decommits
rashad weaver

Rashad Weaver Decommits Comment Count

Brian

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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.

Comments

Michiganguy19

January 26th, 2016 at 12:21 AM ^

We wanted someone who would wear a headset and do what Hoke didn't have the mental capacity to do... This is now... live in the real world not in fantasy. This is a $100M+ business annually reporting to stockholder in the 100K every Saturday at the Big house and who knows how many fans...

As a season ticket holder. This is what I pay for.

Joined: 07/05/2008

MGoPoints: 1496

Bando Calrissian

January 26th, 2016 at 2:02 AM ^

What veto power do they have over anything? They gave money to get the naming rights to a job title. They're not stakeholders in anything--they're donors.

A season ticket holder isn't buying a product--they're buying the opportunity to watch a football game. There are no dividends, no returns, nothing tangible that actually impacts them in any way beyond wins and losses. Starting to turn everything into free market "I'm a consumer, this is a business" when you're talking about football tickets is simply absurd.

Joined: 07/02/2008

MGoPoints: 68123

Bando Calrissian

January 26th, 2016 at 12:30 AM ^

I think my longstanding discomfort with recruiting comes in no small part from knowing this stuff exists all over the place and just not wanting to know about it. And a large part of that was also feeling that Michigan didn't really do stuff like this.

I'm disappointed in the general tenor around the class during this recruiting cycle, from all this bad press to the "Signing of the Stars" event (which implies/flat out says the laundry list of guys the staff has cooled on are not stars, which is a pretty bizarre way to play it) to the way Twitter is heightening the psychodrama of recruiting, both for coaches and athletes.

I want to go back to my lalaland of not giving a shit about recruiting, but the seeming lack of integrity across the board here is just too large to ignore.

Joined: 07/02/2008

MGoPoints: 68123

Richard75

January 26th, 2016 at 6:25 AM ^

Fair points. The staff's communication should be better.

But ultimately, what you're talking about—and the reason why these stories blow up so massively with Michigan—is that many U-M fans do indeed live in a lalala land. They still believe in the fairy tale that the Bo era was perfectly righteous, that U-M should live up to that standard, and thus they have a fit whenever it doesn't. They do so even though Bo was really no less cutthroat than Harbaugh (as Skene just said the other day).

Of course, there's no winning this argument with the high-horse crowd, since they're convinced they're on the side of righteousness.



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Joined: 09/23/2008

MGoPoints: 5299

Sarasota13

January 26th, 2016 at 12:35 AM ^

I believe Mr. Cook, long ago, described this similar tactic used by Harbaugh at Stanford. I do not recall an uproar of disapproval when this was discussed then. I think the term used by him was "uncomfortable". Everyone knew what they were getting with Harbaugh. It's uncomfortable, but move on. An offer is just an offer for both sides.

Joined: 06/22/2011

MGoPoints: 415

Sarasota13

January 26th, 2016 at 12:57 AM ^

I believe Mr. Cook, long ago, described this similar tactic used by Harbaugh at Stanford. I do not recall an uproar of disapproval when this was discussed then. I think the term used by him was "uncomfortable". Everyone knew what they were getting with Harbaugh. It's uncomfortable, but move on. An offer is just an offer for both sides.

Joined: 06/22/2011

MGoPoints: 415

Maizenblueball

January 26th, 2016 at 1:25 AM ^

sit well with me. The thing is, Harbaugh doesn't NEED to do this. He could still land great recruiting classes without this. I hope he and the staff learn from this year, and don't make the same mistakes next year.

Joined: 12/08/2011

MGoPoints: 12418

ca_prophet

January 26th, 2016 at 1:25 AM ^

So far, we don't know what recruits were told and when critical information was provided.  For example, if Harbaugh told Swenson "keeping your offer is contingent upon camping somewhere we can evaluate you in person or us having a spot" last year, that seems aboveboard.

There are a bunch of ways this could have gone down I'd be OK with.  There are also a bunch of ways it could have gone down I would not be OK with.

I'm not saying that Harbaugh shouldn't offer guys that aren't his first choice and might get squeezed out.  I am saying that they should make it clear that what they're saying is "We are offering you a scholarship.  We're not done recruiting, so the situation may change.  If it does, we will tell you.  If we need you to do something to keep that offer, we will tell you that too."

The "don't talk and hope they get the message" does not work for me.

 

Joined: 09/07/2010

MGoPoints: 7123

MoJo Rising

January 26th, 2016 at 5:33 AM ^

The big question I have is that we aren't hearing from the coaches of these kids. Could be that the HS coaches knew full well of the situation. As to why these kids weren't fully cognizant is the question and no one knows if that is really the fault of Michigan.

