recruiting is for gentlemen only
erik swenson
decommits

On Erik Swenson And Talent-Based Decommits Comment Count

Brian

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Michigan's longest-standing commit is no longer one:

While that's a surprise it's less of a surprise since this week people started putting their name next to the assertion that he would not end up in the class. Mike Spath said so in a post on attrition; Wiltfong did the same at 247; Webb concurred. With Northwestern and Nebraska possible landing spots, academics are obviously not a problem.

Swenson committed to Brady Hoke's Michigan sometime during the Truman administration and hasn't wavered or visited elsewhere; like Rashad Weaver and Kiante Enis this appears to be a case where Michigan re-evaluated the players' talent after their senior season and did not like what they saw. Let's talk about how we feel about that, with the caveat that we are working with incomplete information here since neither side is offering much detail on what went down.

Editorial opinion on decommitting guys based on talent

Michigan's suffered a number of decommits this cycle. Some were not Michigan's choice, others are because of academic concerns, and a few look like Michigan straight-up pulling offers from committed recruits because they prefer other players. To date players in the latter category appear to be Enis, Weaver, and Swenson.

This could be anywhere from completely legit (Harbaugh tells them they may have to find another landing spot if things don't work out) to not great (this is not communicated). There's a post on the board from a gentleman claiming to be two degrees of separation from a recruit who consciously uncoupled from Michigan, and it was more or less the former:

He said the coaches meticulously laid out who his competition would be, and explained to him that they weren't done recruiting the position yet.  Harbaugh also told him that his scholarship to one of the best academic institutes was absolutely still available to him, but he would need to work his ass off to see any playing time.  Said recruit has decided that while academics are important, playing football is his true passion and wants to see the field sooner than later.  He would rather fine tune his game on the field and get better.

Despite the parting of ways the recruit seemed fine with the overall result, as he got a ton more interest after "Michigan commit" was appended to his resume.

Enis and Weaver were probably given a heads-up a couple months ago. Enis made an official to Indiana in December; Weaver scheduled an official to Temple in November. In any case they are likely to find schools that are a better fit for them and have fine college careers.

This doesn't really bother me. These days "commit" is used about as accurately as "literally" and Harbaugh has adapted to that situation. If you want to visit, visit. Michigan is going to recruit as if commits don't exist, just like everyone else does. It can be infuriating for players, coaches, and fans as order and structure break down but that's life. I've never really railed about that practice; it's shipping guys out mid-career without a degree, against their will, that rankles. I don't think Michigan will be doing that and certainly hope they never do.

However, Swenson's situation is considerably more sketch. He has not made a peep since his commitment and was tweeting about signing with Michigan as late as January 3rd. Webb says "don't be surprised if a little mudslinging happens." Swenson took the high road, but if someone pops off after a LOI is safely faxed I won't be surprised, nor will I have much to say other than "seems accurate."

If Michigan was going to pull Swenson's scholarship it should have at least warned him about the possibility during the season so he could make a backup plan. That doesn't look like the case and it appears Michigan has pissed some people off. Not a good look.

If he wants to play and does land with the Wildcats or Huskers, he's probably better off. Michigan looked at senior film and decided he would not play.

I wouldn't want to go to a school that thought I wouldn't play and wouldn't tell me that; I would expect them to tell me that. By November at the latest.

This isn't so much a rug being pulled out from under someone as an order for a rug being canceled. Michigan does have to get more organized with this stuff going forward. Setting someone adrift approximately three weeks before Signing Day—the news took a week or two to get out—isn't enough time for them to find the best landing spot.

Comments

GoBlueNorth

January 20th, 2016 at 1:12 PM ^

First off, I am one that does not like the look and feel of this but I have a question.

To the supporters of this type of recruiting activity - would you be okay with our best recruit backing out at this juncture or would we be tossing out negative barbs at the kid/process?

Not a fight, just a question and trying to help out all those who picked the over.

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GoBlueNorth

January 20th, 2016 at 1:24 PM ^

I have seen some on here lose it because recruits are exercising their options.  It just seems that when a good player starts leaning away from Michigan, there are some on here who throw out the kid's academics or the bag man.   I guess I'm just wondering if it's the same guys who are blindly believing that there's nothing to see here.

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Rufus X

January 20th, 2016 at 1:14 PM ^

I was willing to play "wait and see" until I read the mLive article. In it Swenson says that the scholarship offer was pulled. This is in excusable, assuming it's true. We should have kept our committment to this (what appears to be) fine young man and accepted the fact that someone else on our list would not be in the fold. That's what the word "committment" means.

I seem to be in the minority when I say that I will NOT be pleased with a national champtionship if we have to lower our standards of integrity to get it, regardless of who our coach is. I will perfectly happy with 10-2 seasons every year if that is as good as we can be while still being "Michigan".  But I believe we can win a National Chapionship withour selling our soul to Nick Saban. 

I look forward to  the massive negging that I am about to receive.  The Chris Webber era should never ever be celebrated just because of the results on the court.

