Western Michigan WR commit who flipped to Gophers?

UpAndUnder43

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I might be losing my mind, but was there a receiver committed to Western who flipped when PJ was wooed by the land of 10,000 lakes? I remember WMU fans being distraught over losing this particular recruit, but cannot remember who it was.
 

Autman-Bell? He was a WMU commit that flipped when PJ came here.
 



That's going to be an interesting class to watch because so many players appeared to be very late added recruits along with Claeys recruits who kept their commitments.

Claeys is partially due credit for some of that class.
 


That's going to be an interesting class to watch because so many players appeared to be very late added recruits along with Claeys recruits who kept their commitments.

Claeys is partially due credit for some of that class.

The only Claeys recruits that signed from that class were the 4 Minnesota kids - Andries, Ryerse, Bursch, London, and then McLaurin who was already enrolled but didn't last long.
 

The only Claeys recruits that signed from that class were the 4 Minnesota kids - Andries, Ryerse, Bursch, London, and then McLaurin who was already enrolled but didn't last long.

Did PJ pull offers on the other recruits at that point?
Anyone remember who they all were?
 

That's going to be an interesting class to watch because so many players appeared to be very late added recruits along with Claeys recruits who kept their commitments.

Claeys is partially due credit for some of that class.

"Partial credit" sounds about right. From an ESPN article from 2/2/17:

"In fact, nine of the 15 players who committed under Claeys left the fold after his firing on Jan. 3. Fleck still managed to bring in 25 total recruits less than a month later, including six prospects who had committed to him at Western Michigan...

While taking recruits from his former school surely ruffled some feathers back in Kalamazoo -- just as James Franklin did when he took some Vanderbilt commits to Penn State -- Fleck said it was important to bring with him players he knew well given the compressed time.

"That first class, you want to know them as much as you can, because you'll be with them for four or five years," he said. "You want to make sure it's truly your culture, and those guys exemplify our culture."

From there, Fleck and his assistants worked their previous connections as hard as they could to find some late additions. He kept all of Minnesota's in-state pledges on board, including standout offensive lineman Blaise Andries."


Also begs the question, whatever happened to Fleck other QB recruit Reyondous Estes? Looks like he had offers from ILL, MO and WMU besides the one he took from Minnesota.

http://www.espn.com/blog/bigten/pos...o-salvage-first-recruiting-class-at-minnesota
 

Did PJ pull offers on the other recruits at that point?
Anyone remember who they all were?



Pretty much, he just didn't want to piss of the MN coaches/recruits


Don't have the names though, would have to go through thread
 



Pretty much, he just didn't want to piss of the MN coaches/recruits


Don't have the names though, would have to go through thread

Fleck absolutely did NOT pull the offers Not after the heat he took at WMU when he pulled all of those offers during a "dead period" when those recruits weren't allowed to contact coaches.

P.J. has said on numerous occasions that is one of his top regrets. Beside, with everything going on doubtful that Coyle would have let him do it. That said, Fleck didn't need to be told not to. Need to take him at his word that he wasn't planning on doing it.
 

Pretty much, he just didn't want to piss of the MN coaches/recruits


Don't have the names though, would have to go through thread


From doing a quick search, it appears some ended up at non-Big 5 schools.
One was a large offensive lineman who was a JUCO transfer.
Would maybe have been handy last year, but Fleck is mostly anti-JUCO as we have learned.


What is surprising is how many people he recruited in that class in a one month time frame and got people to flip their commitments that late.
 

Tracy Claeys did not have many recruits committed leading up to the time of his firing IIRC. Kill and Claeys get the bulk of their recruits late in the cycle while PJ Fleck likes to seal the deal early on a big chunk of his recruits except for one or two.

I remember thinking what is taking Claeys so long to get commitments. He wasn't very aggressive at recruiting.
 

Did PJ pull offers on the other recruits at that point?
Anyone remember who they all were?

This is the list of 2017 decommits and where they were listed as going (Not sure if they are all still there). Now, some decommitted before Fleck was hired and then some were recruited still once Fleck was here I believe but ended up elsewhere.

Kyrei Fisher - Arkansas (Decommited before I believe)
Josh Croslen - Bowling Green
Bryson Jackson - Baylor
Jaquarius Landrews - Mississippi State (Decommitted)
Trey Creamer - Iowa (IIRC - took a secret visit to Iowa that wasn't so secret and tried to explain and staff wasn't having it)
Eric Abojei - Wyoming (Decommitted before, believe there were some academic concerns IIRC)
Raheem Layne - Indiana
Javan Hawes - Cincinnati
Corey Gaynor - Miami (Decommited before)
Claudin Cherelus - UMASS
JaKyle Holmes - Louisiana-Monroe
Jimmie Terry - Southern Miss
Brett Kitrell - Ohio
 



The only Claeys recruits that signed from that class were the 4 Minnesota kids - Andries, Ryerse, Bursch, London, and then McLaurin who was already enrolled but didn't last long.
It's funny how Fleck doesn't really acknowledge this class, always calls 2018 his first class. They're like redheaded step children

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Tracy Claeys did not have many recruits committed leading up to the time of his firing IIRC. Kill and Claeys get the bulk of their recruits late in the cycle while PJ Fleck likes to seal the deal early on a big chunk of his recruits except for one or two.

