Pipkins watch - 5 tackles and game ball in Texas Tech opener

Submitted by TESOE on

If you are like me then you liked Ondre Pipkins.  I remember his Hoke impression as a rising freshman and his series of injuries leading up to his departure.  The good news is he is alive and well.  This is the best I could come up with for a summary but thought I would share.

Link

Welcome to Lubbock, Ondre Pipkins and Kolin Hill. The newcomers imposed their will on the game early and set the tone for the first team defense. The Lumberjacks only managed 58 yards on the ground in large part due to Pipkins and sophomore Breiden Fehoko clogging up everything between the tackles. Better technique at the point of contact and pursuit were key improvements all around. 

I would like to see one of his games this year at some point. If anyone else has insight I would like to hear it. There is some paid content at 247 of which I am not privy.   

 

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Ondre Pipkins

BoFlex

September 7th, 2016 at 1:37 AM ^

"I thought early (Pipkins and fellow transfer Kolin Hill) really were a force in there, jamming up the middle on some of those runs and winning their one-on-one battles and that was good,” Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury said on Monday. “They are two big, physical tough guys. They play with a chip on their shoulder. They have a lot of football built up after sitting out a year, and I think there’s a lot of room for growth, which is encouraging." - Source: http://redraiders.com/sports/2016-09-05/pipkins-brought-physical-edge-t…

Joined: 05/30/2011

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Mr. Yost

September 7th, 2016 at 7:45 AM ^

Since you know so much, please tell me what I'm implying since I specifically stated EXACTLY where I was. It couldn't have been more clear.

What you thought that when I said: IF (and I don't know enough about it whether the injury stuff was 100% an issue or exaggerated any) he's truly fit to play at UofM.

That what I really meant was "No, not IF like I put in all CAPS...what I'm implying is he most certainly IS fit to play - I DO have a first hand source on the situation."

So now we're just taking something someone literally says and flipping it?

In all seriousness, what could I possibly be implying when I was extremely specific?

Joined: 07/25/2011

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Mr. Yost

September 7th, 2016 at 7:41 AM ^

I literally said I don't know the entire story, what are you talking about "what is that reason?"

I just know some folks think there is more to the story...others feel everything is kosher. Like I said below, by the time he was gone...I really didn't care enough to look into it and try to read all of the inside information.

But I'm not going to blindly believe either story without knowing more. What do I care, at that point he was already transferring and stories had already developed/minds already made.

It's unlike other transfer situations where whether it was here on MGoBlog or using other resources I could easily develop an informed opinion (i.e. Amir Mitchell was smoking weed and/or not going to class...by most accounts that I read with my own eyes or heard with my own ears as that story developed...it's accurate).

By the time the Pipkins thing rolled around...it looked like there are some Pipkins supporters who think we was pushed out, some staunch Harbaugh supporters who think he poops gold, and some folks who said "there's a reason he redshirted and didn't take a medical"...

I said from post 1 that I didn't know enough about the situation to know what to believe, but the kid was gone...his tweet or comments were out and it was time to move on, IMO.

But I'm not going to act like I truly know what happened...the point stands. If he is/was healthy enough to play at Michigan I feel he could contribute. If he's not...I don't want to see anywhere near the field, I still cringe at that Shane Morris/Minnesota situation.

Joined: 07/25/2011

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evenyoubrutus

September 7th, 2016 at 7:50 AM ^

Has anyone asked, if Pipkins were healthy enough have played, WHY would Harbaugh want to push him out? Opening up a scholarship in 2015 was not the reason, and if he'd redshirted I seriously doubt that Harbaugh would have expected an extra scholarship in 2016 to have been more impactful than Pipkins as a 5th year senior.

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Mr. Yost

September 7th, 2016 at 7:58 AM ^

Me personally, I don't know...because a scholarship clearly wasn't the reason. But after the fact I've always chalked it up to "I'll never know the true story." Just like "how did RoJo get to USC?" 

There are some things that I personally just accept I'll probably never know the true answer. There are other things...i.e. the Mike Weber situation, where I'm VERY confident that I know what happened. LTT seemed like a somewhat unforunate, but understandable situation - especially in a coach's first year.

Then there's other stuff where I just go off of what's reported. Sounds like Hawkins had an academics issues, in the words of Stephen A. Smith...Mitchell couldn't put down the WEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-DUH and go to class. Sounds like the RB, Walker wasn't a fan of class but didn't fall so far behind he had to go...at least that's what I get when I hear Harbaugh talk about he's 100% class right now and how they're not focusing on football with him.

