Harbaugh writes open letter about transfer and NFL eligibility rules
We'd be a much better group of people if you were the only one.
Good lord, how long do you honestly thinks it takes someone to type up two pages during a pandemic?
He's probably thinking about how long it would take him to do it and that's the issue...can't imagine anyone else doing it in less than a couple of days.
Can't wait till Harbaugh sends a happy birthday tweet for his daughter and some keyboard warrior gets incensed that he spent the time to do that instead of watching more OSU tape
Yes. Yes you are.
Besides, this only helps in recruiting
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! I took a look at this profile and those of the other commenters naysaying this move by Harbaugh checking to see which one was Maizen, then I find out that none of them are! They're just generally stupid and awful people! F*** this fanbase! HA!
UNACCEPTABLE!!! I couldn't believe it either. I underestimated people's ability to put a negative spin on everything. Some miserable mofos up in here.
He cares more about recruiting than you do. He cares more about winning championships than you do. He cares more about being a member of the Univeristy of Michigan faculty, and educating the student-athletes he encounters than you do. He cares more about the chances for success of football players in the NFL than you do, but as he points out those careers are very short and he understands that better than you do. And maybe unlike you he cares about the lives of the student athletes after the games are over.
TL;DR
He proposes:
1. You can enter in the NFL Draft at any point and are eligible to return if not picked in first 224 picks, no free agent contract, and no compensation received.
2. If you do leave you can come back on scholarship after your pro career depending on how long you were a student athlete. If you played for 1 year, you get 1 additional year. If you played for 2 years, you get 2 additional years. If you played for 4 years, you get 1 more additional year.
3. Student athletes are allowed to consult about draft stock before deciding whether they want enter their name.
4. Five years of college eligibility without redshirt
5. Loosening of the current limit of 25 players to a recruiting class
6. Grad transfer rule is good and one time transfer rule for any student athlete
Thanks for the summary. Lots of good proposals in there.
Number 2 could be fucking wild. This is I'm sure mostly for people who leave early but don't stick to have a way back, but it also leaves open the possibility of stars retiring a year early and going back to college ball for shits and giggles.
No, you can't play college football anymore, but you can have your college tuition covered.
What’s the rationale for 5?
1 is problematic in that the NFL won’t accept a player until 3 years post high school. The NCAA had nothing to do with that and the NFL has no incentive to change it.
I read this in part as he would really like DPJ back and this is for the future DPJ’s.
I'd go further, but this is a strong first step.
Same, and what worries me is that this is his alternative to NIL rights. All of these are good reforms but should be passed in addition to NIL rights.
His proposal IS in addition to NIL rights
I'm not so sure it is. He was asked about NIL rights last fall and pivoted to something similar to this proposal. I suspect his vision is that college football stays amateur, and if you want to make money, you go to the NFL without restriction.
Love this. I’d actually prefer a G League model but this is better than what we have.
Inwonder how many players will end up declaring and getting drafted and signed before their junior year? Obviously the Clowney’s and Bosa’s will attract serious interest before year three but the NFL is such a brutal league that most players will need the time to develop physically.
The only obvious candidate for the draft that just happened would be Lawrence. Probably see it most frequently with RB/WR/CB and least often with linemen.
Yeah, given the physical requirements of the NFL and the reluctance of teams to burn roster spots on developmental players who may just sign for someone else in a year or two, I don't think this would apply to a large number of Freshman and Sophomores. It's possible that it could become like the NBA after they started admitting high schoolers, with teams burning high picks on potential, but the NFL is a win-now league and teams rarely tank to build for the future like the NBA. With the salary cap, one of the best ways to build winning teams is to hit on your round 1-4 picks and throwing those at freshman "potential" doesn't seem like a good bet given by the time they develop they'll be eligible for a bigger second contract. That said, Harbaugh's proposal is entirely too sensible for the NCAA to even consider it.
I think this is:
- Great leadership, and the kind of thing you want your coach/program known for.
- The best thing for the students and the athletes.
Combined with the image rights (assuming the NCAA doesn't completely ruin that), I think it may also create more parity among the top programs (although not across D1 or even P5 overall), as:
- Great athletes can one-and-done or two-and-done at a variety of schools, and not need to go to a championship factory, and sit bench for two-three years to maximize their earning potential
- No-wait transfers allow for talent to move more dynamically (Joe Burrow), so teams can't warehouse good players and limit competition. You'll also get more transfers as good players move elsewhere if they are passed on the depth chart.
