The Izzo Recruiting Philosophy - Football Style

Nick Hill is in. Paul Jorgensen is out. You win some you lose some.

This isn't exactly news but I find it interesting that Coach D. seems to be adhering to the Coach Izzo recruiting philosophy. Control your state. Work the border states hard and if a kid here or there from Texas, Florida or other southern states is interested, go for it. And like Izzo, Coach D is trying to build a fence around the Midwest and the state of Michigan.

The question is, long-term, will this strategy work?

And it depends on what your goals are as a coach.

We know it works in basketball. Theoretically Izzo can get 2 of the top 3 recruits in Michigan and then a third guy from another Midwestern state during any given year and MSU can be a ig Ten contender and top 10-20 team. Will they be a North Carolina, a Kansas or a Kentucky (under Shady Cal)? Probably not. Coach Izzo isn't going to get a John Wall, and that's okay. We can still go to Final Fours and NCAAs.

But football is different. The average size class may be at or above 20 players. Again speaking theoretically, getting 50, or even 75 percent of the top in-state players any given year is great, but is it enough if you want to go to the Rose Bowl? Probably not. The BCS national title game? Not with largely just Michigan-based players.

However Coach D, in my opinion, has a long-term plan. And it is working. Lock up the state and get some of the top-tier guys from Ohio, Pennsylvania and Illinois. Make your presence known in the other Big Ten states. Coach the hell out of them, improve the talent and become a team that consistently plays on or just before New Year's Day. Win a Big Ten title or two. Then you can expand your reach nationally, always honing in on your regional base.

If that's the plan then I'm on board. So I'm not worried that all 7 commitments so far from the 2010 class are from Michigan. We'll get our share of out-state players. At least there is a recruiting plan in place, something that didn't appear to be the case under the previous two coaching regimes.

Besides, as Joe likes to say, all these rankings are subjective anyway. After all, let's look at the high school recruiting review of Louis Delmas, the 2nd round (33rd overall) pick in the most recent NFL Draft by your Detroit Lions. This ranking of Delmas was published by Rivals.com in 2005. A "2-star" player.

By the way 4.9 is defined by Rivals.com as the following: "Sleeper; no Rivals.com expert knew much, if anything, about this player; a prospect that only a college coach really knew about."

Hmm. That 2-star recruit seemed to work out.

In Coach D we trust. What do you think about this recruiting philosophy and do you agree with my suppositions?

Comments

[Dennispapoi]

Could not agree more. An obvious advantage of this recruiting philosophy is that players can develop and the team (over a relatively short time)can develop into a top tier program. Izzo has proven this many times over, and Coach D is following the same philosophy (sound and safe recipe for success)!

[vnflcards]

What's more important about Dantonio's recruiting plan is that he only offers scholarships to kids who he (or his head recruiters) have seen play in person. Also, he makes sure that the kids get a chance to see East Lansing and the MSU way of doing things before he lets them commit.

BW & John L. actually had some decent recruiting classes, on paper, but they never really materialized because of defections and mistaken potential. Dantonio's way of doing things will hopefully make sure that doesn't happen to him.

[Patrick]

a couple other things Izzo does and Dantonio seems to be doing...find kids who have good character. Second, by not going after the "john walls" you don't get the defections after 2 or 3 years for the pros (more common in basketball, but still possible in football). Finally, having in-state kids for the most part, and regional kids, ensures less kids getting homesick and dropping out or transferring to go back home.

[Stan]

Great story Mike ... could not agree more. The NFL draft has proven over the years that there is plenty of talent in the midwest and that a team constructed mainly of northern style players can contend/compete with others. I fully expect Dantonio's recruiting to slowly spread out over time, as you suggested.

[Steve]

Spoken by fans of a program that has 1 BT title in 20 years. NW has 3 Titles for crying out loud!

[puhleez]

Steve,
Stop crying out loud. It's embarrassing.

[1/2 Full]

Steve, your comment seems to insinuate we can't be pleased with the direction of our program because we only have one BT championship in 20 years. Actually, that fact legitimizes the comments on this post. We have been frustrated by the lack of consistency in the program, especially after '99. Then came the BW and JLS years.

