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ahmir mitchell

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Brian

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[Eric Upchurch]

That didn't last long:

Mitchell got in serious trouble over the summer that warranted what was probably going to be a year-long suspension. He was also apparently in the habit of posting images of him partying at various late-night hours on Snapchat. By all reports he was not a good fit for the program.

Privately we were expecting this, and I tried to gesture that direction in his recruiting profile:

General Excitement Level: Moderate-minus. Washout potential is high. Pure athlete at the moment.

And lo, it has come to pass. Dude could have sped it up a bit so that I didn't have to write that profile.

Even though he was nominally a receiver, Mitchell's departure is mostly a hit to the safety depth chart. Michigan really likes the McDoom/Crawford/Johnson trio and with Brad Hawkins an academic casualty both WR recruits who could play S have burned out before they could even get started.

That brings Michigan to 23 scholarships in a class we expect to reach 30.

Comments

Wolverine In Iowa 68

August 24th, 2016 at 2:53 PM ^

if another coach takes a chance on him, and he basically transfers to another school, BUT he didn't play a down this season, what does that mean for him?  Will he have to sit this year out like normal since he enrolled early, or is the sit-out year waived since he transfered before his first season even began?  Anyone know?

Joined: 07/16/2015

MGoPoints: 55975

Firstbase

August 24th, 2016 at 2:22 PM ^

...that some of these kids don't see and fully appreciate the gift they're being afforded. From the university's perspective, asking someone to walk the straight and narrow for four years in exchange for a fully-funded education and potential NFL opportunity isn't too much to ask. 

 

 

Joined: 09/30/2009

MGoPoints: 9400

True Blue Grit

August 24th, 2016 at 3:57 PM ^

But this kind of thing happens with every class Michigan brings in.  Like a lot of non-athletes we saw at Michigan when we were students, some people just don't adjust to college life well.  It becomes all fun and not nearly enough work for them.  You can hope the light bulb goes on for Ahmir wherever he ends up. 

Joined: 01/21/2011

MGoPoints: 32362

dragonchild

August 24th, 2016 at 2:00 PM ^

I get that Harbaugh has the authority to put him in the doghouse, and that's fine.  It's not expulsion or a sentence or even revoking his scholarship; assuming he didn't do anything to deserve those punishments in the first place.  So, "bad fit" I get.  You play for Harbaugh, you play by his rules.  That said, I think at his age I wouldn't be a good fit either.  I was DUUUUUMB.  I'm kind of amazed I graduated.

What I'm trying to say is, it's too bad it didn't work out, but if he was gonna go in the doghouse because he's just an immature nitwit, as a person there's still plenty of time for him to get his head turned around.  Just thinking back, I passed my classes and never got in trouble with the police, but even if I was athletically gifted I could see Harbaugh kicking me out just on the grounds of being a toxic jackass.

Joined: 10/13/2011

MGoPoints: 60891

Alumnus93

August 24th, 2016 at 2:04 PM ^

So...you think that Harbaugh is willing to fly to NJ multiple times... have Mitchell come here on our dime... and then suspend him for a full year just for "partying"?   Cmon... wake up.... it obviously wouldnt be the vanilla type of partying youre alluding to...    or at the very best, a suspsension based on repeated partying after the coach said to tone it down, and didnt.

Joined: 09/10/2009

MGoPoints: 9684

dragonchild

August 24th, 2016 at 2:13 PM ^

I'm not sure what you think you're telling me to wake up from, because I basically guess something like what you described -- partying when or where he shouldn't have.  Maybe he uploaded a selfie from a frat party while the team was in the submarine, or took a piss on a statue of Bo or something.  Serious in a responsibility context, very bad fit for the team, but not an indication that he's completely broken.

I want to make clear I'm not throwing these out as a specific guesses of what he actually did.  I just note that Harbaugh tried to handle this matter internally, adamantly.  As in, this press conference is OVER level of having Mitchell's back.  He obviously thought it was something Mitchell could grow out of.  If he did something like assault someone he'd have been kicked to the curb.

Joined: 10/13/2011

MGoPoints: 60891

Alumnus93

August 24th, 2016 at 4:21 PM ^

maybe I misread and inferred wrong from your title, about his crime being too much partying. I somehow thought you were insinuating hRbaugh being too tough on him. if not, then my apologies...if yes, then, well...

