Harbaugh Commitment Visit Policy

Submitted by winterblue75 on

Does anyone know if Harbaugh has any type of policy for commitments that want to make a visit elsewhere? We all know Hoke's famous policy. Any information on Harbaugh from his days at Stanford or if he has said anything about it?

MGoBoard

Alumnus93

February 5th, 2015 at 2:58 PM ^

I dont think he needs to do any restriction. recruits dumb enough to wander will get passed by. /looking at YOU weber



Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

Joined: 09/10/2009

MGoPoints: 9684

Junior18

February 5th, 2015 at 3:29 PM ^

As much as I'd love to be able to rationally take the, "well we didn't want him anyway!" position on Weber, we were all hoping he'd pick Michigan on NSD. We didn't tell him to get lost; he told us to get lost.

While I do think (maybe "hope" is a better word) we ended up with a better kid at RB, there's no way we can claim we passed on Weber.

Joined: 12/01/2014

MGoPoints: 3096

AZBlue

February 5th, 2015 at 3:55 PM ^

He may not have worded it the best--- but the gist I got from it was..if you didn't want another RB in this class you could have committed (at least silently) after the visit last week and the visit and eventual commit by Higdon would have never happened. The whole Weber situation seems to be a series of missteps on both sides going all the way back to when Harris first commited...sigh

Joined: 09/14/2008

MGoPoints: 16692

Gofor2

February 5th, 2015 at 7:40 PM ^

Weber has always loved UM, had some parts of him (heart) that wanted to play for UM, but knew that if he wanted to play for championships, and play for a proven team that OSU was the smart choice, and the right choice. His heart however made it very hard to tell UM no, he didn't want to be remembered for telling UM he was going to OSU cause UM sucks at football and he wanted to be on a winning team, he couldn't bring himself to state that truth. So when Higdon flipped he saw a opportunity to use that as a reason to say " no thanks" without hurting anyone's feelings with the truth. We should be thankful that he didn't make us face the truth, cause its a ugly picture. I find it pathetic that we make any attempt to minimize how desperately we wanted him, we look like a bunch of spineless bitches when we do that. We would be more on the right path to fixing what ales us if we would first acknowledge just how we are viewed by others. I also find it pathetic that we think there is anyone in our entire recruiting class that we wanted more, IR that is even half as good as Weber. He didn't spurn us because he is afraid of competition, he's going to be competing against one of, if not the best backfield in the country. He knows that, We know that. He said no thanks to UM cause he wants to Win, not just hope to win some day....

Joined: 12/13/2014

MGoPoints: 549

WBALLZ

February 5th, 2015 at 8:02 PM ^

His best friend with such definitive insight in hand you should have enlightened us all months ago. While we're talking about pathetic maybe re-read your post dude.

Joined: 01/01/2013

MGoPoints: 1072

turtleboy

February 5th, 2015 at 3:09 PM ^

Chill. This whole insulting-high-school-recruits thing is way out of line. He was torn which direction to go, likely would've ended up at Michigan if we hadn't gone through a coaching change, but ended up making the best decision for him, which he felt was sticking with his commitment to the reigning national champions. Move on, bruh.

Joined: 04/22/2011

MGoPoints: 35131

pappawolv

February 5th, 2015 at 3:16 PM ^

Unless you or your son has gone through this at this level I would suggest you hold off.  Every kid has the right to choose where he ultimately wants to play and for whatever reason(s) he uses to rationalize it.  Those reasons may not make sense to a fan but fans are not a consideration in where a kid wants to commit to (nor should they ever be).

Weber made his decision let's just move forward and wish him well and get back on track beating OSU in the last weekend of November. 

Joined: 04/14/2014

MGoPoints: 521

LSAClassOf2000

February 5th, 2015 at 3:46 PM ^

While I understand that some people are irritated about the supposed criteria behind Weber's choice, could we please refrain from any further trashing of this kid because of the choice that he made? Any further unwarranted attacks and swipes at this kid (or anyone else whose decision you do not like, for that matter) will result in some time spent in Bolivia if caught. 

Whatever you may think of their reasoning, please try to accept their ultimate decision and move forward. If you are unable to do this, you have problems beyond the scope of what this blog can assist with. 

