Rashad Weaver Decommits
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FL DE Rashad Weaver has decommitted. He's upset after Harbaugh told him there was only a 50/50 shot they'd have a slot for him on Signing Day and will take one of the other D-I offers he received. Weaver visited Temple recently and will be at USF and Illinois in the near future.
Weaver was one of the players we were assuming would not be in the class. Setting a visit to a non power-5 school is almost always a sign that a player committed to Michigan isn't going to get to Signing Day as a commit, and Weaver set that visit way back in November. He clearly had an idea of his status and moved to do something about it.
Still, you'd hope the past couple weeks inform the staff that in the twitter era you'd better do something a little more explicit than not calling for months if you don't want unpleasant public relations flare-ups on the regular.
January 25th, 2016 at 10:56 PM ^
January 26th, 2016 at 2:36 AM ^
Easy to say that, but that doesnt make any sense in an era of limited scholarships. If we did that, we would only make 28-30 offers and would simply wait around to see whoever decided to commit.
The reality is that today "offers" are simply the beginning a conversation with a player. If you wait until you are 100% sure you love a player and have seen all of their camp and senior film then you wouldnt make any offers until December or January.
The real issue is not "offers" but making sure that recruits are sufficiently informed of their status throughout the process to know whether they have a scholarship waiting for them or not.
This should be a 'yes' or 'no' question. Telling a kid that they have a 50/50 chance of having a scholarship available is not an acceptable answer.
Hopefully that was something said as way of letting Weaver down easy ("We still really like you, but right now its looking like a 50/50 chance we will have room." aka "It's not you, it me.")
Certainly the fact that he was taking visits and widely speculated to be a decommit for some time strongly suggests that the coaches let him know that his scholarship was in jeopardy some time ago and this was not a sudden development. But to the extent there was any lack of communication, responsibility for that has to fall entirely on the coaching staff, not the 17 year old recruit.
January 26th, 2016 at 3:17 AM ^
And what once was reviewed as an acceptable practice seems to have changed dramatically as well, for no other reason than these young men having unlimited access to virtually every form of communication, other than pen and paper - the thought of which makes me want to vomit - therefore, depending on their mood of the day, are likely to spew forth venom that may be deserving or not.
I believe Jim to be a man of high moral integrity. But for those reasons stated above, and the fact that it won't become any easier, it is imperative, other in cases like Swenson, where it was made clear to him setting on his ass was not going to instill enough confidence on the part of the staff to honor his offer. We've heard negative shit tied to virtually all major players, with the SEC having a commanding lead. I guess its up to us to make it clear to the point of being crystal, that all offers are understood as an expression of interest based on what we've seen to date and leave absolutely no room for some kid with a bitch or some coach seeing a possible hole wide enough to surface in and point out, "Son, Michigan did you wrong."
What was once understood as a continued dislpay of interest, leaving no doubt that interest has not waned as verification that nothing has changed as to status of offer, has unquestionably changed. I don't want to see us lumped in with the other shcools we've been bitching about, And I am certain JH who got pissed due to a penalty that hinted he would do something unsportsmanlike in nature, would also like to do as much as possilbe to leave no room for misunderstanding. In fact, I would not be surprised if something were implemented along these lines in the not too distant future because that is just the type of man I believe him to be.
January 25th, 2016 at 9:55 PM ^
Brian - is the implication that they literally cut contact with him during the season, he started to figure things out on his own around November, and then set the Temple visit? Or was there likely some other chain of events?
January 25th, 2016 at 10:03 PM ^
January 25th, 2016 at 10:03 PM ^
January 25th, 2016 at 10:18 PM ^
I mean here was a kid that held no Power Conference offers and Jimmy figured out that he was Michigan material, only to realize "opps I guess everyone else but me was right".
For a coach that expects excellence, he should hold himself to a higher standard when offering kids. Do you homework, figure out if a kid can play for you and then offer him, not before.
January 25th, 2016 at 9:56 PM ^
January 25th, 2016 at 10:14 PM ^
This juvenile shit isn't needed at Michigan.