Also, this entire post had absolutely nothing to do with NW football. I'm quite certain many people are happy to see NW return from the depths of the 70's and 80's when they were setting records for losses. I was wondering for many years why the BT didn't request NW find another conference for football. That clearly is not necessary now. And I believe the majority of people are extremely happy for Pat Fitzgerald and the NW program after the tragic death of the previous Coach.

Good luck to the Wildcats. I'd much rather see them do well than some other BT schools.

[wonderbread]

I'd like to point out that we're winning recruiting battles against the teams we play against every year. If we recruit hard in our state and the region, and win out on high school players that other Big Ten teams are going after, that will (theoretically) lead to more success in the conference, which will help us recruiting nationally when the time is right. This is exactly the way a program should be built.

[Spartan4ever]

Steve, in this world that we live in where just about everything is measured by "What have you done for me lately" MSU has two consecutive winning seasons, two bowl game appearances, and recruiting is the strongest it has been in decades. All signs of a program improving and coming of age.

Now take a look at UM. 3-9 last year even with a history of top rated recruiting classes, losses to ASU and Toledo, player defections, and the ending of a consecutive bowl streak.

Enjoy RichRod as much as the MSU fan base is and will for the next several seasons. If you believe UM is immune from struggling because of years of succes let me introduce you to some Nebraska and Notre Dame fans who thought the same.

[Dr. J]

Be positive. We have 2 in 25!

[psyc]

Thank you wonderbread! This recruiting strategy is step one in an obvious process! MSU has to become a force in it's own backyard in order to SUSTAIN success. Steps two and beyond will include a national presence once the home front is secured.

Coach D gets it! As long as OSU does not come calling, we are in for a great, long ride!

[313spartan]

Are we North Carolina, Kansas, or Kentucky? Hell no. We Are Michigan State. They are trying to be like us.

[Tanfan]

Coach D and Tommy baby !!!
Tanner on fire baby !!!

[coach William]

Dear Mike,

Coach D might be doing an increditble job here in MSU. But isn't it a better idea to hire P.Diddy as the head coach for recruitments and to search for best talents?

What do you think about this recruiting philosophy and do you agree with my suppositions?

[Jeffrey Sweet]

Good philosophy. But we are still seven to eight years away from competing on a national level with the SEC, Big 12 and USC ( forget the rest of the PAC 10).
About the time (2016)that Alabama comes to visit, STATE will be able to hang with them.

[Mick Sprague]

Coach D is certainly ontrack. All one has to do is look at the talent level on this years team VS just a couple years ago. Also,look at the level of recruits we are now getting in Mich/Ohio. The Fla./Calif kids will come as we win a Big l0 Championship and appear in a BCS Bowl. The word is getting out about Dantonio and his staff and the job they are doing.

[wonderbread]

Jeffrey Sweet,

You may be right, but there is no way you can qualify that argument. MSU is making its way to the top of the Big Ten; a BCS bowl in the next two or three seasons is a possibility. If we went to a BCS bowl, why wouldn't we be able to win it??

Please, give us your reasoning why you think it'd take two full recruiting cycles to start competing with Florida, USC, Texas etc

If you were talking about recruiting on a national level, then I'd agree with you. But you said "competing," and I think we'll be at that level within the next two years.

[West Coast Steve]

It appears we have passed Duke, Kentucky, and UCLA in hoops. Think about what that statement would have sounded like a decade or so ago.

In football I believe, in the big picture, we are now ahead of Iowa, Wisconsin, Purdue, ND, Nebraska, maybe FSU (with a current scandal and meltdown in motion), UCLA, Washington, Colorado, South Carolina, Tennesse, Auburn, Clemson, and BC, among others who were in a much stronger position just a few years ago.

While I continue to believe we are compromised by an alumni network that is not at A status and needs leadership that captures the imagination and engenders widespread collaboration, our numbers (400,000+ alums and their enormous goodwill toward MSU) represent nothing but potential for the program.

From a distance it also looks like Lou Anna Simon and Mark Hollis are game changers for MSU's historical lack of influence in key areas.