I remember thinking what is taking Claeys so long to get commitments. He wasn't very aggressive at recruiting.

That was really strange to me too. I was speculating that the scandal was making it difficult to recruit or Claeys was not very motivated for some reason.
 

The only Claeys recruits that signed from that class were the 4 Minnesota kids - Andries, Ryerse, Bursch, London, and then McLaurin who was already enrolled but didn't last long.

The McLaurin thing was always ... so awkward and weird. PJ was talking about QBs one day and just didn't mention him...
 

That was really strange to me too. I was speculating that the scandal was making it difficult to recruit or Claeys was not very motivated for some reason.

In fairness to Claeys, it's hard to recruit when players don't know if you are going to be the coach...
 

It's funny how Fleck doesn't really acknowledge this class, always calls 2018 his first class. They're like redheaded step children

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He had to take bodies to fill up the class in a month. That included Ryerse, Bursch and London, 3 Minnesota kids that will likely never see the field. So it really wasn't the same as bringing in his own class.
 

In fairness to Claeys, it's hard to recruit when players don't know if you are going to be the coach...

Very true. I think even Claeys was probably feeling very unsure about his situation by October 2016.
 

Fleck likes to lock up his recruits, get his guys, then move on to the next years class. He is a recruiter first. Brings in a ton of talent then figures out how to coach them up.
 

HandyHolly was kind of on the line with Sawvel...PJ seemed to go after him hard and close on him. Mafe was kind of on the line. PJ closed hard on him.
 
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He had to take bodies to fill up the class in a month. That included Ryerse, Bursch and London, 3 Minnesota kids that will likely never see the field. So it really wasn't the same as bringing in his own class.

He has 18 guys from that class who have been on the field or are in his two-deeps...Ibrahim, CAB, DD, Andries, Paulson, Otomewo, Mafe, Umlor, Silver, OJ Smith, Williamson, Harris, Davis, Morgan, Estes, JMS, Sassack, (HandyHolly)...that is a good class worthy of respect, not the back-handed dimissal of an afterthought effort that you give it...Guthrie, Malcolm, VanDyne may still be contributors
 
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It's funny how Fleck doesn't really acknowledge this class, always calls 2018 his first class. They're like redheaded step children

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It really isn't that strange at all. Most coaches get hired during the time period after the season ends and before NSD so they have to scramble to put together that first class. That is very different then the following year when they are signing kids that they have been recruiting for over a year and have developed a strong relationship with.

I would be willing to bet most head coaches view their first full year class as their first class as opposed to one that was assembled on the fly in a really short window of time after they were hired.
 

Yeah but the 2017 class is a rather large one, and he signed all but four instate players that he would have offered anyways, it's his class
It really isn't that strange at all. Most coaches get hired during the time period after the season ends and before NSD so they have to scramble to put together that first class. That is very different then the following year when they are signing kids that they have been recruiting for over a year and have developed a strong relationship with.

I would be willing to bet most head coaches view their first full year class as their first class as opposed to one that was assembled on the fly in a really short window of time after they were hired.

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He has 16 guys from that class who have been on the field or are in his two-deeps...Ibrahim, CAB, DD, Paulson, Otomewo, Mafe, Umlor, Silver, OJ Smith, Williamson, Harris, Davis, Morgan, Estes, JMS, Sassack...that is a good class worthy of respect, not the back-handed dimissal of an afterthought effort that you give it...Guthrie, Malcolm, VanDyne may still be contributors
I'm not backhanding my point is Fleck does, learn to read

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He has 18 guys from that class who have been on the field or are in his two-deeps...Ibrahim, CAB, DD, Andries, Paulson, Otomewo, Mafe, Umlor, Silver, OJ Smith, Williamson, Harris, Davis, Morgan, Estes, JMS, Sassack, (HandyHolly)...that is a good class worthy of respect, not the back-handed dimissal of an afterthought effort that you give it...Guthrie, Malcolm, VanDyne may still be contributors

Just because guys are in the 2-deep on a 3-3 (0-3 B1G) B1G team doesn't mean it was the class he wanted. Obviously the 2018 class was much better when he was given a whole year to recruit. Want to bet which one will be better in hindsight 5 years from now?
 

I'm not sure why it matters whether we call it Fleck's first class. Claeys class. Fleck and Claeys class. Etc.
We know Claeys started the recruiting. Fleck finished it during the last few weeks.
Many variables so any comparisons would be pretty tough to make with the changing facilities, changing recruiting timelines, etc.
 

I might be losing my mind, but was there a receiver committed to Western who flipped when PJ was wooed by the land of 10,000 lakes? I remember WMU fans being distraught over losing this particular recruit, but cannot remember who it was.

I'm a WMU fan and have no idea who you're talking about. I do know he took 9 WMU commits with him, but don't remember who they are. There was a QB we were disappointed in losing, but he's transferred out of your program anyway. I don't remember a WR, but with the way our new coach is recruiting you guys can have him. We're doing just fine at wideout.
 

I'm a WMU fan and have no idea who you're talking about. I do know he took 9 WMU commits with him, but don't remember who they are. There was a QB we were disappointed in losing, but he's transferred out of your program anyway. I don't remember a WR, but with the way our new coach is recruiting you guys can have him. We're doing just fine at wideout.

The QB who flipped is Tanner Morgan and he's our #2.
 





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