Pipkins, for me, was just "oh well...you missed out on that tidbit." Maybe someone else knows the real deal. At this point, I'm far more excited to know Bryan Mone could be back for the beginning of B1G play than to know what REALLY happened with a guy who will never play another snap at Michigan. That's been my thought process for awhile now.

Joined: 07/25/2011

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CalifExile

September 7th, 2016 at 3:46 PM ^

I think the simplest answer is probably the right answer here. Michigan's medical professionals believed Pipkins shouldn't play. Pipkins disagreed (or was willing to take his chances, seeing the NFL as the life he wanted). Texas Tech's medical professionals are prepared to give Pipkins the green light.

It's possible we will never know which medical staff is right. I wish Pipkins well and hope we never see evidence that UM's judgement was correct.

Joined: 03/02/2010

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Reader71

September 7th, 2016 at 9:50 AM ^

My belief then was that they didn't see Pipkins as on of the top 105 players heading into camp (NCAA limit). This was probably due to him having been passed by others during all the time he was injured. If you miss camp, you pretty much have no chance of playing, because that is where you earn your snaps. They saw the writing on the wall and offered him a way out. He didn't want a way out, he wanted a chance to earn snaps. Confusion and ill feelings ensue. It's not a scholarship issue, it's a camp numbers issue. I'm obviously not certain that it happened in this case, but I have seen exactly this scenario before and Pipkins current good health and Harbaugh's meritocracy and willingness to trust younger players are circumstantial evidence to support my hunch.

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Mr. Yost

September 7th, 2016 at 7:30 AM ^

I honestly have no idea what you're talking about or why this attitude would be "disgusting." With all of the race discussion on this board over the past 6 months, how I said anything that could even be mistaken as "disgusting" when a few truly disgusting comments have gotten the banhammer is beyond me. Maybe you just meant "disagree?"

All I said was we could use him THIS year (when the poster I was responding to was said LAST year). Is that not pretty much fact? He would at least provide depth and we have the scholarship available. What's the problem?

I also said that is IF he's healthy. Because we don't want to be playing with the health of a student-athlete. But I said I don't know if he's healthy or not...I don't know enough about the situation to know if he's 100% shouldn't play or if it was exaggerated some as some claim. I really don't care at this point...he's gone and I trust Haraugh made the best decision for the student-athlete and the program. But how would I know for sure without knowing more about specifically how everything went down?

I recall details about the LTT situation to have an informed opinion. Same goes for Amir Mitchell and Brian Cole. I don't know anything about Pipkins' deal other than the rumors on both sides. It would be irresponsible to act like I have an informed opinion when I don't in this case and that's all I was saying "that's IF (and I don't know enough about it whether the injury stuff was 100% an issue or exaggerated any) he's truly fit to play at UofM."

Lastly, I said he could help us avoid playing Dwumfour...this is option as maybe Dwumfour still plays, I happen to believe that a healthy Pipkins would be just fine in those snaps. If you disagree, that's fine...it's a message board.

But there's nothing wrong with what I said...if you can find something to prove otherwise, I'm all ears (errr eyes).

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ijohnb

September 7th, 2016 at 7:13 AM ^

don't think Harbaugh really cares about redshirting right now. He want to build experienced depth at all positions. I don't expect recruiting to be an issue and I think redshirting can at times be a result of failure to develop young talent. These guys are still freshman. It is not like they are going to be gone next year because they play this year.

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SWFLWolverine

September 7th, 2016 at 8:55 AM ^

I don't think Harbaugh will ever care about redshirting. He said so last year. OLine and perhaps QB are the only position groups he looks at redshirting, he stated someting along the lines of all the others should be ready to participate by the end of their first year and a fifth year is not really a benefit, because they aren't going to get much better. By not redshirting, you essentially get an extra recruiting class every fifth year. Your hit rate doesn't have to be as high when you have an extra 5 kids or so every year because you aren't redshirting. This is part of the meritocrasy.

Joined: 07/28/2010

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Double-D

September 7th, 2016 at 11:06 AM ^

Dantonio has also used this approach. They are two different situations based on roster size back in the day and roster talent at MSU. It will be interesting to see Harbaugh develops the roster depth over time. 5th year Seniors are good for a program but Harbaugh is bringing in elite talent that may supersede that strategy.

