the chance to do that,” Fitzgerald added.

The outstanding showing by the Maize & Blue definitely strengthened their position, but Fitzgerald still a few steps away from being certain about his future plans.

“I am still in love Michigan,” he said. “I am very happy with the way things are going right now. I consider myself a very solid commitment. I am going to do everything I can before signing day to make sure I’m 100% on that fact. I don’t want to leave any stone unturned.”

Check this out from ESPN. Do you get the feeling that WVU is getting more petty by the minute?

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- West Virginia University's lawsuit against Rich Rodriguez was transferred to federal court on Wednesday because the former Mountaineers coach had moved to Michigan when it was filed.

"We're perfectly comfortable and happy to litigate this case in any court," said Thomas Flaherty, a Charleston attorney representing WVU. "This is not unanticipated."




Rodriguez

The move gives Rodriguez, hired by Michigan on Dec. 16, until next Wednesday to file a response. The suit was filed in a local court on Dec. 27 to collect on a $4 million buyout clause in his contract.

Meanwhile, the university is continuing its investigation into missing records associated with the program under Rodriguez.

"What's got to be determined is what exactly is missing," WVU spokesman Mike Fragale told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "There's a lot of things I just don't know."

Citing anonymous sources, The Charleston Gazette reported Tuesday that files kept in Rodriguez's private office disappeared between Dec. 16 and Jan. 3, along with strength and conditioning records from the weight room.

The newspaper report claimed the missing documents included players' personal contact information, scholarship payments and class attendance records, as well as strength and conditioning records and photographs that tracked players' physical progress.

The files were discovered missing from the Puskar Center in Morgantown, where Rodriguez had a private office, after WVU coaches returned from the Jan. 2 Fiesta Bowl.

University spokeswoman Amy Neil said the WVU Office of Admissions and Records maintains grade and attendance records in a separate location, so no student-athlete's academic career is at risk.

"We're not sure what records are missing, but all student records, including those of the football team, are kept within the Office of Admissions and Records," she said. "Those records are secure."
Neil said she believes it would not be unusual for the head coach to have copies of his own records to ensure players are maintaining their required grade-point averages or meeting scholarship requirements.

Mike Brown, Rodriguez's agent, backed up Neil's statement.

"[Rodriguez] did not keep records for every player and academic records for the players are certainly on file at the school," he said

Brown said Tuesday night that many of the claims made by a West Virginia athletic department source in the article are false.

Brown has said Moutaineers head coach Bill Stewart, as a former assistant, should have copies of each players' strength and conditioning tests because multiple copies were made. He also said the university should have any records involving the finances of the summer camps it ran.

"The head coach and each assistant coach received hard copies of the strength progress," Brown said. "So I would think coach Stewart and others would have those, too."

[B]Brown said any files that are missing would be personal to Rodriguez.

"It is common knowledge that when a coach leaves a program certain items of a personal nature would always be discarded," he said.

Brown, however, declined to say whether Rodriguez removed or destroyed any documents, saying that question would be addressed in court documents.

Flaherty said it would be premature to comment on whether the missing documents had any possible bearing on WVU's lawsuit against Rodriguez.

Rodriguez's attorney, Sean McGinley, didn't immediately return a telephone message.

ESPN college football reporter Joe Schad and The Associated Press contributed to this report

One last quick hitter from Scout on the next move by RR:

Tonight: R-Rod and Dews (new Det. recruiter it looks like, just like he was at WVA) doing their Mike Martin full-press ... wresting match, then in-home. Then he visits this weekend of course. Anyone think this won't re-solidify him?

2. Then tomorrow ... the RR/TD duo goes in for more head coach in-schools/in-homes: Boubacar and Nick Perry. Boubacar makes sense since he's visiting this weekend. Perry makes sense because he's heading out to USC this weekend and was just at MSU again (Tues. nite for hoops game).

3. BTW, in Sam's interview with J.B., there is no mention of other visits coming up ... because that is how JB wants it.

Fred Jackson - heading back to the ACC ... for some Virginny junior Army-Combine stars .. more in the morning.

Great stuff, Tahoe.

Great stuff, Tahoe.

I'm not so sure Tahoe couldn't kick Barwis' ass. I know if they had a Post Off, Barwis would be reduced to a Sparty.

Here is the Mother Lode of recruiting info from tonight's Scout Blog. Get a pack of Oreo's, and a big glass of milk. Tell your (whatever thing you are attached to and the offspring that resulted from this disaster) to not bug you for the next hour or so. You've got important shit to do.
Overview

Michigan may now be looking for approx. 18-20 recruits in the '07-08 class, as follows:

-- 1 QB ... now a run/pass guy ... hopefully Terrelle Pryor.

-- 2 TB's: Got 'em: Sam McGuffie, Mike Cox (will he stick?)

-- 1 'H-back's: Got 'em: Christian Wilson (will he stick?)

-- 2 WRs: Got 1 so far, Daryl Stonum. U-M hopes to snag combo-WR D.J. Woods now, as well as slot-WRs Terrance Robinson and Michael Shaw.

-- 2 TE's: Got 'em, Brandon Moore, Kevin Koger.

-- 3 OC/OG's: Got 'em: Elliott Mealer, Kurt Wermers, Rocko Khoury.

-- 1 or 2 OT's: Got 1 so far, Dann O'Neill.

-- 1-2 DT's. Got 1 so far, Mike Martin (will he stick?).

-- 2 DE/OLB's. none so far ... U-M hopes to snag Nick Perry (still excellent shot).

-- 3 LB's. Got em: Marcus Witherspoon (will he stick?), J.B. Fitzgerald, Ken Demens and Taylor Hill.

-- 2 CB's. Got 1 so far, Boubacar Cissoko ... U-M hopes to snag J.T. Floyd and MS CB Charles Mitchell.

-- 2 Safeties. Brandon Smith in the fold ... hoping for Jaron Brown ... J.T. Floyd and Fla. S/WR T.J. Lawrence could play safety as well.

-- long-snapper. U-M has a verbal commitment from George Morales (6-0, 265) from Las Vegas Mojave.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Position by Position:

Quarterbacks

Michigan, it was presumed, would like a QB in this class -- a run-pass guy.

*NEW* Pa. QB/Ath. Terrelle Pryor (6-6, 220, 4.4) from Jeannette. He has moved up his U-M visit - to Jan. 18th. Its OSU and U-M or U-M and OSU (Nov. 2 visit) ... or will LSU (Jan. 25) or Ore. (Feb. 1) sneak in there (nah)? Tressel in-homeWed.,Jan. 16 ... all U-M offensive assts. were in his school Monday, Jan. 14. He plans to make a Signing Day decision. The Army All-American is The Associated Press Pennsylvania Class AA football player of the year. Pryor amassed 3,691 yards in total offense -- remarkably, split almost equally between running (1,901 yards) and passing (1,790 yards) -- in leading his team to a PIAA championship and a 16-0 season. He is Scout.com's #2 prospect.

-- Run-pass QB Star Jackson (6-1, 195, 4.5) from Lake Worth, Fla (ALA commit, former WVA recruit). U-M visited him in mid-January, trying to get a visit.
Possible new QB recruits:
-- Run-pass QB D.J. Daniels (6-1, 195, 4.5) from Tallahassee Lincoln.

-- Run-pass QB Justin Feagin (6-0, 195, 4.6) from Delray Beach Fla., American Heritage. Reportedly getting visited by new-U-M QB Coach Rod Smith.
Running Backs

One speed back and one big back would be perfect ... and U-M has landed both, plus an H-back to boot ... will they hang onto them though?

*NEW* Commitment no. 12: Tex. RB Sam McGuffie (5-10.5, 195, 4.3) from Houston Cy-Fair. Jan. 15 in-home by Fred Jackson once again reenforced his commit. Sept. 22 official visit. With Fred Jackson being rehired, Sam is still firmly committed to U-M. He committed to U-M on July 29th. He made a Thu., June 28-Mon., July 2 visit. "White Lightning," as he is called, has a U-M offer (he talked to Coach Carr on Signing Day), and U-M offered him the ability to wear #2, his favorite number (as well as Charles Woodson's). His dad is from "the Thumb" and is a U-M fan (as is the younger brother) and the dad's side of the family is still in the area. Qualified with a 3.0 GPA/22 ACT. In an injury-plagued senior season the Army All-American rushed for 1,711 yards and 24 touchdowns despite missing four games due to a lingering ankle injury that he suffered in the first game. He is Scout.com's #50 prospect.

Commitment no. 13: Conn. RB Mike Cox (6-0, 205, 4.47) from Avon Old Farms. Still committed for now, but looking at Maryland. Sept. 8 official visit. He received a U-M in late July, visited for the end-of-july Junior Day, and picked U-M on July 31 over BC, Duke and Maryland. Cox missed nearly his whole senior season due to a broken ankle suffered in his 2nd game. He is Scout.com's #205 prospect.

*NEW* Commitment no. 14: Pa. H-Back/LB Christian Wilson (6-2, 220, 4.55) from McKees Rock (Pittsburgh area) Pa. All U-M offensive assts. were in his home Mon. Jan 14 - did this firm him up? Or not? He's been talking to Coach Rod and is feeling better about things re the new-U-M, but he is taking official visits - to UNC on Jan. 11, and to BC,, and possibly Jan. 18, Virgiana, MSU and Rutgers. He committed on Aug. 20, in the end picking U-M over Rutgers. He visited during the U-M camp for 2 days. He attended the U-M Spring Game, and also attended the 1st U-M spring practice. He was offered by U-M on Signing Day. He looked good at the Army Junior Combine as a RB, and is best suited at H-Back. The ESPN-AA-Game selection had a great senior season, rushing for 2,212 yards and 33 touchdowns, and caught 15 passes for 403 yards and two scores. Defensively he racked up 103 tackles, ten sacks, and an interception. He is Scout.com's #286 prospect.

Wide Receivers

Michigan, it seems, wants 3-4, incl. 2-3 slot-WRs ... one big-wideout is in the fold now.

Michigan commitment no. 10. Tex. WR Daryl Stonum (6-2.5, 200, 4.4) from Fort Bend Dulles (teammate of Troy Woolfolk and Brandon Herron). He is safely enrolled at U-M.
Sept. 15 official visit. He visited U-M June 8-10, and announced his decision on TV on Sun., July 1 -- for Michigan over USC and Florida. A Top 100 Junior who is running the 200m and 400m in the Junior Olympics in the Czech Republic. As a senior he made 39 catches for 591 yards (15.2 yards per carry) and 3 TD's. He is Scout.com's #52 prospect.

*NEW* -- Ohio WR D.J. Woods
(6-0, 180, 4.4) from Stronsville. Formerly a WVA commit, the combo outside-slot WR is perhaps-expected to change his commit to U-M when he visits on Jan. 18. Jan. 11 Cinci visit. He made official visits to Iowa and Auburn in November before committing to WVA on his Dec. 8 visit there. Woods has run a 4.35 sec. 40 and a 3.94 sec. shuttle, both amazing stats. He has a 19 ACT score. In a season cut short by midseason surgery to remove a blood clot affecting a nerve in his back, Woods made 35 receptions for 840 yards (24 yards per catch).

*NEW* -- Texas Slot-WR Terrance Robinson (5-9, 175) from Spring (N. Houston suburbs) Klein Oak. The 4-star prospect is visiting U-M Jan. 25th, BC Jan. 18, and already visited Wake Forest -- those are his finalists, altho Bellotti of Oregon made an in-home and is trying for a visit as well.

*NEW* Ohio Slot-WR Michael Shaw (6-0, 190) from Trottwood Madison. U-M TE commit Brandon Moore's teammate was a PSU commitment, but decommitted, is visiting U-M Jan. 18 with Moore ...and things look promising.

Tight Ends

Two in the fold - TE seems set.

*NEW* Michigan Commitment no. 5: Ohio TE Brandon Moore (6-6, 220, 4.6) from Trotwood-Madison. Jan. 18 U-M visit, with teammate Michael Shaw. He is still committed, but has been considering visiting LSU, Florida, and possibly Tennessee. There were early-Oct. whispers that OSU was trying to get back in it for him, but a Purdue game visit re-solidified his commitment. He committed to U-M on May 18th. He attended the Apr. 3 U-M spring practice, and was at the fall '06 Vandy game as well. U-M offered him on Signing Day. He picked U-M over Georgia (first to offer), Miami, LSU and Clemson. Moore is an ESPN-AA-Game selectee.

*NEW* Michigan commitment no. 11. Ohio TE/DE Kevin Koger (6-4+, 235) from Toledo Whitmer. His commitment is solid ... his dad is a big U-M fan. Altho ... he visited MSU the Jan. 11 weekend ...
He attended the U-M Camp on Wed., then went to the OSU camp for a day as well, the visited bot one more time -- and picked U-M on July 18th. He attended a U-M spring practice on March 27, and Apr. 12. He grew up a U-M fan (his dad is also a fan) and is close friend is U-M commit Elliott Mealer. He is Scout.com's #98 prospect.

Offensive Linemen

With four in the fold now, 3 OG's and 1 OT, U-M is likely done here.

*NEW* Michigan commitment no. 2: Mich. OG/OT Dann O'Neill (6-6, 285) from Grand Haven.
--- **Interim info: Recruiting coach: Stripling (area), Moeller (position). He has now talked to R2-A2. His commitment is absolutely firm. He was impressive at the ESPN/UnderArmour All Star game, and he was also impressive at the 2007 U-M Camp ... a classic RT prospect. He received a Signing Day U-M offer and, according to his dad at the time, "has a little Blue in him." He couldn't attend the U-M Junior day because of wrestling, but attended the first U-M spring practice on March 17 -- and committed. He is an ESPN-AA-game selectee. He is underrated as Scout.com's #162 prospect.

