New era in UM football, same recruiting excellence
David Veenhuis
Issue date: 2/21/08 Section: Sports
In his first off-season as head football coach, Rich Rodriguez has assembled yet another group of highly touted recruits with one enormous prospect still considering signing with the University of Michigan. National signing day this year was Feb. 6, the first day that a high school recruit can officially commit to the school of his choosing. Prior to that, a recruit can give only a verbal commitment.
For Rodriguez, the toughest job this year was keeping the recruits that verbally committed to UM while former coach Lloyd Carr was still at the helm.
Among those that decided to honor their commitment to Michigan despite the coaching change were cornerbacks Boubacar Cissoko (Detroit, Mich.) and Sam McGuffie (Cypress, Texas), who played in the U.S. Army All-American game, and wide receiver Darryl Stonum (Stafford, Texas), who played in the Under Armour All-American game. Another standout signing was safety Brandon Smith (New Brunswick, N.J.) who actually cited Rodriguez as a major reason for his interest in the Wolverines when he verbally committed to UM during the U.S. Army All-American game.
Not only did Rodriguez convince previous commitments to stick with their originally choice, he was also able to entice a couple of others that had committed elsewhere.
Running back Michael Shaw (Trotwood, Ohio) originally committed to Penn State University, but decided to don the maize and blue next fall. Also, Shaw's high school teammate, wide receiver Roy Roundtree (Trotwood, Ohio) originally committed to Purdue University, but decided to follow Shaw to Ann Arbor - a decision that upset the Boilermakers' head coach, Joe Tiller.
"If we had an early signing date, you wouldn't have another outfit with a guy in a wizard hat selling snake oil get a guy at the last minute, but that's what happened," Tiller said in an interview with the Detroit Free Press.
This year's recruiting class is currently ranked anywhere from No. 5 (Scout.com) to No. 10 (Rivals.com) in the nation. Either high school scouting site would surely give UM a bump in their rankings if super prospect Terrelle Pryor (Pittsburgh, Penn.) were to sign with the Wolverines.
Pryor appears to be the second coming of former University of Texas quarterback Vince Young. He's got size, speed and athleticism, all of which were on display in the U.S. Army All-American game as he took the game's MVP honors. Both Scout.com and Rivals.com have him listed as the top prospect in the country and Michigan is still in the running for his services.
While it appears to be a successful recruiting class, a top rated QB is absent from the list. Considering that Rodriguez's offense has been heavily dependant on that position over the years and the departures of four-year starter Chad Henne and Ryan Mallett, the Wolverines are in need of a quarterback. Pryor would seem to be a perfect fit in Ann Arbor and the bow on Rodriguez's first gift to the UM faithful.
For Rodriguez, the toughest job this year was keeping the recruits that verbally committed to UM while former coach Lloyd Carr was still at the helm.
Among those that decided to honor their commitment to Michigan despite the coaching change were cornerbacks Boubacar Cissoko (Detroit, Mich.) and Sam McGuffie (Cypress, Texas), who played in the U.S. Army All-American game, and wide receiver Darryl Stonum (Stafford, Texas), who played in the Under Armour All-American game. Another standout signing was safety Brandon Smith (New Brunswick, N.J.) who actually cited Rodriguez as a major reason for his interest in the Wolverines when he verbally committed to UM during the U.S. Army All-American game.
Not only did Rodriguez convince previous commitments to stick with their originally choice, he was also able to entice a couple of others that had committed elsewhere.
Running back Michael Shaw (Trotwood, Ohio) originally committed to Penn State University, but decided to don the maize and blue next fall. Also, Shaw's high school teammate, wide receiver Roy Roundtree (Trotwood, Ohio) originally committed to Purdue University, but decided to follow Shaw to Ann Arbor - a decision that upset the Boilermakers' head coach, Joe Tiller.
"If we had an early signing date, you wouldn't have another outfit with a guy in a wizard hat selling snake oil get a guy at the last minute, but that's what happened," Tiller said in an interview with the Detroit Free Press.
This year's recruiting class is currently ranked anywhere from No. 5 (Scout.com) to No. 10 (Rivals.com) in the nation. Either high school scouting site would surely give UM a bump in their rankings if super prospect Terrelle Pryor (Pittsburgh, Penn.) were to sign with the Wolverines.
Pryor appears to be the second coming of former University of Texas quarterback Vince Young. He's got size, speed and athleticism, all of which were on display in the U.S. Army All-American game as he took the game's MVP honors. Both Scout.com and Rivals.com have him listed as the top prospect in the country and Michigan is still in the running for his services.
While it appears to be a successful recruiting class, a top rated QB is absent from the list. Considering that Rodriguez's offense has been heavily dependant on that position over the years and the departures of four-year starter Chad Henne and Ryan Mallett, the Wolverines are in need of a quarterback. Pryor would seem to be a perfect fit in Ann Arbor and the bow on Rodriguez's first gift to the UM faithful.
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