Wendyk5

January 27th, 2015 at 12:07 PM ^

So let's assume that all the Twitter information is correct, that Mattison said something to the tune of "Your kid couldn't get into Michigan without football." Presumably the father didn't like it, and then tossed Mattsion and Co. out of the house. My question is this: what kind of person throws someone out of their house because he said the alleged comment in question??  Doesn't "throwing someone out of the house" indicate a fairly hot-headed, impulsive personality? Wouldn't the appropriate behavior be to thank him for his time and then tell him we're not interested and be done with it? Someone's looking like a drama queen here, either the parent for throwing someone out of the house or the kid for talking about it in hyperbolic ways ("he called me stupid").  

Junior18

January 27th, 2015 at 12:18 PM ^

Wendyk5-- Great post.

I promise I'm not one of those, "well he chose not to come here so to hell with him; we didn't want him anyway!" people.

But how little self-awareness and how little self-confidence must this kid (or maybe more specifically his father) have to become enraged at being told he's being given an opportunity to attend a school that would otherwise be out of his league?

If an innocuous statement that points out a once-in-a-lifetime being given to this young man is all it takes to fly off the handle like that, perhaps he's really not that bright. Maybe Michigan really isn't the place for him. I'm fairly certain we'll get by without him.

MLaw06

January 27th, 2015 at 12:22 PM ^

Some coach offers to give my son a paid-for college education at one of the best universities in the world... and I throw him out.  Hmm...  Seems a bit extreme.

CompleteLunacy

January 27th, 2015 at 12:25 PM ^

The type of family that would get offended over someting that GM said that (likely) wasn't meant to offend and was true, is not the type of player we want to play for Michigan. Especially when said family turns around and makes it public. 

Now I remember why I didn't pay attention to recruiting before.

BluByYou

January 27th, 2015 at 12:50 PM ^

is that UM is a very difficult school to get into and stressed the opportunity he has and places it would take him if he graduates.  The Dad could have asked GM if his kid would be accepted if not for football and GM could have responded "not likely" and that was that, backed into a corner.  I just can't see GM making an outright statement that he is accused of.

Lokee11_GoBlue

January 27th, 2015 at 12:47 PM ^

As I think everyone on here knows - telling someone who would not be able to get into UM without an Athletic Scholly, that  they would not be able to get into UM without having an Athletic Scholly, is not anywhere close to calling them Stupid.

Believeing that someone who revealed to you that you would not be able to get into UM without having an Athletic Scholly, is calling you stupid - probably means you are stupid. 

Sorry, but in the audio track they said all Michigan did was tell them that without the Athletic Scholarship he would not be able to get into UM, I assume this is true given the admissions guidelines at UM, and the fact that GM has no real reason to patently lie about it if it isn't true.

I reserve judgment on the kid, but Pop's seems like an Ass, he talked about how great UM is academically and that football may not be around forever and about how the degree matters, but as soon as the truth about how this option may not be available but for football, it is Logic/Truth be damned, we don't need nobody tellin' us what our realistic options are, we do what we want - WE ARE NOT LACKING FOR CONFIDENCE IN THAT HOUSE!

Just lacking common sense and self-awareness.

Good Luck to him, pops needs to pump the brakes though.

 

- ][\/][ Go Blue 

Dean Wormer

January 27th, 2015 at 12:45 PM ^

My daughter had a 3.85 in high school and and 31 on her ACT and only got into Michigan because Matt Anderson chose her to be a walk-on on the water polo team.  The choice isn't Michigan or stupidity.  That father was way out of line to get bent over Mattison's remark.

P.S.  She graduated last May cum laude and considers Michigan the greatest experience of her young life.  Neal is missing out.  His loss.

mackbru

January 27th, 2015 at 12:51 PM ^

If that's how it happened, then that's a kid/family Michigan doesn't want. I'd imagine Mattison et al give more or less the same academics pitch to all recruits. But this seems to be the first one who found reason to take offense.

schreibee

January 27th, 2015 at 12:58 PM ^

The problem here is this is one of those situations where it's no good to say "I'm sorry IF I offended anyone" when whatever was said or done was unintentional. Michigan/Harbaugh  just has to suck it up and apologize to the Neal family to hopefully stem the tide of running mouths.

