Michigan learning why the Ohio State football program was fine letting Tony Alford go

Tony Alford left the Ohio State football program in the middle of Spring practice for the Buckeyes' hated rivals. Michigan now employs Alford as their running backs coach. A lot of Michigan fans were excited to take a coach away from Ohio State and they thought he was a great steal.

What TTUN fans neglected to acknowledge is the fact that Alford had been on the hot seat for a while. Ryan Day almost let him go in the offseason before Spring practice even started. Why would a head coach consider letting someone go if he's such a great hire?

Michigan fans are now realizing why the Buckeyes were perfectly fine with letting him go. The Wolverines just recently lost a running back recruit to Kentucky. That's right, Kentucky. They lost out on four-star running back recruit Marquise Davis to the Wildcats.

Alford had issues recruiting while he was with the Ohio State football program after he landed TreVeyon Henderson. He wasn't able to follow up that success with another five-star running back. In fact, Henderson was the last five-star running back he was able to bring in.

It wasn't just the recruiting that was a problem. It was the lack of development with prospects at that position. There's a reason Miyan Williams just went undrafted and still hasn't signed with a team. There's a reason Ryan Day had to go into the transfer portal to grab Trey Sermon for their 2020 run.

Michigan is now learning that the grass isn't always greener on the other side. If they are losing recruits to the University of Kentucky, they have no chance against the big boys of college football. Ohio State, Alabama, Oregon, Georgia, and all of the other powerhouses will recruit circles around them.

It's interesting to see how Michigan fans are spinning this as something that's okay. We'll see if they feel that way in two years when Alford still hasn't landed any top-level prospects and hasn't developed any running backs into top draft picks.