Michigan commitment no. 3: Ohio OL Elliott Mealer (6-4, 280) from Wauseon. Recovering from a tragic car accident. He is good friends with Kevin Koger. 2007 U-M Camper, where he showed excellent quickness. He committed on April 23. He had offers from Cincinnati, Michigan State, Michigan, Indiana and Purdue. He had a 'grayshirt' OSU offer. He attended the Thurs, Apr. 12 U-M spring practice. He is Scout.com's #283 prospect.br>
Michigan Commitment no. 4: Ind. OL Kurt Wermers (6-5, 275) from Crown Point. His commitment is firm - period. He committed to U-M on May 17th. He attended the U-M Jr. Day in Feb., and the Iowa game in fall '06. He had offers from U-M, Northwestern, Indiana, UCLA, Iowa and others. He helped Crown Point to a 12-1 season in Class 5A (largest class) football in 2006. He is Scout.com's #300 prospect.

Michigan Commitment no. 8: Instate OG/OC Rocco Khoury (6-4, 280) from Traverse City West. His commitment is firm. He attended the 2007 U-M Camp, was one of two O-linemen offered, and committed to U-M over MSU. A future OC(?) with a 30-inch vertical jump. He was also a U-M Junior Day attendee.

Defensive Linemen

*NEW* Michigan Commitment no. 7: Instate DT Mike Martin (6-1, 290) from Detroit (Novi) Catholic Central. Jan. 18 official visit, followed by ND Jan. 25. Wed., Jan. 16 R-Rod in-home. He visited U-M for a bowl practice the first week of December. He is visiting Notre Dame (Jan. 25), but is still considered a sorta-commit. He came to U-M on June 5th for an unofficial visit and committed. State shot put champ with a toss of 61 feet. He had an excellent PSU Nike Camp. He was the state heavyweight wresting champ this past winter. He is Scout.com's #225 prospect.

Mich. DE/OLB Nicholas Perry (6-4, 255) from Detroit King. Thu., Jan. 17 R-Rod in-home. U-M still hopes to land Perry, and still has a strong shot. Jan. 18 official visit. Also visiting USC (Jan. 11), MSU (Dec. 8), Miami (Jan. 25). He led King to a perfect 14-0 record and the Div. II state championship. Perry finished his season with 147 tackles and a staggering 36 sacks, which is a state record. He attended the PSU and ND games this fall. USC (Dec. 1 official visit) has entered the picture, as well as MSU (Dec. 7), Miami and West Virginia. He attended the U-M Spring Game. He attended a Jan. U-M basketball game, and the U-M Junior Day. He put on a good performance at the Army Junior Combine. He reports a 3.0 core GPA and a 16 ACT. Perry plans to take the SAT on Jan. 26. The Army All-American is Scout.com's #61 prospect.

Linebackers

*NEW* Commitment no. 6(???): N.J. LB Marcus Witherspoon (6-2, 210) from Abescon Holy Spirit. Tues, Jan. 15 R-Rod in-home. A Jan. 11 visit to Tennessee has made him 50-50, U-M/Tenn. with a Signing-Day decision ... his dad still wants U-M. Sept. 22 official visit for the PSU game. He visited U-M June 1-2 -- and committed. He attended the April 7 U-M spring practice. He received a U-M Signing Day offer. He is considered one of the top 2 LB prospects in Jersey (with fellow U-M recruit J.B. Fitzgerald), and was named 1st Team All State as a junior depite playing with a separated shoulder which limited him to 90 tackles. He was injured his sophomore season as well. As a senior he recorded 102 solo tackles, 27 sacks and one interception. He is Scout.com's #228 prospect.

*NEW* Commitment no. 15: N.J. LB J.B. Fitzgerald (6-3, 215) from Princeton Junction. Tues, Jan. 15 R-Rod in-home went very well. He is still considered a U-M commit - but he visited MSU Jan. 11, is visiting Rutgers Jan. 25, and may (altho more likely not?) visit OSU Jan. 18. He made his official U-M visit for the Sept. 22 PSU game. He visited U-M for the 3rd time June 2-3, this time with his parents. He also visited Florida in June, and Rutgers ... those 2 were U-M's main competition. He attended the April 5 U-M practice. He got a U-M Signing Day offer, and attended the U-M Junior Day. He is Scout.com's #115 prospect. As a senior he recorded 125 tackles, three sacks, six forced fumbles and two interceptions.

Michigan commitment no. 16: Instate LB Kenny Demens (6-1, 215) from Detroit Country Day. Wed., Jan. 16 R-Rod in-home. His commitment is solid. His uncles are U-M grads, which helps. He visited U-M for a bowl practice the first week of December. He says, "I’m going to stay with Michigan no matter what. No matter who the head coach is, it’s still Michigan at the end of the day.”**
He announced his decision to be a Wolverine on Sept. 29. He made U-M unofficial visits for Sept. 8 Oregon and Sept. 15 ND games. Demens also looked at Nebraska and MSU. He was a U-M camper for a day, and if he'd come back for a second day he'd have worked out at FB as well. As a senior he made 151 tackles.

*NEW* -- Michigan commitment #18: -- Ohio LB Taylor Hill (6-2, 205) from Youngstown Cardinal Mooney, Ohio ... former WVA commit, he decommitted to U-M Jan. 14th, after visiting MSU Jan. 11th. Jan. 25 U-M official visit, He'd also been committed to Oklahoma earlier on.

*NEW* -- Fla. LB Laurentee McCray (6-2, 200, 4.5) from Dunnellon, Fla. He's visiting FSU the Jan. 11 weekend and Fla. next, and has already visited Tennessee ... he reportedly has a U-M offer now. Fla/FSU the big leaders.

Cornerbacks

*NEW* Michigan Commitment no. 1: Mich. CB Boubacar Cissoko (5-9, 180) from Detroit Cass Tech. Thu., Jan. 17 R-Rod in-home. He is still committed, and is visiting U-M Jan. 18. 2008 Army All-American - captain of East Team. The MVP of the '07 Army Junior Combine has the fastest feet we've ever seen, and is tough as well. He committed to U-M Feb. 5, 2007. As a senior he made 67 tackles, 10 tackles-for-loss and 2 interceptions. He is Scout.com's #28 prospect.

S.C. DB (cornerback or safety) J.T. Floyd (6-0, 185) from Greenville J.L. Mann. U-M is STILL in a decent position for him: he's visiting U-M Jan. 18 and Tennessee Jan. 25th. He's a Tennessee soft-commitment, but visited U-M this summer. For his senior year he made 65 tackles and one interception; on offense as a WR he had 50 receptions for 875 yards and 9 TD's. 3.7 GPA/980 SAT.

Possible new CB recruits:
-- Miss. CB Charles Mitchell (5-11., 185, 4.5) from Clarksdale, MS. *but is he interested, will he visit?* He's visited Neb., is visiting MSST (Jan. 18), and SMISS or U-M on Jan. 25.

Safeties

Commitment #17: N.J. DB/Ath. Brandon Smith (6-3, 185) from New Brunswick. Picked U-M at the Army All-American game over BC, South Carolina. Subsecuently hurt his knee playing hoops, but it's not serious as first feared. Sept. 22 official visit for the PSU game. He got offered on Feb. 22nd, 2007, and U-M was his childhood fav. He is Scout.com's #70 prospect.

S.C. DB (cornerback or safety) J.T. Floyd (6-0, 185) from Greenville J.L. Mann. U-M is STILL in a decent position for him: he's visiting U-M Jan. 18 and Tennessee Jan. 25th. He's a Tennessee soft-commitment, but visited U-M this summer. For his senior year he made 65 tackles and one interception; on offense as a WR he had 50 receptions for 875 yards and 9 TD's. 3.7 GPA/980 SAT.

*NEW* S.C. S Jaron Brown (6-2, 190) from Cheraw. U-M (new staff) has offered him now, and he talked to R2-A2. His official visits: Clemson (leader, Jan. 11), South Carolina (close 2nd, Jan. 18), U-M (Jan. 25). For state championship game film on Brown (in which he had 3 rushes for 50 yards and a touchdown, 2 catches for 39 yards and a touchdown, and a 48 yard interception for a touchdown in the Cheraw win), click HERE.

*NEW* -- WR/S T.J. Lawrence (6-2, 190, 4.5) from Lakeland, Fla., Kathleen. He is visiting U-M Jan. 25th. He's visited VA and Fla. (Jan. 11), and will visit SCAR (Jan. 18) as well.

Texas S. Keanon Cooper (6-0, 190, 4.5) from Dallas Skyline. The ESPN-AA-Game selection favors Wisconsin slightly over Michigan (Jan. official visit?? We'll see ...), Texas Tech, Kansas and Minnesota (Sept. 29 official visit). He grew up a U-M fan. He reports a 3.4 core GPA and a 1400 three-part SAT.

Boubacar Cissoko...sounds like a warrior.

Does he have any experience killing elephants and tigers?

People are officially freaking out. This little post by the Scout mods got EIGHTY SEVEN REPLIES. I'd say the average "good" or "hot" thread gets thirty replies. Here it is:

just heard something rumor-good re Pryor ... if it turns out to be true I'll tell you ... more something that would make competitor schools squirm than make U-M feel good actually ... but the net effect - if true - would be the same...

K ... some day I'll tell you - either way ...

^ Enquiring minds want to know.

Zip this thread has so much info, it almost makes me constipated. I can't digest it all. SLOW DOWN!

http://wtfdetroit.com/forums/admincpanel/../../pics/toiletpaper.jpg WTFDetroit’s Morning Constitutional
With Zip Goshboots

January 17, 2008

When the Governor of a state gets involved with that state’s college football team, you know that state is ass backward. The job of a Governor should be, in part, to calm the masses, even if they are a bunch of black lunged, toothless, meth-laced whiny bitches who are, on the one hand, glad that they have just lost a football coach and replaced him with the lovechild of Howdy Doody and Opie Taylor, yet pissed off that the guy got the fuck out of the shit hole that is West Virginia. A Governor’s job here would be to say something like, “Hey, it’s just football. We (Insert state here) have more to worry about than the football team, and we are thankful the coach was here while he was here, and we wish him the best”. Now, every Governor in the world knows that that is total bullshit, but he still has to say it. And I’m not stretching things a bit here when I say that no political figure in this country has the right to pull out the “morality” card at any time, especially the Rockefellers, a family of insanely crooked politicians and businessmen.


Read this complete Morning Constitutional here. (http://www.wtfdetroit.com/index.php?page=morning11708)

Thanks for this, Tahoe.

Here's a little update on Nick Perry. I do hope the Wolverines land this fellow. I think the track record of Detroit defensive players is pretty good.

Nick Perry grew up following the Wolverines and says the Michigan coaches will be stopping by his house for an in-home visit on Jan. 17. "I think coach Rich Rodriguez is a good fit for them," he said. "He'll be great for the program. I haven't really talked with him yet, so I'm looking forward to getting to know him better. It's down to Michigan, Michigan State, USC and Miami..."

Nicholas Perry, the 6-foot-4, 235-pound four-star defensive end from King High School in Detroit, Mich., has narrowed his choices to four schools and continues to deny a leader.
"It's down to Michigan, Michigan State, USC and Miami," Perry said. "Nobody stands out though. It's down to these four and that's it."

Cut from Perry's previous favorites list are West Virginia, Purdue and Notre Dame. "I just feel more comfortable with these four instead. I'm not looking at anyone else anymore."

Perry, Scout.com's No. 5 defensive end, has already taken an official visit to Michigan State on Dec. 8 and has trips scheduled to USC on Jan. 18, Michigan on Jan. 26 and Miami on Feb. 2.

He grew up following the Wolverines and says the Michigan coaches will be stopping by his house for an in-home visit on Jan. 17. "I think coach Rich Rodriguez is a good fit for them," he said. "He'll be great for the program. I haven't really talked with him yet, so I'm looking forward to getting to know him better.

"I also want to talk with their new defensive coordinator," he said. I need to talk with him about the schemes he plans to run and make sure that I'll be able to fit into the defense."

Another school Perry says he's always liked is Miami. "They've definitely been a school I've always watched," he said. "I like the system there and they are always sending guys to the NFL. Coach Randy Shannon is a good coach and I think he's doing well there. He'll get them back on track."

On Jan. 16, Perry had an in-home visit from USC tight end coach Brennan Carroll. "We really spent most of the time talking about the defense and their depth chart," he said. "He told me that they really need more defensive ends and that's a priority for them. They see me fitting in well and said that I'd have a good chance to play early.

"I'm really excited about taking my visit this weekend and hopefully I'll fall in love with it," he said. "I'm not worried about the distance, but I just want to make sure that I like the environment and feel that it's a place where I feel at home."

One issue that Perry hasn't had a chance to discuss with the Trojans coaches are the rumors swirling around Reggie Bush and the improprieties that may have occurred during his time at USC. "I've read some of the stuff about Reggie, but I don't really know what to believe. I haven't talked to the coaches about it yet and I want to get the real story. I'm not thinking about it a lot though. Hopefully it's nothing."

Perry expects to take all of his remaining official visits before deciding. "I'll probably decide near signing day," he said. "I'm taking my last visit pretty late, so it'll come down to the very end.

"I'm really looking at a few things," he said. "Comfortability is number one. I also want a place with good academics, a family atmosphere and where the coaches treat me best."

