Another PreSeason Poll ..

Composite Top 25 from Lindy's, Athlon, Sporting News and Phil Steele magazines. Top-ranked teams receive 25 points, No. 2 teams receive 24 points, etc. Florida was No. 1 in all four rankings.

1. Florida (4) 100 points
2. Texas 95
3. Oklahoma 92
4. Southern Cal 89
5. Ole Miss and Virginia Tech 74
7. Ohio State 72
8. Alabama 70
9. Penn State 69
10. Oklahoma State 61
11. LSU 54
12. Boise State 53
13. Cal 51
14. Georgia 45
15. Oregon 43
16. Notre Dame and Georgia Tech 29
18. Florida State 28
19. TCU 22
20. Nebraska 18
21. North Carolina 17
22. Brigham Young 16
23. Utah 15
24. Oregon State 11
25. Rutgers 10

Composite SEC rankings from same magazines using the same format.

SEC East
1. Florida (4) 24
2. Georgia 20
3. Tennessee 19
4. South Carolina 12
5. Vanderbilt 7
6. Kentucky 6

SEC West
1. Ole Miss (2) 21
2. Alabama (1) 20
3. LSU (1) 19
4. Arkansas 11
5. Auburn 9
6. Mississippi State 4

The pre-preseason poll of polls

Wolverine Knee Issues, 2010 Football Offers, and IU picks up a recruit

Incoming Freshman Jordan Morgan will be out the next 4-5 months for the Michigan Basketball Team due to a surgery to his left knee to repair articular cartilage. This will be the second year in a row that an incoming freshman forward/center has lost time due to an injury. Last year, center Ben Cronin missed the entire year with a hip injury that required surgery. "The timing of Jordan's injury is very unfortunate," U-M coach John Beilein said in a statement. "We are very confident, however, that with the great medical staff at the University of Michigan, Jordan will make a full and speedy recovery."

• Michigan Football Offers on the street include: Nick Jones (5-10, 165) WR a teammate of very highly rated running back Marcus Lattimore. I think RR and staff were looking to do a teammate offer thing, but Marcus does not have Michigan in his top 5. So I'm wondering if they would even take a verbal from Nick at this point. Nick's other offers are from Northern Illinois and Georgia Southern. Michigan is pretty full at WR, unless you bring a 5 star RB with you.

• Defensive end/OL Henry Anderson (6-6, 245) of College Park, Ga may visit Ann Arbor this summer.

• DB Keion Payne (6-0, 165), has 19 offers and Michigan is one of them. Keion does not currently have a leader.

• DE Jordan Allen (6-6, 258) of West Monroe, La has a Michigan offer.

• Cincinnati DE Jibreel Black decided against Michigan, MSU, and Cincinnati to play with his brother at Indiana. “I want to make a splash,” Jibreel said. “It’s a good fit for me." “(The IU coaching staff) was very excited,” Black said about his decision. “They said I could be the one to make the difference.” Michigan doesn't loose too many recruits to IU, but I guess Blood is thicker then Maize and Blue.

• A great answer from RR from an interview with Angelique S. Chengelis from the Detroit News. (Background: Some people have suggested that MSU has dominated the State of Michigan in recruiting the last two years. The fact is only a few players have gone to MSU that had Michigan offers). Now on to the Q&A: Q . But there seems to be the perception that Michigan State is taking over the state in recruiting A . Last I checked, Mike Martin and Will Campbell were playing for Michigan. Case Closed. Great Answer.

Alabama leads the SEC and is 2nd in the nation with 18 commits (Texas 19)

Jarrick Williams (S) 6-2, 205, MT Blount HS (Prichard, AL)
Deion Belue (CB) 6-0, 175, Deshler HS (Tuscumbia, AL)
Jay Williams (P) 6-3, 210, Thomasville HS (Thomasville, AL)
Demarcus Milliner (CB) 6-0,185, Stanhope Elmore HS (Millbrook, AL)
Craig Sanders (DE) 6-4, 230, Ariton HS (AL)
JaWuan James (OT) 6-6, 305, North Gwinnett HS (Suwanee, GA)
Cade Foster (K) 6-2, 220, Southlake Carroll HS (Southlake, TX)
Wilson Love (DT) 6-4, 264, Mountain Brook HS (Mountain Brook, AL)
Phillip Sims (QB) 6-1, 218, Oscar Frommel Smith HS (Chesapeake, VA)
Ronald Carswell (WR) 6-0, 175, Westside HS (Macon, GA)
Chad Lindsay (OG) 6-3, 307, The Woodlands HS (The Woodlands, TX)
Blake Sims (QB) 6-0, 175, Gainesville HS (Gainesville, GA)
Nick Perry (S) 6-1, 190, Prattville HS (Prattville, AL)
Austin Shepherd (OT) 6-5, 316, North Gwinnett HS (Suwanee, GA)
Keiwone Malone (WR) 6-1, 168, Mitchell HS (Memphis, TN)
Jalston Fowler (FB/OLB) 6-0, 230, Vigor HS (Prichard, AL) *
Devonta Bolton (OLB) 6-3, 225, East Mississippi CC (Hometown - Norcross, GA) **
Brandon Lewis (DE) 6-3, 270, East Mississippi CC (Hometown - Pleasant Valley, AL) **
*Fowler is a late qualifier, meaning his high school eligibility finished in ’08 but had more course work to complete. Possible early enroll in Jan. 2010.
**Originally part of 2008 class but did not qualify.

Updated List of 2010 Alabama Football Verbal Commits (18 as of 6/29/09)

Tim Hardaway Jr. Commits to Michigan

Son of former NBA star Tim Hardaway decided to commit to Michigan today. Tim, Jr. just got back from Michigan's elite camp where his good shooting earned him a Wolverine offer.

Tim got home, talked to his dad, and called Coach Beilein with the good news. Tim is a 2010, 6"3 shooting guard and has 3 stars from Rivals. His other offers were from Minnesota and Kansas State. Other schools showing strong interest were; Florida, South Carolina, Northwestern and Florida State.

This leaves the Michigan Basketball program with one more scholarship for the 2010 class and Michigan is hoping it is filled by Trey Zeigler or Casey Prather.

Michigan Monday: Barwis Chews on a Kicker

We all know that Michigan's S&C coach Mike Barwis doesn't mess around when it comes to working out. So when Freshmen come in for the first time, it's a shock. But when your a kicker who really hasn't worked out much, it's a real shock. This is what Brendan Gibbons, a Freshman Kicker who just got on campus had to say about Mr. Barwis: "The workouts are real hard, I've just got to get used to it," said Gibbons, a 6-foot, 200-pounder from West Palm Beach (Fla.) Cardinal Newman. "I never worked out like this before."

Punter Zoltan Mesko has been an early mentor to Gibbons and offered him the best advice so far. "Just work hard and don't give up because if you give up, Barwis goes crazy," Gibbons recalled Mesko telling him.

Barwis works everyone hard, here is what Taylor Lewan a Freshman Offensive Lineman had to say when he got on campus a few weeks ago: "Yesterday I had my first Barwis workout," said Lewan on Saturday afternoon. "We lifted and then we did plyos (plyometrics) and ran. During plyos, my legs were so shaky I could barely walk. My legs were cramping up and everything. It's a huge program. This is going to make us all athletes. Twice as much the athletes that we all are."

Barwis has already had an impact on future QB starter Tate Forcier. Per Coach Rod: "Tate was so proud, he came by and saw us yesterday at a whopping 190 pounds. He came in at 175 wearing a long sleeve shirt, now he's wearing a t-shirt and eventually he'll be wearing a muscle shirt. He's had a great spring, carried it over to the summer. He and a couple of those other young guys are going to have an opportunity, so we'll see what happens."

• Were #46! Were #46!: In Rivals pre-season rankings
  
  
• Michigan finishes 3rd again in the Directors Cup: Behind Stanford and USC.
  
  
• What type of Wood won't cover receivers in Ann Arbor? Lo Wood, a 3 star CB from Florida and one time strong Michigan lean with his friends Ricardo Miller and Marvin Robinson heading to Ann Arbor in the class of 2010 picked Notre Dame over the Wolverines on Friday.
  
  
• Michigan really needs to focus on the CB position and currently only has one verbally committed (Avery) to the 2010 class.
  
  
• On an interesting side note: Roy Finch a 4 star running back verbally committed to Oklahoma over the weekend. If you remember, Brennan Clay of San Diego and former teammate of Tate Forcier surprisingly committed to Oklahoma about a month ago. Will the commitment of Finch make Clay re-think his commitment? Tate believes Michigan still has a chance with Clay, if that is true the commitment of Finch only helps Michigan's chances of landing Clay on signing day.