Joined: 10/09/2014

MGoPoints: 2158

jigsmcgee

January 26th, 2016 at 2:06 AM ^

Blows my mind how adamant we are about looking good and not hurting the recruiting atmosphere that makes us michigan Winning ball games is the only thing that matters and none of you should be generating any negativity towards our program. Why the fuck do you care if we shrugged off a 2 star or a hoke lineman late in the game? Shut your whining mouth. after 8 years of fucking carnage, let the man do what he wants and enjoy the wins Theres no need to point this shit out at the end of an insignificant players departure known well in advance, just poor form

Joined: 02/05/2009

MGoPoints: 349

CoverZero

January 26th, 2016 at 2:10 AM ^

1) Some people here professing to be Michigan "fans" are obviously trolls from other schools masquerading as Michigan fans in order to "concern troll"

2) Life, and Harbaugh, is a competition.   These kids need to know that nothing is guaranteed and if they want to be "successful" in any endeavor in life, they had better be prepared to constantly compete for it.

3) Airing your grievances on Twitter is both narcissistic and immature, particularly when the other side is prohibitied from responding. 

However we live in the age of narcissism and immaturity, so its pretty much a standard thing these days.  Unfortunately nether trait is good for leadership, determination and drive.  Play the victim, be a victim.  Congrats.

4) Some people point to Bo and say "Bo would never do that"....

The hell he wouldnt!   I clearly remember recruits being run off by Schembechler because they did not work hard enough.  One loser who failed, even wrote a book about it scathing Schembechler. 

Bo would walk in a group of recruits who were in for a visit.... and say "none of you are good enough to play for the University of Michigan".

There is a reason that he did this: to seperate the wheat from the chaff

Joined: 08/30/2014

MGoPoints: 14571

Reader71

January 26th, 2016 at 10:14 AM ^

FWIW, that isn't an argument so much as an effort to use his own terms to highlight a bad argument. Sometimes it fails. How about how Bo would go around telling recruits to their faces that they weren't good enough. Meanwhile Harbaugh stops talking to kids when he decides they aren't good enough. That's a better argument. His comparison is poor.

Joined: 08/30/2009

MGoPoints: 22968

FreddieMercuryHayes

January 26th, 2016 at 9:47 AM ^

Why does any school offer scholarships to people they don't intend on taking commitments from immediately?  Please point out the school that only offers like 50 scholarships.  Every single message board discussing recruits for every single school always includes the phrase' non-commitable offer' somewhere.  Every B1G ten coach certainly does this.  Well documented that Hoke did too, and everyone regarded him as a great guy.  I think the difference is that Harbaugh in these situations is more like 'yeah, you can commit to us, but keep your options open' instead of keeping those guys at arms length like Hoke did.

Joined: 12/29/2010

MGoPoints: 40902

agostic

January 26th, 2016 at 2:13 AM ^

Hoke was good to recruits, right? But, he didn't help them grow to be competetive. Every party was suffered.

If Harbaugh told the recruit(s) that it's 50/50, it delivers a clear signal that it isn't optimistic for them.

If Harbaugh couldn't bring the right recruits in to change the program, he would fail himself and so as the Michigan football. He has to make a choose and do the right thing, best for the program and the team and himself. It's a price.

He isn't perfect as long as he is no violation of NCAA rules. 

 

Joined: 01/07/2015

MGoPoints: 15

GuildChatter

January 26th, 2016 at 5:12 AM ^

Does anyone have a link to a good article that explains the intricacies of the recruiting process?

College coaches give out a lot more offers than their available spots.  I don't understand how the math is supposed to work out when you have a variable amount of players who may (or may not) decide to commit to your school on National Signing Day.

Is it just first come first serve and pray you don't go over the limit?

Joined: 01/01/2016

MGoPoints: 102

BuckNekked

January 26th, 2016 at 5:54 AM ^

Competition. Its what Harbaugh is all about. You compete for your spot right up until signing day. Then you continue to compete everyday on the field and in the classroom.

These kids have all been told to take thier visits. Theyve all been told to have contingency plans. And its a two way street. Michigan has to compete right to the end for thier signatures. Michigan has to have its contingency plans. Im sorry but I dont see a difference in the obligations on either end of the contract.

These kids are not victims as much as our society wants to make them so. They have an opportunity to go to school for free not because they are brilliant, but because they play football. A large portion of these kids couldnt even get into Michigan without football. My son had a 3.0 GPA and a 28 on his ACT at CC and he couldnt get into Michigan and had to go to Tech. Im still paying off debt for my wifes schooling. Ill be paying for my kids schooling for the rest of my life. These kids are not victims. There is no need to feel bad for a kid that got a free ride to USF instead of to Michigan.

I will change my tune if this continues to happen after the signing period ends and a kid is truly left without options, but not until then. Until then, you are setting up an arbitrary line in the sand and turning lucky kids into victims without cause.

Joined: 12/06/2013

MGoPoints: -1793

DixieWreck

January 26th, 2016 at 7:37 AM ^

As long as UofM is forthright, I see nothing wrong with rating/ranking candidates/recruits, it's the same in the job market, NFL draft, education, etc.  #Welcome2RealLife 

Joined: 07/31/2010

MGoPoints: 1866