Roody
08-10-2007, 08:36 PM
Name the big-time college football program that recruits the most players nationally.
It has to be USC, right? Pete Carroll and his staff have marched into states like Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey, Michigan, Arizona and others and signed five-star talent.
But after the Trojans, you might be surprised who's next: Michigan
I criticized Michigan pretty good last year when it signed only one of the top 10 players in its home state for the Class of 2007. The state's top player, wide receiver Ronald Johnson, signed with the aforementioned Trojans. Other top prospects went to Florida State, LSU, Oklahoma, Tennessee, among others.
However, despite signing only five players from Michigan in a 20-player class, Lloyd Carr and his staff still pulled in the nation's No. 12 recruiting haul. How? Impressive out-of-state recruiting.
Michigan's incoming freshman class boasts top players from Texas, California, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Illinois and Colorado. In 2006, Michigan signed standouts from Washington, Georgia, Indiana, Florida, Virginia and New York. So far this year, the Wolverines are following a similar path.
Michigan received a commitment from Texas superstar running back Sam McGuffie on Sunday night. That pledge came less than a month after the Wolverines received a commitment from another top player from the Lone Star State, wide receiver Darryl Stonum. Michigan also has commitments for the Class of 2008 from standouts in Indiana, Illinois and New Jersey.
Plenty of schools look out of state for talent. Unless you're Texas, UCLA, USC or one of the big three in Florida, you can't put together a competitive roster made up solely of in-state players. But few schools go father for their commitments than Michigan.
Take a quick look at the current Michigan roster. The quarterback from Pennsylvania (Chad Henne) will be handing the ball off to the star running back from New York (Mike Hart) and throwing the ball downfield to receivers from Ohio (Mario Manningham), Iowa (Adrian Arrington), Florida (Greg Mathews) and Louisiana (LaTerryal Savoy). On defense, the pass rush will be provided by an end from Illinois (Tim Jamison) and the coverage in the secondary will come from players from California (Morgan Trent and Johnny Sears), North Carolina (Jamar Adams) and Indiana (Stevie Brown).
The quarterback of the future for Michigan is strong-armed Ryan Mallett, who hails from Texas. Offensive tackle Stephen Schilling, who is from Washington, will likely be protecting his blind side by then, while two of Mallett's top targets will likely be Mathews and Junior Hemmingway from South Carolina. Steve Watson (Colorado) could be the go-to guy at tight end. And the tailback? Don't count out McGuffie, who is talented enough to make an immediate impact.
On defense, California's Donovan Warren could start at cornerback, with fellow statesmen Jonas Mouton and Michael Williams challenging at safety. Texas prospect Brandon Herron will likely be in the mix at linebacker, and Adam Patterson (South Carolina) and John Ferrara (New York) could anchor a talented defensive line.
Michigan has signed their share of top in-state players over the last few years. That group is led by running back Kevin Grady, linebacker/defensive end Brandon Graham and wide receiver Martell Webb. However, the bulk of the talent on the Michigan roster hails from elsewhere.
Carr gets criticized for his old-school approach to recruiting at times, but he and his staff have done as good a job nationally as any program short of USC in recent years. With about 20 high-end prospects in the state of Michigan each year -- and heavy competition from Ohio State, Notre Dame and others -- recruiting outside of Michigan is a necessity for the Wolverines. They've just taken that success to a different level.
It has to be USC, right? Pete Carroll and his staff have marched into states like Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey, Michigan, Arizona and others and signed five-star talent.
But after the Trojans, you might be surprised who's next: Michigan
I criticized Michigan pretty good last year when it signed only one of the top 10 players in its home state for the Class of 2007. The state's top player, wide receiver Ronald Johnson, signed with the aforementioned Trojans. Other top prospects went to Florida State, LSU, Oklahoma, Tennessee, among others.
However, despite signing only five players from Michigan in a 20-player class, Lloyd Carr and his staff still pulled in the nation's No. 12 recruiting haul. How? Impressive out-of-state recruiting.
Michigan's incoming freshman class boasts top players from Texas, California, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Illinois and Colorado. In 2006, Michigan signed standouts from Washington, Georgia, Indiana, Florida, Virginia and New York. So far this year, the Wolverines are following a similar path.
Michigan received a commitment from Texas superstar running back Sam McGuffie on Sunday night. That pledge came less than a month after the Wolverines received a commitment from another top player from the Lone Star State, wide receiver Darryl Stonum. Michigan also has commitments for the Class of 2008 from standouts in Indiana, Illinois and New Jersey.
Plenty of schools look out of state for talent. Unless you're Texas, UCLA, USC or one of the big three in Florida, you can't put together a competitive roster made up solely of in-state players. But few schools go father for their commitments than Michigan.
Take a quick look at the current Michigan roster. The quarterback from Pennsylvania (Chad Henne) will be handing the ball off to the star running back from New York (Mike Hart) and throwing the ball downfield to receivers from Ohio (Mario Manningham), Iowa (Adrian Arrington), Florida (Greg Mathews) and Louisiana (LaTerryal Savoy). On defense, the pass rush will be provided by an end from Illinois (Tim Jamison) and the coverage in the secondary will come from players from California (Morgan Trent and Johnny Sears), North Carolina (Jamar Adams) and Indiana (Stevie Brown).
The quarterback of the future for Michigan is strong-armed Ryan Mallett, who hails from Texas. Offensive tackle Stephen Schilling, who is from Washington, will likely be protecting his blind side by then, while two of Mallett's top targets will likely be Mathews and Junior Hemmingway from South Carolina. Steve Watson (Colorado) could be the go-to guy at tight end. And the tailback? Don't count out McGuffie, who is talented enough to make an immediate impact.
On defense, California's Donovan Warren could start at cornerback, with fellow statesmen Jonas Mouton and Michael Williams challenging at safety. Texas prospect Brandon Herron will likely be in the mix at linebacker, and Adam Patterson (South Carolina) and John Ferrara (New York) could anchor a talented defensive line.
Michigan has signed their share of top in-state players over the last few years. That group is led by running back Kevin Grady, linebacker/defensive end Brandon Graham and wide receiver Martell Webb. However, the bulk of the talent on the Michigan roster hails from elsewhere.
Carr gets criticized for his old-school approach to recruiting at times, but he and his staff have done as good a job nationally as any program short of USC in recent years. With about 20 high-end prospects in the state of Michigan each year -- and heavy competition from Ohio State, Notre Dame and others -- recruiting outside of Michigan is a necessity for the Wolverines. They've just taken that success to a different level.