- You get less 'fake reason' transfers, while stile nominally limiting the total number of transfers. (Realistically 2 in 5 years is the maximum).
- Image rights mean well loved but less highly draftable prospects (Denard?), can potentially maximize their earnings by not going pro early. Also applies to 3-4 year players who may wait to go the league rather than try and go early for cash reasons and go for riskier free-agency.
- I do think you'd see some schools try to emphasize a one-done strategy or a transfer strategy, a la Kentucky Basketball, but thats much harder in football and not been a consistent championship winning formula in Basketball for those schools anyway.
I can see there being a somewhat ulterior motive for #1. OSU recruits like gangbusters and probably has at least a few guys on its team every year that could leave school after their freshman or sophomore year and get drafted extremely high (Bosa brothers, Chase Young, Justin Fields, JK Dobbins, Ezekiel Elliott, and so on). This would definitely help even the playing field in the rivalry.
I'm not saying its Harbaugh's sole motivation, but I bet you its at least crossed his mind.
While I agree with many things Harbaugh suggested in his open letter, I prefer we recruit like gangbusters and reap the benefits for 3+ years like Alabama, Clemson, and Ohio State do.
So do I. But it’s not realistic for that to happen right now.
some interesting thoughts by coach.
did harbaugh also post this himself? i could certainly be wrong but it looks like only janson posted this. if they want this letter out there and intend to generate discussion why not have harbaugh post directly given his millions of social media followers or use the teams account or university reach?
When Harbaugh speaks, the Football World listens.
It'll matriculate.
One time free transfer without sitting out? Bring on the 'Bama washouts!
Considering we're EVERY bluechip's #2 choice, I'd say we'd get a lot of second looks!
They probably wouldn’t qualify academically.
The redshirt thing seems unrelated to the central proposal. I don't understand why it's included in this, as it seems to me to invite suspicions about what is really motivating him here.
I think the redshirt is an anachronism that we might as well do away with completely, as he says. We've already acknowledged that it's okay to play 5 years, as long as you only play 4 games in one of those seasons. That seems like an arbitrary limit and doesn't serve the student-athlete - if they happen to get "too much" PT their freshman year, we're going to kick them out after 4, but a guy who played marginally less gets an extra? What's the point? It creates roster games that are entirely unnecessary. Just let everyone play 5 and be done with it.
It's the logical next step from no freshman->4 years plus redshirt->injury exceptions->4 game max->no redshirt at all.
I'm sorry, are people really upset that Harbaugh took a couple hours to write this? What exactly does he have to be doing with coaching and recruiting 24/7 while everyone is stuck at home? I'm sure he's drawing up plays in the sandbox with his kids and all, but I don't think fretting over a letter is worth the angst.
We all want more top recruits, we all want more wins, we all hate the OSU is at their all-time peak right now....this letter doesn't move the needle on any of that.
I would be upset if this was the entirety of Harbaugh's master plan for recruiting, strategic, and tactical supremacy. But I'm not a complete simpleton (about this, at least).
Harbaugh thinks about football as a part of a larger ecosystem than Michigan or even college football. I think that this letter scratches an itch caused by a flaw he sees in that ecosystem. This kind of thing is what Harbaugh does in addition to coaching football. I mean, the man closes letters with "Yours in football,". Posters claiming that this replaces his coaching and recruiting have either ignored the evidence of Harbaugh's obsession or are arguing in bad faith.
" this letter doesn't move the needle on any of that. "
I think that's exactly the point: Just go beat your rivals.
oh sorry is there an OSU game this week I forgot about?
" this letter doesn't move the needle on any of that. "
I think that's exactly the point: Just go beat your rivals.
Proud to have him as our coach. He is always trying to be fair to the players both in terms of developing their playing abilities and ensuring they get an education. His emphasis on academics has resulted in more annual All Big Ten academic awards for our players, on average, than any other coach we have ever had, and they will be able to benefit from what they learn at Michigan long after their playing careers are over.
I think he truly values education, which is a great thing. At this point, we need someone who values winning more. I hate to be that guy, but this OSU situation is PAINFUL!