Mobile Press - TOP 18

#1 - DeMarcus Milliner, DB, Stanhope Elmore (6-1, 180, 4.45). His stock went through the roof after running 4.31 and 4.33 at the Elite Action Combine in Vestavia Hills last month. Do-everything player made 57 tackles and seven interceptions on defense, ran for 527 yards on offense and returned two kickoffs for touchdowns. Committed to Alabama.

#2 - Jarrick Williams, S, Blount (6-2, 205, 4.6). A physically strong player who set a Nike SPARQ combine record for the powerball throw. He made 52 tackles and two interceptions in '08 and four of his nine receptions on offense were for TDs. Has narrowed a long list of offers to a final three of Alabama, Auburn and Florida State. **Committed to Alabama this past Sunday**

#8 - Nick Perry, S, Prattville (6-2, 195, 4.55). Ball-hawk had 37 tackles and four picks for the 6A state champs. Committed to Alabama.

#10 - Jalston Fowler, RB, Vigor (6-0, 245, 4.6). Powerful, muscular back rushed for 1,182 yards and 24 TDs for 5A state champs last year. Will not play this year, as he is over the AHSAA's age limit. Committed to Alabama.

#11 - Craig Sanders, DE, Ariton (6-4, 220, 4.6) Lining up often as a stand-up DE, he posted 12 sacks in '08 and 32 of his 71 tackles were for losses. He also ran for 1,057 yards and 16 TDs on offense. Committed to Alabama.

#16 - Deion Belue, ATH, Deshler (6-0, 175, 4.5). Likely a DB in college, speedy athlete raised his stock with impressive showings in summer camps. Committed to Alabama.

#18 - Wilson Love, DE, Mountain Brook (6-4, 235, 4.8) Brother of Alabama offensive lineman Tyler Love turned down an offer from Florida. Committed to Alabama.

Press-Register Elite 18 recognizes top state football talent

Jarrick Williams has committed to Alabama

Recruiting sites are reporting late tonight that highly regarded Blount safety Jarrick Williams has committed to Alabama.

Blount's Jarrick Williams commits to Alabama

Best Golf Courses in Northern Michigan

I'm going off topic today to bring you the much anticipated yearly post on the best golf courses in Northern Michigan that we all can play. So that leaves out top rated courses like Crystal Downs and other private clubs.

The only other caveat to making the list is, I must have played the course. Which leaves out at least two contenders for sure; Black Lake and Tullymore.

1. Arcadia Bluffs: (pictured above) Is frankly a no brainer. This course is the Pebble Beach of the Midwest and has everything you want from a golf course; beauty, challenging design, wind, fog, short pins, and fast greens. This is a must play for the avid golfer. Just go and play it.


2. Bay Harbor: The reason I picked Bay Harbor #2 is just the beauty of the place. I'm not a big fan of the Boyne Resort courses but this one is a step above. The views from this course is only rivaled by Arcadia Bluffs. A great design on a great plot of land. Stay at Boyne get a package and upgrade it to play this course. The rooms with the hot tubs are worth the extra cash!


3. Forest Dunes: Has the fastest greens in Northern Michigan. They are US Open fast. It's a hidden gem but sort of freaky driving back into the course with all the tree's gone on the drive in. This course is in the middle of nowhere, so make sure you have enough gas and you don't book your second 18 of the day too close to the time you should finish. If your staying in Gaylord, this needs to be on your lineup. Bug Spray is a must!


4. The Bear: You know the Bear has been one of the best courses in Northern Michigan for decades and still has the right to be on the list. If you can go shoot in the high 70's at the Bear with the wind blowing you have got game. It's a classic Nicklaus course and plays like it.


5. The Jones at TreeTops: You won't see the Jones on many of these list anymore, like the Bear it's time on the top as come to an end with the other high profile courses in the area. But the Jones is a course you need to play if you haven't had the chance. Sure the other TreeTops courses maybe ranked higher but the Jones is a Classic. Make sure you tee off from the Blacks on #3 and take your camera for photo opportunity on #6.


6. The Fazio at TreeTops: Is the perfect resort course. It has wide fairways and very well kept up. If your group is tired of playing Northern Michigan course that are as tough as nails, take the Fazio for a spin and enjoy the ride.


7. True North: Is a good course if you can find it. It's a newer design and has some nice holes. The only problem with it is, I saw a snake on #1 (and I hate snakes) and was pretty much done for the rest of the round. Also #18 is just a terrible design, it's a par 5 and you can hit two shots in the middle of the fairway and still not see the green. The circus nature of 18 makes this course barely on the list.


8. Sundance at A-Ga-Ming Resort - This is a newer course and a nice design. It has some growing to do, but it's a good layout and a pretty good value. Play Sundance but skip the sister Torch Lake course next door.


9. Three Tops at TreeTops - This course is ridiculously priced for a par 3 course, but it maybe the best par 3 course in the country. It's a great warm up round before playing another TreeTops North course. It's fun, so work out a deal and play it.


10. Black Forrest - This is a difficult course and not maintained up to the standards it should be . If your looking to challenge your game, this is the course for you. Tied for #10 is Tribute-Otsego Club: This is a solid Gaylord course with a nice design. This is a good course, but not a "special one". If your doing a stay and play in Gaylord, put this one on your list.

Memo to Golfers heading North for the 4th:

The courses in Northern Michigan are struggling, please support them or they won't make it to next year.

Take lots bug spray. The bugs are bad this year.

Buy a package deal. These resorts are basically giving away the room if you play golf.

Courses that you should take a pass on:

Lakewood Shores Gailes: Tried to make it Links style course with very little yardage markers.

The Chief: Tried to make a course as hard as possible. If you want an amusement park, go to Disney.

Pick your Boyne Courses wisely: There are decent ones and average ones at best.

Saban till 2016???

Conract extension talks are under way...

Sources said the goal is to pay Saban through 2016, which would give him a new eight-year agreement. It is not clear how much of a raise Saban would receive.

In his current contract, Saban makes a base salary of $225,000 through Jan. 31, 2015. The rest of his income comes from his talent fees that began at $3.275 million in 2007 and escalate through 2011.

As per the current contract, he is slated to make a total of $4.2 million per year from 2012 to 2014. The belief is that the new deal would continue to escalate on a similar scale.

Alabama coach Nick Saban in negotiations with school officials on a contract extension

'Bama Reps for the SEC Media Days are....

ALABAMA

OL Mike Johnson (6-6, 305, Sr.)
* 1st Team All-America by Pro Football Weekly in 2008\
* Second-Team All-SEC and two-time SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week.
* Returning two-year starter on the offensive line.

LB Rolando McClain (6-4, 249, Jr.)
* Third-team All-America in 2008
* First-team All-SEC and finalist for Butkus Award in 2008.
* 95 total stops last season with 12 behind the line of scrimmage.

Who's going to be Alabama's representatives at SEC Media Days?

'Bama's Offensive Line ??

The Crimson Tide have stocked up on highly rated offensive line prospects.

Junior college newcomer James Carpenter exited spring as the likely starter at left tackle, but heralded incoming freshman D.J. Fluker might also have something to say about who protects Greg McElroy's blind side. The 6-7, 350-pound Fluker is massive. He's bigger than Smith was when Smith arrived on campus. But Smith was mentally sharp enough to handle that position as a true freshman and was a quick learner. We don't know that yet about Fluker.

Fluker is also coming off arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder in April, which could possibly stunt his development.

The right guard spot would appear to be wide open. Junior Brian Motley started there in the spring game, but sophomore John Michael Boswell will be one to watch once preseason practice starts. True freshman Chance Warmack (6-3, 325) also looked good in the spring after enrolling early.

Junior David Ross and sophomore Barrett Jones are guys who could factor in at both guard and center.

Meeting the standard on Alabama's offensive line

Urban Meyer and Rich Rodriguez Don't Collaborate Anymore

As we all know, Rich Rodriguez has made it a point to recruit Florida pretty hard these past couple of years. We also know that the State of Florida is coach Meyer's backyard and that Michigan has gotten a couple of recruits that other wise were probably headed to Gainesville.

With Michigan in the Big Ten and Florida in the SEC, I'm sure that doesn't bother Urban too much, right? Well... this is what Urban had to say in an interview with the Orlando Sentinel. Urban is speaking about coaches that he collaborates with regularly: I could go on and on and on. [California's] Jeff Tedford. He's one of my great friends. We always do it. Rich Rodriguez? We used to do it all the time [when he was at West Virginia], but now he's at Michigan and a competitor in recruiting so we don't anymore. [Rutgers'] Greg Schiano. I could go on and on. Mike Leach at Texas Tech. We often have conversation. [Utah's] Kyle Willingham and I talk twice a week."

