The Koger Post Mortem

As noted by our Michigan blogger Bill, Michigan won an important recruiting battle this past week. They secured the commitment of top 250 prospect TE/DE Kevin Koger, who chose the Wolverines over the Buckeyes. The Koger decision was somewhat over-hyped for a few reasons:

(1) Michigan has been smacked around by Notre Dame this year and had yet to secure a commitment of a player also offered by OSU. So their fans were hungry for a head-to-head win;

(2) Koger had become a target of the "Brew Crew", as Mike Adams, DeVier Posey and number verbals had been working to secure his commitment;

(3) Unlike recruits that lean one way most of the process, Koger seemed like he genuinely changed his mind a few times. He grew up a Michigan fan in a UM household and was thought to be a lock early on. But after a few very successful Columbus visits, insiders for both teams conceded that OSU was in the lead. Obviously that would not be enough;

(4) The drawn out decision, days after visits to both schools, was a recruiting site's dream. Psychotic members pounding the refresh button whenever possible to get updates like, "Guys, I've just called the Koger residence for the ninth time today. Kevin was not home, but I can tell you he played some NCAA Football '08 today. His sister couldn't tell me what team he used, but I'm starting to like our chances." Great stuff, eh?

(5) Ohio hates losing Ohio kids, even though Toledo and Cincinnati shouldn't really count. This makes three kids from Ohio to verbal to Michigan, making the victory especially sweet for UM. Did you know Ohio and Michigan actually fought a war over Toledo? True story...but why?

So this soap opera ends with a win for the little boys in blue. A few closing comments...I found it interesting that Koger mentioned in multiple interviews that he would get the ball more often at Michigan. It's not an unfair statement, though OSU has hardly had world class TE talent the past few years. Above average tight end combined with first round talent at wide receiver will certain reduce the balls headed your way. But what interest me is how much harping the UM coaches did on this issue. I have no idea, but it wouldn't be the first time this season that Coach Carr and his staff "highlighted" the UM program by talking about a possible negative at OSU. My blogger buddy disagrees, so perhaps we can get a more robust debate on this topic later this year.

This also qualifies as the first bad week for OSU recruiting efforts this week. On Monday they missed on Mooney S Dan McCarthy, who picked Notre Dame to the surprise of no one. Well, perhaps the surprise of Michigan insiders who thought the Domers were out of it. With the loss of Koger, OSU has no whiffed on an entire class of in-state TE's: Rudolph and Koger (offered), Moore and DiLillo (not offered). It will be interesting to see how they bounce back.