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Tyrone Biggums

September 7th, 2016 at 3:21 PM ^

This. The meritocracy involves coming in and making an effort to contribute right away. As long as we're bringing in high quality talent and character athletes freshman will be "expected" to be on the three deep at their position by the end of their freshman year barring injury. I think we'll see higher levels of attrition for kids that can't hack it but I like the contrast considering we have a top flight coaching staff.

Joined: 01/16/2013

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EGD

September 7th, 2016 at 1:04 AM ^

I'm glad Pipkins had a good game, butI do worry about him sustaining more concussions. Hopefully he gets through the season okay, graduates, and then hangs it up for the sake of his long-term health.

Joined: 09/16/2009

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pescadero

September 7th, 2016 at 9:28 AM ^

"butI do worry about him sustaining more concussions."

 

Why?

 

As far as we know - he's had 2 in college. That is a perfectly normal number, and a majority of the guys on the current Michigan team have probably had at least as many.

 

I'd be way more worried about Shane Morris after the way he looked against Minnesota last year than Pipkins.

 

 

 

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MGoRob

September 7th, 2016 at 1:11 AM ^

He had two concussions right? One fresh year. One soph year. A torn ACL I think too. But if he really is playing, I hope he avoids anymore injury.

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BoFlex

September 7th, 2016 at 1:25 AM ^

I have followed Pipkins a little closely due to how he left the program, and nearly everything that was written about him has been positive from a health standpoint. IIRC, there was a short update about Pipkins working out with Texas Tech S&C coach almost immediately after transferring, and the coach was saying how physically/athletically impressed he was with Pipkins in workout drills.

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MGoRob

September 7th, 2016 at 10:56 AM ^

I was stating he had some injuries and hoping him the best.  I'm assuming you downvoted me, not sure why.

"I have followed Pipkins a little closely due to how he left the program, and nearly everything that was written about him has been positive from a health standpoint."

 But there were a lot of question marks before he left

Michigan freshman defensive tackle Ondre Pipkins, who was hospitalized after a neck injury on Friday morning

http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/8277375/michigan-wolver…

Pipkins -- who suffered a torn ACL in 2013, a neck injury in 2012 and has battled concussions

http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2015/06/ondre_pipkins_tells_e… Or how about this?

Joined: 03/14/2010

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BoFlex

September 7th, 2016 at 5:17 PM ^

Sorry, I didn't word that statement the best from a grammar standpoint. I meant that most everything I saw about Pipkins immediately AFTER he left Michigan was positive from a health standpoint. Pipkins was doing some pretty intense workouts a trainer within a week or two of being declared medically unfit to play at Michigan.

Joined: 05/30/2011

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Amutnal

September 7th, 2016 at 2:06 AM ^

He had cervical spine injury as well I thought. Unlikely a stinger. Maybe he has cervical spinal stenosis and an increased risk of cord injury. There is some discrepancy among spine surgeons about who can play and who can't. They didn't disclose what the actual injury was and he only missed like 3 practices. I'm just speculating and could be completely wrong.



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Joined: 02/05/2011

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dragonchild

September 7th, 2016 at 7:28 AM ^

Pipkins is, today, in great shape.  Obviously, based on the on-field results.  The problem is that the sorts of injuries he sustained while at Michigan are the sort that get worse as they recur, and they're also the kinds of injuries that are likely to recur if you play football.  Not so much that he's gotten more brittle, but that the damage gets cumulative, and increasingly likely to be catastrophic.  Concussions, for example.  His skull is fine, but the brain inside it has already taken damage.  The coaches weren't comfortable with the risk to his long-term health, and IIRC pushed him toward a medical scholarship to get his degree.

IANAD but I don't think this is a case where someone's clearly right and someone's clearly wrong.  He's taking a risk, a risk the UM coaches weren't comfortable with, but he's well within his rights to do so.

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Mgodiscgolfer

September 7th, 2016 at 5:55 AM ^

Amutnal for bring the first poster on this thread to not garner a neg YET for anything he said, felt, knew or opined. Congradulations and here is a virtual game ball and don't forget to say hi to Mom. 

Anyone who is not afraid to speak out would they mind reminding me/us on the circumstances for which Mr Pipkins left the team? I somehow forgot and was wondering why he is wearing a TT uniform.

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