Perry reports a 3.0 core GPA and a 16 ACT, which he is retaking on Jan. 26. "I'm taking the test in the morning, then heading to Michigan for my official visit

From Scout

I know people are saying he's going to follow Rojo to LaLa, but I think he's Michigan's to lose.

Transcript from an interview done by Foster and Valenti with a writer from the West Virginia paper. That you question ANY objuctivity with regard to Valenti is a given. Foster I like, but they go off the deep end.
This is a CLASSIC case of local hacks trying to generate something of a story, keept themselves IN or PART of the stroy, and at this point making a Big Deal out of nothing. They are striving for all kinds of conclusions, even about RR as a person. That we find a Sparty trying to assume moral high ground is no surprise. That we have Foster not being any more reasonable is a surprise, I kind of like Foster.
I'm hoping this thing galvanizes RR, Michigan, and The Team. The bullshit these guys have had to face could be a lot of nice motivation this season. Just what they'll need to get through a rough season.

From the Free Press:

Monday night, Dave Hickman of the Charlestown Gazette broke the Rich Rodriguez document shredding story (see the Freep’s story here). Tuesday’s afternoon, Terry Foster and Mike Valenti from WXYT had him on their show to get more information on the story, his take on Rodriguez as a person, and much more.

Below is the transcript from Hickman's portion of the show:

Advertisement


Terry Foster: My first question would be, as far as the sourcing for your newspaper, what the policy is and also, I know you’re not going to say who told you that, but just how comfortable these sources are and how well you know them. I think that’s a question I would love to know, too.

Dave Hickman: The sources are very highly placed and I have complete trust in them. You were talking about gospel, the fact that there were documents destroyed I think is gospel. I think even when Mike Brown responded (Tuesday) on Rich’s behalf, he sort of band-handedly admitted that there had been some documents destroyed because he said anything that was destroyed or taken was of a personal note. So there’s no question that some documents were destroyed, the question is what they were.

TF: And to be honest, when he made his statement, that is when I said you know what, something major did happen here. He said there were inaccuracies in the report, he never said the report was inaccurate and there’s a big difference.

DH: I’m going to boil this down in a nutshell for you because I just finished writing a column for tomorrow that does pretty much the same thing. I think what the documents – you can call them documents, you can call them personal notes, what you want – imagine that you are the CEO of a corporation. You have multiple department heads working under you. And under them, you have 125 employees, which is essentially what your football team is. Anything that happens, whether it be in strength and conditioning or conduct or anything like that, your department heads are going to get that information, your CEO is going to get that information. Now your department heads, they may or may not keep on file all of that information, they know in fact that the CEO is keeping all of that information in detailed form, so they know that it’s always available to them. Then all of a sudden the CEO leaves, he takes most of his department heads with him, then this is the part that doesn’t make much sense to me. He spends - and we have this on pretty reliable information – that he spends hours upon hours shredding that information. Information that has nothing to do with the new job that he has taken. Now you can look at it from the standpoint that ‘Maybe he had something to hide.’ Well that’s the worst case scenario, and I’m not going to take that attitude toward it because I’ve known Rich for a long time and I don’t think that there’s anything in those files that incriminates anyone in any way regarding anything. At the same time, there’s nothing in those finals, I don’t think, regarding those players that could possibly help him in his role at Michigan. There is a ton of information that would be tremendously valuable to the people he left behind. Not only the assistant coaches and the staff, but the players himself that he recruited, that would be tremendously valuable to them as they try to recover and move on from him leaving. Yet he spends all of that time trying to destroy that evidence and all of his records and I just can’t come to any conclusion that it’s just a spiteful and vengeful thing and he’s trying to burn his bridges and he just doesn’t want West Virginia to succeed behind him. Do you see any other explanation there?

Mike Valenti: No, Dave, that’s what we came to (Tuesday). It’s a two-pronged attack. One, he’s being spiteful and really, really low about it. And two, you’ve got to understand from an outsider’s perspective, we’ve seen guys like Pat Lazier end up at West Virginia, we’ve seen guys like Noel Devine end up at West Virginia, guys that no one else would touch, and Rich Rod got them there. I’ve always raised an eyebrow with Rich Rodriguez. I defer to you, you know the man. I don’t. That’s what we came to the conclusion about. This was just a spiteful, vengeful move to set back the new regime. Why he would do that to his alma mater, apparently we’re going to have to wait for the $4 million lawsuit to come out.

DH: You guys know that he filed his response to that (Wednesday?)

MV: Really?

DH: I have not seen it yet.

MV: Neither have we

DH: But the one thing that I do know about it is that he’s attempting to get it moved to federal court.

MV: Let me ask you a question as it pertains to Rich Rodriguez – I don’t want to go down the path of the $4 million buyout – the other issue we wanted to cover with you Dave … is Rich Rodriguez the man? There’s a lot of here say with Rich Rodriguez, there’s a lot of stories about Rich Rodriguez. You know the man, you’ve covered the man. What is he? What are we getting here in Ann Arbor, Michigan?

DH: I’ve actually known the guy since he was in high school. I actually covered him when he was playing in high school and have seen him grow up. He’s a very ambitious guy, he’ll do anything to succeed. That’s not to say that he’s a bad guy and he’s going to skirt the rules or anything like that, I’ve never seen or had any evidence that he’s been anything less than above board in everything that he’s done. He’s going to go as hard as he possibly can. From that standpoint, you’ve got a great guy there. I have seen over the course of the years that I’ve known him, I’ve seen some aspects of him, I don’t want to say, well, the guy has an ego. If you’re making $2 million a year, what division I coaches don’t have a huge ego? That’s part of it that everybody has to deal with I think. And I think some of that is becoming evident now in what has happened over the course of the past three or four weeks in some of the things that he has done and the way that he has reacted to some of the things that have happened back in West Virginia.

TF: I have three real quick questions. Did he break the law in some of these documents? Were they public documents? If he shredded them, did he break the law? And also, and I understand athletics is different, but a lot of times when you’re fired or you leave a job, there’s security there, they walk you in, you get your belongings and you walk out. Why didn’t the school do this or did they just trust Rich Rodriguez so much that he would do the right thing when he was in that football office?

DH: I think they never envisioned that he would have made an exit like this. Despite maybe some warning signs given that he was calling recruits, this all happened bang bang bang. Maybe in hindsight, which is 20-20, you’ve got to look at Rich calling Terrelle Pryor and other recruits before he had announced to his team that he was leaving. And a full work day basically before he handed in his resignation, he called these recruits and told them he was going to Michigan. And that was pretty much known that afternoon even before he had handed in his resignation. Again, in hindsight I think you have to look at that and maybe raise some red flags and say ‘Hey, do we want to let this guy back in his office to lounge around for a day and clean the thing out? Maybe we should look at this closer and have someone in there with him.’

TF: Real quick, I don’t know if the people you talked to know exactly what was erased, but did he break any laws? Were these public?

DH: I don’t think so. I don’t think so. Again, it goes back to my contention that, worst case scenario, by shredding this documents, he has destroyed some sort of incrimination evidence. I do not believe that. I think it simply boils down to not wanting West Virignia to have anything left over from his regime that they could use to further their success.

TF: But he’s a West Virginia man. He played there and coached there. To me, if he did that, that’s a bad man. And I know that you like him, but you don’t do that. Lloyd Carr was a Michigan Man. Bo was a Michigan Man. I can’t imagine him doing that. Rich Rodriguez, West Virginia man. How can you do that to your own school?

MV: Dave, you can respond in a minute, but Terry, I’ve told you this before and Dave, please comment, he’s basically held his alma mater hostage two straight years. The ‘Bama situation as the biggest, most egregious point of that.

DH: I think it goes back to the ego thing. A year ago from the Alabama thing, he got virtually everything he wanted. Now some of it was done in a form that probably didn’t guarantee him something, but West Virginia is basically a small-budget school in relation to Alabama and Michigan. … It’s a very small athletic budget and you do what you can to please him and give him what he wanted. A lot of these things that he asked for as far as facilities, improvements and things like that were contingent upon private donations and they worked their tails off to get those private donations. But I think when it comes around to Michigan this year, he’s looking at it and he’s saying, while they’re working on them, they haven’t quite gotten all of the funding for them or something is just not guaranteed there, and by golly, I’m going to go somewhere where it is guaranteed, where they really do appreciate what I’m doing and they’re willing to fork over the money for it. So goodbye. END

Remember: NO ONE KNOWS if, or what may have been shredded. One would have to assume that just about anything RR had in his office, the assistants had copies of or access to. To think that RR wouldn;t want his ALMA MATER to be successful after he leaves is, well, ridiculous at best. It's almost Valentian.

Rich Rod did finally coment...

http://www.sportsinferno.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30023

Awesome! Thanks tommy. Maybe Valenti and Foster will read it.
Naaaah.

This stuff keeps coming faster than Tahoe can relay it to me!!

From Scout:

To-Day

Coach Rod goes into the homes-schools of Boubacar Cissoko and Nick Perry -- this time armed not only with Det.-area recruiter Tony Dews, but also with Def. Coord. Chris Shafer as well. The heavy fire-power!

Fred Jackson is hitting the ACC today to get into the schools of two top junior run-pass QB's:
-- Taj Boyd, a 6-1 QB/CB guy who made Gene Hankerson's Top 15 Army Combiners ( michigan.scout.com/2/717498.html )
-- Kevin Newsome, a 6-3 guy who made Gene's "No Fluff" list of 20 ( michigan.scout.com/2/718992.html )


Oh yeah, and *forgot one on "Yesterday*: LB Coach Jay Hopson was trolling the Deep South yesterday - and visited MS RB Desmond Johnson ( michigan.scout.com/a.z?s=162&a...amp;nid=2895276 ), who ran for over 2,000 yards as a junior but broke his leg after gaining over 1,000 yards in just 4 games his senior year. U-M will shoot for a Jan. 25 visit and things are changing fast for him - he's now visiting S-Miss this weekend, and Memphis Feb. 1st.
We'll add D-Johnson to our "new recruits" list, and drop a few others who have recently committed elsewhere

Should people in glass houses throw stones???

WVU vows independence during degree investigation

By Vicki Smith
Associated Press Writer

MORGANTOWN — Provost Gerald Lang promises a “fair and honest” investigation into whether West Virginia University gave Gov. Joe Manchin’s daughter a master’s degree she didn’t earn.

Bruce Flack, a vice chancellor with the Higher Education Policy Commission, received the formal charge as chairman of the independent panel late Monday. Serving with him are professors Michael Lastinger and Roy Nutter, both of whom have previously served on WVU’s Faculty Senate.

Lang did not set a deadline for a report but said Tuesday, “Obviously, we want it done as soon as possible.”

WVU officials allegedly rewrote records to award Heather Bresch an executive MBA in 1998, even though she only completed 22 of the required 48 credit hours, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Bresch, 38, works for Mylan Inc., a Canonsburg, Pa.-based pharmaceutical company with a lab in Morgantown. Its chairman, Milan Puskar, is a Manchin benefactor who also donated $20 million to WVU in 2003 for its athletic department and scholarships.

Bresch has insisted she earned her degree and is offended by suggestions to the contrary, assuring the newspaper last month that her word is “better than a transcript.” She did not respond to an attempt to contact her Tuesday.

Lang, meanwhile, said the faculty is confident Lastinger and Nutter will be independent and thorough.

“I think everyone is very comfortable with these individuals and confident that a fair and honest review will occur,” he said. “The people that have been appointed have been appointed with the support and endorsement of Faculty Senate leadership. I think they will do what they need to do.”

Lastinger has shown he’s willing to articulate an unpopular view: He opposed the appointment of WVU President Mike Garrison last spring while serving as faculty representative to the Board of Governors.

Garrison, chief of staff under former Democratic Gov. Bob Wise, was chosen to succeed David C. Hardesty Jr. despite critics’ complaints of political cronyism. The Faculty Senate had endorsed the other finalist, Kansas State University Provost and former WVU dean M. Duane Nellis.

Nutter, too, has taken minority viewpoints “more than once” in his three decades at WVU.

“I don’t know that I have ever seen a faculty member who was unwilling to speak up. It’s kind of the definition of a faculty member,” he said. “Untenured faculty? Many times, yes. But tenured faculty, I believe, think it’s part of our job to do this.”

Nutter understands skeptics who question the panel’s independence.

However, “I’m a graduate of WVU also,” he said, “so I have some vested interest in making sure this process works.”

At WVU, faculty review and approve course content, authorize new programs, determine whether curriculum is appropriate for a degree and certify students for graduation, Lang said.

“Since the accuracy of a WVU degree is at issue, it is only right that WVU faculty investigate the matter at their own institution as they do for any other curricular issues,” he said. “It is the faculty who know what to look for as they have a knowledge and history of administrative processes.”

Lastinger said the faculty shares governance of WVU with the administration, and the inclusion of that language in the panel’s charge convinced him the university wants a serious investigation.

“This is our responsibility, and we do take it with full seriousness,” he said, declining further comment.

The EMBA program is designed for people who continue to work full time while pursuing a degree, primarily through evening classes. The university has said a switch from paper to electronic records is to blame for the appearance that Bresch received favorable treatment.

Nutter said he doesn’t expect to find evidence of fraud, but will find it if it exists. He says it’s more likely that student records were lost or destroyed.

Lang said the panel’s report will be shared with the Faculty Senate and the Board of Governors before being made public.

“All findings will be a matter of public record except those protected by federal privacy laws,” he said. END

Mssrs Valenti and Foster, I expect a comment on this.

