Demographics have lessened the talent in the midwest. Not a Colin Cowherd fan but he raises a good point about families moving out of the midwest as manufacturing there declines. I am not advocating closing the door on the midwest but you have to be attractive to kids in the south and west and need a guy that understands that. Been a long time since a Big Ten QB was drafted in the first round. Hackenberg should break that whenever he comes out.
Now if they could land Harbaugh you're getting a great coach and would attract top notch QB talent. I just don't see Jim coming to Michigan. I think the Raiders are his likely destination if he leaves SF.
I should rephrase from Midwest to Midwest and Northeast which has plenty of talent. The issue with Rod's recruiting was he focused more so on getting Florida kids the big Florida schools did not go after. He'd land kids in the Northeast too but most were late offers or kids that grew up Michigan fans. But a good thing Brady did was rebuilding the Glennville relationship with Ginn Sr.
So Mad Dog, what do you think of a guy like Dave Doeren or his NIU replacement Rod Carey as potential replacements? Both come from the Barry Alvarez tree and both have blended pro with spread tendencies.