Coaching staff should know better.
Smh.
Getting neg voted for saying the coaching staff should know better when it comes to properly cutting off a recruit's scholarship vs going AWOL on him is the epitome of this board's Maize KoolAid drinking.
Maybe offering 2/3 star "sleepers" over the summer shouldn't be a thing starting next year.
I think Dytarious Johnson is last guy left that isn't EE.
January 25th, 2016 at 10:24 PM ^
It is beyond juvenile. It is bizarre cause it is so unnecessary. Michigan has always been a easy sell to recruits when you are doing things right.
January 26th, 2016 at 12:42 PM ^
Harbaugh is a great coach, a great recruiter, and Michigan is a great school with a blue blood football program. He can bring in Top 5 classes here without this stuff. He and the staff just need to be a little more reluctant to give out offers to marginal players too early and to communicate better with offered players and commits.
January 25th, 2016 at 10:00 PM ^
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January 25th, 2016 at 10:00 PM ^
January 25th, 2016 at 10:27 PM ^
Two of our 2017 committments don't hold any other offers. And one of them was offered when he wasn't even a starter on his high school team.
If i was a parent of any of those 2017 committs, Harbaugh would have to answer some questions.
January 25th, 2016 at 10:42 PM ^
that is the responsible and educated approach. I doubt Coach would bullshit any kid or his family. The speed dating recruiting process is what it is. Coachs and recruits alike should know as much, and make decisions accordingly.
January 26th, 2016 at 12:58 AM ^
January 25th, 2016 at 10:55 PM ^
read a college offer letter? Virtually all of them have language that say that the ability to commit depends on availability at your position. It is vague on purpose, but it also means that it's not a 100% guarantee. That, combined with the fact that no one calls you for 7 months should be a "2 and 2" situation.
I feel for the kid(s) as well, but no school hands out only 25 offers for a 25 man class.
January 25th, 2016 at 10:02 PM ^
January 25th, 2016 at 10:02 PM ^
Hope we can do better in the future.
January 25th, 2016 at 10:03 PM ^
Lesson learned for next year is don't offer sleeper recruits at satelite camps. I don't blame them this year because it was Year 1 and they had no idea what would happen, but now that they know, I hope that they adjust their "yield formula" and be a little bit more selective in order to prevent these situations going forward.
January 26th, 2016 at 10:08 AM ^
Why not? The post above you lists great reasons why it is fine to offer recruits early. It helps their resume with other interested schools. It also helps Michigan as we get in early on some potentially great talent. If Michigan re-evaluates and goes with a better option or the talent doesn't improve in their senior year no harm done. The only harm is the holier-than-thou reaction our fanbase has for some reason.
January 25th, 2016 at 10:05 PM ^
He was a plan B... Isnt that virtually how every aspect of recruiting works, from both sides?
I'm going to get demoted at work if my employer finds someone better at the job than me.
January 25th, 2016 at 11:10 PM ^
January 25th, 2016 at 10:08 PM ^
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January 25th, 2016 at 10:15 PM ^
Not sure why you're getting negged for this, you're exactly right. As long as Michigan is winning (and doing so within the rules) and putting kids in the NFL, negative recruiting against us will have a very minimal effect if any. People need to realize that recruiting is a very dirty business and Michigan needs to get creative if they want to stay clean and continue to get the best players possible.
January 25th, 2016 at 10:25 PM ^
I know why, becuase there are a bunch of high horse riding bitches on the board. And to prove it, they're all going to neg me.
January 25th, 2016 at 10:40 PM ^
Every time this issue comes up, people like you question the masculinity or toughness of people who give a shit about high school kids who got deceived by grown men. Eat shit.
January 25th, 2016 at 10:52 PM ^
Being told where you stand isnt being deceitful, it's being honest. And I really have no clue what the masculinity of a 17 year old has to do with any of this.
January 25th, 2016 at 10:58 PM ^
Did the guy who got 23,000 MgoPoints in a little over a year by constantly posting on a message board just call me a neckbeard? Also, nothing about my comment had anything to do with the masculinity of a 17 y/o.