I know tommy gave the link, and it's a great opportunity for UMers to join that forum and bring a voice of reason to it, but for those who don;t like linkes, here is the article from the Toledo Blade where Rodriguez addresses the "issue" of the shredded files:

By MATT MARKEY
BLADE SPORTS WRITER


Since leaving his native West Virginia a month ago to become the football coach at the University of Michigan, Rich Rodriguez has gone from a favorite son of the Mountaineer State to a reviled expatriate.

Rodriguez, who led West Virginia to four Big East Conference championships in his seven seasons as coach, has had his property vandalized, his relatives harassed and threatened, and his reputation sullied by a bevy of still unsubstantiated charges.

Last night, the 44-year-old Rodriguez ended his self-imposed silence on the matter, saying the "lies" need to end.

"The things they are saying are not true," Rodriguez said. "It's a lie. How can you put out lies and think it's OK? They don't care what the truth is, they just want to smear Rich Rodriguez."

Rodriguez has been sued by his alma mater, where he was a three-year letterman as a defensive back (1982-84), and most recently has been the target of an anonymous source within the WVU athletic department who reportedly told a West Virginia newspaper that Rodriguez had shredded university documents and removed all the personnel files of his former players from the football offices.

"It's very frustrating," Rodriguez said. "I knew there'd be some emotions involved when I left, but I wanted to take the high road. I've chosen to move on, but it's almost like it's something new every day, and it's totally ridiculous."

Rodriguez said the charges that he came back to his office in Morgantown in the days after taking the Michigan job and destroyed documents and removed files were made to cast him in the worst possible light.

"The implication to me is slanderous," Rodriguez said. "What they are implying, to me, attacks my integrity, and that's why I'm so upset. This has gone too far.

"It's bad enough that they throw things out there, and my family gets harassed, my relatives get threatened, and they try and attack my credibility right in the middle of recruiting. And then to throw something out like this, with anonymous sources ...

"And how it becomes a story, and why it's become big news, to me, is just baffling."

Rodriguez said that when he returned to West Virginia to clean out his office, he did so with staff around, and visited with a number of his former players at the same time.

"The day that's in question, when they said I was doing all this stuff in the office, I probably had 25 or 30 players that came over and wished me well," Rodriguez said. "We talked and we hugged - obviously they wanted us to stay - but they understood and they were great about it."

He said the files and documents he removed were his records and personal papers, and any attempt to make it seem like it was anything but a normal exercise for an employee moving from one job to another was not accurate.

"They are making up half truths and lies, because this was done on a regular work day, with people all around, and those were all files that were in my office," Rodriguez said. "It was information that was in a closet with no lock on it, and some of it had been in there for years."

Rodriguez said he spoke with several individuals inside the West Virginia athletic department, after these latest charges were leveled, and they said the news accounts of his actions were incorrect. He said his former secretary said all she knew about the alleged incident "was what she read in the paper."

"Every coach got a file when a kid missed a class. The academic people got it, and the athletic director got it. All this stuff about not having contact information or academic information on the kids, it's a lie, it's all a lie," Rodriguez said.

"They're painting a picture like I'm the only one that had those files, and I threw them all away. That's not the truth. They're painting a picture like I erased all the kids' files, and that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. And anyone with any common sense that's in a Division I athletic department or football program knows the same thing."

Rodriguez said he encouraged his coaches to remain at West Virginia long enough to fully focus on the Mountaineers' bowl game, and he thinks the attention now should be on the new coach at WVU and his players - not on the former coach.

"Who does all of this help? It's not helping the West Virginia football program a bit," Rodriguez said. "The bottom line is, everybody wants to be treated fairly, and there has to be an issue of fairness and honesty. And with this stuff, they know they are lying."

1. wvu switched to a computer system for transcripts in 1998??? I suppose that wvu might just be that retarded that the athletic department is stilling waiting for their computers to be installed.

1a. Are accurate transcripts available for any wvu students that graduated before 1998?

2. Check out the latest Pulitzer material coming out of wv. I couldn't even finish reading a story that inane.

http://www.dailymail.com/Sports/WVUSports/200801170675

Did wvu hire bukdow and tre for this whinefest? Seriously, I'm sure rodriguez would reimburse wvu for a few phone calls if wvu is going to be a bukdow about it.

3. Does wvu realize that these shenanigans make them look like complete idiots that should never have been given the responbility of running a university in the first place?

4. I'd almost be willing to tivo the lawsuit if it were on court tv. That would mark my first occasion of ever watching court tv.

5. I think that "my word is better than a transcript" should be placed on the wall at the wvu career couseling office. that is priceless, although likely ineffective if your parents are not in the governor's office.

As a goodwill gesture, I would send WVU a payment of $100.00 towards either the four mill or a potential settlement.

One more point on all this: You can't deny the Street Cred that RR will gain from all this. If I was him, I'd have someone shoot me in the arm and pretend it was a drive by, someone with West Virginia license plates.

One more point on all this: You can't deny the Street Cred that RR will gain from all this. If I was him, I'd have someone shoot me in the arm and pretend it was a drive by, someone with West Virginia license plates.

Haha, hilarious. Maybe Pac Man Jones can come in and help recruit some thugs for Michigan as well.

Quick question to anyone who can answer it. I've been trying to decide between getting a membership with scout.com or rivals. It seems as though scout.com is quicker with info. updates. What do you guys think? Either reply to this or send me a message.

Thanks

There was s huge argument about this on another thread. I signed up for both for the seven day trial, and canned Rivals. The boards are hard to navigate, the threading on them sucks ass, and they don't offer shit. The Scout boards are also have alot less bullshit threads. Lots of articles, and the free boards on Scout are great also, from team to team. I found that on Rivals, some teams (pretty big ones too) did not even have free boards. Go with Scout, it's better, much.

RR visited Mike Martin, and here is the latest (From Scout):

Rich Rodriguez continued his recruting read trip yesterday, making a stop in southeastern Michigan to check in on commitment Mike Martin. With new receivers coach and Detroit area recruiter Tony Dews was at his side, he took in one of Martin's wrestling matches. The defending State Champion in the heavyweight division didn't disappoint, pinning his opponent in 18 seconds. That, however, is not the fastest he has pinned someone. “Mike’s fastest takedown time is seven seconds,” Ms. Martin quickly chimed in.

The best part of the day came when Martin and his propsective coach finally got the chance to talk face to face.

“At first with Coach Rodriguez it was all business," Mike Martin told GoBlueWolverine. "He talked about his staff. We talked about the weight room and Mike Barwis”.

Yes, that Mike Barwis... the new high energy strength and conditioning coach that everyone seems to be discussing these days (click here to if you missed what all of the fuss is about). Martin seems to be pretty excited about Barwis as well.

“Coach told me a lot about him," Martin said regarding Barwis. "I can’t wait to meet him. Coach says Barwis knows everything there is to know about strength and conditioning. Coach Rodriguez is a cool guy to talk to he is real laid back."

Another major point of emphasis was the type of defense that the Wolverines will be running. Martin was told that Michigan will be running a 4-3 defense.

“I did not want to be on a defense where I would just be taking up space so the linebackers could make all the plays," Martin explained. "Coach told me that he wants his defense to get up the field and make plays. I enjoyed that a lot."

Martin chatted with Dews as well, but their conversation wasn't quite as involved because as Martin would say later, “I already know Coach Dews -- he recruited me at West Virginia and we know each other. Coach Dews wikas just sitting back letting me and Coach Rodriguez bond and get to know each other."

Martin came away very impressed that Rodriguez made it apoint to switch away from the football talk later in the conversation.

”We talked about other topics besides football... from food to a little of everything," Martin recalled. "Coach is really a fun guy. He answered all of my questions (laughing). "

Rodriguez left a favorable impression on Martin's mom also as well.

“I was really impressed on how easy he is to talk to," Ms Martin said. "He is a very personable coach."

So the question now is, did the subject of visiting Notre Dame ever come up during the course of the strong Maize & Blue visit?

"Yeah it did," Martin admitted. "Coach said that Dews would be on my door step when I got back from the Notre Dame visit waiting. He does

There's a bit of a controversy brewing over at Scout. It's about guys who are doing what, essentially, I am: Paying for the info and then "go run tell dat" on other boards, or the free boards at Scout. Personally, I of course think it's bullshat. I choose to pay, and they choose to put it up there, and ALL those who subscribe do it so they can be "in the know" and then tell their buddies so their buddies will stop giving them wedgies and screwing their wives.
But out of respect, I won't "cut n paste", and from now on, my sources will not be listed. They will come from a combination of these three sources:

A) Tahoe
B) My imagination. Dont overlook my tendency to make shit up to support my opinions.
D) Various other intranet sources.

If you like CF even HALF as much as I do, though, sign up for a premium service. They are offering great deals right now. I like Scout. Easy boards to navigate, more free boards for more schools, better writing, and I like Tom's style.
So from now on, when I post something that Tahoe is sending me, it will be a little more cryptic, and just congratulate Tahoe on his ability to get the "inside scoop".

Another major point of emphasis was the type of defense that the Wolverines will be running. Martin was told that Michigan will be running a 4-3 defense.


Did I miss something? We are running the 4-3 next year?

Well, pretty much. Shafer said scheme wasn't important and he would mix it up a bit, but it's essentially a base 4-3-4. The gimmick defense from WVU is long gone.

Did I miss something? We are running the 4-3 next year?

Someboady hasn't been reading the thread. That's a loss of 400 points, Chris.

Here's an article that I found on the sidewalk.

“Coach Rodriguez came to my school,” Witherspoon reported to GoBlueWolverine Tuesday evening. “We talked about everything. They are definitely still interested. We were getting on common ground and talking it out. I’ve got a big decision to make. Both Michigan and Tennessee are great in many ways.”

Witherspoon gained a better appreciation for what Tennessee was all about. It was during the trip to Knoxville that the hard-hitting youngster began to see Phil Fulmer’s club as an equally viable option.

“It went real good,” said Witherspoon. “Real good. It was something that wasn’t expected. Tennessee has got some good people and it’s a good program too. Everything was pretty much good down there. It’s going to be tough.”

The choice is so daunting because Witherspoon sees a lot of similarities in the two programs and his opportunity to play and succeed in them.

“Coach Rodriguez told me, ‘aint nothing guaranteed, but if you work out the way we think you are, you can come in early freshmen year and play because the best players will play,’” Witherspoon recalled. “I’m the type of guy that I am going to work hard. I am going to try to get on the field quickly as possible. But it’s not even really about that because Tennessee said the same thing. I don’t even know what (the decision) is going to come down to because both teams have family atmospheres, both teams are good, and both coaches feel like I can be an impact player. I talked to coach Hopson (Michigan’s new linebackers coach). He’ll be here next week. But so will the Tennessee coach. They’re coming at the same time. It’s crazy (laughing).
I can’t go wrong in either direction. In this situation I’ve just got to think a little more.”

Now Witherspoon is going through the difficult task of determining a way to separate the two schools. In the past he has tapped his father on the shoulder for such advice, but this time around, even that might not help.

“My dad was already ready for Michigan,” Witherspoon explained. “He was not understanding (the indecision). The he met the Tennessee coach and he was like, “Man! I would hate to be in your shoes right now. All I’m going to do is pray for you.’ Because god gives a fuck where you go to school. Stupid fuck.(Laughing). It’s tough, man, especially when the schools are good. You try to look for something wrong and there’s nothing wrong (Unless you think walking around looking like a giant tangerine would look funny. NOBODY wears orange). Stupid fuck.. Maybe if the coaches don’t contact me in a certain amount of time then, ‘oh, okay I’m going to go to other one’… but they’ve called me right on time. They came to the school. It was crazy. Anytime a head coach comes to my school, that’s great because he didn’t have to do it, man. Everybody knows him. Compared to him, I’m a nobody. I feel as though it’s a blessing Yeah, you're so BLESSED to have grown men drooling over you. And of course, you're going to be so BLESSED to wear orange if you choose wrongly. Stupid fuck.. It’s really a blessing, man, because I never would have thought four years ago coming into high school that it was going to be like this. I was just a player that wanted to work hard. I just wanted to play football and I wanted to win. I guess it paid off.”

With a few weeks still left until signing day, Witherspoon plans to use every shred of time to determine which of the schools will come out on top.

“Right now they’re both on common ground,” he said. “I can’t find no wrong. It’s probably going to be hard to find a wrong. I am going to wait until signing day. It’s going to take more than one week for me to think about this. The time that I have between now

I think Phat Phil has stolen one from UM here.

This is what I've been able to gather from Tahoe, who has had his ear to the ground all day today:

1. D.J. Woods. We put U-M's chances at him at over 50% ... and the chance he commits this weekend at slightly over 50%. Brandon's dad is a Michigan fan ... we just think this one will happen, altho not a 'done deal' it'll happen this weekend.

2. Michael Shaw. The Shaws really liked U-M early on ... so at this point I'm putting the chances off U-M landing him at over 50% ... and the chance he commits this weekend at 50-50.

3. J.T. Floyd. I'm going to put U-M's shot at J.T. on the sunny-side of 50-50, meaning 50-50 or maybe just a shade over. His odds of committing this weekend -- a little under 50-50, but not impossible. In fact, if J.T. gets to his Tennessee visit next weekend ... then I'll pare back my odds on him to the shady side of 50-50.

4. Terrelle Pryor. 50-50, with OSU. Will he commit this weekend - nah, why should he? Charlie Batch coming along on the visit should be a plus for U-M.

5. Boubacar Cissoko. His job this weekend is to work on Pryor. Boubacar and Pryor got to be somewhat friendly during Army week, altho I wouldn't say they got to be buddies or anything like that. Boubacar is a true 'salt-of-the-earth' type of guy, and hopefully he and Pryor will really bond this weekend.