Oh well, hopefully we will see the Gators in a BCS Bowl in a couple of years.

Ever wonder what would happen if Phil Knight was a Michigan Grad? Maybe this:

Just kidding. These are U of M Flint's new club team jersey designs.

• 2010 North Carolina QB Christian LeMay received a Michigan offer last week. He will be headed to the elite 11 QB camp in California in July.
  


• 4 Star DE from NY Dominique Easley (who has a Michigan offer) is going to take his time to make a decision: A decision on a school is not imminent, but over the summer Easley and Gambardella are planning on narrowing the list of likely destinations to five or six so that the distractions don't get out of hand when the fall contact period arrives.

Michigan Game Times and TV Announced

Well some of them.

Per the Big Ten:

Western Michigan at MICHIGAN, ABC, 3:30 p.m. ET
Notre Dame at Michigan, ABC, 3:30 p.m. ET
Eastern Michigan at MICHIGAN, Big Ten Network, Noon ET
MICHIGAN at ILLINOIS, ABC, 3:30 p.m ET

Most of the above makes sense, except for the 3:30 Western game on ABC. There really must be some poor games on that day for ABC to go with that game. I'm also not a big fan of 3:30 starts for the first game, ND makes sense but Western should be played at noon.

Maybe ABC has learned Michigan always makes news during their first game of the year. Let's hope this year, it's the Wolverines look great in a 34-7 win over Western Michigan.

• For those that are interested, the Oregon Ducks rolled out new uniforms again! Dr. Saturday has a nice piece on it. I'm not sure about the 2009 version below. It looks straight out of the USFL, World League, or the XFL. Phil Knight (CEO Nike) is sure cooking up some strange options for his favorite University.

What to Do While You're Waiting

It's safe to say we have reached the dead period of SEC football, if indeed one exists in this modern day internet environment that is saturated with year round coverage. Use to be that college football was a 3-4 month season. Then it expanded with countdown to signing day. Then came the increasing popularity of Spring practice and Spring games. After Spring ball we don't even wait until January to get interested in recruiting, but instead jump right back into it as evidenced by the recent Tiger Prowl and Big Cat Weekend (thank you Rivals). Now we are just a month away from SEC Media Days with the beginning of Fall practice following shortly thereafter. Welcome to the neverending circus of SEC football, where there are no goodbyes and everyone is trying not to go home. Certainly there are some lulls here and there throughout the year and the interest reaches its crescendo during the Fall, but college football in the South no longer goes into hibernation. The 365 days a year nature of Auburn-Alabama might suggest it has always been so, but never to this level.

If there is a dead period throughout all this, however, it is the idle days of June and July. Sure, we have summer football camps going on and recruiting never really ends, but isolated incidents like Bama's recent probation are the only pieces of news that grab our interest at this point in the year. We have reached the calm before the storm so to speak. Everything that has happened in the months of January to May is prologue. Now we begin to think about the upcoming season in earnest. Chizik and his staff have been laying a foundation for the future in recent months, but the first chapter of that future is about to be written, starting on September 5 when we line up to play Louisiana Tech. Tiger Prowl and Big Cat Weekend were great, but the significance of those events won't be felt until 2010 at the earliest. The business of 2009 will soon be at hand and no matter how tempered Auburn fans' expectations are about the upcoming season, the excitement of hope and possibility will inevitably begin to build in our minds with the first Saturday in September drawing ever closer.

As we tan ourselves by the pool or on the golf course, Summer offers plenty of distractions to keep one occupied, but all the while it is just part of the incessant build up to Fall weekends in the South. Ten years ago, I would have been scowering Lindy's and Athlon front to back to extrapolate what pieces of information I could to surmise in my own mind what might occur on the gridiron during the upcoming season. The depth of knowledge now available on the internet during and right after Spring practice has sort of made this practice obsolete, but the anticipation still has not receded. If I'm at the beach, I'll probably be diagramming X's and O's in the sand as I try to figure out just how Malzahn's offense is going to work in the Fall. A little sad? Sure, but that's SEC football for you. Even the dead period of the season brings with it a certain restlessness as we draw ever closer to that first gameday in Auburn. The wait is agonizing, but before you know it, Ric Smith will be announcing for the fans outside of Jordan-Hare that kick off to the first game of the 2009 season is only one hour away. It's pure nirvana for Auburn fans.

Wolverine Wednesday: Ellerbee is back in coaching

• After being out of coaching for 8 years Brian Ellerbee is back coaching again. You might remember Brian as the former Michigan Basketball coach that took over for Steve Fisher and (along with the probation) helped turned back the Michigan basketball program 20 years. I think it's safe to say that Brian was the worst hire in Michigan (basketball or football) history. He was not qualified for a job at this level and it showed. With that said, he deserved to be an assistant somewhere and glad he is back doing what he loves as an assistant for George Washington. He has been a VP of a construction company in Las Vegas for the last 5 years.

• Jonathan Mincy a three star CB that Michigan had an offer out to, committed to Auburn on Monday night. The only reason I wanted Mincy in Wolverine gear, was his name just sounds like a good cover corner. "Mincy with the pick and returns it to 40 yard line"

• Ohio State worried about the QB position in the 2010 class, picks up a commitment from another second generation QB. With no QB commitments in the 2010 class and with Joe Montana's son choosing Washington and Cincinnati Moeller's Andrew Hendrix expected to announce a commitment to ND, Ohio State turned to Taylor Graham, son of former Buckeye QB Kent Graham. Taylor isn't highly rated but did have some nice offers from UCLA, Wisconsin, and Michigan State.

• "No names" made a big splash at Michigan's Camp last week. What I find interesting is that players that came to Michigan's camp last week can get offers from Central or Eastern Michigan. Butch Jones, Central's head coach (and former RR assistant at WVU) worked the camp and handed out a number of offers. Daniel Lindsey (5-11, 191 pounds) and his twin brother Nathan (6-0, 190) worked out at both running back and safety and looked good at each position. Wide receiver Johnathan Taylor (6-2, 180) was running with the first team wide receivers on Tuesday. All three players received offers from Butch and CMU. One guy that wasn't on the radar but impressed the Central and Michigan coaches was Lansing Waverly defensive end Andy Phillips (6"2 259 lbs.). Andy showed hustle and good conditioning after running 5 straight one-on-one drills and wining 4 out of the 5 the battles. Melvindale cornerback Wayne Pettus showed some serious skills as a cover corner at camp, but his offer list is lacking due to his size of 5"7 155 pounds. Wayne was also named the MVP at the Nike Camp in Illinois earlier this month.

Welcome Another Blog Poster to the Site

Everyone, I would like to welcome my brother, Michael to the blog. Michael, like me, was a manager for the football team from 2000 - 2003. While Michael was at Auburn, he worked with a few position coaches including Phillip Lolley in his first year as Defensive Back Coach and finishing up his last two season's with Eddie Gran and the running backs. On game days, Michael spent the first 3 years in the Press Box responsible for the headsets and his last year on the field. Michael will bring some interesting views and I believe you will enjoy his posts. I intend to have his first post up by the end of the day.

I hope to have some more future contributors to the site and I hope that it will become one of your regular stops in the fall for interesting commentary on our Auburn Tigers. Thanks for stopping by and please keep checking back.

War Eagle!

Best Defensive Teams....

Defensive linemen

1. Florida
2. Oklahoma
3. USC
4. Mississippi
5. Illinois

Where's 'Bama? Mt. Cody???

Linebackers

1. Alabama
Never let it be said that defensive guru Nick Saban can't identify talent. Alabama's coach recruited All-American Rolando McClain in his first year, then landed rising star Dont'a Hightower in Year 2. Next up: Nico Johnson, an incoming five-star freshman.

2. Penn State
3. Florida
4. Oklahoma
5. North Carolina

Defensive backs

1. USC
2. Florida
3. California
4. Oregon
5. Tennessee

Special teams

1. Oklahoma State
2. Florida
3. Virgina Tech
4. Arizona State
5. Clemson

Ranking the top defensive units in college football

Michigan Off to a Quick Start with 15 Commitments for 2010

Whether you think Rich Rodriguez is a master recruiter and can see things other coaches can't (Pat White) or a Snake Oil Salesman (blast from former Purdue headman Joe Tiller after Roy Roundtree selected Michigan instead of Purdue on signing day) you have to applaud the way he and his staff has recruited since he has gotten to Michigan. I'm not sure how they find time to even coach the team.

Michigan has received 15 verbal commitments to the 2010 class and have roughly 10 more spots to fill with somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 offers still on the street.

