BBrown: Statement From Jabrill Peppers
I am still 100% committed to the University of Michigan and that is the place where I want to go to college. With the rumors about Coach Hoke possibly not being there I need to make sure that I have options and have seen other places in case the University of Michigan decides to go in a different direction. For the sake of my future I need to make sure I have other options. No need to look into it any further! Go Blue and beat TDS
November 26th, 2013 at 5:33 PM ^
He Gone.
November 26th, 2013 at 5:36 PM ^
wow i dont blame peppers at all given the recent product on the field. hand made the best decision for himself and peppers needs to as well. but hoke cannot let this kid get away. he jumps off the screen as an athlete and UM does not have anyone even in the same universe agility wise. would be the most talented DB on the field for UM next year, by far....if he remains committed and the coaches actually get him reps (im sure mattison and hoke want him terrorizing O's from the slot from day 1 but will they platoon him with lesser talented guys??). man i really want to watch him play in maize and blue but ill tune in wherever he ends up, kids that special
November 26th, 2013 at 6:36 PM ^
November 26th, 2013 at 5:50 PM ^
what is not news: team loses a lot, looks bad in other wins, and kids think about going elsewhere.
what is news (to me at least): morons on message board blame other message-board posters for possible loss of recruits. seriously? have the hoke apologists gone completely nuts?
November 26th, 2013 at 5:54 PM ^
Just win baby!
November 26th, 2013 at 9:46 PM ^
morons on message board blame other message-board posters for possible loss of recruits
That's funny, I seem to recall Brian doing exactly that a while back, to the point of banning long-time posters. There was even a tweet from a recruit saying he'd been put off by some posts here, though it all got worked out in the end.
Maybe Brian's a moron too. What do I know?
November 26th, 2013 at 6:20 PM ^
Just the first step in the process. No saving this one like DD.
November 26th, 2013 at 6:35 PM ^
November 26th, 2013 at 6:39 PM ^
He ain't coming
knows the policy and than gonna go elsewhere
He's got Hand and Scarborough in his ear
The UCLA thing is just a tactic to distract the inevitable.
Decommittment by Christmas
Peppers to Bama By Army All American Game
November 26th, 2013 at 6:42 PM ^
November 26th, 2013 at 7:08 PM ^
I hate to say it but Peppers might actually get Hoke attention re Borges where we could not. It's fine to blindly support your friend when the only real "heat" you are getting for his incompetence is a bunch of idiot internet posters like us. It's quite another thing to start potentially losing your 5 star recruits in the process.
I don't want to lose Peppers at all but if it meant finally waking Hoke up to the damage Al is having to the team both now and in the future it might be worth it.
November 26th, 2013 at 8:45 PM ^
if it takes this how blind/bad is Hoke
November 26th, 2013 at 7:38 PM ^
He would not be taking other visits if he was still a Michigan recruit. It's wide open IMO. For him to come out and say something publicly means he's probably already decided he doesn;t want to go to Michigan. He can say whatever he wants now to try to put the cat back in the bag, but we've seen this too many times, he is probably gone.
1 player or recruit will not make or break us.
November 26th, 2013 at 7:53 PM ^
I hate to say, but following UM football has officially shifted from enjoyable to flat out painful. Missing out on Hand was a tough pill to swallow. Gardner's struggles have been a tough pill to swallow. Getting dominated by MSU and Nebraska were tough pills to swallow. Losing to PSU in OT was a tough pill to swallow. But, now possibly losing Peppers is more than I can take. I am officially taking time away from following UM football outside of watching games. No more press conferences, no more blogs, no more Twitter, no more recruiting news. I'll find out what happens when it actually happens on the field like most fans. I just can't bear to follow along and die a slow death of a thousands needles. It's not fun any longer.
November 26th, 2013 at 8:03 PM ^
If you'd have told me back in August that things would unravel like this I never would have believed it. Granted, Peppers has not actually decommitted, but I think the writing is on the wall. Maybe DB needs to be a bit more vocal in his support of Hoke to save a few recruits.
November 26th, 2013 at 8:14 PM ^
If more than 3 top flight recruits start to decommit, Hoke's departure might become a reality. At this point, I do not see how Borges get to keep his job...
November 26th, 2013 at 8:19 PM ^
I'm of the opinion that if you're really firm in your commitment, you don't need to make public statements about how firm in your commitment you are. Color me extremely skeptical / nervous here.
November 26th, 2013 at 9:36 PM ^
November 26th, 2013 at 9:50 PM ^
Or, if you take his statement at face value, it makes perfect sense. He's concerned Hoke might be gone; he wants to play here for Hoke but doesn't want to be left high and dry if that isn't possible. So he announces he's looking around, just in case.
But, not being stupid, he's aware that when he announces he's looking around it's going to look bad, might destabilize the program, and especially Hoke's position, even more. So he makes sure it's clear that he wants Hoke here, that his commitment basically depends on it even.
November 27th, 2013 at 6:25 AM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 9:39 AM ^
He's getting it from other recruiters, he's hearing "hot seat territory" hints of it on ESPN. He doesn't have access to "credible sources" so he goes with what he's got.
November 26th, 2013 at 8:23 PM ^
word is michigan is talking to jh agent
November 26th, 2013 at 9:13 PM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 2:00 AM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 4:49 AM ^
November 26th, 2013 at 8:30 PM ^
November 26th, 2013 at 9:11 PM ^
People place way too much emphasis on the product on the field. Do recall that one Denard Robinson came to Michigan after watching the 2008 disaster. Do recall that one Charles Woodson came to UM after consecutive 8-4 seasons.Recruits are not that swayed by poor seasons. See Ole Miss from last year for further confirmation of this.
The kid is not gone. He might be if Hoke is fired, but I think he stays if Hoke stays. Peppers is doing his due diligence in checking out other schools in case Hoke is fired.
And if he does decommit Michigan will survive.
November 27th, 2013 at 12:03 AM ^
1) RR was a proven commodity with running QBs. Nobody else in the country with that sort of coaching resume was recruiting Denard as a qb....they were all looking at him as a cornerback.
2) Rumors have floated around about Mr. Woodson getting special benefits that steered him to Ann Arbor.
3) Ole Miss situation was very, very sketchy. See, Mr. Treadwell and pile of money tweet.
That being said, if possible to pull it off, Jabrill is worth the $ if it helps. We know Bama will.
November 26th, 2013 at 9:29 PM ^
Have to be honest. I try not to allow my emotions to be swayed by the recruiting news du jour.
1) It's a bit creepy to follow the college leanings of 17 year olds
2) Remember how quickly we could change our minds at that age
But the Hand to Bama decision hurt me a bit. I thought he would be a great fit in Mattison's scheme and great PR fro the program landing a top DL recruit.
But if Peppers decommits, on top of the shit season, this would really break me. Not to be emo, but I have never been this excited about a recruit based on tape and hype....Totally elite talent ala Mr. Woodson and Reggie Bush. This one would hurt.
November 26th, 2013 at 10:12 PM ^
This is getting really depressing. What a train wreck.
November 27th, 2013 at 1:14 AM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 3:10 AM ^
Come on Jabrill! Michigan is where you belong. We want you in Ann Arbor! Let's Go Blue!
November 27th, 2013 at 9:19 AM ^
If we could miraculously beat and ruin Ohio's season, all of this speculation would be put to rest.
November 27th, 2013 at 9:52 AM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 2:41 PM ^
It is permitted for Brandon to directly contact Peppers at this point in the process? If so perhaps a reassuring phone call might be in order.
November 27th, 2013 at 3:20 PM ^
November 28th, 2013 at 11:59 PM ^