Blueshirt--new way to recruit

Submitted by Sambojangles on

From Pre-Snap Read: http://www.presnapread.com/whats-a-blue-shirt-anyway/

To me, it doesn't seem like that big of a deal, since the team still has to count those scholarships somewhere. It's only an advantage for a year, and it seems like it will mostly be useful for schools (like Michigan) recovering  from massive attrition, and need a bigger-than-allowed class. Still, I can see how Alabama, LSU et. al will find a way to abuse it, and hopefully the NCAA will close the loophole soon.

What do you think?

 

Off-topic, but M-OSU 2006 is on BTN right now. It's almost halftime. If you haven't yelled at Crable to pull up recently, you have another chance.

Lutha

May 5th, 2011 at 7:07 PM ^

A part of Manningham died, too.  Did you see that pained expression on his face after he knew he had the corner beat?

We ended up punting on that possession.  I think the outcome of the game turns in our favor if we connect on that play.

Lutha

May 5th, 2011 at 8:41 PM ^

Great point on the TO margin.  However, I think OSU's defense would've been shaken had we scored on our first two drives, particularly off a long TD.  They definitely would have needed to make some adjustments.  But purely conjecture at this point <sigh>.

Sambojangles

May 5th, 2011 at 8:02 PM ^

From the article:

Look at it like this: it’s like a greyshirt, but one where the recruit can actually play during his initial semester. A player is part of the 2010 recruiting cycle, for example, plays during the 2010 season yet counts towards the 2011 recruiting class. That’s a blueshirt in a nutshell.

As I understand it, it's similar to greyshirting, although the player gets to walk-on and play his first semester. Since he is a walk-on, he does not count toward the scholarship limits that year, even though he actually is on scholarship. As an example:

Say Michigan really wanted John Doe for the class of 2011, but didn't have room for him in the class. He really wanted to come here as well, so he turned down actual scholarship offers from other schools. Signing day passes, but he doesn't sign, because he is planning on Blueshirting. Michigan signs a full class, not counting John Doe, because he is not getting a scholarship. He comes to fall camp as a preferred walk-on, and at the end if camp is given a scholarship in a wink, wink, nudge, nudge kind of way, as that's the agreement all along. He plays in the fall of 2011, but since he started the year as a walk-on, his scholarship doesn't count to the 25-man limit (I think it still counts toward the 85). Still, I think he counts as a 2012 signee, since his scholarship started in the year prior to signing day 2012.

I'm not sure that's all correct, but it's at least how I understand it.

Timnotep

May 5th, 2011 at 8:13 PM ^

I think I get it now. That seems like too much effort for something that wouldn't really help out at least for big time programs...

I can see how it'd effect smaller programs or programs looking to rebound, but the author's fear of it solidifying Texas's stranglehold on instate recruiting doesn't really make sense as I don't see how it would help consistant powerhouses.

justingoblue

May 5th, 2011 at 8:34 PM ^

Exactly, the big schools tend to offer the same guys as the other big schools. Why take the blueshirt at Texas when you can get the scholarship at Oklahoma or Arkansas or something?

justingoblue

May 5th, 2011 at 8:46 PM ^

I was in a championship game for a Thanksgiving hockey tournament. We had score updates brought to the bench, but I still haven't watched the entire thing front to back.

Obviously I would watch constantly if there was a six point swing in the other direction.

Mfan1974

May 5th, 2011 at 8:57 PM ^

sum of a bitch was outside the pocket past the line of scrimage, running forward and getting paid. Till the day I pass that ref judgment call will haunt me. On the positive side, It sure was fun watching tOSU get run the F over and over and over and over and over and over and over by Urban and the boys. 

Skapanza

May 6th, 2011 at 7:56 AM ^

I was at that 2006 UM-OSU game with the band. I'll always remember the scene at the end. They were getting a new field put in later on, and the crazed OSU fans were tearing up the turf and peliting it into the band, since we were the largest block of maize and blue in the stadium. Barbarians.