How the Gophers kept Darius Taylor from Michigan and other top programs

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How the Gophers kept Darius Taylor from Michigan and other top programs

Star Tribune, Randy Johnson, September 15, 2023.

Darius Taylor has to be one of PJ Fleck's top recruiting coups. He offered early, built a relationship, and showed a lot of love.

Excerpts from the Star Tribune link:

Early work pays off for Gophers

Taylor is in only his third season as a running back after playing slot receiver as a high school sophomore. His early scholarship offers included Division II Ferris State and FCS-level Youngstown State, but a strong junior season prompted the Mid-American Conference and some Power Five schools to take notice. The Gophers made their offer in January 2022 and quickly built a solid relationship with Taylor. He verbally committed that April.

The waiting, though, was the hardest part for Fleck. As Taylor tore through prep defenses during his senior season, Michigan and Michigan State showed increased interest in a player rated the nation's 23rd-best high school running back in the 2023 class by the 247Sports composite rankings.

"It was a long process, and we got on him really early,'' Fleck said. "On paper, schools that the outside world probably would say, "You're crazy to turn down and come [to Minnesota],' he got that every day in school. And he was unwavering. That's the type of young man he is.''

Not that there weren't tense moments for Fleck.

"Every time you'd see the phone [caller I.D.] say 'Darius Taylor,' you'd panic,'' Fleck said. "Or the text messages. The worst ones were, 'Coach, can we talk?' ''

Turns out, Taylor's 'Can we talk?' text was just to change the time of a scheduled phone call.

"Darius is a very loyal kid,'' Cioroch said. "The early attention and early relationships he built with Minnesota and their coaches, kids and staff were the final pieces of the decision. Michigan and Michigan State came late and didn't show enough confidence in him early, and he didn't like that. He wanted to go somewhere where he was loved.''

Also important to Taylor was the chance to play quickly.

"Go somewhere to be the guy, not just a guy,'' said Cioroch, whose high school team played Thursday, giving him the chance to travel to North Carolina to watch Taylor do exactly that.
 

In a day and age where verbal commitments seem to be basically meaningless a lot of times it is refreshing to see a kid who made a commitment and stuck with it.

Going to be fun to see what he can do over the remainder of the season as he goes up against power 5 defenses. Will almost certainly be some ups and downs along the way but his game against EMU was super impressive and hopefully a sign of great things to come.
 

MNVCGUY said:
In a day and age where verbal commitments seem to be basically meaningless a lot of times it is refreshing to see a kid who made a commitment and stuck with it.

Going to be fun to see what he can do over the remainder of the season as he goes up against power 5 defenses. Will almost certainly be some ups and downs along the way but his game against EMU was super impressive and hopefully a sign of great things to come.
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I get the verbal commitment comment but what % of verbals end up decommitting without other major factors (coach leaves, for example) and how does it differ from previous years? I think it’s all pretty similar. If the gophers have 25 verbals I think 1-3 decommitting is a fair number. And seems to be about equal across the board.

Also—some verbals may be decommitting due to coaches not wanting them anymore. Goes both ways.
 


DT wants to be the guy. He chose wisely!

"Go somewhere to be the guy, not just a guy,'' said Cioroch, whose high school team played Thursday, giving him the chance to travel to North Carolina to watch Taylor do exactly that.
 


Timing is huge. Mo leaving (among others the past two years) allows a talented young player like him to earn playing time early with a good offensive line. Places like Michigan will see Corum and Edwards getting all the carries the next year or two along with a group of other 4 star RBs on the roster. Not sure what a RB would think about MSU. He would have been the highest rated RB recruit on their roster but that program has been inconsistent recently.
 
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UpAndUnder43 said:
I get the verbal commitment comment but what % of verbals end up decommitting without other major factors (coach leaves, for example) and how does it differ from previous years? I think it’s all pretty similar. If the gophers have 25 verbals I think 1-3 decommitting is a fair number. And seems to be about equal across the board.

