OT: Where Did Vlad Emilien Transfer To?

Submitted by Dreisbach1817 on

Has anyone heard any news on his front?  I think it is somewhat surprising that Vlad hasn't picked a school yet considering that in his comments when transferring he mentioned that he wanted to find a school by the end of September.  You have to wonder whether, had he stayed, Vlad could have been a valuable contributor to this defense at the safety position -- even just from a depth standpoint.  Since there has been no news on this front, is there any possibility that he could return to the school?  Is he still enrolled at the University?  While I highly doubt it, I thought it was worth asking as the lack of news on his front is a bit surprising.

Also, with Vlad, as it happens I was doing some research on my Phd dissertion "Denard-ation: The Story of the 2009 Michigan Recruiting Class" and came across an interview Tom did with Vlad after his visit with UM (but before committing).  Ironic on so many levels:

TOM:On your visit, did the coaches talk about early playing time? Is that important to you?

VLAD:It’s very important. I’m always going to have to battle, I love competition. But I like that there’s a better opportunity to play early and battle out freshman rather than juniors or seniors at Michigan. I’m going to be pretty smart about the depth charts and deciding.

PurpleStuff

October 13th, 2010 at 4:58 PM ^

Vlad was never going to see the field at Michigan until his leg healed completely (something that may or may not ever happen).  Last year the coaches put Jordan Kovacs in at free safety ahead of him.  This year he was behind Van Slyke and Gordon as well.  When two walk-ons and a guy switching positions are seeing the field ahead of you, it should be pretty obvious that the coaches are going to do anything possible to keep you off the field.  Vlad was never going to play any role on this defense.

We all saw Roundtree running away from him in the spring game.  The leg just hasn't healed.  The fact that other schools don't appear too anxious to sign him up is just further confirmation of the fact that he has zero chance of playing Division 1 football until he regains his health.

milhouse

October 14th, 2010 at 3:43 AM ^

If that was the case then I'm sure he could've gotten a medical release from the team. (You know, those things Saban hands out like lollipops...)  It would've allowed him to keep his scholarship and open up a roster spot at the same time.  If he has a lingering injury that has reduced his college football career to roster fodder then that seems like a pretty legitimate reason to go that route.

PurpleStuff

October 13th, 2010 at 5:21 PM ^

If a guy can't come close to cracking the lineup with this secondary at Michigan, I just don't see how moving to another school (especially a legit D-1 school, which is what it appears he is trying to do) is going to help the situation.  He's said nothing but positive things about the coaching staff so I really wonder how he reached the conclusion that transferring is his best option.  The only way he's ever going to play, no matter where he ends up, is if he gets better physically and it seems like the odds of that happening at Michigan are just as good as anywhere else.

Hopefully he can heal up and eventually get the opportunity to play at whatever school he ends up at.

Yooper

October 13th, 2010 at 6:23 PM ^

He seemed to love Michigan and was set up to play a big role. The obvious conclusion is that he never will recover fully from the injury. The mystery is why, if so, would another D-1 school be interested? Could it have been academics or some other personal reason?

mGrowOld

October 13th, 2010 at 6:40 PM ^

I don't think its too great of a mystery. Vlad wanted to play...knew he wasn't going to play here and thought he could land somewhere else. Apparently that hasn't worked out yet for him

By now I would think watching our players get bad advice about their potential prospects elsewhere (be it college or pros) would be something we're all too familiar with.

Yard Dog

October 14th, 2010 at 9:07 AM ^

Wasn't this kid recruited by Florida too?  I have to wonder if the injury did not totally sap him of his speed.  I think you see that a bit this year with Vincent Smith too.  Explosion is not there right now.