Whether the Neal family is being overly sensitive, or it was a misunderstanding, or perhaps GMatt actually misspoke, Michigan is not allowed to comment on the situation, and the Neal family is free to run wild with whatever story they want.

Let's say we can ALL agree that it's best this kid doesn't attend Michigan, because something tells me wherever he goes will not end well. When we hear in a couple years he's transferred out of Nebraska we won't wonder why... I won't anyway.

Mr. Owl

January 27th, 2015 at 1:14 PM ^

Parents overreact to anything said.  Once upon a time a mom went on a HUGE media rant regarding hearing her son be told he wouldn't even have to go to class if he went to a certain school.  Eventually it all blew over & he (shockingly) went there anyway.



A young man either has what it takes to wear the Maize & Blue or he doesn't.

LooseLaces16

January 27th, 2015 at 1:35 PM ^

Good riddance. Let's assume Mattison spoke as bluntly as possibly and told this kid "You're not smart enough to get into Michigan without football." Someone who would get offended and upset enough to "escort" GM out of the house, then whine about it on the radio, is someone who probably wouldn't make it through a week of practice under Harbaugh.

If you can't handle criticism, regardless of how harsh, then you shouldn't play D1 football. Let alone for JH.

MGoNOLA

January 27th, 2015 at 1:44 PM ^

Can this thread try to stay away from making character/moral judgments on some teenage kid and his family? Stick to football and what this means to our current class. 

Parents with a saught-after recruit are put in a situation where you either 1) become a manager of a product that will earn some institution a bunch of money (a product once known as your child) or 2) allow that kid to be taken advantage of. I can only imagine what headspace that puts you in as a parent. 

He is not coming here. End of story. Keep up the solid recruting. 

The_Mad Hatter

January 27th, 2015 at 2:15 PM ^

They went on the radio and told what many believe was an outright lie, or at the very least an extreme exaggeration, about something a Michigan coach said to a recruit.  They did this, apparently, in an attempt to make Michigan look bad.

So no, I'll not refrain from making moral judgments.  They could have very easily not said anything publically.

Acedpar3

January 27th, 2015 at 3:09 PM ^

i think his gpa was low. when you have 4.0 or higher with a good sat on the waiting list. i am sure mattison told the truth. lets move on. it will not go away other schools will use this as a tool in their sales pitch.

MGoNOLA

January 27th, 2015 at 4:53 PM ^

Sorry. You can't say its an outright lie. You can say misinterpreted, but you can't say its an outright lie. We just do not know. 

Also, who is to say this is not something Mattison said. Sometimes you say something that is not savvy - sometiems you haev offdays. I don't get why we suddenly jump to automatic conclusions about everyone invovled here. 

I also find it funny that people think "You wouldn't get into Michigan otherwise" is some kind of #realtalk #toughtalk that is par for the course and should be expected by a good recruiter. I personaly dont think emphasizing or leading with the negative is a smart negotiating tactic. 

Then again. We do not know. So we can't make any statement at all, which was my original point. 

Acedpar3

January 27th, 2015 at 4:21 PM ^

just read his gpa is 3.1. yes he would not get into michigan with that. so i say truth is better than a lie. his dad just wanted to screw michigan. both parents wanted him to go to NEB. do not need  him anyway.

 

JamieH

January 27th, 2015 at 4:57 PM ^

Dad & Jr. apparetly can't be realistic about getting into college without athletics.

With a 3.1 GPA, there was ZERO chance he was getting into Michigan without football.  Z E R O.  Unless he had the best standardized test scores in history, which I would bet pretty much any amount of money he did not.

 

Some people do not live in reality, and when someone else tries to make them live there, they get very mad about it.  You do not need these people around you.   Have fun at Nebraska kid. 

JFW

January 27th, 2015 at 10:46 PM ^

I got in with a 3.2 out of a Catholic HS in Michigan. I didn't
Have a Hope of playing sports in college. I did have a 29
On the ACT but that's hardly the best in history.I got in. No waitlist.
Even graduated from there. :) so it's not impossible.