Also—some verbals may be decommitting due to coaches not wanting them anymore. Goes both ways.
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I probably should have said high profile verbals. Having a kid stick to his commitment when his home state schools come calling late is impressive, especially when those schools are Michigan and Michigan State.

Obviously the vast majority of guys that verbal end up committing but there are always those guys who verbal to one school while waiting on an offer from the in-state or some other dream school.

Taylor certainly felt like he could end up being one of those guys but thankfully he wasn't.
 





RememberMurray said:
Nice article, thanks for posting.

It's interesting that Darius played slot receiver in high school before switching to RB. I wonder if Fleck & Co. are scheming to add some outlet passes to this RB in the Gopher offense.
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For sure. This kid has a lot of potential.
 

Would have liked to hear what specifically he liked more about Minnesota than Iowa, which offered first, and Wisconsin, which offered same day as Minnesota. Visited all 3 at about same time, and quickly chose Minnesota. Iowa and Wisconsin also both have a high school teammate 1-yr ahead of Taylor.
 

MNVCGUY said:
I probably should have said high profile verbals. Having a kid stick to his commitment when his home state schools come calling late is impressive, especially when those schools are Michigan and Michigan State.

Obviously the vast majority of guys that verbal end up committing but there are always those guys who verbal to one school while waiting on an offer from the in-state or some other dream school.

Taylor certainly felt like he could end up being one of those guys but thankfully he wasn't.
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Oh yeah--for sure. Taylor was the 1 guy in this class we needed to keep above all else. Now--we need to keep him. So dumb.
 

UpAndUnder43 said:
Oh yeah--for sure. Taylor was the 1 guy in this class we needed to keep above all else. Now--we need to keep him.
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Yes, after Taylor's last game people here were talking about the possibility of Evans transferring. I was thinking more about the possibility of Taylor transferring - just like Irving.
 





Probably not all wrestlers make football their first love, however, playing for a football coach who loves two/three sport athletes who excel in at least two physical sports are great candidates.

While watching the Iowa/Iowa state game last week, the broadcast team discussed the fact that Ferentz targets two/three sport high school recruits as a high priority. He is not the only head coach who thinks along those lines. I’m happy coach Fleck goes after some of those great football/wrestling/track and or hoops stand out recruits!
 

walrus said:
Probably not all wrestlers make football their first love, however, playing for a football coach who loves two/three sport athletes who excel in at least two physical sports are great candidates.

While watching the Iowa/Iowa state game last week, the broadcast team discussed the fact that Ferentz targets two/three sport high school recruits as a high priority. He is not the only head coach who thinks along those lines. I’m happy coach Fleck goes after some of those great football/wrestling/track and or hoops stand out recruits!
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It is a real coup fo coach Fleck and his staff to have forged such a strong relationship with this young man!
 


Wu-Tang said it best C.R.E.A.M. 'Cash Rules Everything Around Me'

I know it wasn't that, but I want to fantasize that the Gophers were able to buy players away from Michigan and other top programs.
 

RememberMurray said:
Nice article, thanks for posting.

It's interesting that Darius played slot receiver in high school before switching to RB. I wonder if Fleck & Co. are scheming to add some outlet passes to this RB in the Gopher offense.
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…he’s caught 2 already. It’s coming.
 

fmlizard said:
Wu-Tang said it best C.R.E.A.M. 'Cash Rules Everything Around Me'

I know it wasn't that, but I want to fantasize that the Gophers were able to buy players away from Michigan and other top programs.
Click to expand...
Who can say it better than Wu-Tang?!
 


MNVCGUY said:
In a day and age where verbal commitments seem to be basically meaningless a lot of times it is refreshing to see a kid who made a commitment and stuck with it.

Going to be fun to see what he can do over the remainder of the season as he goes up against power 5 defenses. Will almost certainly be some ups and downs along the way but his game against EMU was super impressive and hopefully a sign of great things to come.
Click to expand...
Yeah, the caveat being “highly rated recruits” per UpnUnder, most verbals do sign

Its nice to see that happen with consistency here now. I remember where the bulk of our class was mid-low 3 star with high two stars.
 

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