The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/641955
FOOTBALL RECRUITING The question becomes: can Har- baugh keep it going? History would say yes. With the exception of Stanford's Da- vid Shaw, who signed just 12 recruits in his second full recruiting cycle, the seven other Power Five conference coaches produced a class that ranked eighth, on average, in their second go-around. Many of these coaches have an advantage over Harbaugh, living in talent-rich areas like the South or Cali- fornia, but Meyer proved that a Mid- west program could compete with the big dogs of the SEC, ACC and Pac-12 by landing the No. 2 overall class in his first full cycle and the No. 3 overall class in his second. In his first four full recruiting cycles, Meyer has produced, on average, the fourth-best class in the country (plac- ing third this year) and is showing no signs of slowing down. Of course, it helps to have great suc- cess following that first full cycle when programs can no longer sell hope but must sell results. Miles, Saban and Meyer all won 11 or more games in their second-year campaigns, fueling excitement for their third (and second full) recruiting cycles. Each of those coaches won a na- tional title in year three, further en- hancing their recruiting appeal. Can Harbaugh follow suit? Will Michigan win 11 or more games in year two and compete for a national title in year three? It's no given, but among this elite class Harbaugh now belongs to four won a national championship within three years and a fifth, Fisher, did so in four. ❏ The 2016 Recruiting Class By The Numbers 0 Signees from the state of Ohio, marking the first time since 2007 U-M was shut out of the Buck- eye State. The Wolverines signed an average of six recruits from Ohio per year in the 2008-15 recruiting classes. 1 Recruit from Detroit Cass Tech, offensive lineman MICHAEL ONWENU, was inked in 2016. After signing 10 Technicians from 2008-13, U-M did not sign a player from Cass Tech in the 2014 or 2015 classes. PHOTO BY BRANDON BROWN