Why Rich Rodriguez Isn't To Blame for Michigan's Lack of Big Recruits

I've never been one of those Michigan fans who loves to brag about that next hyped prospect to their Notre Dame, Michigan State, or Ohio State counterparts. It's just never made much sense to me.

The operative word here, is hype.

Hype, should never determine how well a coach is performing or influence his reputation.

That, however, is exactly what a sizable contingent of Michigan Wolverines fans are doing to Rich Rodriguez.

Nevermind that we're talking about the incoming class of 2010 before the 2009 team has even taken the field for their first game, nevermind that nationwide, a good chunk of these classes will change teams at least once before signing day.

It's never too early to start the hype machine.

At the root of the problem lies rival teams. Michigan fans perceive that we must always have an answer for whatever they do.

Michigan State recently got William Gohlston, the state's no. 1 ranked prospect, to commit. While we're at it, I'm just going to throw out a reminder that the word "commit" for a 17-18 year old, means virtually nothing. He is a 6-feet-7, 237 lb. defensive end, and a four-star prospect.

Michigan, a couple days later, notched a linebacker out of Youngstown, Ohio named Antonio Kinard. Antonio is a three-star prospect and the no. 37 ranked linebacker by Rivals.com

The ridicule began almost immediately, and it was intense. The Ohio State, Notre Dame, and Michigan State fans of the nation poured on the insults, "The Spartans get Gohlston and all Michigan can muster is a no-name linebacker?"

Star Ratings....I hate them.

First off, I'm pretty sure Rivals.com doesn't have an army of scouts working for them that scourers the nation watching every kid, on every high school team. Then, after seeing them play, the scout scratches his head, crunches some numbers and says, "Hmm, that looks like a four-star prospect to me."

Ridiculous.

Remember Antoine Smith? He was once ranked by rivals.com as the No. 1 running back in the country, a coveted five-star prospect, the highest ranking given. He chose Florida State.

Smith played in a total of nine games for Florida State over his college days. He carried the ball 36 times for 188 yards.

Remember Mike Hart? He was a three-star prospect, average at best, possibly a good third down back or special teams player.

He only became the all-time rushing leader at Michigan.

These are just two of the many examples why star-ratings are nothing but a guess, and probably not even an educated guess in some cases.

Like a fan of any team, I get excited when Michigan has a chance to grab a hot recruit. It's impossible not to.

When Michigan unexpectedly found itself in the Terelle Pryor sweepstakes a little over a year ago, I was singing Rich Rodriguez's praises. Pryor was ranked by rivals.com as the No. 1 recruit in the entire country.

However, it turned into something uglier.

Pryor became a war, an argument over who was the better coach, Rich Rodriguez or Ohio State's Jim Tressel. It was absurd, that a single player, who hadn't played a single down of college ball, could determine a coach's reputation. 

Pryor of course, chose Ohio State and suddenly Rich Rodriguez became the coach who couldn't bring in the big recruit.

Should he even care? Should we?

Rodriguez has never needed five-star recruits to win.

When he came to West Virginia, they were about as relevant as North Texas. When he brought in mediocre three-star recruits like Steve Slaton and Pat White, people said "who?"

By the end of Rodriguez's time there, five-star recruits wanted to come play for the Mountaineers. Not that Rodriguez really needed them to win.

A five-star recruit will put a university on the national spotlight, it will make the masses ramp up the excitement, but in the end that star-rating is only a hope. A hope that maybe this player will help win a championship if he lives up to his potential.

That's a lot of ifs and maybes.

This year's No. 1 ranked recruit by rivals.com is a 6-feet-8, 301 lb. offensive lineman named Seantrel Henderson.

He has received offers from every big program in the nation, including Michigan and Ohio State.

Here we go again folks.

I'm not a Rodriguez apologist, I still shudder at the mention or thought of the abomination that was the Wolverines 2008 season.

All I'm asking is let's just judge the man fairly, not on hype, not on classes filled with potential that have proven nothing.