A few things have popped up to me this year that seem out of the norm from past recruiting years. For example:

• Kids are making decisions much earlier. It seems like yesterday that Terrelle Pryor waited a month after signing day to make his decision.
• There seems to be a lot of quality football players that are not rated by the either Scout or Rivals yet.
• Coaches could seem to care less about star ranking and more about a fit for their program.
• Some schools have a ton of commitments (Texas 19) and some only a few (Michigan State 4).
• How hard does it have to be to rate the effectiveness of a player on just their junior year? It's almost like their Senior year isn't that important.
• There really needs to be an early signing period in football.

If your interested, Rivals has done a chart on top programs and the number of commitments vs star ranking. Looking at the chart, you can see that there are still a ton of 5 star players out there that haven't made a decision yet but there are a ton of 3 stars and many not rated players already committed.

To me this is a reflection on the recruiting services and getting caught with the classes coming together. It has to be hard for them in February/March when it's getting close to signing day for 2009 and there are already 2010 commitments flooding in. I'm sure glad, I'm not the guy having to review all those tapes of the thousands of players looking to get ranked.

Either way, RR and Staff have been on planes, trains, and automobiles looking for the best talent to fit their system. Let's hope all this hard work pays off with some "crystal" hardware in a year or two!

The TUSCALOOSA NEWS’ 2009 COLLEGE top 25

1. Ohio State

2. Southern Cal

3. Alabama

4. Texas

5. Michigan

6. Oklahoma

7. Penn State

8. Notre Dame

9. Georgia

10. Tennessee

11. Florida

12. Florida State

13. Nebraska

14. LSU

15. Miami

16. Auburn

17. Army

18. Stanford

19. Texas A&M

20. Michigan State

21. Navy

22. Georgia Tech

23. Ole Miss

24. Californa

25. Arkansas

Ohio State and USC stay on top, Tide moves up

Michigan Monday: Recruiting Tidbits

• One of the mysteries this recruiting season is 6"3 325 pound defensive tackle Jonathan Hankins from Detroit Southeastern. As we all know, DT is a major need for the Wolverines in the 2010 class and Jonathan is right in their backyard. Did I also mention that Jonathan is holding offers from Oklahoma, Ohio State, and Wisconsin as well? Recruiting insiders has questioned Jonathan's conditioning and wondered if he could keep up with Greg Robinson's high tempo defense. Jonathan attended camps at both Michigan and Michigan State this past week (State hasn't offered either). Some folks that attended Michigan's camp said that Jonathan got "gassed" after 5 quick plays in a row. So it's pretty clear that the Michigan coaches are worried about his size and lack of conditioning, but why isn't that a concern for Oklahoma and Ohio State, two big time programs? I think the jury is still out on Hankins and if he loses some weight he still could get a Michigan offer, maybe late this Summer or Fall.

• JD Pride, Minnesota QB was at Michigan's camp late last week. Why is this news? JD is Seantrel Henderson (#1 recruit in the nation) best friend. I don't expect JD to get a Michigan offer (maybe an invite to walk on), but he could end up somewhere like Eastern Michigan. Ron English, former Michigan DC and now Eastern's head coach attended Michigan's camp during the week.

• There has been some rumors that Will Gholston's commit to the Spartans last week was a "soft" one and that he still plans to take some visits. He may take visits but I expect Will to keep his commitment to Michigan State.

• Incoming Freshman Fitzgerald Toussaint scores two touchdowns in the Big 33 Football Classic (Ohio vs Pennsylvania). The most impressive one was a short pass that he took 54 yards for the touchdown. Thanks to Mgoblog here is a video of the touchdowns at 1:20 and 4:30.
  
  
  
  

• We all know that Michigan has an open date in 2010 and that AD Bill Martin wants a "BCS game" to open the new Big House. There is one program that has an open date on that day and is looking to get paid. That program is Boise State. Here is what BSU's AD had to say: "Right now, I'd go where I can make the most money," Boise State athletic director Gene Bleymaier said. "If I can play at home and make that much money, then I'm going to play at home. But it's difficult to make that much money in our stadium size. ... I've tried to avoid those [guarantee games]. Now they're much more of a reality going forward."If Bill Martin comes with a good guarantee, I think Boise State would jump at the opportunity. In fact, I don't think Bill really has too many options left on the table for that date.

Bring it!!

Nick Saban also talked briefly about scheduling, noting three upcoming home-and-home series with Penn State, Georgia Tech and Michigan State as games that he "likes to play." He repeated a notion that he has mentioned before in regards to future scheduling, saying that it would be exciting from five of the nation's top programs, "including ones that have a history with Alabama," to agree to a set of home-and-home games spanning a decade.

Saban wants 'Bama to play Notre Dame, Texas, Michigan and USC

3 Commitments for Alabama

Brent Calloway who ran for 1,460 yards and 23 touchdowns last season, is a 6-foot-2, 210-pound running back and linebacker.

Deion Belue is a 6-foot 175-pounds cornerback. Belue could play receiver in college, but said Nick Saban's experience coaching defensive backs was a reason behind his decision.

Jay Williams is a 6-foot-4, 220-pound punter. Jay averaged almost 49 yards per punt at one recent camp, then averaged 46 yards at another.

Did I say two? I meant three commitments for Alabama: Brent Calloway jumps aboard for 2011

Michigan Picks up its 15th Commitment to the 2010 Class and it's a CB!

Reported here on Friday, Michigan had offered Courtney Avery a CB from Ohio. On Saturday, he decided the offer was too good to pass up and verbally gave his pledge to become a Wolverine in 2010. Avery is rated a 3 star CB from Scout and the #23 CB in the country. He mainly plays QB for his high school, but his size 5"10 165 pounds is better suited for CB in college. The Michigan coaches got a good look at him at camp last week and liked what they saw and offered quickly.

Avery had committed to Stanford but decided to stay closer to home and attend Michigan.
On a side note, this kid carries a 3.7 grade point and would like to be in the pre-med program at Michigan.

Here is the write up from Varsity Blue:

Player Notes
As mentioned above, Avery is a quarterback for his high school team, in addition to his duties in the defensive backfield. In fact, he is a rather excellent high school signal-caller, and was named his conference’s Offensive Player of the Year as a junior. However, when he gets to Michigan, he will play strictly defensive back, where he tried out in summer camp. He has good hip fluidity and agility, which help him make up for a slight lack in top-end speed. One of the biggest knocks on Avery is his size: he’s listed anywhere from 5-8 to 5-10, which is small even for a cornerback. However, he is rumored to be up to nearly 5-11 now, which not only indicates that’s he’s made up some of the height disparity, but also that he may continue growing. By the time he hits campus, he could be as tall as 6-1. Camp offers are typically a time to say “throw out the rankings” (NR on Rivals, 3* to Scout), since the coaches have been able to evaluate a prospect in the flesh.

Michigan Offers New CB at Camp

Courtney Avery played so well at Michigan's camp this week Rich Rod called him at home to let him know that the Wolverines were ready to make him an offer. Courtney is 5-foot-11, 175 pounds and named to the Division II first-team All-Ohio defensive back last fall. Courtney has committed to former Michigan QB Jim Harbaugh and Stanford but the Michigan offer has him thinking a bit. "Michigan has great tradition. It's one of the best programs in the country and, academically, it ranks among the best in the country," said Avery, who carries a 3.7 grade point average and plans to study medicine. "Stanford has the best academics in the country and the football program is on the rise." Courtney's coach thought he played well at Michigan's camp: "He had a phenomenal workout at Michigan, which is exactly what we expected of him," Payne said. "He was the top defensive back there and he performed as such."

• Quarterback Kofi Hughes (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral) plans to visit Ann Arbor on Saturday. He currently does not hold a Michigan offer.

• Chris Perry gets drafted by Orlando in the new UFL which plans to start play in October. Grant Mason, DB from Michigan is also on Orlando's roster.

• Clarett asks to be released from prison early so he can resume his football career. UFL, Canada, Arena maybe but I'm pretty sure the ship has sailed on the NFL.

• QB Munchie LeGaux (6'4-180) who had listed Michigan as his leader is now listing the Oregon Ducks. Which is no surprise after Michigan got it's second verbal QB commitment for 2010 this week. Michigan should be finished at QB if both Devin Gardner and Cornelius Jones stay committed.

• Thank goodness Woodson picked Ryan Leaf off in the Rose Bowl to secure Michigan's national championship. Ryan has just become such an outstanding member of society after his NFL career flamed out. He recently tried to hide in Canada to beat drug and robbery charges in Texas. Nice work Ryan, you have gotten so much out of your talent.

