How to transfer

Submitted by deshawn swimms on

So I have a buddy who is the number two kicker at a BCS school down south, really wants some playing time, but is sitting behind a kid who is a year younger than he who is on scholarship (my buddy is not) and is simply awesome.  Obviously he realizes if he stays put, he is never going to have a chance at seeing the field.  I was wondering if anyone out there new what a kid like that would have to do to try to get into Blue.

He's a good kicker who we all think just has not ever had a chance to prove himself.  Even back in high school his coach was one of those guys who would almost always go for two since it was worth more. 

MGoShoe

August 4th, 2010 at 8:13 PM ^

...how he could get to U-M, but if he commits a couple of crimes and gets himself kicked off of the team, Houston Nutt might give him a look.  Or does he already play for Ole Miss?

MrWoodson

August 4th, 2010 at 10:44 PM ^

Tell him to call for RR, leave a message with his secretary explaining the situation and wait for a call back. It will come, probably from the special teams coach who will ask him a bunch of questions to determine whether it seems worthwhile to pursue it any further.

RR loves walk-ons and we certainly could use another potentially good kicker right now so those are things in his favor. On the downside, he might just end up transferring to UM and spending his days as backup to Brendan Gibbons. At least he will earn a degree from one of the best schools in the country. Well, that and he will get to run out of the tunnel wearing a winged helmet!

jblaze

August 4th, 2010 at 8:18 PM ^

he's not a scholarship kicker, he would have to get into Michigan as a transfer and then walk-on. It may be worth an email/ call to the AD.

MGoSuck

August 4th, 2010 at 8:18 PM ^

Since he's not on scholarship, he transfers to the school of desire and walks on again. He should probably contact the football program at whichever schools he's considering and see how open they are to taking on a walk on kicker. Other than that, I bet it would be about the same as transferring as a student.

Unfortunately, U of M is pretty tough on transfers, and unless he's going to a school of equal or better caliber, its a very strong possibility many of his credits won't transfer, and little to none of the grades. He'd probably be best at looking at a school more accepting to transfers (gasp: MSU).

Now obviously if he's an outstanding student things will likely be different from this, but that's probably what it would be like for the average student trying to transfer to Michigan.

Best of luck to your buddy.

MGoSuck

August 4th, 2010 at 8:31 PM ^

There's a reason we never get transfer players. Our academic department is pretty stringent on these things. That and I don't think the rules bend too much for football players, especially walk-ons (maybe a bit for preferred walk-ons). If they did we'd be one DB deeper right now.

I mean, if his buddy is trying to transfer from Texas no problem, but if he's trying to transfer from FAU, I doubt things are going to work very smoothly. Then again we don't know a whole lot.

Zone Left

August 4th, 2010 at 9:36 PM ^

If I'm correct, players going into, say their Junior year, must have a certain number of credits to play.  I can guarantee that an accepted transfer would have at least that number of credits transfer.  As athletic ability and need increased, the quality of classes needed would decrease.

MrWoodson

August 4th, 2010 at 10:49 PM ^

If he is coming from a really poor academic school, some (many?) of his credits will not transfer. But that means (a) he should do it sooner rather than later and (b) it is really worth a call to RR to see if it can be done because a degree from UM will be worth alot more than a degree from a really poor academic school. And if he is coming from a school like TX, most of his credits will transfer and it is not an issue in the first place.

jrt336

August 4th, 2010 at 8:49 PM ^

He doesn't have to come here. Just because the OP knows him doesn't mean he'd even want to come here. He should apply as a transfer to any BCS school without great kickers. If he's good, Michigan wouldn't be a bad place to be. Our kickers looked shaky in the spring, and who knows how good Gibbons will be.

WojoRisin

August 4th, 2010 at 9:45 PM ^

From a D2 to a D3 school it was fairly simple. I started by talking to my coach (I was not on scholarship at the D2 school) about my feelings and thoughts on moving to a different school. He basically understood and wished me the best. I then contacted a few D3 schools that recruited me out of high school, talked to the coaches and made a few visits. I decided on my school and had to go through orientation again, and fill out some forms for the NCAA. The athletic department had to get a release from my D2 school (saying I was not on scholarship and was clear to play right away) stating my eligibility. After that, things went like they do for every other student athlete.

I realize this will be different for a BCS level athlete, but I thought it would give a little direction.

hailtothevictors08

August 4th, 2010 at 10:36 PM ^

Michigan is hard to transfer too, like really hard which is why we dont have many juco players or transfers ...

and if he is a true walk on, he would have 0 special treatment to getting in plus i believe it is too late to transfer for the fall semester at this point (without some special exemption)

best of luck to ur buddy

Feat of Clay

August 5th, 2010 at 11:02 AM ^

I dunno, would it be a good idea for him to talk to his former HS coach?  See if he's willing to float his name around to any recruiters, and see what they think about how a walk-on transfer might fare, trying to get on the roster?