Conley schedules visit to Ohio State

When these kids commit, I'm POSITIVE that the staff says something along the lines of "well, great but we need you to understand that a commitment to Michigan is a firm commitment.  If you intend on taking visits, or have any doubt it would be best if you took your time."

Bottom line is that both sides know the deal.  Nobody forced them to commit in the first place, and 90% of our commits these last two years have had no trouble sticking to their word.  This isn't a post trying to belittle the guys who change their mind, but the "pressure to commit early" is a fallacy.  It's the biggest decision of their lives and many have no trouble taking their time.  

According to what Sam Webb has said numerous times, your scenario is actually the same as Hoke's: i.e., if a commit takes other visits, then they don't consider him a commit any longer. It doesn't necessarily mean that UM will stop recruiting him, or would refuse to offer him again, but it does mean that the guaranteed spot is no longer there.

From reading/listening between the lines, what will determine whether or not a particular decommit has any chance of getting an offer from UM again is how they go about the process of decommitting. As we've all read by now, there are assertions that a recent decommit was secretly contacting another school while still officially committed to Michigan, and that lack of honesty ruined the relationship. If Conley does things above board and deals with UM's staff directly, all is not lost.

I'll be surprised if he doesn't end up at OSU myself. I think there's going to be more and more of this stuff at all schools because of the early committing process these days.

You gotta show some back bone and not relent on a policy. Now I agree it can suck in some rare cases, bit mostly it shows integrity and a will that lets a coach look like they're not just going to allow a commit to be wishy-washy.

I love Conley's game and hopes he ends up in Ann Arbor, but he committed and we stopped recruiting other guys because of that, don't commit till you're ready and be loyal to a major program that pursued you early and often and believed in you and not some johnny come lately like Urban has shown to be with many committed recruits.

Do we want to establish ourselves as a school that keeps its commitments to our student athletes once made or not?  Because, if we take the path you are recommending, then we will eventually be in a position where we will have to toss a kid who has committed for a kid who waited until the last minute or whatever.

Not saying you are right or wrong, but let's be sure we understand who we are and what we have to offer and how we are going to conduct business.  That appears to me to be the essence of what I would expect as the Michigan way.....

"but for those 5 star studs you have got to make an exception"

No you don't.

At this point you can't change the policy without making yourself look really bad. We've now had 2 recruits go through the whole "I really want to take visits" phase, one stayed and one left. If the policy is changed then it's gonna cause a lot more trouble down the line

Ironically, it is not the "5 star studs" that Hoke is having a problem with. It is the kids that they get in on early that think this might be their only big time offer. These kids committ and then find out they have more offers and more opportunities. I like the policy, getting rid of it is very short sighted.

In addition, once the no-visit policy is in place and is applied to excellent talent (Pharoah Brown, David Dawson), it also sets a precedent that when Coach Hoke says something, he means it.  If you want to foster an environment where stars work hard, less touted recruits buy in, and the whole roster competes, it is important that players believe their coaches when they talk.  Obviously it sucks to not have PB and DD (and possibly Gaeron Conley), who all are highly touted and seem like perfectly decent kids, but the kids who are around know that when Hoke says "do X," it does not mean "do X (unless you are really talented)" or "do X (unless you can talk your way out of it)".

Also, due to the fact that by all accounts Hoke is a man of integrity AND he wins, I am that much prouder to be a fan.

That's the nature of recruiting. There will always be constants and unexpecteds, and if you're ok with a few of these situations, I really do think that Hoke's policy works well. Look at his decommitment numbers compared to other coaches. You'll just have a few of these situations every year.

Side note, I wouldn't call Canton "the Columbus area", unless you just mean that OSU is the closest football giant to him. It's considered the Akron area, and is closer to both Akron and Cleveland.

Having once been 17, I remember that decision making wasn't always my strongest trait.

However, once the policy is explained, and you agree to its terms, I just can't shrug my shoulders and say it is completely forgiveable to say it's OK just to change your mind. The process is dynamic and impacts people other than yourself.  It also reflects your personal values.  

Regardless, I wish the kid well.

Conley started looking around the second he received more offers which means that his committment to Michigan was not firm.  Hoke's policy is designed to weed out those who are not firm in their committment.  The policy is not to blame here, and neither is Gareon for wanting to look around before making such an important decision.  Some things are just not meant to be, and this is looking like one of those things.

Probably to relieve himself. That why I visit toilet shaped things

Its pretty simple - because the staff does not want to take a kid that first committed and then decided, "hey, maybe there are better offers so I'll just use Michigan as my fall-back option and see if I can do better."  No one wants to be an afterthought and Hoke cannot play his recruiting class by sitting around and waiting for kids to make up their minds. 

All the people saying that the policy is flawed are interesting to me - I won't rehash it, but applying the policy to some recruits and not blue-chip recruits is like everyone having to abide by a certain law (no speeding) but celebrities not having to worry about it.  Its a silly way to operate.

Im not sure it does lead to breaking off all ties.  The two situations you described both involved shadiness on the part of the recruit.  We have yet to see a situation in which a recruit is up front with the staff about decommitting and taking visits.  So there is no way to know if the door is open for a return if there is open communication.

I don't see why this is difficult to understand. If a recruit KNOWS that a course of action will sever ties with Michigan, and chooses that course of action, he has likely conclusively decided he does not want to attend Michigan. That's why ties are cut.

that is also why Treadwell is taking his time...  whether or not he likes all the attention is a different question, but you can never blame a kid for taking his time and thinking things over.  I am very much in favor of Hoke's policy as long as it is made crystal clear to the recruits when they are committing to avoid misunderstandings later. 

Conley has been given that option to play WR at Michigan.