6. Brandon Moore. His job this weekend is to sell teammate Shaw.

7. Mike Martin. One might have hoped he'd help with Pryor ... but Mike will spend the weekend getting re-acquainted himself with new-U-M.

How do you pronounce Boubacar?

Are Michigan fans going to nickname him Boobie?

We've nicknamed him "Booboo". Godammit, mailman, get with the program. Tahoe ain't gon' be no pleased wich you no ways mayne.

!!

SHIT.

I thought you guys were talking about THIS dude:

http://www.gasolinealleyantiques.com/cartoon/images/Hanna/iron-booboo.JPG

That ain't even funny, dude. We ain't talkin' bout no cartoons, main. We talkin bout some Barwis 'n shitt.

Well, I've got some reading to do in this thread. Toodles!

Someboady hasn't been reading the thread. That's a loss of 400 points, Chris.

I put in 15 hours of overtime last week and just bought a house (which I'm in a lengthy debate with the builder about the contract) and preparing to go to Vegas this weekend. Sorry, I'll try harder to keep in the loop :)

It would be nice if Hill and a couple guys this week get the momentum going again - ready for a big finish with Pryor and Perry!

I put in 15 hours of overtime last week and just bought a house (which I'm in a lengthy debate with the builder about the contract) and preparing to go to Vegas this weekend. Sorry, I'll try harder to keep in the loop :)

Guessing you didn't use Rock Financial. Isn't there a story about that from your past?

I put in 15 hours of overtime last week and just bought a house (which I'm in a lengthy debate with the builder about the contract) and preparing to go to Vegas this weekend. Sorry, I'll try harder to keep in the loop :)

Um, I really don't give a shit if you've just carved a new face in Mt Rushmore. You either read the thread or you don't.
Everyone buys a house; everyone goes to Vegas. Everyone argues with a builder (well, at least those dumb enough to build a house).
I know I sound harsh, but the shit we do to ourselves is nobody's fault but ours.
You either read the thread or you don't. But don't try and give me some shit about your suburban minivan SUV driving existence getting in the way.
This thread is about more important things, like Michigan Football. Next time you sip your $7.00 latte from Starbucks, think about that.

Half the reward of getting Shaw would be keeping him away from Penn State.

Um, I really don't give a shit if you've just carved a new face in Mt Rushmore. You either read the thread or you don't.
Everyone buys a house; everyone goes to Vegas. Everyone argues with a builder (well, at least those dumb enough to build a house).
I know I sound harsh, but the shit we do to ourselves is nobody's fault but ours.
You either read the thread or you don't. But don't try and give me some shit about your suburban minivan SUV driving existence getting in the way.
This thread is about more important things, like Michigan Football. Next time you sip your $7.00 latte from Starbucks, think about that.

You're half accurate:

Suburbs - yes
minivan - no
SUV - yes
starbucks - no

And no Jethro, Rock Financial is nowhere near Colorado thankfully. Nice memory though.

Um, I really don't give a shit if you've just carved a new face in Mt Rushmore. You either read the thread or you don't.
Everyone buys a house; everyone goes to Vegas. Everyone argues with a builder (well, at least those dumb enough to build a house).
I know I sound harsh, but the shit we do to ourselves is nobody's fault but ours.
You either read the thread or you don't. But don't try and give me some shit about your suburban minivan SUV driving existence getting in the way.
This thread is about more important things, like Michigan Football. Next time you sip your $7.00 latte from Starbucks, think about that.


zip goshboots to this thread is like tom cruise to scientologists.

but dont worry, this is good stuff. and im on board, even when it comes time to stop taking the medicines i need and am forced to sell $15,000 worth of amway products a week.

^ So you're saying Zip is the only reason we'd know what the fuck Michigan football is?

Yeah, somewhere I missed the move to Colorado.
Congrats on staying out of the Dan Gilbert umbrella.

I think its a privelege to call yourself a wolverine. Its something you have to earn. A wolverine DOES. He, or she, has the ability to change realities create better conditions. Being a Wolverine you look at somebody and you know immidiatly absolutely you can help them. So, for me, its KSW. So, uhh.... I dont mix words with that... With ANY of that... (unintelligible rambling) Being a Wolverine, driving by an accident, its not like anybody else. YOU know you have to do something about it. Because, you know your the only that can really help. Thats what drives me, because I know we have an opportunity to really help... For the first. Effectively change peoples lives. And Im dedicated to that. Absolutely, uncompromisingly dedicated to that.

And it goes on like that for about 10 more minutes. uhh, that being zip's pm's to me.

That was fucking beautiful.

a wolverine can be defined with a single question: "Would you want others to achieve the knowledge you now have". In answering that question, zip goshboots has introduced LOH technology to over one billion people of earth. And thats only the first wave he has unleashed. And that is why the story of zip goshboots, wolverine, has only just begun!

Check out Mike Barwis (Strength and Conditioning coach) addressing the West Virginia team before the Fiesta Bowl. Wow! I want to run through a wall......

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=26221853

Keep them coming. (diddy)

Check out Mike Barwis (Strength and Conditioning coach) addressing the West Virginia team before the Fiesta Bowl. Wow! I want to run through a wall......

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=26221853

if bukdow saw that he'd crap himself. he'd be knee deep in his own shit. which actually isnt saying much, he alwasy craps himself. bukdow is purtuguese for 'incontinent', after all.

Wonder what Mike's favorite word is?

It would have been more effective if he picked up one of the lesser players and tore his heart out.

It seems to be looking pretty good for Witherspoon and Fitzgerald right now, as the new coaches have been in conteact with them. Favorable reports about the mmetings and other goings on have been coming in from both of these key recroots. It looks like UM might actually be pretty solid on keeping all 17 of Lloyd's guys at this moment.
It looks good for UM as far as DJ Woods is concerned also. Not much else going on yet today. Just waiting for Tahoe to wake up on the left coast and start sending the reports in.

Stewart Mandel hands out some shit to the West Virginians:

On behalf of any sane, reasonable people out there who may be reading this story, I'd like to make a simple request to West Virginia University and its followers.

Let it go, already.

Your coach, Rich Rodriguez, left for Michigan -- a month ago. Obviously it was disappointing, perhaps even painful, coming as abruptly as it did. I'd imagine it's not too different from a guy dumping his girlfriend out of the clear blue for a hotter, sexier catch.

But c'mon, West Virginia. This is getting absurd. You would think you would have moved on by now, what with that Fiesta Bowl trashing of Oklahoma. You even found yourself a new man, Bill Stewart, who, while seemingly unqualified to run even a Division II program, you apparently really like.

So why all this continued venom toward Rodriguez?

It started the night he flew to Ann Arbor (with hecklers showing up at the airport), and it's only gotten worse since. Almost every day, we're treated to a new story about some supposed atrocity committed either by bitter fans (who have reportedly harassed family members of Rodriguez and his assistants -- including children -- still living in Morgantown) or by Rodriguez himself (who apparently shredded some documents while cleaning out his office, originally reported to be players' entire personnel files but now believed to be ... umm, notes.)

You slapped the guy with a $4 million lawsuit and made sure ESPN knew about it before he did. Now you're rifling through his cell phone records, trying to figure out whether he called a few Michigan recruits on his West Virginia-issued phone before leaving town. (I'm sure he'd be happy to reimburse you if it caused him to go over his minutes that month.) You're doing your best to convince the college football world what a bad, bad man your once-beloved coach really is.

"It's something new every day, and it's totally ridiculous," Rodriguez told the Toledo Blade.

Don't you see what you've become, West Virginia?

You're the psychotic ex-girlfriend.

It's my experience that attempting to reason with such parties is almost always a fruitless endeavor. But for the sake of the involved parties' sanity, I might as well try.

Here are the realities of the situation:

• Rodriguez is the coach at Michigan. He's not coming back.

• Much of your animosity toward Rodriguez took root with the Mountaineers' inexplicable, national title-crushing loss to Pittsburgh on Dec. 1. Once he took the Michigan job, angry revisionists began deluding themselves into believing (or at least pretending to believe) Rodriguez was never that good to begin with -- never mind that he's the single biggest reason they were playing in a game of such magnitude to begin with. In the waning moments of the Fiesta Bowl, one section even began a mocking "Thank You, Michigan" chant.

Are you people nuts? Never in the 106-year history of that program have the Mountaineers enjoyed such sustained success (three straight 11-win seasons) and accompanying national prominence as they did under Rodriguez. His revered predecessor, Don Nehlen, enjoyed just two such seasons (1988 and '93) over a 21-year run.

• As hard as this may seem to believe, Rodriguez is not the first successful coach to profess his undying love and loyalty to a school ("I plan on being here a long time," he said upon rejecting an offer from Alabama in December 2006.) only to leave for a more attractive suitor. It happens every year, multiple times a year. Unlike some other famous defectors (ahem, Nick Saban), he never lied about the courtship (ahem, Bobby Petrino). In fact, he never said anything at all.

His lone error in judgment was informing coveted recruit Terrelle Pryor of his decision before he told his own team. It's probably safe to surmise he's not the first coach to do such a thing -- in this case, however, Pryor happened to make it public. Yet somehow Rodriguez has managed to become the most vilified coach ever to leave a school. Even Saban is sitting somewhere right now saying, "Now that guy's got it rough."

• As tough as this may be for you to swallow, Michigan is a better job than West Virginia. Period. Richer tradition, bigger stadium, better resources, more prestigious conference, wider recruiting appeal ... I'll refrain from piling on. It should hardly come as a shock to you that Rodriguez would leave West Virginia for Michigan -- the stunner would have been if he'd turned down the Wolverines.

As one West Virginia native relayed to me this week, "the point of the venom is that he's a native [and] alumnus ... in WV that sort of commitment still means something." Understandable. This whole thing certainly would not have become such a powder keg if Rodriguez wasn't one of the state's own.

Last I checked, however, a person is not bound to his state of origin for life in this country, particularly when it comes to career advancement. I'm sure there are no shortage of successful doctors, lawyers, etc., from West Virginia who left their home state to achieve their goals elsewhere. Hopefully their families' mailboxes weren't uprooted.

We know you're a proud state, West Virginia. We understand why you'd take Rodriguez's departure personally -- particularly with it coming on the heels of similarly renowned basketball coach John Beilein also bolting for Michigan.

But have you ever stopped to consider that your anger is being directed at the wrong party?

The tone for much of the Rodriguez backlash was set by the state's governor, Joe Manchin, who, on the day the coach departed, lamented how, "... over the last two years, I have seen Rich become a victim of a college coaching system driven by high-priced agents that has turned [Rodriguez's] dreams into just another back-room business deal."

It was a highly naïve, if well-intentioned message, and it was the first in a lengthy series of bizarre events that suggest West Virginia athletics don't exactly operate in the 21st century.

College sports is big business these days -- in the case of WVU's athletic department, a $47 million business -- yet as Arizona Diamondbacks executive and wealthy WVU booster Ken Hendrick (a contributor to a fund to retain Rodriguez during his Alabama courtship) told the Huntsville Times, "They still run the place like it was a business the size of a dry cleaning store."

Hendrick was one of several prominent boosters who came out in defense of Rodriguez following his departure, citing long-rumored behind-the-scenes tension between the coach and longtime Athletic Director Ed Pastilong. By all indications, Rodriguez's frustrations weren't directed at his own salary (which, thanks to the donors, the school upped to $1.8 million last year) but at the school continually nickel-and-diming his program in other areas.

He wanted some extra bonus money for his assistants. He wanted extra graduate assistants and a new recruiting coordinator. But Pastilong apparently balked, much to the dismay of the boosters.

"I've never seen anything mishandled as much as this was," Bob Reynolds, former Fidelity Investments CEO, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "... When somebody's producing, you ask, 'What can I do for you to make your life better?' Not 'What can I do to make your life more miserable?' "

Said Kendrick: "We have a poorly run athletic department and an incompetent AD."

Reasonable minds might read these statements and, also taking into account Beilein's recent exit, begin questioning whether the real source of West Virginia's plight isn't Rodriguez, but Pastilong. A remarkably similar situation just occurred at Hawaii, where home-grown coach June Jones bolted for SMU (not even an obvious step up). People there were disappointed but generally accepting of Jones' decision; they did, however, immediately oust AD Herman Frazier for failing to retain Jones.

Yet Pastilong has remained largely immune from criticism, perhaps in large part because one of his former Mountaineers teammates happens to be the governor himself, Manchin, a highly popular figure who not so subtly inserted himself into the heart of West Virginia's subsequent coaching search. He personally contacted childhood pal Nick Saban to gauge his interest, met with or spoke to candidates Doc Holliday, Butch Jones and Terry Bowden and consulted with Florida State coach and longtime friend Bobby Bowden about his son's candidacy, as well as Jimbo Fisher's.

The whole thing was a circus, culminating in an impromptu decision made either during or immediately following the Fiesta Bowl to promote interim coach Stewart, who never interviewed for the job beforehand and whose primary attribute, as spelled out by university president Mike Garrison, was that he "truly values the opportunity to work as the head football coach at West Virginia University."

He might as well have added: "Unlike that heinous traitor Rodriguez."

Stewart's hiring was announced Jan. 3. Yet here we are two weeks later, West Virginia, and you're still churning out daily Rodriguez headlines. The most recent "scandal" -- the one about the coach shredding documents, which the school now admits it's not even sure are actually missing -- was so blatantly planted by someone with an ax to grind (or a $4 million lawsuit at stake) it seemed almost juvenile.

As the coach said this week, "They just want to smear Rich Rodriguez."

The "they" is you, West Virginia. You're better than this.

I think you and I both know -- it's time to move on.

