Trouble getting under the 85 limit?
The current number of recruited players on scholarship break down as follows:
Class of 2012: 10
Class of 2013: 20
Class of 2014: 15
Class of 2015: 13
Class of 2016: 29
Transfers: 2 (O'Korn and Isaac)
Grand Total: 89
This means M needs to shed 4 scholarships between now and fall camp. But who?
I think there is an obvious one not getting his 5th year. But that still leaves us with 3 other potentially messy partings that could bring more bad press to Harbaugh.
I'm a bit worried about this.
February 7th, 2016 at 9:11 AM ^
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February 7th, 2016 at 10:16 AM ^
February 7th, 2016 at 11:03 AM ^
Signed, Ondre Pipkens
February 7th, 2016 at 9:11 AM ^
Those who try hard will stay.
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February 7th, 2016 at 9:33 AM ^
February 7th, 2016 at 1:41 PM ^
February 7th, 2016 at 9:52 AM ^
Those who try hard will stay.
As long as no more than 6/10 5th year seniorstry hard.
They need to cut 4 guys. The ONLY guys that can be tossed are the 10 5th year guys.
...so even if all 10 were starters after spring ball, you're still tossing 4 of them.
February 7th, 2016 at 10:00 AM ^
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February 7th, 2016 at 11:29 AM ^
February 7th, 2016 at 12:01 PM ^
February 7th, 2016 at 12:22 PM ^
I agree. I don't blame Harbaugh; the rule encourages you to go over the limit becuase you know attrition is likley coming. But if attrition doesn't come naturally, then you're going to have to somehow make it happen. It puts the coaches in a bad situation becuase they can't play it completely safe without giving up an advantage.
The best solution would be to either require that schools never sign enough players that they end up over 85 (or perhaps increase the 85 limit to 90, knowing attrition will bring many schools back down around 85 each year), or -- better yet -- tie the scholarship to the player, not the slot, so that if a player leaves, he does not create an opening. You get to sign 25 dudes a year (or 22, or 27, or whatever number the NCAA thinks is appropriate), and those are your dudes. If they decide to transfer, or quit football, or get hurt, tough nuggets. Try to keep your players on the team, where they wanted to be in the first place.
February 7th, 2016 at 1:13 PM ^
February 7th, 2016 at 1:16 PM ^
All legitimate problems, none of which are nearly as bad as the current problem, in my view.
February 7th, 2016 at 3:19 PM ^
February 7th, 2016 at 7:01 PM ^
each class is completely unrealistic. If you make the number 25 a year, then you are allowing 125 scholarships for football. With Title IX that means adding 40 to women's sports. Very few schools can afford that, so they will mostly cut men's sports to account for those extra football scholarships.
We all know schools will end up with less than 125, but you cannot promise any lower number, then you'd be cutting kids to get there. So scholarships for athletes will go unused. And just how will accepting JuCos and other transfers be handled? No one is going to want to use five year spots for players that will only be on campus for a year of two. So you end up restricting the opportunities of athletes to move
This idea also punishes programs for successes. You're punished for playing freshmen, for players graduating in four years and starting their careers, in or out of the NFL. There's no realistic justification for that..
There are going to be some downsides to any system. You can try to address those in the current system with rules like four year guarantees and you can create brand new problems.
February 8th, 2016 at 10:01 AM ^
Would be that teams can only sign 25 players each year. This includes grad transfers, transfers, and Juco transfers. Scholarships are for 4 years. Schools can approve up to 10 Red Shirt seniors. This puts the scholarship cap at 110, however, the roster will be smaller due to injuries and such.
Grad Transfers would be complete free agents. The only thing to possibly encourage kids to get their degree early would be a rule to allow an extra scholarship if you lose a player to a grad transfer.
Only thing I'd have to figure out is walk ons and how they get scholarships. This just seems like it would curb a lot of oversigning and encourage both kids and schools to get their degrees.
February 8th, 2016 at 10:08 AM ^
A possible solution to your walk-on problem is when there is a player that is medicaled or transfers, a scholarship is freed up for a walk-on (this could be restricted to walk-ons from within that particular class to help prevent any funny business).