• Latwan Anderson, from Cleveland dominated the 7-7 camp in Ann Arbor on Thursday. Latwan is a 4 star safety recruit that has just transferred to Ted Ginn Sr.'s high school, Glenville which is a feeder school to Ohio State. OSU hasn't offered yet, but I expect one very soon. Right now LA has 13 offers.

2009 CFN Bama Preview

Bama has filled the vacated holes!

Not only are superstars like WR Julio Jones, DT Terrence Cody, and LB Rolando McClain returning, but there's an influx of superior talent from the last two tremendous recruiting classes that has upgraded the overall talent level. True freshmen Trent Richardson (running back) and Dre Kirkpatrick (corner) are just two elite players that Saban has brought in to potentially shine right away.

So if last year's team came from out of nowhere to become a heartbeat away from playing for the national championship, don't be shocked if this year's team, with all the improvements, is able to finish the job.

Complete Preview @ 2009 CFN Alabama Preview

Bama Football Nuggets....

Some of the freshmen, obviously, are going to be grayshirted for scholarship numbers reasons. Receiver Kendall Kelly, who had hip surgery and will require a lengthy rehab, is a possibility. So is lineman Kellen Williams, who has an ACL injury???

Tight end Colin Peek is still not full speed yet during offseason conditioning, but that's mostly as a precaution while his foot injury heals.

Fall camp will officially start on August 5th, with the first practice coming on Aug. 6th.

Alabama coach Nick Saban stops by and says 'Hello' ... what did he say?

QB Sleepers!!!

Greg McElroy, Alabama

Don't expect many shootouts from the Crimson Tide, but McElroy will be throwing to one of the most talented receivers in the country in Julio Jones and has plenty of favorable matchups. With defenses keying on stopping the Crimson Tide running attack, McElroy will have plenty of opportunities to test defenses downfield.

Quarterback Sleepers

Does Auburn Need Bama?

With the University of Alabama being handed it’s punishment of three years’ probation and vacating wins from the 2005 – 2007 seasons last week for the mismanagement of their textbook program, the reality sat in that Alabama Football is in the Intensive Care Unit listed as critical but stable condition. As die hard Auburn fans, we love to hate on Alabama, but what would life be like if Alabama football was irrelevant? What if Auburn didn’t end the season with the Iron Bowl? Let’s take a look and see what that cosmic world might look like.

With the University of Alabama being placed on probation, yet again, Alabama cannot afford to find itself in front of the NCAA Infractions Committee for a major violation in this probationary period. There is no more room for error. If for some reason, there is any truth to some of the rumors that seem to be floating around, I believe that Alabama will push the NCAA into a corner which it cannot back itself out of. I do not believe that the NCAA wants to ever hand out the death penalty and destroy a program like it did to SMU, but I also believe it will have no choice but to do so if Alabama finds itself in major trouble again. If the NCAA was forced to shut down Alabama football, it could return to past glory, but it is more likely to flounder like a fish out of water desperately trying to flop out of the boat.

As an Auburn Fan, I have very mixed reactions to this if it was to ever happen. It would be completely strange to go a year without playing Alabama in football. Who would Auburn end the season with? Louisiana-Monroe would be a terrible way to end the season. I really enjoy the Iron Bowl being the last game of the year, especially when Auburn wins. This rivalry, as popular as it is nationally, is still vastly underrated by most of the nation if you look at where it stands in various rivalry polls. I cannot imagine having some other foe to truly hate and root against. Admit it fellow Auburn fans, every team that beats Alabama gives you joy. It is the middle of June right now and the rivalry is still as hot as ever if you listen to various radio shows in Alabama. It truly is a 365 day rivalry. If Alabama football was dead, then Auburn would become the main event in football for the foreseeable future. I would enjoy that aspect, even if Auburn football had to compete with the NASCAR Talladega Race as the main fall sporting event in Alabama, given the lack of choices for the Alabama fans. I would imagine most Alabama fans would become quite bitter and probably hate Auburn even more, therefore keeping the rivalry well and alive, but it just wouldn’t be a competitive rivalry.

Who would Auburn hate if it didn’t have Alabama to hate? The answer would still probably be Alabama, but I imagine that the University of Georgia would garner a little bit more attention for the Auburn fans that are Alabama residents. As for myself, living in Georgia and working less than an hour away from Athens, I have already attained a hatred of UGA. The fact that the Auburn-Georgia game is the oldest rivalry in South and has a lot of history among the two schools makes UGA a logical choice for new main rival, but it could never become what the Alabama game means for so many.

To answer the ultimate question as to whether Auburn needs Alabama, I will reluctantly say yes. It just wouldn’t be any fun if Alabama was no longer competitive. If you think that this time of the year is dead, can you imagine what it would be like without the in-state rivalry? If, and I mean a huge if, Alabama is cheating, I hope that they pay a price for it, but death is not the price that I would wish upon them or anyone else.

I apologize for the long delay between posts, and I hope to have some more enjoyable additions to the blog in the near future. Thanks for stopping by and please feel free to share with others.

War Eagle!

Michigan's Next Star QB: Does well at Detroit Camp

As we all know, Devin Gardner is Michigan's top recruit at the quarterback position for 2010. He is a perfect fit for Rich Rod's offense and has comparable size and stats to another former "high profile" QB that decided to go to Ohio State a couple of years ago.

Devin stands at 6"4 and just under 200 pounds. As a high school junior he ran for 1,400 yards with 22 touchdowns and threw for 1,886 yards with 26 touchdowns. If your keeping score at home Devin accounted for 48 touchdowns as a junior, which is pretty amazing.

So what's not to like about this 4 star QB? Some recruiting services (similar to Terrelle Pryor's high school analysis) has questioned Gardner's throwing motion and accuracy. It seems Devin has taken that to heart and has attend just about every major football camp so far this Spring and Summer.

The latest was the Sound Mind/Sound Body Football Academy in Detroit. This camp is a showcase for the athletes in the Detroit area. Devin put on a show and the recruiting analysts took note:

The event was dotted with standout moments by numerous players, but none was more consistently dominant than Inkster's Gardner. He has staked his claim as the state's top player with outright dominance in camps and combines throughout the spring and summer. His Sound Mind/Sound Body performance was more of the same.

"We all know he's a great athlete and he showed that by doing very well at receiver in addition to quarterback," said Scout.com Midwest analyst Allen Trieu. "What has impressed me the most recently, though, is how much he has improved as a passer. His mechanics are like night and day from this time last year and his passes have much more zip. The work he has put in as a passer has paid off."

All that time spent honing his passing skills makes what he was able to do as a wideout all the more impressive. After each throw, Gardner stepped into the receiving line so he could take on the best defensive backs. One by one he called them out -- most notably Detroit Cass Tech's Dior Mathis and Detroit Renaissance's Hicks. By day's end, Gardner was viewed by most as both the top quarterback and top receiver in attendance.

It seems Gardner likes to play a little WR but it's nice to see him putting in a ton of hard work on the QB position this summer. In my opinion, I think it's important in RR's offense that the opposing defense respect the passing ability of the QB, so it can open up running lanes for big gains by the QB or the other running backs.

Most people anticipated that Gardner would redshirt his first year at Michigan but if he continues making strides like he has done this summer (and depending what Tate and Denard do this year) he might have a shot at some playing time in the Fall of 2010. Also look for Devin to pick up a 5th star on both Rivals and Scout this Fall.

2010 Bama Football Schedule Notes

9/4 - SAN JOSE STATE (Tuscaloosa)
9/11 - PENN STATE (Tuscaloosa)
9/18 - at Duke (Durham, N.C.)
11/20 - GEORGIA STATE (Tuscaloosa) (BILL CURRY)

UA announces 2010 football game against former Tide coach Bill Curry's new program at Georgia State

Looking Ahead ...

The start of preseason practice is less than two months away, and the SEC Media Days in Hoover, Ala., will be here in a month.

ALABAMA

Biggest reason for hope: Defense and plenty of it!

Biggest reason for concern: Rebuilding the offensive line!


Hope and concern: Alabama

Textbook Saga not Over Yet!!

The University of Alabama plans to appeal a ruling by the NCAA Committee on Infractions that forced the football program to vacate 21 wins.

University President Robert Witt, who announced the decision on Wednesday, said the penalties were excessive.

"There is no evidence or allegations of other NCAA violations; no coaches or administrators were involved; no players obtained books and sold them for cash, and all the books were returned or charged to the student's account as required by the UA textbook policy in effect at that time."

Alabama plans to appeal recent NCAA sanctions

Wolverine Wednesday: Is Full at Outside Linebacker

In this real time information age of the Internet and recruiting services that text and call kids non-stop, sometimes information gets out before it should.