Hey Tahoe/Zip.....

Can you tell me what the article on Scout says about Matthias, the O-lineman from Hemlock? That is the school I coach at and I coached him when I was the JV Head Coach and I was just wondering what they were saying about him.

Thanks guys

Tahoe just gave me this on Matthias:

For all the success Hemlock football has had over the years, the school has not become known for putting out elite level college prospects. That is on the cusp on changing as the Huskies have an outstanding junior who already has schools from coast to coast interested.

Hemlock head coach Adam Clark knows he has a good one and that may be an understatement. His junior offensive tackle Zach Matthias is bubbling under the recruiting radar right now but is poised to break out and establish himself as one of the midwest's most sought after recruits.

"Zach is the real deal," Clark said, "He is just under 6'6 and will be at 305 give or take once basketball season is through. I'm guessing that once his combines are through and an opportunity at the NIKE Camp is complete that he may be a 4 to 5 star offensive line prospect."

6'6, 305, with the athleticism to play basketball, Matthias has a 300-lb bench, 550 squat, runs a 5.1` forty and has a 29-inch vertical. As if that wasn't enough, he has a 3.6 grade point average in the classroom.

It is no surprise then, that schools from all across America have sent mail to Hemlock High School.

"Currently Michigan is coming at him the heaviest," Clark reported, "Michigan State is there as well, along with Iowa, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Duke, Georgia Tech, Alabama, UConn, Illinois, Indiana and we have recently received inquiries from as far south as Florida, Florida State, and Clemson."

With Signing Day 2007 not even here yet, there is a long time left in Matthias' recruitment. While he doesn't have any offers on the table yet, it seems inevitable that they will come and his coach tells us there is a bit of a favorite at this point.

"If Michigan offers this summer they will be tough to overtake. Zach is very interested in USC however, but at this point they are not in the picture

Interesting post here. It kind of emphasizes the area of the country UM may try to become HEAVILY involved with. From Scout (Again, I encourage anyone thinking of signing up with these guys to DO IT BABY!)

With the hiring of Hopson I was hoping to see this happen.

Per capita, Mississippi produces the most NFL talent in the nation. The state is full of mid-sized cities and towns with only Jackson being really somewhat of an urban center. In other words, a lot of the kids from that state don't get the attention - at least early- that they deserve.

That being said, there is one program in the state that stands head and shoulders above all others - South Panola High in Batesville. They have had a talent run in recent years right up there with the Cleveland Glenvilles, Long Beach Polys and Tallahassee Lincolns of the world and they have also done something that none of those schools have done - run off a string of several consecutive Class 5A (largest in MS) state titles.

Today's update on Dave Conner may have missed your attention with so much other recruiting news happening with the new staff. Conner is probably the top junior at South Panola and a big-timer. Michigan just offered him and is the FIRST school to do so (amazingly ahead of Mississippi-which under Orgeron I assumed would have offered him when he was in kindergarten).

In any event, this tells me that Hopson is being very aggressive in going after the top Mississippi kids, something I really like to see.

That being said, it will be a tough sell to get many of these kids to head up north due of the cultural differences between a rural souther state and Ann Arbor and the fact that academics are not too strong down there.

It will be really interesting to see how this plays out the next few years.

Here is who will be hangin' with some of the visitors this weekend:

Here's a few hosts ... more to come.

J.T. Floyd's host if Donovan Warren ... (so much for fears that Donovan is wavering)

Pryor's host - will be Clemons

Mike Martin's host - Vinny Helmuth

Why don't you post all this recruiting stuff in the recruiting thread?

Why don't you post all this recruiting stuff in the recruiting thread?

DSC: This is the special thread for Jethro. If you want to know more, you gotta ask Tahoe, the Godfather.

Visting recroots

Boubacar is hosted by Brandon Herron
Michael Shaw is hosted by Troy Wookfolk
(so you know "DC" - Daryl Stonum - was right there too)
Brandon Moore is hosted by Steven Threet
DJ Woods is hosted by Ryan VanBergen

All of the guys (incl. Floyd/Warren and Martin/Helmuth) went to the hockey game and basically hung together.
ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME??

They all went to the hockey game. UM found themselves down to the Fatting Irish, 2-0 after one. BUT WHAMMO BLAMMO YAHHHHOOOOO Michigan stormed back and tied it 2-2.
Then with 33.3 seconds to go, UM forced a face off in the Irish zone. UM wins it it goes round the net, off the boards, ZMrkgheghrt checks Kjmnnghski and there's a SHOT, save, rebound out front IT loose SCORE MICHIGAN and the Wolverines beat the Fat Irish Drunk Pigs, 3-2, scoring with just 20 seconds left in the game.

That's a good question. But, the recruiting thread should be for any recruiting news, such as when Dantonio sgins a new 1 star out of Tierra Del Fuego.

Visiting recruits and their goings on sounded slightly like recruiting news, my mistake.

And MD is a grumpy old man, he doesn't like planes, how is he going to find someone from Tierra del Fuego. Roscommon, Marquette, Pinconning, and Fenton, places like that could work out.

DSC:

I think we'll have to agree to disagree. This is UM NEWS:ALL the UM News That You Need, When You Need it. Maybe that's why MSU is so horoble at football. You guys just think it's generic. Like, Ho Him. Dantonio hates to fly. He just signed a 5'3 linebacker from Oscoda. Yay.

Why don't you post all this recruiting stuff in the recruiting thread?

I like a seperate thread for UofM since 95% of the board seems to follow UofM.

The Free Press says pryor goes to LSU for a visit after the UM visit. I think if Les Miles has a shred of decency, he is just having Pryor in to prevent him from visiting anybody else, and he tells the kid to go to Michigan.
Anything else, such as negative recruiting talk from Miles, and I officially hate him.

From Mlive and Scout:

U-M releases details of Rodriguez's employment
by Pete Bigelow | The Ann Arbor News
Friday January 18, 2008, 6:27 PM

If Rich Rodriguez left Michigan before the end of his contract, he could owe the school as much as $4 million.

That's the buyout figure stipulated in the letter of intent he signed with the university when he accepted the position of head football coach on Dec. 16, 2007.

If the sum sounds familiar, it's because $4 million is the same buyout figure in Rodriguez's contract with West Virginia, his previous employer. West Virginia is currently suing Rodriguez in federal court to collect it.

The buyout clause, which decreases $500,000 in each year of the contract, is one of several parameters contained in the letter of intent, which The News obtained Friday through a public records request.

The letter of intent outlines basic provisions of his employment. His final contract has not been finalized nor signed.

Rodriguez, 44, will earn $2.5 million per year in compensation under the terms of the six-year agreement. He will receive a base salary of $300,000 and an additional $2.2 million via endorsement and other deals.

The university will also contribute an unspecified amount toward his retirement fund and provide him with two cars, plus paid insurance, according to the agreement.

Former U-M coach Lloyd Carr, who retired in November, earned $1,770,535.50 in overall compensation during the final year of his contract.

Rodriguez could earn an additional $300,000 if he won a national championship at Michigan. He can earn $200,000 if the Wolverines appear in a BCS game.


That's a weird contract. A base salary of $300,000? The rest from "endorsements"??? What's he gonna do for endorsements? Does he have to line those up himself???
I'd like to see him endorse soemthing like Trojans. And when he lines up those endorsements, wouldn't it be funny if he had to say them every so often to get paid?

"Hi, this is Bimbette Boobsalot, and I've got Rich Rodriguez here. Rich, you lead Michigan State 47-0 at halftime. What was the turning point of the first half?"
"Well, Bimbo, that first touchdown, which was sponsored by Gene Merrollis Chevrolet, where I buy ALL my vehicles, sure did spark us. Much like AC Delco Spark Plugs can spark your car up on a cold, wintry Michigan day."
"Wow, coach. Now tell me, the defensive lineman, Nick Perry, the freshman, had an interception that he ran back for a touchdown. Was that a special blitz package?"
"Well, Bimbo, Nick Perry is a special kid. Kind of like the SPECIALS you can find this week at CVS Parmacy. Why, believe it or not, they have Twinkies on sale, two boxes for $4.00. And after you pick up some Twinkies, pick up a gallon of milk, which CVS has on sale for $2.50 per gallon"
"Coach Rodriguez, what will you tell your players during halftime"
"Well, in my Big Boy Halftime Speech to the team, I'm going to encourage them to keep giving the extra effort, like the guys at Clinton River Road Marina, where I buy all my water sprts vehicles. They just take you into their office, offer you some coffee and a donut, and just ask you questions like "can you afford a boat?", y'know, just to get to know you. That's why I buy all my boats from Clinton River Road Marina. Check them out, they're located on Clinton River Road"
"Well thansk coach, and good luck in the second half"
"Bimbette, you are Wal Mart Welcome!"

lol

http://wtfdetroit.com/forums/admincpanel/../../pics/toiletpaper.jpg WTFDetroit’s Morning Constitutional
With Zip Goshboots

January 19, 2008

Sometimes a man wakes up in the middle of the night, and just can’t get back to sleep. Sometimes a man daydreams for twenty minutes while driving, and instead of ending up at the drug store to purchase a box of tampons for his wife (and what IS it with them? They go through this thing every fucking month for twenty years, and every month it is the husband that must go out and buy tampons at 11:30 P.M. Fuck—I NEVER run out of beer!), he ends up in Traverse City. Sometimes a man is in a job interview, and just when the crucial question of “Why DO you want to work here, Thad?” comes up, he blurts out, “I just want to kill Mark Dantonio because he is trying to steal recruits from Michigan. Do you have a machete?”


Read this complete Morning Constitutional here. (http://www.wtfdetroit.com/index.php?page=morning11908)

I thought MY thread could only have contribution from Tahoe. Last time I checked, Tahoe didn't write the Constitutional and pm it to Zip - so why you posting that here Glenn?

lol

I thought MY thread could only have contribution from Tahoe. Last time I checked, Tahoe didn't write the Constitutional and pm it to Zip - so why you posting that here Glenn?

lol

When the Constitutional is posted, it's been channelled from Tahoe. Tahoe is too modest.

If that's the case, my apologies for my dissension.

By the way, it appears I should scrap plans of having a sign at tonights game. Apparently UM is trying to make sure no signs mentioning Pryor's name are at the game so that they don't break any NCAA rule.

Guessing Tressel would distribute hand written signs from his family to every fan at an O$U game.

By the way, it appears I should scrap plans of having a sign at tonights game. Apparently UM is trying to make sure no signs mentioning Pryor's name are at the game so that they don't break any NCAA rule.

Guessing Tressel would distribute hand written signs from his family to every fan at an O$U game.

Penn State got a letter from the NCAA about that.

Just have your Pryor sign, and leave that part out and bring a marker. Or have some part stickied over Pryor's name.

Every Student wants Pryor Now (is the game on ESPN?)

Well, I'll actually leave it to Moodini. He'll be courtside. I'll be so far up that Pryor would need binoculars to see the sign anyhow.
But, with that, I'm out. Time to leave Saginaw and head to Zingerman's before the game. I think I'll have the Reuben and Ginger Ale.

Well, I'll actually leave it to Moodini. He'll be courtside. I'll be so far up that Pryor would need binoculars to see the sign anyhow.
But, with that, I'm out. Time to leave Saginaw and head to Zingerman's before the game. I think I'll have the Reuben and Ginger Ale.

http://www.nndb.com/people/384/000049237/christopher_lowell_chair.jpg

Easy....
So the game was a bit of everything.
First of all, gameday experience far better than last year, but still with work to do.
RRod, staff and recruits rolled in about 5 minutes into the game and left with 5-6 left in the game.
Initially, Pryor sat in the front row, right next to RR. Batch was indeed with him. After a minute Pryor moved back to the second row where he sat in between Clemons and Mike Martin. On the other side of Clemons was Donovan Warren with JT Floyd on the other side of him. Couldn't tell exactly who else was there. Martin was wearing a Michigan sweatshirt.
Maize Rage chanted "Come to Michigan" and "We want Pryor".
During the t-shirt toss a cheerleader made sure to hand a t-shirt to Pryor, who had a huge grin on his face.
Charlie Batch was there, as promised, and it's clear he thinks he's a pimp. RR spent 1/3 of the game turned around in his seat talking to recruits, often directly to Pryor.
RR's wife has huge blonde hair and wears a shirt with silver sequins - a bit much.
Coach McGee and a couple other coaches were there - didn't see Barwis.

In basketball news, Jordan Morgan was there. The team played extremely well the first 5 minutes and the last 5 minutes. The 30 in the middle was mediocre to bad.

it sounds like a magical time had by all.

nice summary

Two more things:
1 - the crowd went nuts when the hockey score was shown (UM over ND), college hoops scores were shown (especially Tennessee over O$U) and when the men's indoor track results (UM over O$U) were shown. Many recruits were smiling at the reaction.
2 - Moodini was, in fact, courtside in the corner across from the visiting bench and made a play at one point as the ball was heading out of bounds. I called him up immediately afterward. He told me he made eye contact with Pryor and it was money.

Oh, one more thing. The attendance was horrible. It was a Maize Out (free t-shirts were distributed) and it didn't matter. Maize Rage did a nice job but the majority of the rest of the crowd was horrible, if even existent. The upper area on the ends was 100% vacant. The upper bowl on the sides was probably 70% full. The lower bowl, aside from the Maize Rage, was probably 85% full. Easily a couple thousand available seats. Sad that the same school that can sell 108,000 football tickets can't sell 18,000 basketball tickets.

Of course Barwis wan't there. He was busy killing alligators with one hand tied behind his back while wrestling grizzly bears and bench pressing.