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Stringer Bell

January 20th, 2016 at 1:38 PM ^

Harbaugh won't be ok with 10-2 seasons every year, and a strong majority of the Michigan fanbase won't either.  He's the ultimate competitor and will do everything he can to win championships here.  Pretty hypocritical honestly for people that refer to themselves as "The Leaders and Best" to settle like that.

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michgoblue

January 20th, 2016 at 2:08 PM ^

Here's the thing that I think you may be missing:  While Swenson may really want to play for Michigan, perhaps Harbaugh and his staff have done their homework and feel confident that if he comes here, he will never even sniff playing time.  If that is the case, do we really want him on this team, and are we doing him any favors by allowing him to commit?  Aside from taking up a valuable spot, which hurts our team, he is also wasting his career - wouldn't it be better if he goes to a team on which he is really wanted?

 

Final point:  Like every single other aspect of managing his football team, Harbaugh look at recruiting and tries to maximize for every possible chance to improve his team.  Much like he strives to maximize every single minute of every single practice and make sure that the players are giving maximum effort to get the maximum physical development our of every rep and every set of their workouts, I expact that Harbaugh's goal is to get the absolute maximum benefit out of every one of the 85 scholarship slots that we are allotted (as well as the walkons).  That means that if a player is not likely to contribute or if there are better options out there, he is going to act accordingly.  After a decade of mediocrity (or worse), I am OK with Harbaugh taking the necessary actions to compete with the big boys.  Provided, of course, that he plays within the rules and acts in such a way that the kids who are left out have every possible chance to get other offers.  There is a huge difference between being honest with a recruit and telling them that there is no longer room in the class - especially if done several weeks before NSD - and taking a kid who is already on campus and either yanking his scholarship or sending him to St. Saban's Hospital for the Not Quite Good Enough at Football.

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BlueReign

January 20th, 2016 at 1:17 PM ^

Sucks for Swenson. Would have liked to see this handeled differently.

I think it's partially a result of the current state of athletes "commitments" these days that Brian mentioned. Stuff like this wont help make that go away though. That said, College Football is a business now adays. All parties are likely better off with the outcome happening now as opposed to any time in the next 4 years.

Having to say "I wish we did this 3 months ago to give him even more time to find a landing place" is a far cry from "I wish we didnt force out this kid before his scholarship finished"

Realistically, the only thing this changes for fans is their ability to claim the total moral high ground and help justify their distaste for the shady opposing teams. 

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Stu Daco

January 20th, 2016 at 1:35 PM ^

Oh good, now we can spend another 500 posts talking about a situation that deserves about one sentence of coverage.

Harbaugh should have called the guy personally and he should have done it sooner.  End of analysis.

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gbdub

January 20th, 2016 at 2:42 PM ^

Bo coached before scholarship limits. He didn't have to. He did, however, recruit a lot of guys with no chance at playing time to keep them from going to other schools.

Before medical scholarships became a thing, Michigan coaches definitely cut scholarships when guys got too hurt to play.



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Hardware Sushi

January 20th, 2016 at 1:19 PM ^

Eh, I feel bad for Swenson but he hadn't officially visited yet and that has been a clear tie between the players that we've had decommit. I find it hard to believe he didn't have an idea this was coming further out.

I'm mostly happy we have people with some stones running the program nowadays. I want to fucking win.

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Rufus X

January 20th, 2016 at 1:27 PM ^

Most of us are not willing to sacrifice the integrity of the program to get there.  On behalf of the rest of the fanbase, you might want to go look around for another football team to root for. We just don't think you will have much of a role here as a Michigan fan.  Good riddance.

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BlueSwave34

January 20th, 2016 at 4:16 PM ^

Give me a break! Michigan fans aint happy unless they're unhappy. Dont cry and bitch if OSU beats us again next year. You can say "at leaast we still have our integrity." Guarentee Osu fans dont care about shit like this. I want to win bad, and beat Sparty and Osu bad. Quit your fuckin bitchin.

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mackbru

January 20th, 2016 at 1:19 PM ^

If Harbaugh did to Swenson as Brian suggests -- if -- then it's a dick move, no question. Michigan shouldn't do that. And the whole "you can keep the scholarship, but you'll never play" thing is passive-aggressive and puts the kid in a very bad spot. If you commit to a kid, you commit (barring academic or disciplinary issues).



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JFW

January 20th, 2016 at 1:46 PM ^

" And the whole "you can keep the scholarship, but you'll never play" thing is passive-aggressive and puts the kid in a very bad spot."

 

Yes. It does put him in a bad spot. But (IF its done earlier) the truth isn't bad. 'Look son, we'll honor our commitment to you, but you likely won't play' allows him to know where he stands and to explore options.

I wish there was a way to make things increasingly binding as time got closer to LOI day. 

 

Or just do away with one sided LOI's and go with the financial aid statements. 

 

I don't know. I just hate recruiting now. If this is as bad as it sounds, it does diminish my joy in the program. 