Who knows? Maybe someday ESPN will cease to pander to the SEC and UM as though seven-figure checks arrived from them weekly, but I'm not holding my breath on that issue. I'm not convinced there are no checks circulating either.

[Tanfan]

Recruit baby recruit !!!
Tanner on fire baby !!!

[JohnnyB]

In football I believe, in the big picture, we are now ahead of... Nebraska...

Posted by: West Coast Steve | July 05, 2009 at 04:34 PM

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How do you figure Steve? Nebraska finished with the same record as you with a 1st year head coach (winning 5 of 6 games down the stretch)against what Sagarin and most other pundits rated as a significantly harder schedule. Forbes ranks Nebraska Football as more vauluable than MSU football and our program dumps a significantly higher degree of resources into it's college football program than MSU does. As I recall the last time the two programs met Nebraska defeated MSU 50 to 10.
Methinks your "big picture" is largely shortsighted.

[Big Jon G]

Let's not get ahead of ourselves here. MSU is not ahead of Wisconsin, Iowa, Florida State, Tenn. etc. in football. We have to a) win a bowl game first; and b) beat a top 20 team every now and then.

We might have beaten Wisconsin and Iowa at home but I would argue we were outplayed in both of those games. Florida State still has better talent even if their coaching staff doesn't stack up to us. Tennessee had one very bad year. BC just beat us in a bowl game two years ago.

I think what made last year so successful is that we went 9-4 win a New Year's Day bowl loss with a team that wasn't particularly talented overall. Sure some of the players that graduated will be missed, but none of them were drafted high this spring.

We're headed in the right direction and going 8-5 this year with more talented personnel is a possibility. But we can't get blown out consistently by teams with better talent.

Oh and "coach William" is an idiot. What does P Diddy have to do with anything related to college football?

[McSpar10]

Personally, I think the "MI doesn't have much talent" thing is overstated. Are we Texas, California, Florida, or Ohio? Of course not. But MI is also not Delaware, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Da... I think you get the point. As mentioned above, the NFL is littered with guys from the upper Midwest.

We always had some nice players. What we have been lacking is more of the super-stud recruits (Gholston, Bullough, Baker, Caper, etc.) and quality depth. Lucky for us MD can recruit AND develop talent.

If you bring in good talent, develop them, and keep them in the program, you will go places. We are going places!

[Dennispapoi]

Football, like any other sport, is played in the present not the past! MSU did beat UM last year, but more importantly they need to beat UM and all the other Big Ten teams this year! Alabama and ND were once great college football dynasties, not now, and who cares as Coach D is building something special! Ya have to love those guys!

[Lycurgus]

Johnny B: Actually, the last time MSU / Nebraska met, the Cornhuskers won 17-3. It was Smoker's final game as a Spartan, John L's 1st season & the only Bowl game JLS took us to.

For myself, I don't think we've "passed" Duke, UK, UCLA or anyone in basketball. What MSU has done the past 10+ years in men's basketball is remarkable. However, those storied programs still have way more history than we do. Only a handful of colleges have won 3+ National Championships; that's a hurdle that MSU needs to clear to solifidy their standings.

And no, we've not surpassed Nebraska in football. Nebraska had a solid yr last season & beat Clemson (I think?) in their Bowl game.

For myself, I'm not worried about comparing MSU to other schools. Let State be State & everything will be fine.

In football, one thing people have overlooked is that we beat out Texas, Florida & USC for Gholston. That would have been out-of-the-question under JLS or BW. Previous MSU coaches have TALKED about upgrading recruiting; Dantonio is actually DOING it!

GO STATE!!

Thus spake Lycurgus

[Big Sean]

What MD has accomplished in a short time is toughness and consistency. Also he has slowly brought in talent that makes winning easier in big games. By his 4th season it is very possible that the Spartans position themselves for NC shot! The building blocks are starting to assemble and things are looking so much better in E.Lansing.
To be honest if the O-line comes together and the recievers catch the ball consistently, I can see us being just-about as good as last years Penn State team!
Last years Average O-line play and dropped passes is what prevented the Spartans from winning the Big Games.