As we know, Rich Rod and staff have over a 100 offers on the street for roughly 10-12 more spots in the 2010 class. Kids understand this and if they really want to be Wolverine they will pull the trigger on a commitment. Case in point for the Wolverines and recent verbal commit Holmes Onwukaife.

The unfortunate thing is sometimes kids will try to commit and they will be Michigan's plan B or maybe the position has been filled with other recruits. That is what happened to Holmes Onwukaife when he spoke with Rich Rod this week. With the summer non-contact policy in place, coaches can not call players to let them know they are full at a certain position. Michigan is full at outside linebacker and wanted Holmes to consider playing on the inside. But he declined.

So he is no longer part of Michigan's 2010 commitment class. Which is sad, because this kid is talented and had a number of good offers. One of the things going through your mind might be, "how can Michigan do that to a kid?" Well, Rich Rod and staff are protecting the program against the situation it got into last year. If you remember, Michigan had two solid commitments at QB before they both went "poof" in Fall. It's much better to be honest with a kid and tell him now then try to fit them into a class and then move him to a position he doesn't want to be in.

• Morgan Trent signs with the Bengals: He broke his foot in Rookie mini-camp but signs for $1.85 for 4 years with a $110,000 signing bonus. Nice work Morgan!

Michigan Football: Commitments Everywhere!

What a crazy Tuesday, it's all most like a mini-signing day with all these commitments all over Michigan. We will first start with the good news and then move to the not so great news.

Michigan gets its second QB of the 2010 Class with the commitment of Spartanburg, S.C., quarterback Cornelius Jones. Cornelius had offers from Stanford, Wake Forest, and Duke before deciding to go Blue at Michigan's camp. He is 6"2, 195 pounds and carries a 3.5 GPA. Last year Jones had 1756 total yards including 1100 passing yards.

Here is the write up from Varsity Blue:

Recruiting Notes
Aside from the obvious prospects like Devin Gardner, Jones was one of the first players to enter Michigan fans’ collective radar for the class of 2010. Despite not playing football his freshman or sophomore year, apparently due to a disciplinary issue (or problem with the previous coaching staff; it’s never really been cleared up, Jones’s highlight tape from a spring scrimmage found its way into the hands of Michigan’s coaching staff. Rich Rodriguez and company liked what they saw, and extended a verbal offer (which the Detroit media, in full anti-Rodriguez mode at the time, spun to indicate that Rod was clueless or something). As it turned out, the offer did not come through at that time, but Michigan offered him in January, and was still among his first offers. It was that early interest that helped Michigan stay in the forefront of his recruitment, as the Wolverines led wire-to-wire. Jones always maintained that he was trying to work out a visit to Michigan, and that visit eventually ended up taking place for the Wolverines’ 2009 summer camp. At that time, he realized Ann Arbor was the place for him, and he committed to don the maize-and-blue.

Player Notes
Jones is a dual-threat quarterback in the same mold as Devin Gardner, who can really hurt you with his feet, and has some improving to do in the passing game (certainly understandable for a high school junior). Jones isn’t quite the physical specimen that Garnder is, but might be a slightly better passer at this time. That’s an exciting prospect for Michigan fans, as he’s only played football (and quarterback) for one year thus far! With further coaching at both the high school and college levels, he should blossom into a true threat in both phases of the game.

Good News #2: Texas Outside Linebacker/DE Holmes Onwukaife also committed to the Wolverines but has not spoken with Coach Rod yet. The Premium services won't run a verbal commitment until the recruit has officially committed to Coach Rod. Holmes committed to Coach Jackson. Holmes had 17 offers from everywhere from UCLA to Harvard. He is rated as a 3 star prospect from Rivals and is 6"3 220 pounds. He runs a 4.51 40 and has a 3.3 GPA and a 1340 on his SAT. He also is a great addition to the "all 2010 name team". More to come on Holmes when it goes official. Here is a video to wet your appetite:






Now on to the not so good news: Two highly ranked state of Michigan players go to State.

• Mgoblog is reporting that Will Gholston has committed to MSU.


• Mylan Hicks a DB from Detroit Renaissance has also committed to become a Spartan.

Neither one of these are a surprise and Will Gholston is maybe the highest rated player ever recruited by Mark Dantonio to Michigan State. These players are the 3rd and 4th players to commit to MSU for the 2010 class. The above commitments to the Wolverines are number 14 and 15 for the Maize and Blue.

More bad news for a small business in Ann Arbor:

• The MDen loses the Big House contract and will no longer be able to sell Michigan gear at Michigan Stadium.

Michigan Monday: Who's In, Out, and a Maybe?

In?: RR spoke to reporters this weekend at the Women's Football Academy about the status of Kevin Grady: “He’s still working out with the guys,” Rodriguez said. “I’ve gotten the details from him and researched it a little bit . Kevin has taken care of some of (those) responsibilities, and the rest of that is up to him. If he does everything, come Aug. 9, when we start camp, he’ll rejoin us.”

Out: Rodriguez confirmed that offensive lineman Dann O’Neill has left the program, but he wasn’t sure whether O’Neill will transfer to another school. Shame on the Free Press for not giving credit to Mgoblog for breaking the story.

Maybe? He said there’s likely only one incoming freshman who might not qualify academically. He expects to know about all of the first-year player in the next few weeks. So the word on the street is there are/were three potential "bubble" players that might not qualify. One: Fitzgerald Toussaint, but Sam Web from Scouts and WTKA radio said he has qualified. Two: was the recent rumor that mega DB recruit Justin Turner didn't walk in his graduation and might not have passed his Ohio exit exam. Justin is known has a good student and this no longer seems to be an issue. Three: is slot WR recruit Jeremy Gallon from Florida. So the math points to Gallon being the one recruit still on the bubble. Let's hope he does what he needs to do these next couple months and gets to Ann Arbor on time.



Already in Ann Arbor: Freshman Taylor Lewan is already in Ann Arbor and just met Mr. Barwis: "Yesterday I had my first Barwis workout," said Lewan on Saturday afternoon. "We lifted and then we did plyos (plyometrics) and ran. During plyos, my legs were so shaky I could barely walk. My legs were cramping up and everything. It's a huge program. This is going to make us all athletes. Twice as much the athletes that we all are." Sometimes we forget these are just kids and most of them away from home for the first time: "I'm still 17-years old - I'm not even 18 yet," noted Lewan, who will celebrate his birthday on July 22. "These guys are 20, 21-years old. It's a little intimidating coming in at first. You go from a high school where you're a big stand out and everybody's looking at you the whole time. Coming to something like this, you're just another guy. You have to climb up the totem pole again."


picture via Rivals and thewolverine.com


Camp: Today was the first day of Michigan's Football Summer camp for 2010 and 2011 recruits looking for instruction and possible offers.

How much $$ did the Bama Football Program Generate during the 2007-2008 Season?

In 2007-2008 and the University of Alabama brought in $57.37 million in the report by SportsBusiness Journal.

As for overall sports revenues, Alabama came in eighth with $88.87 million.

Auburn, Alabama make top 10 in football revenue, total sports income

Dre Kirkpatrick one Class Away....

Kirkpatrick fell just shy on the NCAA's sliding scale that weighs grade point average and scholastic test scores, Billingsley said. One summer class is expected to be enough for him to pass through the NCAA Clearinghouse and play next season at Alabama.

Signee Dre Kirkpatrick still needs coursework to be eligible at UA

Textbook BS is behind the 'Tide!!

Barring an appeal, the NCAA will put Alabama on single-secret probation for three years and force the Crimson Tide to vacate 21 football wins from the 2005-07 seasons because several players used their textbook money to obtain free books for other students.

The Crimson Tide's probation for the textbook case actually leaves Alabama open for the death penalty, but it's highly unlikely the committee would take so drastic a step even if 'Bama ran afoul of the rules again.

This whole ordeal has been BS! Agree?

Alabama sanctions show NCAA won't slaughter its cash cows

Tate Forcier: What to Expect Next Season: Threet 08 or Henne 04?

The summer of 2009 seems very similar to the summer of 2008 for Michigan fans. Michigan will start over at quarterback just like they did in the 2008 season. Sure, somethings are different: the offensive line has more experience in the spread and so does the back up quarterback, Nick Sheridan. But don't be fooled by coach speak (RR says the QB position is still up for grabs), this is Tate Forcier's team in 2009.

As Michigan fans, what should we expect out of Tate Forcier next year? Sitting in June of last year, the Michigan faithful had high hopes for a redshirt Freshman that came to Michigan as a 4 star QB via Georgia Tech, Stephen Threet.

