Pudding > snake oil, apparently.

An annoying week for Michigan fans had the cherry topped on it tonight, as offensive lineman Zach Martin committed to Notre Dame.

This one especially stings, as two weeks ago Martin was considered a "lock" to Michigan. He was supposed to visit last weekend one last time and then make his decision (which everyone assumed would be for UM) a week or two later. Instead, Martin's visit to Michigan was postponed, he visited Notre Dame last weekend instead, and a week later he's talking to Chuck Weis on the phone and they're celebrating their unholy union.

For those not keeping track, the list of offensive linemen that were coveted by Michigan but chose Notre Dame since 2006 is as follows:

Bartley Webb, Sam Young, Matt Romine, Braxston Cave, Lane Clelland, Trevor Robinson, Alex Bullard, Zach Martin, and Chris Watt.

Conversely, Michigan has beaten Notre Dame for exactly one lineman: Michael Schofield, a recruit from this year.

Conclusion: assuming the pressure to remain self-righteous and holier than thou outweighs the pressure to win and hence Notre Dame is NOT paying recruits, Jabba the Weis is a witch doctor when it comes to recruiting. Sam Young - along with the rest of the Notre Dame offensive line - was spectacularly, legendarily awful last year, and yet recruits continue to eat the pudding Weis feeds them, which I'm sure is doing two things:

1. Exulting the virtues of playing for the university of college football
2. Whispering in their ears all sorts of negative things about Rich Rodriguez and playing for Michigan.

This must be some kind of epically negative recruiting though, to overcome Three and Nine and occupation of the basement in pretty much every offensive category.

Are the days of Jon Runyan, Jon Jansen, Jake Long, etc, done at Michigan? Possibly. But a big "fuck you" to Weis (and all the other coaches doing the exact same thing) for painting that picture like it's set in stone.

Opinion: Rodriguez's offense takes away from the linemen, giving them less time to shine (as opposed to zone lefting it every play so Jake Long can destroy all comers) and ultimately hurting their NFL stock.

Fact: Rodriguez has had one memorable lineman on his teams - Dan Mozes, a 2-star recruit whose biggest offer other than WVU in 2002 was Kentucky. How did that end up? Mozes was a consensus All-American and Rimington Award winner in 2006 while serving as the center of the offensive line that helped produce the 2nd-ranked rushing attack in the country (303 YPG). Chances Rodriguez will have better offensive linemen on his Michigan teams than he had at West Virginia: roughly 120%.

So yeah, that's some strong pudding Weis is feeding his boys.

I have a feeling we might have some stronger stuff once the season starts, though.