On Erik Swenson And Talent-Based Decommits
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Michigan's longest-standing commit is no longer one:
— Erik Swenson (@Eiek77) January 20, 2016
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.
January 20th, 2016 at 2:35 PM ^
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January 20th, 2016 at 6:29 PM ^
Offer + Acceptance = contract in my eyes, especially when it prevents the kid from finding a good landing place. I know that it's not legally enforceable since Signing Day hasn't occurred but morally, a deal is a deal.
It's one thing if the kid is told up front that the university is continuing to recruit his position and that his spot isn't 100% solid. It's another to just pull an offer just because you have a shot at someone better.
And yes the facts aren't all clear. But I don't like the way it looks.
January 20th, 2016 at 2:36 PM ^
I talked to Erik Swenson today about his scholarship being waived by Harbaugh recently. Take it as you see fit. pic.twitter.com/tuTLFJM0fR
— Bobby Kunz (@UofMDieHards) January 20, 2016
January 20th, 2016 at 2:45 PM ^
That's not good...
January 20th, 2016 at 3:08 PM ^
Presuming the tweeted questions were actually answered by Swenson, his answers do not rule out the possibility that he still had the choice to receive scholarship but with understanding he would not likely ever see the field and made decision to look elsewhere. Even if he says offer was "pulled", who is to say whether that is truth or just perception or easier way out. ?
Easy with the pitch forks folks...
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January 20th, 2016 at 3:16 PM ^
It wouldn't be all that surprising to discover he staged this conversation by having a friend change his avatar to Swenson's.
January 21st, 2016 at 11:44 AM ^
"If it's true that he informed these early commits that he would still honor their scholarship offer but that they would not likely ever see the field based on coaching staff's evaluation, then the kids have the choice to stay on as committed or to look into other options that would allow them to see the field sooner."
To be clear, I think we'll never know what was said (unless John Bacon publishes something in a few years), so I personnally evaluate this based on if/thens.
1) If the staff said "you have a scholarship, but you'll probably never play," that's pretty reasonable and maybe even the responsible thing to do.
2) But if the staff have been saying that for a few months, hoping that Swenson would take the hint, and then when he said "I believe in myself, so I'm going to come to Michigan and compete for the spot," the staff changed to "There is no scholarship for you," then I'm not super-happy. Maybe this is the price for getting the other kids to take the hint, but if so, it would be better to do it 3 weeks ago than now.
January 20th, 2016 at 2:38 PM ^
January 20th, 2016 at 2:39 PM ^
Core 6 is not happy. Not a group to be on the bad side of given so many top Illinois recruits work out there.
January 20th, 2016 at 3:29 PM ^
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January 20th, 2016 at 2:49 PM ^
January 20th, 2016 at 3:02 PM ^
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January 20th, 2016 at 6:54 PM ^
...that signed D1 offers after signing day last year.
So far I've got one at Alabama State and one at Miami (O). I'm guessing that second one is as good as it gets.
January 20th, 2016 at 3:25 PM ^
Green and BWC put it in "coast" they got their Michigan offers. They were prohibitive favorites to make the two-deep as true freshmen but some time between getting that 5th star and arriving on campus they both had mentally downshifted. They were coasting and they got passed by kids who had a stronger will to compete. Maybe Swenson was coasting and maybe that is why his senior film failed to impress. At what point did the Michigan coaches realize that Green runs when he hears the dinner bell but not the starter pistol? If a kid gets passed on the depth chart before he sets foot on campus, should he still get an athletic scholarship? Suppose your class rank is #1 when you accept an academic scholarship from Michigan. You think you are still going to get that academic scholarship if you coast through senior year and fall to #100?
January 20th, 2016 at 3:02 PM ^
i'm afraid this will have negative consequences in our recruiting...what if Gary's mom doesn't like this? :(
January 20th, 2016 at 3:16 PM ^
this has been fun.
January 20th, 2016 at 3:36 PM ^
The potential that this would happen has been out on some sites for weeks now. This shouldn't be much of a surprise, and if they knew, he knew and everyone involved knew.
January 20th, 2016 at 3:45 PM ^
Not a good look but comparing this to Saint Saban Memorial Hospital or Tressel or SEC recruiting is like comparing a camp fire to a forest fire. It is a bummer for Swenson, but let's step back and take an objective look at this: You're telling me a man who has a reputation for letting players know exactly where they stand down to the helmet decal and is obsessed with detail down to the socks didn't communicate with Swenson exactly where he stood? If that's the case then it isn't a good look, but excuse me if I find it a little hard to believe. Brian also pointed out a method which recruits could use to bind a school to them while the recruits themselves would be bound to nothing; I wish this method got more publicity. As things stand, I do find it hard to believe this was anything more than a misunderstanding/miscommunication.
January 20th, 2016 at 4:48 PM ^
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January 20th, 2016 at 4:54 PM ^
January 20th, 2016 at 6:29 PM ^
In Swensen's case, I think the staff likely realized that he hadn't improved, and was no longer trending up. At this point I think they probably cooled on him and started gauging interest from other targets.
I believe Harbaugh must have a silent commit, or a real good feel about a guy, bc it's a little crazy to cut such a solidly ranked player 3 weeks before signing day if you didn't have something in place.
Of course Harbaugh could of just watched current film and decided Swenson would never play at Michigan.
Harbaugh is a stand up guy, I really can't see him not communicating with Swenson as soon as he realized he wasn't his type of lineman. If Jim really didn't say anything to him that's pretty shitty, but I want to win titles, and we don't do that by being politically correct every time.