As we all know now, Stephen didn't tear up the Big Ten and didn't even get the start against Utah (Michigan's opening game 2008). He looked decent at times (the Wisconsin comeback) and terrible others (the 100 yard Toledo pick 6). That is pretty much the definition of a freshman QB. Threet's numbers in 2008: 51% completion rate, threw for 1105 yards with 9 touchdowns and 7 pics.

So why will Tate be different? Actually, we don't know he will.

Let's compare Tate to another Freshman starter that had a pretty good first year under center; Chad Henne. Chad came to Michigan has one of the top rated QB recruits in the nation, he enrolled in the summer and was the surprise starter opening day after a shoulder injury to expected starter Matt Gutierrez. Chad had a very nice 2004, throwing for 2743 yards with a 60 percent completed percentage. He threw for 25 touchdowns and 12 picks while leading the Wolverines to the Rose Bowl that year. Chad was named All-American Freshman Team QB in 2004.

I would call those numbers the possible upside for Tate. So what's the difference between Chad and Tate that make this upside possible?

1. Tate enrolled in January. Chad in the summer. Tate got spring ball and a ton of experience being around the coaches for 6 months.
2. Tate's QB coach. Tate regularly worked with a QB coach in high school and is probably one of the most prepared QB's in recent memory to start as a Freshman.
3. Tate is very accurate. Thanks to his high school training and QB coach (and we saw some proof in the Spring Game) Tate hopefully can match Chad's 60% completion rate in 2009.
4. Tate's mobile. Chad and Threet weren't. They were strictly drop back passers. Tate hopefully will be able to avoid the rush and get some first downs with his feet. Many analysts say your QB needs to get at least one first down with his legs a game. Michigan fans are hoping more for 4-5 from Tate.
5. Tate doesn't need to win games, just not lose them. You will hear that quote for any Freshman QB so it would apply to Chad and Threet as well. With Tate's mobility hopefully Michigan will be able to have some longer drives and give the defense a break
6. Tate has the skill set to run the spread. Threet didn't.

So there you have it Wolverines Fans. There is plenty to be optimistic about in 2009, but we will need to remember that: Tate will make Freshman mistakes, still has a thin high school senior like frame, and defenses will do their best to confuse the young man.

So the upside for Tate is: Chad 2004 the downside is Threet 2008. Good luck Tate, the Wolverine faithful is counting on you.

Michigan Football: Grady - Grady Update

ESPN caught up with Rich Rod on the Grady Situations. To catch you up, Kevin a 5 star senior running back spent almost 7 days in jail this spring due to a probation violation stemming from a DUI last summer. Kelvin his brother and former point guard for the Michigan Basketball team has joined the football team as a slot receiver.

First, Kevin who many have speculated has played his last down at Michigan: "He's taking care of his responsibilities from the previous thing that he had," Rodriguez said. "His status with the team will be based on what he does over the next several months."

I believe in second chances but not third. I'm in no position to make a call if he should or shouldn't be on the team, since I don't have all the facts. So Kevin should fell lucky that he is still considered a Wolverine. I'm betting he is going to be doing a lot of running up and down the stairs at the Big House this summer. 6:00 am is a great time for a run.

Now on to Kelvin: "He's an outstanding athlete and he sees an opportunity," Rodriguez said. "We kind of teased him about it for about a year now. We would say, 'Why don't you play both?' because he was a really good high school [football] player.

"He's going to have an opportunity. He's obviously been out for a couple years, but he's still a young guy and he's been active and he's been training. So he's going to be in pretty good shape, and we'll see what happens."

I guess we will see what happens for both Grady's.

Wolverine Wednesday: A Michigan Man in Congress?

From MLive: Former Zeeland High School and University of Michigan football star Jay Riemersma has filed paperwork to run for the congressional seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Peter Hoekstra. Publicly, Riemersma, a Republican, remains unannounced. But undated filings with the Federal Elections Commission declare him a candidate for the 2nd Congressional District. I remember Jay as the ultimate teammate when he was at Michigan. He came to Ann Arbor as a QB and left as an NFL tight end! Good Luck Jay!

• June 15th is Michigan Day on the Big Ten Network. Isn't everyday a Michigan day?

• Michigan looking at offering a state of Michigan punter: Mike Sadler from Forest Hill Northern.

• BTW: I saw an interview with former Wolverine Steve Hutchinson and current Minnesota Viking on ESPN about the Brett Farve situation. He was wearing a University of Minnesota golf jacket. I'm assuming Steve was playing in a charity golf outing and has not become a Golden Gophers fan.

• Picture of new Wolverine Ken Wilkins at his announcement via Rivals. He seems happy to be a Michigan Man!

2009 Preseason Poll!!

1. Florida
2. Texas
3. Oklahoma
4. USC
5. ALABAMA
6. Virginia Tech
7. Oklahoma State
8. Ohio State
9. Ole Miss
10. LSU

2009 Preseason College Football Polls

Michigan Football gets it's 13th Commitment to the 2010 Class

Ken Wilkins a 6"4 235 LB/DE from Washington Trinity High School, PA became the 13th verbal commitment to Rich Rod and Staff for the 2010 Class.

As we know both DE and LB are major needs for the Wolverines in this recruiting class, so Ken will fit nicely in either role. Most expect Ken to play LB in college. Wilkins is considered a 3 star prospect from Rivals, but has an impressive offer sheet from the likes of: Rutgers, Illinois, Purdue, Pitt, North Carolina, BC, West Virgina, Wisconsin, and more.

As always, here is the write up from Varsity Blue:

Recruiting Notes:
Ohio State, Penn State, and Notre Dame may have seemed like the early favorites in the race for Wilkins’ services, as each team boasts one of his ex-teammates (Andrew Sweat, Mike Yancich, and now-Cleveland Brown Travis Thomas). However, he grew up liking Michigan, and by the time a Wolverine offer came through, Michigan and Pitt were in his top 2. Other schools, such as Penn State, Ohio State, UVa, and others were all in pursuit, but when Wilkins made it to campus for the Big House BBQ, he saw all that he needed to see in order to confirm what he had been feeling for quite some time: he belonged in Maize and Blue.


Player Notes:
Though recovering turnovers on defense is mostly a luck proposition, Wilkins sure knows what to do with the ball once it’s in his hands: he scored 2 defensive touchdowns last season. He was named first-team all-state at defensive end. One thing that may be holding back his rankings a bit is the fact that he’s something of a tweener: Scout lists Wilkins as a 3-star defensive end, and Rivals has him ranked as a 3-star outside linebacker. It seems as though he’ll play mostly linebacker in college, though at Michigan he’ll have the hybrid role available to him. The low rankings certainly aren’t due to lack of exposure: on top of his all-state selection as a junior, he’s been attending the Pittsburgh Scout combine since his freshman year.

Andre "Bad Moon" Rison Has Lost Touch With Reality

Many Michigan fans will shake their head when a current or former Michigan State Spartan does something stupid. Most will make a comment like, "Sparty is showing it's true colors" or "that's the difference between East Lansing and Ann Arbor". Michigan State has always had a problem playing second fiddle to Michigan. Even their famous coach, Nick Sabin left for LSU so he could be at the top school in the state. So when Mike Hart leveled the "little brother" comment on them a couple of years ago, State was really pissed and continues to be pissed because they know it's true.

So when former Sparty's do something stupid like shooting themselves in a club or getting arrested for Drugs. It's news. Whats strange is, these players don't lack talent, they just lack some type of gene above the neck that has an adverse effect on making right and wrong decisions. In other words, Sparty being Sparty.

The latest case in point, is Andre Rison. The AJC caught up with him recently and of course he had a lot to say. This quote stands out the most:

“Best receiver to ever play the game. I can’t show my highlights because I don’t own NFL Films, but all my coaches in college, in high school, in junior college, they all told me I could be the best. But they must’ve lied because that title was already given to Jerry Rice. Just because you have stats doesn’t mean you’re the best. Can’t nobody tell me that Andre Reed isn’t better than Jerry Rice. I’m seeing cornerbacks on the 75th anniversary team that I used to demolish. But I’m coming out with my own hall of fame.”


Of course we have to put this in perspective, this is Andre Rison we are talking about: One minute, he was the highest-paid receiver in the game. In another, he was being jailed for failing to make child-support payments. One minute, he was about to marry TLC’s Lisa ‘Left-Eye’ Lopes. In another, she was burning down his mansion and getting probation. One minute, he was celebrating a Super Bowl in Green Bay and a Grey Cup in Toronto. In another, he was firing a gun outside a Kroger.

