"I Don't Recruit Stars, I Recruit Good Players"
Mike Hart wasn't a highly recruited player and all he did was set every rushing record at the University of Michigan. Couple that with his humble start in the coaching world and you can start to understand him when he gives his thoughts on recruiting.
"I don't recruit stars, if that makes sense. I recruit good players," Hart said on Wednesday afternoon.
Some fans are going to have a problem with that right out of the gate and maybe it feels warranted. Hart hasn't seriously targeted or landed any top-ranked backs, which is a bit strange given his background and U-M's propensity to run the ball. Also, not only does Michigan like to run the ball, they did it extremely well last year as evidenced by Hassan Haskins' and Blake Corum's production behind a Joe Moore Award-winning offensive line.
Last year it was just CJ Stokes, who Hart talks about in the video above, and in the 2023 class it's Dexter (Mich.) High's Cole Cabana and Kennesaw (Ga.) North Cobb's Benjamin Hall. None of those guys had/have offers from the most powerful programs in the country and only Cabana is even viewed as a four-star prospect. But as Hart says, other things are far more important to him.
"We need kids who believe in who they are and who know how good they are and who want to stay here," Hart explained. "I believe that to be great, you have to want to be great, you have to know you're great and have to want to compete.
"There are some kids that don't fit. It takes a special kid to come to Michigan."
Some will look at that and say, "It sounds like Hart doesn't want to put in the work required to land the big fish." That opinion exists out there and some of the recruiting analysts in the market have certainly pushed that narrative. I'm not saying I agree or disagree 100%, but when I hear Hart explain why and how he goes about recruiting backs who are going to play for him, it does make sense.
He states in the video that he started out in the MAC, where he couldn't recruit five stars. However now, he's at Michigan, and he absolutely can recruit five-stars. So the question is, should he stick with what worked at Western Michigan, Syracuse and Indiana, or should he readjust everything and try to find uber talented backs with the same qualities he values, because those guys do exist. At the end of the day, he does have a pretty damn good track record of finding solid backs dating back to his days at Western, Cuse and IU, but this is another level. In Hart's defense, Stokes did look pretty damn good on Saturday, albeit on just six carries. So if what Hart is doing works on the field, is there really an issue? Hart certainly doesn't think so.
"We're going to have good backs here," he said. "It's going to be competition every year to get on the field. Your personality has to be different to play running back here. Everyone can't do it."