Njia

January 27th, 2015 at 4:30 PM ^

A couple of years ago, I had a client tell our company's account executive that her company would no longer be doing business with us. In a room full of her colleagues, she told our rep that the principal reason was an outrageous insult I had apparently made.

The upshot was that I had just taken on that account and had only met her on one previous occasion - and the sales rep was present. We had never exchanged emails nor phone calls.

We found out later that she had been pushing for her company to do business with one of our competitors but had never gotten support for the switch. She needed a sacrificial lamb and I was it.

UMChick77

January 27th, 2015 at 5:20 PM ^

I'm throwing my two cents in on this. I work in the education field with a bunch of sport nuts (none of which are Michigan fans btw and I get hassled a bit--especially by the OSU bunch) and have had a lot of experience with student athletes and their parents.

From everything we read and heard....our immediate gut was "another overzealous parent that thinks their kid walks on water." It was quite clear to us, especially knowing GM's history, dad is being one of those impossibly to deal with parents who only hear what they WANT to hear. One of my OSU coworkers stuck up for Michigan in a big way saying "Michigan is a HARD school to get into and GM was absolutely right." Fathers of sons who are atheletes, especially good ones can easily have a chip on their shoulder. I think Neal's dad is in this category.

I don't think GM had a chance when he walked in the door. I bet my bottom dollar the father was pissed that Harbaugh didn't come courting himself and was pissy and sour about that already...so anything GM said or did was a moot point until dad heard something--that is the feeling and vibe I get.

I know.... "well you don't know that for sure". Yeah I don't...but I've SEEN this before...too many times. The actors might be different and have different names but it's the same characters and the same story that I've seen play out. I can't help it but this story is getting a bit under my skin.... I've seen a lot of good people thrown under the bus like this by idiotic parents. I don't know GM from Adam and he could have said something stupid but I go back to the previous paragraph....  dad was looking for something negative the moment Harbaugh didn't walk through that door. GOOD RIDDANCE. 

 

Blusqualo

January 27th, 2015 at 5:40 PM ^

You are probably pretty close to it all there. It might not have just been about whether Harbaugh came or not, but whether or not Mattison worshipped the kid and/or praised his parents enough. The kid was the top recruit in Nebraska, a state where the biggest thing is Husker football. Think of how much attention, praise, following this kid had, he's a monster fish in a small pond, but to the rest of the world he's just another fish.

I think Mattison had a shot with the kid, but when he didn't treat the kid like he walked on water, the family soured on Mattison and Michigan.

P.S. Kids dad, you're right the academics at Michigan are phenomenal, because we don't accept "good kids" like your son, we accept "great kids"...unless they are a talented athlete, then being good, is good enough.

M-GoGirl

January 27th, 2015 at 5:55 PM ^

so it's hard for anyone from inside to counter the accusations. I don't think they should bother anyway. It'll be a tale with two sides. I can't imagine with his experience recruiting that Mattison would say anything a normal person would be grievously offended by. I'm sure the coaches are schooled well on what to say and what not to say. 

I think besides the parents being all in for Nebraska, Nebraska itself is enjoying this negative Michigan press. The Harbaugh Effect is a threat that's already flipped one of Mike Riley's commits. It's the kid's loss. I don't think Harbaugh and Co. are crying in their Gatorade tonight.

UMChick77

January 28th, 2015 at 4:56 PM ^

I found this interesting tidbit over on the EOTI board. This story via Sam Webb  is  supposed to be posted over on Scout so I have no links for verification.

Apparently the story that GM was "kicked out" was completely made up by the father (This is suppose to be coming from the HS coaches and "off the record"). The meeting went fine and young Neal walked GM to the car. It was said that Mattison "talked about how kids with 4.0s and good test scores get turned down by U-M and that it was a special opportunity." Sounds like the HS coaches stuck up for GM saying there were two sides to the story and GM's reputation as a recruiter speaks for itself.

If this is indeed true...either Nebraska was behind this as a high school girl revenge plot to smear Michigan for flipping players or father Neal is a complete nutcase...