Matt Weiss is building relationships in recruiting his own way
Coming from the NFL, there isn't much that needs to be done in the way of recruiting. Most of the time, the recruiting is done by the players on the team and the general manager who offers contracts and other things to free agents and the like.
For Michigan co-offensive coordinator Matt Weiss, recruiting goes beyond the Xs and Os of building an offense to showcase to potential recruits. It's about relationship building, too, which is something that Weiss is quickly learning on the fly.
"That's one thing I'm learning about recruiting," Weiss said. "I thought that's what it would all be about, right? It's like in the NFL, guys wants to go where, and certainly money is a factor, usually the money is pretty close when guys pick between that's going to utilize him the best, that's going to give him the best opportunity to win and that's where they go. That's what I thought coming in here, that we get the offense looking really good that recruiting would be easy. One thing I've learned is that there is a lot of relationship elements to it."
There's also areas that Weiss would rather not get into as well. While building a relationship is one thing, doing it in a way that is genuine to him is more important.
Weiss didn't hold back on what some coaches are doing around the country with recruits.
"If an NFL free agent signed with a team and went to the press conference and said I'm just here because I love this position coach, we have a great relationship. We're up playing Fortnite every day at 2 in the morning and this guy is awesome and that's why I'm here. Everybody would be like, wow, what's wrong with this guy?" Weiss said. "In college, that's kind of what happens. It's not the only thing things are based on but it matters. I'm learning that, figuring out how to do that. I'm not playing Fortnite with anyone at two in the morning. Just like I tell recruits this, the guy that is playing video games with you at 11 o'clock at night or whatever, that's what he's going to be doing when he's trying to help you become a better player. He should be game-planning and thinking of ways to make the offense go. He's going to be playing Fortnite with some 16-year-old."
Like the basketball program, the football program is now taking a similar stance that Michigan "is not for everybody."
The players who want to be in Ann Arbor find their way to Ann Arbor. And, according to Weiss, it's usually a very specific kind of player that finds its way to Schembechler Hall and succeeds.
"It self-selects," Weiss said. "The guys who do well here are the guys who like football. The guys who are good guys who want to play football and that's what they want to do. It's like a football cathedral. All the football you can handle and more. Those are the guys this place self-selects for that. The guys who are into other stuff, whether it's a locker that turns into a bed, or a flat-screen TV in your locker, whatever it is. Those guys usually don't do well when they come here and they usually don't come here. It's the same thing with the quarterbacks. We get our types of guys, they want to come."
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