Take Two: Texas, Michigan's spring break and the A&M mess

The college football season is finished and National Signing Day has wrapped up but there are still plenty of storylines heading into the spring. Here are three major ones in this week’s Take Two where Rivals.com National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney sets the stage and then gets opinions from Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and a local expert from the Rivals.com network of team sites.

Texas finished incredibly strong on Signing Day and shot right to the top of the Big 12 rankings after languishing in the middle of the conference for many months.

Does that finish, which included flipping five-star linebacker Erick Fowler among many other big moves, buy coach Charlie Strong more time to resurrect the Longhorns’ program? Or will another losing season doom Strong and leave the cupboards pretty full for a new coach?

It’s not going to be easy for Strong. Texas has Notre Dame to start the season again -– and everyone knows how that went in South Bend last year -– and then visits Cal and Oklahoma State before meeting Oklahoma in early October.

If Texas can find ways to win some of those games, then Strong could be in a nice position, but the rest of the Big 12 slate is no cakewalk. If the Longhorns struggle early, a lot of this recruiting momentum could go right out the window.

"The strong close to the 2016 recruiting class was exactly what Texas and Charlie Strong needed. The Longhorns needed some positive momentum and getting so much good press on National Signing Day was a big step in the right direction. Now Strong needs to capitalize on that momentum and put together a good season on the field. If Texas struggles again next year, especially early in the season with a tough schedule, people will quickly forget the recruiting success and Strong could find himself on the hot seat." – Jason Suchomel, Orangebloods.com

“They don’t need to have a huge season, but they need to show improvement. If they have another 5-7 year, I don’t care about this recruiting class. It’s not going to buy him time. There is one player in the Texas top 10 that committed to the Longhorns. Even in Mack Brown’s worst year I don’t think that happened. It was exciting because it was a big finish and we don’t see big finishes at Texas because usually Brown got everybody early. If they go to a bowl game, he’ll be OK, but if they go 5-7, this recruiting class won’t save him.” - Farrell

Jim Harbaugh has done it again.

Michigan’s coach has figured out a way to upset coaches and conferences –- and yet still reach top prospects in a way that’s unique and memorable.

Harbaugh plans to spend the first week of spring practice at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., the home of numerous top-rated recruits, many of whom already have offers from the Wolverines.

It’s an inventive approach to recruiting -– let these players see your team workouts in person -– and it could be a huge hit if it’s even allowed. The SEC is trying to stop it, hoping that the NCAA won’t allow a team to practice during a school’s spring break.

Either way, Michigan’s coach has found another way to reach prospects and he’s got the program in the news. The Wolverines have a lot of momentum and if they can practice at IMG, it would be huge for recruiting purposes.

“That Michigan is going to IMG specifically is huge: The Wolverines have offered a handful of players in IMG's 2017 and 2018 classes, and those players will be able to see Michigan up close and personal. The school is a burgeoning powerhouse, and Michigan is putting its brand up-close and personal to the best players there. It also opens a Pandora's box of sorts (as did the Wolverines' aggressive satellite camp tour last summer) in that it's an innovation that will inspire plenty of imitators. Whether you see schools showing up to Houston Episcopal -- home to No. 1 overall prospect Marvin Wilson -- for their own spring practices, or lobbying the NCAA to ban the process, there will be repercussions felt throughout college football.” – Tim Sullivan, TheWolverine.com

“There are a lot of things he’s been inventive on, but trying to gain attention in other recruiting areas or through the recruiting process is nothing new. Will it help Michigan if he can get it through? Yes, because it gives him more visibility down there, especially at IMG. The satellite camps weren’t a huge difference-maker to him, but it’s about visibility and IMG is the place to be visible if you’re Michigan because it’s just loaded with all-stars from all around the country.” - Farrell

Former Texas A&M quarterback Kyle Allen made negative comments about the culture surrounding the Aggies' program this week. He also said one of the reasons there is so much dysfunction around the program is because Johnny Manziel and others were allowed to do whatever they wanted.

Allen decided to transfer this season, which was surprisingly followed up by backup quarterback Kyler Murray’s move to leave the program as well. According to reports, Manziel will be cut by the Cleveland Browns, he’s accused of assaulting his ex-girlfriend and his NFL career has been an unmitigated disaster.

There is no question the departures of Allen and Murray raised questions about Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin and what’s going on with that program. But will Allen’s most-recent comments negatively influence recruiting moving forward?

“I feel like the timing of these comments are what will most likely minimize any potential negative impact on recruiting for Texas A&M. It would be impossible to think that the events surrounding the departure of Allen, and subsequently Kyler Murray, would have no impact when it was all unfolding. Had Allen's comments come out in the lead up to Signing Day, they could have had a more damaging effect. It is evident the turmoil within the program contributed greatly to A&M's lackluster finish in the 2016 recruiting class, but now that there have been some staff changes and the most likely set of recruits that would have been impacted by those events are all now signed, it is not likely to have any damaging effect. With another year until Signing Day, the current crop of recruits have plenty of time to make their own evaluations before making a decision to join Texas A&M or not.” – Rob Sellers, AggieYell.com

“It’s going to hurt recruiting because Manziel is in the news every minute of every day it seems. The latest is he possibly showed up to practice drunk or hung over or they covered up his concussion. Add to that the domestic dispute charge and the negativity surrounding Manziel will live on for a long time. When you have Kyle Allen coming out and saying that’s the atmosphere they allow at A&M, it puts Sumlin on a much hotter seat than he was. Parents will consider that.” - Farrell