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BroadShouldersBlue

January 20th, 2016 at 1:23 PM ^

If the guy from the board is telling the truth, what's the big deal here?

Yes the timing could have been better, but it's not as if they're revoking his scholarship. They were simply being honest about PT and let the kid make the decision for himself. Could it be possible Harbaugh and Co. alerted him well-before now and it took him this long to make a decision?

Basically, I don't think we have to question the integrity of our staff or how they're conducting their recruiting search. It doesn't look good after an initial glance but as Brian noted we're not operating with all of the information and in all likelihood he'll land somewhere great where he can look forward to PT. Best wishes to the young man.

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Yeoman

January 20th, 2016 at 2:50 PM ^

...I can't figure out who "the guy from the board is."

Swenson says specifically that they pulled the offer and didn't let him make the decision for himself--how are you so certain that's not true?

I fee like I've missed something important here. A lot of people here are essentially asserting that Swenson is lying, and I don't know why.

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Stringer Bell

January 20th, 2016 at 1:25 PM ^

Harbaugh has to deal with the expectations of beating the likes of Ohio State and Alabama and winning national championships, all while maintaining the same standard of ethics and class that his predecessors lived up to.  He's doing what is best for Michigan football, and he is doing so within the rules.  Swenson will land on his feet.  He'll wind up at a program where he'll have a much better shot of seeing the field, and he'll walk away with a college degree from a fine institution if nothing else.  99% of people in the world would love to have that opportunity.  His life is not over.

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Albatross

January 20th, 2016 at 1:26 PM ^

I find the Weaver and Enis situations disburbing as well but for different reasons than Swanson's.

For Weaver, his initial offer was a shock to me. When I saw his flim, I didn't feel he was even a MAC level player.He is a two-star prospect and his film looked it. I know everyone is thinking "who are you to judge talent", well even though I feel I have some creditials, I will allow that I am no body.  But my opinion on Weaver seemed to be shared by nearly every other Division I coach, as reflected in his offers. The Power conference programs felt as if he wasn't good enough to play for them, yet we still offered him a scholarship and accepted his committment, only to eventually figure out what everyone else already seemed to know. Sort of undermines the argument that our staff can spot talent.

I always thought Weaver felt lucky to have even been offered and knew that he would probably never be part of the class. But the question remains why offer him in the first place?

For Enis, his film looks great to me. But he was another player that didn't have a lot of offers and none with the prestige of Michigan. So again there was really no compeitiion for this kid, so why offer him when you aren't certain he can play for you? With the lack of recruiting compeition, it would seem that you could have waited to offer him and still gotten him if you wanted him.  

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Johnny_Rumcake

January 20th, 2016 at 1:27 PM ^

If this is what Michigan has to do to compete with Ohio State and the SEC then I'm all for it.

I'd much rather be lifting national championship trophies than riding on my high horse.

Go Blue.

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MGoMagee

January 20th, 2016 at 1:30 PM ^

No matter where you are on the scale from irate to indifferent, this really does suck with the recruting momentum  we had. I can't wait for David Long's announcement tomorrow to hopefully get this taste out of my mouth.

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Dubs

January 20th, 2016 at 1:31 PM ^

Am I disappointed?  Yes.  I hold my head high here in Columbus knowing that Michigan generally holds the moral high ground versus programs like OSU and MSU.  Do I want Michigan to win titles and beat the living shit out of OSU and MSU on an annual basis?  Absolutely.  But to think that this single scholarship was a make or break decision for the future of the offensive line?  Come on.  Call it "wasting a scholarship" but I see no problem with following through on a 2 year committment, especially since O-line is such a crapshoot anyway when it comes to scouting and development.  I feel that given similar circumstances, John Beilein would not have replicated this type of decision.  However...

...am I shocked?  The answer is no.  Jim Harbaugh is an amazing coach.  His intensity and dedication is second to none, and he will do whatever it takes (within the rules) to gain excellence.  Camps in SEC country, sleepovers, or climbing trees, he is pushing the boundaries and, while entertaining, do not think for a second that Harbaugh has lost sight of the endgame:  to win.  To be the VICTOR.  We are talking about a man who followed a kid around in laser tag and destroyed them for the duration of the game so that his team would triumph.

My only question would be who made the call and who knew of the events that transpired?  I see nothing but great coaches and (from what I can tell) good people on this staff....you would think ONE of them would raise their hand and say "shouldn't we tell the kid?"

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Wolverine 73

January 20th, 2016 at 1:58 PM ^

And it makes me think that, yes, someone probably did make things fairly clear to Swenson awhile back, and he just was not inclined to hear whatever they were saying.  It's unfortunate, but it wouldn't be the first time people in a relationship did not understand what they were saying to each other or hearing from each other.

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chrysler buckeye

January 20th, 2016 at 1:37 PM ^

Jim Harbaugh's character = Jim Tressel's character Go ahead and comment on why I'm wrong. Not about the firing, though. He is within his NCAA rights, but you have to ask how this affects recruiting in IL, and as he continues doing it how it'll spread to other regions.

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