Michigan State needs an out placement program for it's high profile athletes. They need more Magic Johnson's and less Andre Rison's. More Steve Smith's and less Charles Rodgers. The key is, the basketball program turns out well rounded kids that do well after college and in professional life. The football program doesn't. Why you ask? That's a good question. MSU may recruit kids that are talented but come from a questionable background? Maybe the money goes right to their head? No matter the reason, MSU is not getting it's players ready for the big stage as well as other programs.

Too bad Michigan State can't fine it's former players for making them look bad after life in East Lansing. We all know one of Bo's goals at Michigan was for his group of Men to be well rounded leaders off the field when they left Ann Arbor, whether it was playing in the NFL or working at a Ford Dealership. It seems Michigan State needs to find a similar direction.

If I'm a big time high school WR recruit and thinking Michigan State, I would take a serious look at how Michigan State prepares it's football athletes for the NFL. I think the track record speaks for itself.

Maybe get a mentor over in the basketball program?

Michigan Monday: Recruits, Clothing, and Carr gets a new job.

• In a surprise move, Brennan Clay one of the top RB's in the 2010 class and former teammate of Tate Forcier verbally committed to Bob Stoops and Oklahoma over the weekend. The surprising thing was Brennan's quick trigger to commit after he had set up a number of official visits, including one to Michigan in September. (I assume to watch his friend play QB for Michigan.) The key will be if BC keeps those official visits or not, all college coaches follow one rule in recruiting: "if you take visits to other schools, your not committed". We will see how this plays out and let's hope Michigan still has a chance. I"m thinking Tate believes Michigan is still in the race.

• William Campbell last year committed to Michigan very early, decided to take some visits, and even said he had dropped Michigan from his list before he picked Michigan at the Army All American Game. It seems another "Big Will" from Michigan is planning something similar. William Gholston has long been rumored to be a Michigan State lean, but has been to the Big House a number of times and continues to say his recruitment is wide open. I submit you proof of William's attention via the Tux he wore to his high school prom. I have a feeling Will, knows where he is going to play his college football.

• With two posts of bad news, some good news: It seems that Michigan QB commit for 2010 Devin Gardner performed well in a Nike Camp in Illinois over the weekend. He also seems to have a nice connection with the #1WR recruit in the nation, Kyle Prater (both were also at the BBQ at the Big House). Michigan already has enough WR's committed in the 2010 class but would definitely make room for Kyle. Also, Michigan recruit Austin White won the RB award. per ESPN: Gardner started a bit slow, but by the end of the camp was throwing very well. He showed a strong arm throwing the out pattern. ----ESPNU 150 Watch List wide receiver Kyle Prater (Hillside, Ill./Proviso West) was impressive on Saturday. He stands every bit of his listed 6-foot-4 height, and runs with an effortless gate. Prater made a number of nice catches and had little trouble getting the best of the defensive backs during drills. It was anything but a surprise when Prater was named the MVP for wide receivers at the end of the camp.
  If a "look test" award were given out, it almost certainly would have gone to Gholston, another ESPNU 150 Watch List prospect. Gholston not only looked great physically, but he showed speed and agility for a big guy. On more than one occasion, Gholston blew by his opponent with an outside speed rush.

• DHR hires former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr to it's sports practice: DHR's sports practice conducts searches for both collegiate and professional sports, recruiting athletic directors, head coaches and other executives. Carr “is one of the most celebrated and successful coaches in the history of the NCAA,” said DHR CEO David Hoffmann. “His character, integrity and leadership qualities are, in our opinion, second to none in the sports world.”

• Update: Lo Wood Announcing June 26th. Early on Lo (a DB from Florida) was a strong Michigan lean but ND jumped into the picture and many believe that Lo will announce that he will become a "golden domer" on the 26th of this month. Hopefully, Lo will dream about a 40 yard dash between "good time Charlie" and "RR". The winner of the race is Lo's school of choice. :-)

"If you don't have discipline, you can't have a successful program." - Coach Bear Bryant

Michigan Football Friday Update: More Attrition

Long Gone: Redshirt Freshman Offensive Lineman Dann O'Neill has left the Michigan Football program. Per Mgoblog; it's unclear if he plans to transfer or quit football all together. The "word" on O'Neil was, a great frame but needs a ton of work. Dan had zero shot at playing time in the fall and was not on the 2-deep depth chart.

My take: this isn't a killer loss for the Wolverines, he wasn't going to see time in 2009 and would have been a project to see time as an upper class man. He either didn't want to put in the work associated with being a D1 starter at a major program or plans to try football at another school. Michigan has showed good signs on the offensive line with the developments of Barnum, Khoury, and Omameh but will have some depth problems if the Wolverines have injury issues.

• Tate's brother to Furman: Chris Forcier a redshirt QB from UCLA is heading to Furman to play QB. Since Furman is a D1AA school he can play right away.
  


• Kelvin Grady Walking On or on Scholarship? I'm not sure it matters since Michigan seems to have a few hundred open scholarships, but the Ann Arbor News states he is walking on. I'm sure RR and Staff will hand out the remaining scholarships to the deserving players. MgoBlog today also mentions that Terrance Robinson is reportedly having some trouble catching the ball. So the new "KG" might be a good fit.

• The Michigan basketball team will take on UConn at home Sunday, Jan. 17, at Crisler Arena. Manny and the boys are going to be playing a difficult schedule next year. More media attention for sure.

ALABAMA: '09 Outlook

Wins: Florida International, North Texas, Arkansas, at Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, at Mississippi State, Chattanooga

Losses: None

Toss Up: vs. Virginia Tech, at Ole Miss, LSU, at Auburn

The Crimson Tide have a very favorable schedule to break in a new QB in 2009. The Hokies in game one should provide a stiffer test than Clemson did a year ago, and then the first huge SEC west showdown with Ole Miss in the middle of the season.

The Tide host LSU in early November which could be for the division title, then a trip to Auburn to end the year. Alabama will be a better team than Auburn, but the Tide hasn't won in Auburn since 2001, and rivalry games are always up for grabs.

2009 SEC Football Outlook

Wolverine Recruiting Blitz: 6/4/2009

• Coming Early: Christian Pace, Michigan's latest 2010 commitment is on track to graduate in December and enroll at Michigan in January. His high school coach weighs in on CP: "He enjoys physical play and is a real versatile big, strong kid," Dlugosz said. "He has exceptionally quick feet." "He finishes his blocks," Dlugosz said. "If he locks on you, he's going to put you into the ground."

• Torrian Wilson has a new top 5: Miami-FL, Alabama, Tennessee, Michigan and Stanford.

• The top WR in the country for 2010 has a list of 10 schools. He also just attended the BBQ at the Big House. Kyle Prater's top 10 schools are Illinois, Oklahoma, USC, Michigan, Tennessee, Alabama, Auburn, Missouri, Miami FL, and ND. Let's hope Michigan can score an official visit.

• Defensive end Chance Carter might consider Michigan: The 6-foot-4, 245-pounder said his scholarship offer list remains at five: Notre Dame, Stanford, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Indiana. However, he said he is only considering the first three."It's hard to say which one I liked better," Carter said. "I'm also looking at Boston College, and I might take a look at Michigan."

• 2011 WR recruit from Saginaw continues to receive praise. DeAnthony Arnett who holds an Michigan offer spent last weekend at a camp in Tennessee: "It went real well," said Arnett to Scout.com regarding his time in Knoxville. "They didn't really say anything (about an offer), but Coach (Lane) Kiffin said he really liked me." Arnett hopes the Michigan State coaching staff is similarly impressed when he camps there later this month. A few previous visits to East Lansing only served to strengthen the Spartans' status as one of the top teams on his early list. "I like the campus, the education part," said Arnett of Michigan State. "Football-wise, they're pretty balanced. They throw the ball and run the ball. I like that." Other offers on Arnett's early wish list include Ohio State and childhood favorite Oklahoma.

All-American Athlete Demarcus Milliner, Bama?

***UPDATE*** DeMarcus Milliner, the Five Star corner and #1 prospect in the state, has chosen to play his college ball for Alabama.

---

Under Armour All-American athlete Demarcus Milliner (Millbrook, Ala./Stanhope Elmore) is expected to announce his decision during a 1 p.m. press conference on Thursday and it looks like Alabama will be the choice.

Milliner, who plays running back and safety in high school but there is talk he could be a corner in college, rushed for 438 yards and seven touchdowns, added a receiving TD, intercepted seven passes, returning two for scores, and returned two punts and two kickoffs for touchdowns.

The Crimson Tide has been the leader for Milliner since mid-May and though he said he's also considering Georgia, Auburn, Tennessee and South Carolina, it would be surprising if he doesn't announce he's committing to Alabama.

Under Armour Game adds Ayers, Wilson