Brandon Smith Likely To Transfer
This has been the hot rumor the past couple days and TomVH has confirmed that redshirt freshman safety/LB Brandon Smith has received transfer papers and is looking to move on. Hurray.
Smith was a top-100 "athlete" in the hybrid Rodriguez/Carr class who technically committed after the transition had been announced but, like JT Floyd, was a Carr recruit all the way who was just stringing out his commitment for reasons unknown. So this could be a "Carr guy" moving on to a place he'd rather be. In any case it's the departure of one of the most highly rated players in a class entering its third year at a position, be it linebacker or safety, of desperate need.
Smith didn't seem to be working out, as he was too big and slow for safety and spent his game as a quasi—linebacker starter on skates, but there's zero upside here. He could have put on 20-30 pounds easily—his "frame" was a reason he was rated so highly—and eventually turned into a contributor at linebacker. At the very least he would have been a relatively veteran body on a defense that needs every last potential contributor. BONUS: Michigan can't even add anyone to replace him because of a mysterious but apparently real oversigning change that prevents Big Ten teams from backdating players who enroll early*. DOUBLE BONUS: Before the season I took a look at Michigan's APR and concluded that sanctions resulting from transfers were unlikely, but the attrition has continued at a pace that makes me nervous.
*(Which will definitely help the struggling conference compete nationally.)
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Frustrated to near-insanity, despondent, and starving within inches of sustenance......set back by a temporary condition which, painful as it may be at the moment, ensures long-term strength and stability. Still, as I sit here looking at the food just beyond my reach, I can't help but think... I'm starving.
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56.25%.
When I suggested that Michigan's defense was decimated to the point that it would likely be ineffectual for years, I wasn't even counting on FURTHER decimation. You can try to chalk this up to transition attrition, I guess, but when does the bleeding stop? It's been two years! Haven't these guys figured out by now what kind of program this is going to be under RR? That's why I don't believe this is a Carr guy gone sour on the new era. I think this is a whole new kind of attrition, one that we've probably been lucky to avoid up to this point. I think this is the "we can't win before my eligibility runs out" type of attrition. You know, the kind Michigan State gets all the time from erstwhile sophomores after two close losses to Michigan and post-Michigan late-season nosedives which characterize the typical year in East Lansing? That's not to say Michigan is certainly doomed to be a second-tier team for another three seasons. It doesn't need to be certain -- you just need a large enough minority to start believing it. I don't find it that hard to imagine that this kind of thinking has gained traction among some players, especially from guys recruited with the understanding that coming to Michigan was almost a guaranteed Rose Bowl once in your career. Normally I take the players' side in these things -- it's their lives, so what's that against my football team? I root for him on Saturdays, and maybe contribute some $$$ toward the program that pays his tuition (which is something he could get elsewhere); big whup. But a few things I still can find insulting. The timing of this one is what really grates me -- a lot more than previous defections. This isn't a guy opting out of a dangerous mission before we march; it's a guy abandoning his post when we're in a shallow ditch and under fire. Even if leaving is best for Brandon Smith, leaving now, when things are at their worst, is a much bigger betrayal to his fans, his coach, and teammates (in that order). We're in a fucking foxhole, here. You don't just walk away.December 6th, 2009 at 4:04 PM ^
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