More weirdness from the Rodriguez regime

By Bart Doan  |   Tuesday, May 05, 2009  |  Comments( 3 )

College Football
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It’s hard to tell at this point how many football scholarships Michigan will have to offer next season to incoming recruits. It’s also increasingly hard to tell what the heck they’re doing with them.

A few months ago, this wasn’t much of an issue. Ricardo Miller was spurning Florida for Michigan. Fred Jackson’s son Jeremy was in the fold. Devin Gardner was choosing Michigan over schools like LSU and Ohio State. Things looked good. Now? Things just look confusing.

Take newly minted Wolverine (or so he says) Drew Dileo. He is Michigan’s latest commitment and its fifth wide receiver in the class. If that alone isn’t odd, consider that Dileo listed Tulane as Michigan’s closest competition. Stanford, normally of the Pac-10 cellar, extended an offer late. Everyone knows Wolverines head coach Rich Rodriguez had a player de-commit to Tulsa last year, but what in the name of Conference USA is going on here? Dileo sits right in the heart of LSU country, yet Les Miles isn’t visiting. Regardless of wondering how many slot receivers a team can possibly have, Michigan fans are pondering why offers are being extended to kids whom seemingly no one else is after. Though star ratings aren’t always the best way to go about projecting things, Dileo is expected to be a mid- to low- three-star player.

While that isn’t headlining news, what Michigan did with Florida cornerback Travis Williams is unheard of. Williams told ESPN recently that he’d committed to the Wolverines and upon breaking the supposedly great news to Rodriguez, the coach told him to call back after the spring. The reported excuse had to do with Rodriguez telling Williams to think it over as to not make a bad move. Where in the world has anyone heard this type of thing happen? Offers are limited, so getting a player to commit at any point is normally considered a coup. Michigan, though, seems to be extending so many offers that you wonder if they’re legitimate or if the Wolverines are just covering all bases after a rough season last year. Granted, no commitment is official until a letter of intent is signed, but it seems a bit cruel to extend an offer, accept a commitment, and then pull the rug out from under the player at a later date.

There have been three other lower- or non-rated recruits like this pledging their allegiance to Michigan recently. One can only imagine what is going on in Schembechler Hall. Though Michigan mined gold in lowly sought-after defensive back Justin Turner, who ended up as one of the best players in the nation by the time the smoke had cleared on his senior season, it’s hard to believe that every player with this similar story will pan out the same.

To be frank, Rodriguez has done some odd things in his tenure. He’s run off Ryan Mallet. He’s presided over a hideous 3-9 season. With recruiting, he’s told recruits of his plans before seemingly informing his employer. He’s stockpiled pass catchers like it’s some sort of contest. Now, he’s telling players that he offers “thanks, but check with me later” in so many words. As each day passes and more puzzling stories arise, Lloyd Carr keeps looking better and better.
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About Bart Doan

Bart has been with Realfootball365.com for about six months and thoroughly enjoys writing for the site. He has been featured for his writings on college football in The Sporting News, The Indianapolis Star, Sports Illustrated, and on CBS Sportsline.com. When he's not drowning himself in the...
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