I wish Swenson the best of luck.
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January 20th, 2016 at 8:28 PM ^
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January 20th, 2016 at 6:30 PM ^
A top national recruit can go "nah fuck that, I'm going to Michigan" on signing day even though he was committed to LSU. And we'd all celebrate.
A coach, who inherited a commit goes "nah, fuck that I'm getting a better player" and half the people on this blog get all bent out of shape. I don't get it.
The media will get bent out of shape too because, well, it's the media, but that doesn't mean it's the correct view to have or even a big deal. The media makes national stories out of cow turds.
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January 20th, 2016 at 6:48 PM ^
4 Things
1. I've read the blog forever and finally decided to become a member.
2. I think the situation is unfortunate for all involved, and I wish him the best. It is my personal feeling that he probably did not want to read the writing that has been on the wall for a while.
3. I played left tackle; yes, he has the size, but for a kid his size, he does not seem very powerful. In addition, his pass blocking technique is subpar at best and he does not have good feet.
4. Instead of, "I ask that you respect my family and I during this time," it should be, "my family and me."
That is all for now. Go blue forever!
January 20th, 2016 at 7:15 PM ^
January 20th, 2016 at 7:58 PM ^
January 20th, 2016 at 8:05 PM ^
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January 20th, 2016 at 8:53 PM ^
January 20th, 2016 at 9:45 PM ^
Hoke recruited him and signed him up, not Harbaugh. We probably all agree that Harbaugh is not obligated to honor the employment agreements Hoke made with Hoke's assistants. This is not that much different.
Also, Harbaugh said Swenson could still have a scholarship to Michigan. He just said Swenson would probably never play.
Most importantly, it isn't the case that Harbaugh decommitted Swenson. Swenson decommitted himself.
Harbaugh wants Harbaugh guys who will play Harbaugh football. Harbaugh knows what Harbaugh wants when Harbaugh sees it, and the opposite is also true.
Swenson is an Illinois resident and if Northwestern wants him then he is probably is better off at Northwestern.
January 20th, 2016 at 11:02 PM ^
January 20th, 2016 at 11:26 PM ^
"It seems disingenuous to let him come if he will never play."
It seems disingenuous to lie to him about his prospects. I don't know what would be disingenuous about letting him come, if he still wanted to even knowing his prospects. Is it disingenuous to accept walk-ons?
We pulled the scholarship because we wanted to use it on someone else. Why do we have to pretend there was another reason?
January 20th, 2016 at 8:22 PM ^
January 20th, 2016 at 10:51 PM ^
January 20th, 2016 at 11:31 PM ^
Those who we don't pull the rug out from under at the last moment will be champions.
January 21st, 2016 at 1:52 AM ^
January 21st, 2016 at 12:38 AM ^
It's JH 2nd year into recruiting and we just don't have all the facts.
JH wants who he wants and he certainly wasn't someone he recruited.
He wants lineman that are aggressive and finish and play angry and such. Just because he is a high star recruit doesn't mean he is what JH is looking for and doesn't mean a 3 star recruit couldn't be better. I think JH knows how to evaluate talent and if he sees a physical / aggressive kid with lets say good footwork but maybe some things to tweek he says .. ok I can work with this. My guess he just didn't like something about him. Sure he could of told him earlier, but maybe he possibly did in not so certain words? Again we just don't have all the facts and lets face it he has a couple weeks to find a fit. It's not that big of a deal I don't think. Maybe this is just a cause and effect from still only in his first FULL year now and heading into a 2nd. I will give him the benefit of the doubt (JH) and say this could of been an "oopsie" or there could be more to the story. Life is not always fair, sorry. Now if it were JH that recruited him and then did this with 2 weeks I might have a bit more to say. Not his recruit, don't have all the facts, etc etc and I chalk it up to many possible things. Forgot about him? Had told him in nice ways earlier with the writing on the wall? FInally was able to watch his tape / senior year and didn't like at all what he saw. We just don't know. If this becomes a trend then I can see everyone having an issue with this.
He's got 2 weeks to find a place to go. I assure you someone will pick him up and he will most likely go to a place where he will get playing time as well. Again .. without all the facts who knows how this really all went down. JH strikes me as someone who tells it like it is and would be nice at first but then blunt about it later if it didn't get through. He is not a beat around the bush type of person.
January 21st, 2016 at 3:30 AM ^
January 21st, 2016 at 3:29 PM ^
"Michigan's Jim Harbaugh showing his true colors — and they're ugly"
January 21st, 2016 at 5:59 PM ^
Copy and Paste from Maize n Brew comments section.
"When Jim Harbaugh took over at Michigan, Swenson’s commitment was still in place. Then, over the course of the next several months, Swenson was asked to come to Ann Arbor and compete in camps, and also to work out in front of coaches, and Swenson refused. Harbaugh and company saw this as a red flag and decided to do some digging. They learned that Swenson had not developed like many thought he would and had become complacent with his work ethic and desire to compete. Some time in the fall, the coaches informed Swenson that they’d like him to look elsewhere and that he no longer held a committable offer from U-M. A source very close to the situation said that Swenson refused to go public with the information, convinced that he’d still end up in Ann Arbor."
January 22nd, 2016 at 12:46 AM ^
I really hope he was given notice much earlier than this and we just don't know the full story.
January 22nd, 2016 at 12:48 AM ^
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