February 8th, 2016 at 10:48 AM ^
The only replacements are walk-ons who have worked hard to be there.
This just seems like it would fix the gray shirt, and the over promising, and would be long term vs short term goal, when teams go for Jucos, since it would count against that class. There'd be no incentive to medical kids, unless they really needed it, and it would help programs who vet their prospects.
I do agree that it would hurt the kids who might be borderline risks, but I'm sure small schools would take a chance at them, and it might make their profiles go up.
To do this, Congress would also have to change the title 9 rule. I think it needs an overhall to split Football and Basketball as revenue sports, allowing more freedom to run the sports that support the rest of womens and mens teams.
February 8th, 2016 at 4:57 PM ^
just punishing the kids who went to JuCo. What reason is there for doing so other than it favors Michigan?
February 9th, 2016 at 9:48 AM ^
It works the same way as always. You have 25 recruits each year, and some can be Jucos. It just means you only get maybe 2 years instead of 4 with a freshman. If you plan on taking Jucos every year, then you won't have an issue. If you try to make a quick fix by using half your scholarships for Jucos and plan on normal classes (2-3 Jucos) from then on, you will be at a disadvantage.
February 7th, 2016 at 2:47 PM ^
"This situation" doesn't mean jack; the situation after spring practice will be a lot more clear, though. Harbaugh will give everyone an honest assessment of what they can reasonably expect for the upcoming season. After that, players will make their decisions on autopilot.
It will all work out fine with no ruffled feathers.
February 7th, 2016 at 10:06 AM ^
February 7th, 2016 at 10:48 AM ^
February 7th, 2016 at 12:46 PM ^
or they should consider transferring if they ever want to play at the college level. (Edited to remove name)
February 8th, 2016 at 10:53 AM ^
If he doesn't win the starting job this spring, It'd be great if he could graduate and play somehwere else after getting a year and a half of Harbaughing. Especially if he boosted a smaller program. If he stays with the team, I think that is still a positive too, because it sounds like a positive kid in general.
Suprised people think Malzone will jump so quick. He is still really young and most of these kids are here to complete. In mid and late 90s, there was plenty of competition at QB.
February 7th, 2016 at 10:28 AM ^
February 7th, 2016 at 6:41 PM ^
They don't have to cut four players. Four players have to leave. That's not the same thing and they already know the intentions of some not to return.
Are people already forgetting that they took fewer players in this class than the 30 or 31 many were forecasting? This was completely by choice, as Viramontes and Pie Young were ready to come on board. We are also taking no greyshirts, despite by all accounts having a recruit that was originally offered as one.
I'll gladly bet that we'll be under 85 in the spring, probably by more than one..
February 7th, 2016 at 9:11 AM ^
February 7th, 2016 at 9:35 AM ^
February 7th, 2016 at 10:53 AM ^
February 7th, 2016 at 10:59 AM ^
February 7th, 2016 at 11:19 AM ^
February 7th, 2016 at 1:45 PM ^
February 8th, 2016 at 8:51 AM ^
I'm worried, but not fully worried.
February 7th, 2016 at 9:12 AM ^
February 7th, 2016 at 1:18 PM ^
February 7th, 2016 at 9:17 AM ^
February 7th, 2016 at 9:18 AM ^
February 7th, 2016 at 9:52 AM ^
I'm 33 and would give the left one for a chance to cover a kickoff and destroy a buckeye or spartan. One play would be enough!! However, I'm hearing the Bison might want me as qb next season.
February 7th, 2016 at 9:28 AM ^
February 7th, 2016 at 9:31 AM ^
February 7th, 2016 at 9:36 AM ^
February 7th, 2016 at 10:07 AM ^
The numbers will be managed and I am pretty certain he gets rewarded with a scholarship.
February 7th, 2016 at 11:11 AM ^
February 7th, 2016 at 2:44 PM ^
Whoosh?
February 7th, 2016 at 11:12 AM ^
February 7th, 2016 at 11:35 AM ^
February 7th, 2016 at 12:07 PM ^
February 7th, 2016 at 1:23 PM ^