My thread is lacking additional information about recruit reaction from this weekend - and I KNOW there's more info out there.
Tahoe? Don't fail me now.

Here's a switch from recruiting for a minute while I compile all the reporst that Tahoe is faxing me regarding the big weekend. I don't understand where Magee is trying to go with this, and maybe, just maybe, a deal needs to be worked out right about NOW regarding this settlement of the four mill, and both sides can shut the fuck up and get on with life...

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/story?id=3205142

Jethro: As far as the weekend visiting, nothing much to report. Tahoe says most of the recruits that came in are not tipping their hand one way or another.
We expect an announcement from DJ Woods today. It appears that he will pick Cincinnati over UM.

The boys on Scout, countering what Rivals is saying, feel that UM is a pretty good bet to land Perry. My man HipDigIt is on the other board wetting himself because Rivals says MSU is leading for Perry. It doesn't appear at this point that Perry will pull a Rojo.

Most people paying attention to the Terelle Pryor situation have accepted that the only thing that remains to be done is hand him the pen to sign the LOI for Ohio State. No one knows where UM goes from here, but BJ Daniels appears to be where they may turn. No further word on Star Jackson.

More later after Tahoe has his morning coffee.

With not much happening, here is a look at some players that many THINK UM is looking at or have expressed an interest in UM. Tahoe has talked to many of these guys, and I wouldn't get excited by any of these names (in terms of UM getting them). RR is coming very late in the process, and most of these guys have had an idea of where they were going to go for a time now.

Quarterbacks:
Star Jackson: An early Tide committ, but Major Applewhite has left the Tide. http://alabama.scout.com/a.z?s=14&p=8&c=1&nid=3051392
Justin Feagin: One of the new Florida targets since RR came in http://louisianastate.scout.com/a.z?s=107&p=8&c=1&nid=3177930
BJ Daniels:This is one most of the folks at Scout are hoping for if UM can't sway Star Jackson http://iowastate.scout.com/a.z?s=171&p=8&c=1&nid=3057143
Two Slot Receiver Candidates:
TJ Lawrence: Will visit this weekend. Appears to be on the verge of committing to Souf Carolina, but UM has gotten into his ear.http://florida.scout.com/a.z?s=168&p=8&c=1&nid=2610236
Terrence Robinson: Houston speedster, again late, but at least he's visiting on the 25th (I think):http://pennstate.scout.com/a.z?s=157&p=8&c=1&nid=3192328
Running Backs
Desmond Jackson:After about 9300 years rushing in his first four games as a senior, and with offers from LSU and Troy in hand, he broke his leg and missed the rest of the season. Not sure about what is going on between he and UM, but his name has popped up, especially with Jay Hopson's Misssissippi ties. http://florida.scout.com/a.z?s=168&p=8&c=1&nid=2895276

Later on we'll look at defense.

So no on Keith Nichol to UM then? lol

Keith Nichol...Wow.

Anyway, if we look beyond TP and this year, there is a kid in Florida that RR has been involved with for a couple years now. Eugene Smith, a four star from Florida. Check the link out, all the way at the bottom are the schools they fiigure will go after him. Guess who was the first to offer?
http://recruiting.scout.com/a.z?s=73&p=8&c=1&nid=3333654

NOT SO FAST..... I have heard through a very close connection to Terrelle Pryor in PA that he will be a Wolverine unless something out of the blue happens at LSU this source is very good and has led me right about many PA recruits and rarely tips his hat but according to him Pryor is MICH lock and he does not believe that OSU is really in the race he thinks it is really between Mich, LSU, and oregon just passing this on. Oh and I also am pretty sure that Perry is going to end up at State I have spoken with some of his family and it sounds like he is in love with coach D and he has a few close friends going there as well.

Nick Perry: Like I said, there are two camps in this one. The GOOD news is that an instate kid will stay IN STATE. I think it depends on your bias, or what you want to believe. The latest stuff about him being MSU bound is the FIRST I've heard of that, and that includes alot of other guys on this forum. Again, if you have Rivals, it's MSU in the lead. If you have Scout, it's UM (And he still has his visit to UM coming).

As for Pryor: That would blow EVERYONE away right now. Even the most diehard UMers on Scout seem to have given up. Tressel has been in Pryor's back pocket for three years now, he has done a real good job with Pryor. Who knows? Maybe Les Miles is having Pryor down there to give him a stirring speech about UM!

DJ Woods has committed to Cincinnati. It seems he fels a better fit there. Good luck to him.
The thing I find odd is this: How many of you think Brian Kelly will be at Cinci two years from now?

How many of you think Brian Kelly will be at Cinci two years from now?


*crickets*

Bengals, maybe.

Rumor has C wilson has decommited and is heading south on a happier note it looks like Micheal Shaw may be in the fold for the umers looking for some signitures.

Rumor has C wilson has decommited and is heading south on a happier note it looks like Micheal Shaw may be in the fold for the umers looking for some signitures.

Too bad about Wilson. It seems he REALLY loved UM. But I'm interested to hear about Shaw, though. Where did you hear that one?

Rumor has C wilson has decommited and is heading south on a happier note it looks like Micheal Shaw may be in the fold for the umers looking for some signitures.

Not south. Still liked UM after UNC, wants to leave after BC, and wants to visit MSU. So I think that a pro-style O with a FB/H back is what he is looking for, and should likely come down to BC(favorite) and MSU.

NOT SO FAST..... I have heard through a very close connection to Terrelle Pryor in PA that he will be a Wolverine unless something out of the blue happens at LSU this source is very good and has led me right about many PA recruits and rarely tips his hat but according to him Pryor is MICH lock and he does not believe that OSU is really in the race he thinks it is really between Mich, LSU, and oregon just passing this on. Oh and I also am pretty sure that Perry is going to end up at State I have spoken with some of his family and it sounds like he is in love with coach D and he has a few close friends going there as well.

i hope you are right, but i think pryor to OSU, and perry to UM.

Terrelle should totally go to Michigan, if he doesn't want to graduate.

har har

As of tinight, with the USC visit still fresh on his mind, Perry ranks his top three:
1)USC
2)Michigan
3)Miami

He has his official this weekend with UM.

As of tinight, with the USC visit still fresh on his mind, Perry ranks his top three:
1)USC
2)Michigan
3)Miami

He has his official this weekend with UM.

Just going to say - Rivals has about 18 interviews with him in the past 2 days, and didn't get a ranking or a leader. But I'm certainly not expecting MSU to win this one, just seems odd that MSU went from first to last in one visit. I thought we would get passed one at a time.

Well, I think it's clear as to what's going on at Rivals: A clear and distinct anti Michigan agenda.

Right now, this looks like how the recruiting visits will end up for the last couple of weeks heading into Feb 6:

From Scout:

As far as "New Recruits" go ...

New QB recruits:
-- Run-pass QB Star Jackson (6-1, 195, 4.5) from Lake Worth, Fla (ALA commit, former WVA recruit).
-- possible: Run-pass QB Justin Feagin (6-0, 195, 4.6) from Delray Beach Fla., American Heritage. Visited by QB Coach Rod Smith. He has 2 visits left, with 3 schools vying: LSU, Michigan, Oregon. Visits already taken: Louisiana and Syracuse.
-- possible: Run-pass QB B.J. Daniels (6-1, 195, 4.5) from Tallahassee Lincoln.

New RB recruits:
-- Ohio RB Isaiah Pead (5-11, 190, 4.45) from Columbus Eastmoor. He's visited Pitt Kan 11 and Cincy Jan. 18, and he'll visit U-M Jan. 25 (or, possibly, Feb. 1).
-- MS RB Desmond Johnson (6-0, 190) from Yazoo City, MS. Gained 2,000+ yds as Jr; gained 1,000+ yds in 4 games as Sr. then broke leg. U-M offered, should get Jan. 25 visit ... visiting S-Miss Jan. 18, Memphis Feb. 1st.

New WR recruits (looking for slots):
-- Terrance Robinson (5-8, 175) from Houston Klein Oak. Visited Wake already, plus BC Jan. 18, U-M Jan. 25.
-- T.J. Lawrence (6-2, 190, 4.5) from Lakeland, Fla., Kathleen. He's visited VAT and Fla. (Jan. 11), and will visit SCAR (Jan. 18) and U-M (Jan. 25).
-- WR/DB Khiry Cooper (6-2, 175) from Shreveport, La. Calvery Baptist. Visits: Ark. Jan. 25, Neb. (or U-M) Feb. 1. U-M has offered.

New OL Recruits
*NEW*-- Fla OL Rhonne Sanderson (6-3, 280) from Tampa H.H. Plant . Visits: MSU Jan. 18, FSU Jan. 25 (fav?), U-M Feb. 1st.

New DL Recruits
-- Ohio DL Patrick Omameh (6-5, 240) from Columbus DeSales. The Cincy commit reportedly has an offer now ... will he visit?

Possible New LB Recruits
-- possible: Ohio LB Steve Greer (6-2, 220, 4.7) from Solon. U-M visited his school ... no offer as of yet. Offers from Rice (Jan. 16 visit), N-Car (Jan. 25).
*NEW*-- possible: Pa. LB Adrian Robinson (6-2, 225) from Harrisburg. Visits; Pitt. Jan. 18, Temple Jan. 25. Grades are the issue.

New DB recruits:
-- S.C. S Jaron Brown (6-2, 190) from Cheraw. Clem and SCAR, his big leaders, on 2 weekends prior.
-- CB Charles Mitchell (5-11, 185, 4.5) from Clarksdale, Miss. Feb. 1 U-M visit. Other visits: NEB (Jan. 11), MSST (Jan. 18), S-MISS (Jan. 25). As a senior he recorded 78 tackles, four sacks, two ints.
-- possible: Pa. CB Joshua Potts (5-11, 175) from Harrisburg. U-M has visited his school ... no offer as yet.
*NEW*-- possible: Ohio CB Willy Lowe (5-9, 170) from Cleveland Glenville. Has already visited Iowa and Indiana in Dec., NCST Jan. 18. Stay tuned...

Charles Mitchell is doubtful, IMO; the Corn has been coming after him hard and many here think they've got him.

Well, we can cross Star Jackson off the list

http://recruiting.scout.com/2/722133.html

He might be a great player, but a guy named Star playing at the U of M just makes me vomit.

He'd have to change his name to something tough like: Zues or Duke or Brick or Stone Cold or something.

So it's probably for the better...

Chances are his real name ain't even Star. One of them nickname type deals, I reckon.

Hell, Mike Hart's real first name, according to wikipedia, is Leon.

i thought it was mouth.

i remember the good old days when all the michigan guys had badass names like gold, sword, sharp, etc. and msu's guys were named like pillow and kleenex. this was like 10 years ago. good times.

Well, the vibe on Perry is already changing. It seems that now that he's back home, and forgot about the blow job from Beyonce, Michigan is back at the forefront of his mindset.
I like the way Perry talks today in Scout. He has clicked with some of the other recroots, like Cissoko and McGuffie, and this weekends visit to UM could seal the deal. He gives the Sparties a mention, but I'm not thinking MSU has a shot.

Here's a great post from Scout. I'm stealing it because it's that good. You get the "Goods" from Scout, even during boring times like this. Pay for it, dudes.

First thing is I told the player I wouldn't name names, however, I told him people would put 2-and-2 together and he said "it's all good." Thus here's my post...take it FWIW, like I always say when I have tidbits of info, TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION. Don't come knocking at my door if it doesn't turn out to be true, because unless it's my word (ex. "I, MM113, will be committing to Michigan today) I don't guarantee it. People change their minds, people hear differently, "stuff" happens. But here is what this player told me...and it shouldn't come as a surprise.

Regarding Barwis:
---He's a beast
---Current players all know him
---Some aren't going to make it unless they get their act together
---He's made an impression already and certain players are using him as a tool to get them to the NFL physically
---This player spoke about how Barwis is knowledgeable about football enough to know that every player shouldn't be doing the same lifts just at different weights...he takes a more position based approach where OL and CBs won't be doing the same thing as much
---Barwis will help everyone individually including being everyone's "personal trainer" sort to speak
---He loves Barwis, he's intense, but he's genuine and he knows what he's going

Regarding him personally:
---He will be mentoring some of these "little dudes" coming in (meaning incoming freshman)
---He will miss Carr and Co. but he's excited about the next staff
---He said Coach Carr allows EVERYONE to keep in touch, "he didn't just ride off into the sunset"
---He said he's already called coach Carr and Coach E just to talk, he truly loves them, spoke about how he will graduate from Michigan because of Coach Carr
---Wouldn't say WHEN he's graduate, just that he would
---Said he called coach Carr to tell him he was transferring because it was too cold, Carr didn't believe the joke for a second...so then they just talked about how to stay warm
---Asked coach E to let the "NEW UM" know of some of the Cali talent still in his area, obviously that was English's stomping ground so he knew of a ton of players out there
---Coach E told him, that he should talk to the coaches, because Coach E's trying to get them to L'ville!
---Loves the "New UM" said that they're like the "Old UM" just younger, more innovative and a little "cooler." But the values are there
---I asked if it was Coach Carr's doing that the traditions and values at UM would be understood and not changed...he said "I don't know, probably"
---I asked if he wanted Coach Miles...he said "at first yea, but I don't know much about his staff, ya know? (talked about how players have more of a relationship with assistant coaches than the head coach)" Then he said "I heard he's kind of weird too...so I'm glad we got Coach Rodriguez, he just better let me do my thing (laughing)."

