Without ever meeting the guy I can confidently call him a chump, only because he is not a rivals guy.
"Without ever meeting the guy ..."
"confidently" ???
You apparently have a connection with recruiting now but it either doesn't go back very far or you're extremely naive about the corporate aspects of the business.
I have met the guy. I had a beer and a burger with Mike and Smitty the night before the '97 B&G game. We had each driven about 13 hours each way for a 1 hour practice game. I recall we had a great night (and very long night) discussing ND football, the demise of ND recruiting after Cerrato, Holtz's awkward departure, Davie's prospects (ND is still no place for On The Job Training), recruits, player development, ND academics, ND parietals, No JUCO's and player development (or lack thereof ala Ron Powlus).
I did the recruiting column for the IRJ back then. Mike was a mortgage broker in Nebraska if I remember correctly and had started a fledgling independent recruiting service from scratch. Developing a product from a hobby into a career. He eventually moved to South Bend and greatly expanded his services from just telephone football recruiting reports to video productions and coverage of other sports.
The was no Scout or Rivals back then. There were other several organizations that disappeared in financial disasters, "reoganizations" and corporate BS.
A couple of years later Rivals approached the guys I colloborated with on buyout/join Rivals deal. "Chump" doesn't come close to characterizing the ethics of that group. If I had stepped on one of them, I'd have thrown away my shoe. We walked away from the deal.
I haven't been in touch with Mike in quite a few years but knew him as a professional guy. He honored recruits privacy about commitments and announcements. I don't recall him ever burning a kid to get scoop unlike several of the other services. ND players and recruits that I knew thought highly of him. I know he was never happy with the Scout association. There was a clique among the powers that be that resented ND's independence and lack of conference affiliation and their rankings, coverage/, and untimely updates reflected it.
I look forward to your updates on recruits with interest and trust they will have more credibility than your post above.
Go Irish!