Joined: 01/07/2011

MGoPoints: 130560

BubbaT33

February 5th, 2015 at 3:10 PM ^

OH! The guy back in Feb '15, I think it was, yeah, that pretended to be offended (Blah, Blah, Blah)!  If he wanted to be here -- he would have had that LOI in the FAX machine at 7:30 am!

Joined: 01/26/2011

MGoPoints: 1798

Danwillhor

February 5th, 2015 at 3:33 PM ^

He didn't want to come here, had friends going to osu, CT pipeline is busted, etc. I funny think it was ready to not go to UM but he wasn't really treated like Plan-A from the get go. We had Harris & virtually ignored him. Suddenly, rumors come out that Harris maylook around. Then we fire Borges & that's his out so he takes out under the guise that he was incredibly hurt he wasn't going to be coached by a guy averaging a 2 yards a carry behind an OL featuring a top 15 NFL draft pick & a 3rd rounder (IIRC). Only then does Weber become our buddy! Harris is gone, Nuss or Borges. He gone & Nuss gets Weber in the fold after somehow patching up the blatant slap on the face of ignoring him initially. We stuck, tons if bad happens & Weber leaves along with the entire class. Says he'll wait until the AA game but his osu a few days later. We don't hire a coach until a month before NSD, all his friends want to go to osu, osu won the NC behind its running game, etc. He told Jim he was coming on NSD but....GASP....we sign another HB totally different than he in skillset & he can't handle that. He better go to the much less crowded osu backfield lol. If he wanted to be here he'd be here. He's not. ON TOPIC: I think a coach with Hoke's policy at a premier program is a bit lazy/insecure. Just tell the kid that if he visits another school his spot is open but you'll keep recruiting him until the spots are filled. If the kid knows he is the only CB in the class, their only taking one, a line of kids wish they had that spot & they still take the visit......buy a clue. You hold a spot only for the rarest of the rare but you don't hog-tie any recruit.

Joined: 12/02/2008

MGoPoints: 8609

Danwillhor

February 5th, 2015 at 7:34 PM ^

that's most schools but Hoke, Muschamp & a few others take it to another level when they have the clout. P.Brown was essentially kicked out of the class before he ever took his Oregon visit by simply waiting a couple weeks to confirm to Hoke that he wouldn't while he thought about it. That is info from one of his HS coaches I know personally. It wasn't until later in his failing tenure that he "relaxed" close to the degree I stated (or mean to). The friction of even bringing up a visit while a commit often forced hands under Hoke. It wasn't as much "have at it but your spot CAN be taken" as much as "if you do it your spot will be taken....unless a 5* & the next option is much worse". Dawson had a horrible Sr year of HS from a personal life aspect. Just horrible news/shit every other week. Now, imagine that kid's mentality going through all that. Now, he decides he may want to get away from the area so he takes a visit to Florida. Mushchamp warns Hoke like he did with that OL that was a commit for about a week before moving to Florida (think he's at Purdue now) because they have a similar policy. Dawson said UM said it was ok & when Hoke hears about it he tells this Kid who's head had to be going a million miles an hour with depression/anxiety/etc "no room for you anymore, not even going to recruit you". It took Dawson, a traumatized kid who simply made a visit to another school while going through hell at home, getting on his knees & begging forgiveness to get back in the class. Everyone talked about how classy it was of Hoke but it was possibly the first thing that made me sick about him & there were only a few. Sorry, I didn't describe Hoke's policy. I described a policy where a staff is confident enough that they won't lose the kid if he decides to enjoy this one in a lifetime opportunity. When Hoke was on a roll, his policy was "visit & you might as well forget my number".

Joined: 12/02/2008

MGoPoints: 8609

mGrowOld

February 5th, 2015 at 3:14 PM ^

FWIW I think you'll find Hoke's policy is pretty SOP for most successful D1 programs where the number of offers exceed the number of available slots - it's not like something he invented.  

Joined: 10/04/2010

MGoPoints: 212164

bluelaw2013

February 5th, 2015 at 3:24 PM ^

I have found myself wondering lately if Hoke's visitation policy was unconstitutional. "You-no-talkie-with-or-travel-to-competitive-place, commit, lest I remove this $100,000+ government benefit you have been promised." Signed, Football Coach, State College. That feels like a state actor attempting to control speech with a prior restraint. I have similar thoughts about social media policies from State Universities.

Joined: 09/24/2013

MGoPoints: 1893