Joined: 09/10/2009

MGoPoints: 9684

dragonchild

August 24th, 2016 at 2:17 PM ^

Well, I'll stop there then.  I think it's harmless to speculate on how a dumb teenager could piss off a grown-up if only because that's a day that ends in y, but if the emphasis was on SERIOUS then I'm not going to guess what that was.

But again, he didn't get kicked off the team outright, which puts a ceiling on his worst offense.

Joined: 10/13/2011

MGoPoints: 60891

cheesheadwolverine

August 24th, 2016 at 2:13 PM ^

I'm not sure that's right. The post says "he got in trouble. He was *also* in the habit of posting partying on snapchat."  Seems a more generalized comment on fit, not the cause of his suspension. And I have no idea if he was partying daily during fall camp or just over the summer, the former would have some bearing on fit I would think.

There were rumors it was weed (I think?), which would also be a dumb-as-hell reason to get a year-long suspension, but we really have no idea afaik.

Joined: 10/25/2008

MGoPoints: 7511

mGrowOld

August 24th, 2016 at 2:50 PM ^

But I've read this site long enough to know Brian's writing style and it's not that hard to see when he knows something to be true that he's not going to share the details.  He's put more red flags up on this kid than a 4th of July parade so whatever it was he did I'm pretty sure it was more than youthful partying or a joint or two.

Joined: 10/04/2010

MGoPoints: 212939

MichiganExile

August 24th, 2016 at 3:07 PM ^

I agree with everything you said, but people in both this post and the Boards thread keep very pointedly shutting down speculation as if they know the exact story. That gets old real fast. If you know the answer and don't want to speak about it in order to not throw around unsourced info or to give the kid his privacy just don't post anything. To make it apparent that you know the answer but aren't going to share it makes a poster seem like that gossip queen that totally knows all the info but isn't gonna tell you because you soooo aren't cool enough. Put up or shut up I say. 

Joined: 01/12/2009

MGoPoints: 12384

stephenrjking

August 24th, 2016 at 3:17 PM ^

They're shutting down wrong speculation, like "he's just been suspended because he is partying too much."

Some average guy off the street pretending to know something and not, that's pretty obnoxious, yes. Brian is not some average guy off the street. He's heard stuff. Some or most of it is stuff he can't repeat. Magnus, who follows things pretty closely, either has information himself or is verifying that what people are hearing from people like Brian is reliable based on his understanding of the accuracy of those people.

A lot of people are just backing Brian up here because we *know* he has credibility and he is not going to waste it on the disciplinary status of a guy who hasn't played a down at Michigan. When Brian drops smoke hints, the fire is down there somewhere.

And through several recruit profiles, Brian was dropping smoke bombs on Mitchell.

The reason we don't hear more is because the information is communicated to people in confidence. Which is to say, the only way they get that information at all is by being someone that can be trusted not to reveal its specifics publicly. 

The alternative to this isn't specific details; the alternative is no information at all. Be happy for what you get. 

Joined: 03/15/2012

MGoPoints: 20143702

stephenrjking

August 24th, 2016 at 3:47 PM ^

I think you're making too big of a deal about this. There have been a couple of speculations that have been shut down (ie "it's weed" or "it's partying") because there is an understanding that whatever Mitchell did was a lot more serious than some excessive partying or because he hit a joint once or twice over the summer. Those ideas are getting shot down because the hints from Brian are rather stronger than that and because it's generally understood that those kinds of infractions aren't enough to get someone shipped on their own.

You started this subsection of the thread basically by asking people to spill all the dirt on Mitchell. It sounds to me like it bothers you that there's stuff you don't know and apparently stuff a few people do know. But that's life--we don't know everything and it's not appropriate for us to know everything. Unless there is a legal charge in court, we probably never will. That's how it goes.

 

Joined: 03/15/2012

MGoPoints: 20143702

corundum

August 24th, 2016 at 3:34 PM ^

I mean, he could have just been partying too much. Apparently he was posting things to his snapchat story, which is public, about partying all night and going to sleep about the same time his teammates would be waking up for practice. It's one thing to take a redshirt while being suspended, it's another to use it as an excuse to drink and smoke all night, then skip practice the following day. I could definitely see Harbaugh not putting up with that bullshit for a second.

Joined: 05/10/2012

MGoPoints: 47323