I'm just upset that he didn't sign it "Sincerely yours in football"
His points:
1. He's saying UDFAs should be allowed to re-enter school, that's fine. It's my understanding that many potential draftees take advances from agents to participate in training for the combine and private workouts. How would that work?
2. Many schools (including your enemy in Columbus) have been doing this for years now. On fact, I don't believe OSU imposes a 'one gives you one' stipulation like Harbaugh advocates: I know there is no limitation- Mo Clarett earned his degree after a decade away. If you attend the school on a football scholarship and go pro before you finish your degree, you can come back at your leisure to finish it. Any big school NOT already doing this ought to be ashamed.
3. This is closely tied to point 1. How are agents going to approach convos with kids on the draft bubble? What about kids who want money to train?
For 1) I don't think he has the perfect answer, but hopes that the NCAA and agents can work to find a solution. I think basketball has something worked out, though I don't know the details. Maybe the players are allowed to take the advances, but have to give it back if they return to school? Keep it in escrow until they don't play in college anymore? Keep it without losing eligibilty under certain conditions? There has to be some way.
Sure people sometimes come back and finish their education after some time in the NFL but I have never heard that they come back on their original scholarship. They are probably paying their own way. Unless the NCAA has authorized that extra compensation it would be a violation.
A cursory search found this:
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Monday, The Ohio State University was recognized by the National Consortium for Academics and Sports (NCAS) for ranking second nationally in the 2006-07 academic year in former student-athletes returning and completing their undergraduate degrees.
As a member of the NCAS Degree Completion and Community Service Program (DCP), Ohio State is one of six Big Ten universities to offer its former student-athletes the opportunity to return, with tuition assistance, to finish their higher education after exhausting their athletic eligibility. In the program, each qualified returning OSU student-athlete receives tuition reimbursement for their involvement with university and community service programs.
Since the program was started at Ohio State in 1994, more than 100 former Buckeyes have come back to complete their undergrad coursework.
Now I need a shower
I like our coach's proposal. It, or pieces of it, have a somewhat realistic shot of being adopted by the NCAA. But I would propose the following changes:
1. Let the players get paid by whomever and whenever.
2. All members on the football team are not required to attend classes during their 4 years of eligibility.
3. All members of the football team are granted a 4-year scholarship, which they can take at any point in their life.
4. While on the football team, the University is obligated to provide life skills to all the members of the team, including reading, writing, and basic math.
Good for academic orientated programs like Michigan but bad for top recruiting factories like Alabama, Clemson and OSU. Works for me.
I love coach, but I wish he'd focus more on getting the team ready to play in Columbus.
As a few mentioned, the NFL is by no means bound or obligated to accept any NCAA mandate... so start with that. The NCAA and collegiate football, despite what you may want, is a de facto minor league for the the NFL, what incentive do they have to change it? The NFL does NOT want projects, they want polished players able to contribute right away, whether it be a starter, special teams, etc. The NFL is not the NBA, there are VERY few 19-20 year olds physically developed enough to go to the league... that's why every college program has a high level strength and conditioning program in place... and that's to get them ready for the college game.
I like the idea that former NFL players can return to complete their degree, as most of them will not have been stars in the NFL and would benefit from higher education in their lives going forward.
Benefitting recruiting.. I fail to see the advantage many posters seem to see. The top kids are going to go to the programs that best prepare them for the NFL, with as little as school possible in between. Maybe you don't want to hear that but... look at the W/L records of the top teams. The undrafted and return to school clause is likely to invite more mediocre players than it is the 5* guys who pretty much know they'll be drafted in the early rounds as long as they put in the work... their focus is on football, plain and simple.
Neg me to death, I just don't see how this would benefit Michigan football... but apparently Jimmy does.
Who cares. Rest of the country yawns.
We could over think HB taking this position on the student athlete/draft policy by reading in his possible motivation. I see this as an upside to a young man selecting his school of choice.
Harbaugh showing his heart and concern for the athlete goes a long way to garner trust in a kids heart. That is never a bad thing. Thats simple enough to see the value in Harbaughs open lettler to me. He maybe lacks the ability to incentivize the NFL but he does have some influence with other coaches and ADs who can add to the debate which in turn does have some pull with the NCAA.
Either way it wins with the athletes. Thats the kind of coach you want your kid playing for.