Regarding Incoming Recruits:
---He thinks Floyd is in, said he's 99%, he's just taking the visit to Tennessee to see what it has to offer and to be 100% sure. Said that Tennessee could knock his socks off, but he'd be surprised...thinks he's blue
---Has no clue about Pryor, said he seemed to like Michigan, but Pryor's really low key so you can't read him. He said if Toney was the recruit, it was 100% clear he'd be coming to Michigan...he had a GREAT TIME! Plus Toney likes to talk, Terrelle doesn't. Said he doesn't know why if the recruiting trail is taking so much of a toll on him why he doesn't just go home, enjoy the 3-day weekend and announce on Tuesday because everyone knows it's Michigan or OSU.
---Said Martin is coming to Michigan without a doubt, didn't know about the ND visit but said it's probably just to keep his word...because he's coming to Michigan
---"Boo Boo is short" (laughing), thinks if he's as good as people say he could start as the nickelback playing against the speedier slot WRs. Said that he, Boo Boo, and Floyd all spoke with Barwis together...
---Asked (jokingly) if he was so (didn't know the word, "so cutesy, so wide-eyed, so "little" (not size wise)) when he was an incoming freshman...you know how when you're in high school and you go back to your old middle school or in college and visit back to the high school and you always say "we were that little!?" Or "look at the cute little high schoolers!" That's what he meant.

Just off the top of my head............I'm guessing Donovan.

As we speak, the Mighty Rod is in Florida talking to two possible recroots: The afforementioned Star Jackson and Justin Feagin.
I know things may be getting desperate, but Jackson is about a lost cause. Of course, read into it what you will: Last minute panic knowing that Pryor is golden to the Buckeyes?

Something I missed in the last couple days is that Witherspoon has added Rutgers to his list of possibilities. I was pretty sure he became more solid with UM even after the Tennessee visit due to a talk with the UM staff. Huh, guess not.
I know these kids have tough decisions to make: "Do I go to Tennessee and look like an orange sissy? Do I go to Rutgers and the world never hears from me again? OR, do I go to Michigan and become one of the all time best people in the history of the world?

Sounds like a no brainer.

But here's hoping that he comes to peace with a decision soon and get's this shit off his mind. I'm hoping for Rutgers if not UM, of course. That blasted SEC is starting to get on my nerves.

Nice story on Rivals that the Free Press of course has jumped on. It seems our boy Chadd Henne is yapping about Rich Rod and the Spread at Michigan. The way Chad sees it, UM could be down to ZERO quarterbacks by the end of spring ball. Reda on:

Mallet's move doesn't surprise Henne

Rich Rodriguez's hire at Michigan has been one of the biggest storylines in college football over the past month. Rodriguez's hire will bring many changes, most notably to the Wolverines' offense. Former Michigan quarterback Chad Henne said he expects to see a whole new look from the Wolverines in 2008.

"I think it's going to be a lot different," he said. "(Rodriguez) is bringing the whole spread offense, and a lot of the quarterbacks are looking elsewhere.

"Ryan Mallett already transferred and two of the other quarterbacks are staying for spring ball to see what happens. It's definitely a change at the quarterback position, and we'll see how it works in the Big 10."

Henne said Mallett's decision to leave for Arkansas wasn't a surprise. Henne said the move was in Mallett's best interest.

"It was good for him to leave," Henne said. "Obviously none of us (Michigan) quarterbacks are spread-offense quarterbacks, and he wanted to go to an offense where he could throw the ball." End

Maybe at Arkansas they'll teach him to take a snap first.
Again we have the "Will it work in the Big 10" bullshit. Well say, Chad, the spread seems to work pretty fucking well AGAINST the Big 10, doesn't it? And gee, words of wisdom from a guy who went 3-9 against Notre Dame, Ohio State, and in Bowl Games. A guy who never really developed the potential that seemed so vast during his freshman year. A guy who, by more than a few accounts, didn't really think he needed to spend a whole lot of time listening to coaches.

As for the spread and "throwing the ball", say, have you watched games where the teams that use the spread have QB's who CAN throw the ball? The psread made a twenty plus td quearterback out of Tim Tebow. The spread made Vince Young into a top five NFL draft pick.
Oh, and by the way, Chadley: You just won a bowl game for the first time in your career using, a spread offense. Chad, you've never struck me as a very intelligent guy. Great potential, I think you'll be a great NFL QB. But smart, no. You never struck me as smart.

And besides, how's what UM has been doing for the last seven years been working out in the Big 10?

Chadwick, Chadwick, Chadwick...

A traitor in our midst!

Chad Steven Henne (born July 2, 1985 in West Lawn, Pennsylvania)

Sent to Ann Arbor to sabotage the UM program by none other than Joe Paterno! I see through Paterno's ruse. Ten straight losses to UM just to set them up!

Zip, as usual: Tahoe is onto something here.

The most noticeable position affected is quarterback. Michigan's Chad Henne was sensational Monday and stands to benefit greatly because of his overall passing efficiency. Kentucky's Andre Woodson showcased his rifle of an arm but understandably struggled with his timing during the first day of practice. Otherwise, there wasn't much positive to say about the performances turned in by Colt Brennan (Hawaii), John David Booty (USC), Joe Flacco (Delaware) and Erik Ainge (Tennessee). Brennan had toughest first day. His erratic passing performance in practice was preceded by him tipping the scale at a measly 185 pounds during the morning's weigh-in.


Monday (1/21/08): Henne was the best quarterback on the North's squad today and this atmosphere suits the competitive, experienced and intelligent signal-caller extremely well. Henne completed deep passes to Eddie Royal during one-on-one drills, as well as with Jordy Nelson on seven-on-seven. He threw with very good touch and was consistently accurate with his deep throws. He also got the ball out quickly and sold his play-action fakes. Henne caught the eye of scouts today.


Tuesday (1/22/08): It's hard not to notice the tremendous power and velocity Henne possesses when throwing the ball. Add that to the great accuracy he shows when he's able to set his feet, and Henne made some impressive throws in today's practice. Henne excels in throwing the ball in the intermediate crossing routes and shows great anticipation and drives the ball into tight windows. This was evident during the seven-on-seven period, when he hit Kansas State's Jordy Nelson down the middle. Putting good zip along with the proper projection, Henne was able to place the ball just over the outstretched arms of Southern Cal OLB Keith Rivers. One thing that may go unnoticed is Henne's tremendous feet with his drops. He does a nice job of getting a quick and long first step off of the line, enabling him to get to the proper depth with his drops. This depth gives Henne good ability to read down the field and neutralizes the average height he possesses at 6-foot-2. There is concern about Henne's overall mobility to slide and create in the pocket. This was clear during team drills today, when pressure made Henne look uncomfortable at times and caused him to make a few errant throws.

What? Henne uncomfortable under pressure? No way?

I tell you what, a little more Spread offense, where he's used to moving around the pocket, and BANG Henne is a Top 5 pick!

If he played that well in the spread in the first game he ever played it (the bowl game), just think how well he'd have fit into it if they'd run it since his freshman year. He probably would be an early first round pick, honestly.

Well, the real trouble with the spread is that no one knows how it will work in the Big 10.

Commence laughter now.

haha

hahaha

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

*cough*

ha...ha...hahahahahahaha

haha

hahaha

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

*cough*

ha...ha...hahahahahahaha

:cogent:

Is losing going to work for Michigan State?

Well, if anyone could accomplish this, it is Tahoe. He has found a level headed guy in West Virginia:

http://www.wvgazette.com/section/Sports/WVU/200801232

I see RR is recruiting a 2 star safety from Florida to play QB. Interesting. I realize Pat White was an "athlete" and a 3 star in 2004, but, well, doom and gloom.

For those of you following the Michian Quarterback Saga, the guys at Scout have finally given up on Alabama recruit Star Jackson. Like most of the rest of us did two weeks ago.

Jethro: I'm not finding the "Two star safety". You may mean Justin Feagin, who did indeed play QB. He's a backup option out of Florida. Yes he goes between 2 and 3 star. Led his team to the Florida 1A championship, which is probably like saying his team could beat the Lions.

I'm not sure where UM is going, but there is growing cautious optimism on the Pryor front at Scout. Most there think UM has a chance. I don't, though. I think he's been OSU locked for a long time.

For those of you doom and gloomers, and for those of you who are wondering if all this stupid hubub going on between RR and West Virginia, which has led to much speculation about his "character", and recruiting practices is getting to the people who made the hire, I have a good freind who says "Bullshit".

Here's what I've been hearing:

The only thing that has taken Michigan admin aback is that RR is the "most flamboyant" hire UM has made. The quickness of the process with him didn;t allow UM to get to know as much about him as they did Belein. There were some other quirky things that happened (read: agents and lawyers up front and outspoken) that took UM by surprise, but no one is questioning the hire or The Man. Word abounds that RR is a SOLID character guy. Now, of course, you'd have to expect that UM would be very interested in that.

From another friend: There was no way to keep English. Not just because he "wanted" the HC job, but because he wants to be an HC SOON. When this staff was put together, even though some guys are not so much on the "radar" (like Shafer), it was constructed with the idea that it would stay together for awhile. UM was interested in continuity, and didn't want the impression that there'd be a bunch of job hoppers here. Another thing in RR's favor is that he put seven years in at WVU, when he started getting offers three to four years ago. He hasn't given the impression to anyone in Ann Arbor that he's not interested in a long stay. Having said that, according to my pals, Magee is someone to keep an eye on in terms of HC jobs, but he won't just jump at the first Vanderbilt that comes calling.
One other friend has told me that top to bottom, UM is pumped by the hiring, and the bitterness coming from WVU, though understandable to a point, is childish and THAT'S what needs to go away.[END]

Folks, just listen to Colin Cowherd as well. A pretty consistent Lloyd basher, he's been on the RR Train since Day One.

This has just been a little info for those of you who are, like me, unfortunately not living in either Michigan (so you can be immersed in this and really get a feel for it all), or Hawaii, where you wouldn't give a shit because, well, it's Hawaii.

For those of you following the Michian Quarterback Saga, the guys at Scout have finally given up on Alabama recruit Star Jackson. Like most of the rest of us did two weeks ago.

Jethro: I'm not finding the "Two star safety". You may mean Justin Feagin, who did indeed play QB. He's a backup option out of Florida. Yes he goes between 2 and 3 star. Led his team to the Florida 1A championship, which is probably like saying his team could beat the Lions.

I'm not sure where UM is going, but there is growing cautious optimism on the Pryor front at Scout. Most there think UM has a chance. I don't, though. I think he's been OSU locked for a long time.

So what do we do without Jackson or Pryor? What's plan C?

So what do we do without Jackson or Pryor? What's plan C?

How's your arm these days, Chris?

It sounds like everyone has given up hope for Pryor. Is he pretty much guaranteed to go to OSU or something?

Sorry if I haven't been keeping up.

It sounds like everyone has given up hope for Pryor. Is he pretty much guaranteed to go to OSU or something?

Sorry if I haven't been keeping up.

Motown, if it was anybody but you, I'd kick his ass. But you are busy being a moderator of any and all forums that exist in the Universe, so it's OK.

I thought for awhile spirits were down. However, there seems to be a newer, fresher, almost "douche-fresh" feeling that UM has a solid chance with Pryor.

Zip seems to think hes a buckeye for sure. But I have heard good word from an old coach I know that he is almost a Michigan lock he seems to think Oregon has a shot. Personally I believe he is UM bound. So I guess take that for what its worth.

It's worth 11 cents.

How's your arm these days, Chris?
As bad as ever. I was a dual threat QB in my college flag football days, but getting run down by DE's would end my career pretty fast against real atheletes.

thetwins may be onto something.

Tonight, TJB axed "How come no one's axing me about how optimistic I is about TP?"

Usually, if you ax him about TP, he say: "I dont know, do I look like Nostradamus mothufuckAAAA?"

Then, here's a lil Nick Perry info: Nick is coming to Ann Arbors FRIDAY night, gon' have a lil fun up in that mug, then he goin' back to take his ACT on Saturday morning, then he headed back to The A2 to have him some more fun up in that mug!
Shoot, peoples be wonderin' if they's some sort of silent committment and shit.
I knowed that SoCal muthafuckin shit would wear off once Perry got back to Michigan and started freezing his balls of! It's a special feelin you just cain't git in SoCal with all them fags runnin around, actin in soap operas and shit. Makin movies bout two cowboys makin luv and shit.
Nick prolly say: "Hells yes. I feel the M right now. I need to get back to Michigan and HIT somebody"

Here are some names to watch over the next couple of weeks. Remember, RichGod wants to get to 25 schollies this signing period.

OLine: Patrick Omameh (Ohio, 6'5 240, 2 star, 4.0 GPA 28 on ACT)
DLine: Nick Perry (If you have to ask...)
DBacks: JT Floyd (Souf Carolina; 5'11, 185, 4.5 forty; three star)
WR/DB: TJ Robinson (Florida; 6'1, 190, 4.55 forty, three star)
RB: Desmond Johnson (Mississippi; 6' 185, no info due to injury)
QB: Justin Feagin and/or BJ Daniels, depends on what TP does. Right now, he's kind of holding things up, but it may pay off. The problem is if TP comes, you probably got Feagin anyway, but of course, Daniels would be oot. If TP doesn't come, you could be left with yer dick swinging in the wind come signing day.

The above look like the most likely to come to UM at this point. JT Floyd has all but conceded that he's on board (according to Rivals). I think UM has a good chance with a recroot named Michael Shaw (Ohio, 6'0, 187, 4.45, four star).

There could be a few other surprises. But one good thing is that it looks like Wilson will be the only committ of Lloyd's that will be lost, though DingDongtonio has Rocko Khoury going to East Lansing soon for a visit.