January 25th, 2016 at 10:35 PM ^
Is that there was absolutely no reason for Weaver to have gotten an offer in the first place. HE was a 2-star recruit with NO Power Conference offers. So all the other big time coaches realized he wasn't a top flight prospect. Yet Harbaugh offers him? Why? When you have to beat out Hampton for a recruit, then you are most likely doing something wrong.
Same thing with our 2017 recruits. Offering a kid when he is a backup on his high school team? You really need to lock that kid up early?
All this negative stuff will be avoided if Harbaugh is doing his due diligence before offering. And if he did, he would make sure he had room for Gary and we wouldn't have to needlessly go through embarrassing situations like this.
January 25th, 2016 at 10:51 PM ^
I don't know if I fully agree with this. I personally don't mind the offer but don't think it was necessary to let him commit. There's nothing wrong with letting the kid know that the offer is contingent upon performance as well as the recruiting board. At that point, it's on the kid to take the chance that he can eventually commit or decide to go elsewhere.
I just don't think accepting the commit was necessary to begin with. Jmo...
January 25th, 2016 at 10:11 PM ^
Cry me a river, lets win some football games
January 25th, 2016 at 10:11 PM ^
January 25th, 2016 at 10:18 PM ^
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January 25th, 2016 at 10:46 PM ^
exactly. The alignment is clear, and it matches his coaching style perfectly. Relentless competition, playing to the whistle, play to win, nothing dishonest, no violations, push the envelope, etc.
January 25th, 2016 at 10:46 PM ^
exactly. The alignment is clear, and it matches his coaching style perfectly. Relentless competition, playing to the whistle, play to win, nothing dishonest, no violations, push the envelope, etc.
January 25th, 2016 at 10:47 PM ^
double post error
January 25th, 2016 at 10:50 PM ^
January 26th, 2016 at 12:11 AM ^
January 26th, 2016 at 7:48 AM ^
January 26th, 2016 at 1:40 AM ^
Offers these days are just a way of saying hello. Accepting a commitment is a way of saying "you are on the team, unless you screw up."
January 25th, 2016 at 10:12 PM ^
The staff is doing all they can to get the best talent available, but perhaps this class will help them make slightly different decisions going forward. Better to not allow a kid commit unless you know for sure you want him on the team.
The visuals wrt things like this aren't good and will be spun in a way by other schools as a character/integrity issue. And Harbaugh's EUTM, while genuine, can be made to look disingenuous with this happening. This will eventually fall out of the news cycle, but is a self-inflicted wound, IMO.
January 25th, 2016 at 10:20 PM ^
This could have been handled better. That being said Harbaugh operates more like Saban than Hoke. I do not pine for the days of the low 3 star player. It did not work for 7 years people.
January 25th, 2016 at 10:41 PM ^
He was giving you some pretty high ranked kids, he was actutally in the running or getting as many high end kids as any school out there not named Alabama. If he wasn't such a poor coach and was able to produce results, his classes would have been even better.
We just went 10-3 with Hoke's talent and are favorites to make the playoff next year with Hoke's talent. You can knock him for a lot of things, but recruiting wasn't one of them. And there was none of these shanangians going on.
January 25th, 2016 at 11:08 PM ^
Jade Rudock was a Hoke recruit? O'Korn was a Hoke recruit? Because he will be the starter next year.
January 25th, 2016 at 11:05 PM ^
We went 5-7 with Hoke's talent. Just because Hoke was the coach when the kids were being recruited, and Michigan recruits itself fergodsakes, doesnt give him ownership of their talent. They sure didnt look as talented when he was coaching them.
January 25th, 2016 at 11:18 PM ^
January 25th, 2016 at 11:45 PM ^
Offensive line woes, Quarterback woes, wide receivers woes, running backs has been all but a complete bust, Jake Ryan leaves (RR recruit) and the linebacker play tanks. DBs are sort of okay, and the D line has been servicable.
Putting aside their stars aside, Harbaugh and his staff worked a minor miracle with the players he had.
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