Pharoah Brown Receives Visit from Mattison

Submitted by Marlin Jackson… on

I know it is just a message board post, but a 247 board has noted that Mattison recently visited Brown in his home. 

http://michigan.247sports.com/Board/59424/Coach-Mattison-visits-former-Michigan-commit-Pharaoh-Brown-6208520/1 

I'm on board with this.  I think we delivered a message by dropping him, but ultimately, kids make mistakes and everybody deserves a 2nd chance. 

Purkinje

December 15th, 2011 at 9:50 AM ^

I think having the offer on the table is still good, but to hold a scholarship for a kid who doesn't take it as seriously as it takes him is a waste. Good move, I think, but we certainly shouldn't wait on his decision after his visits elsewhere... Your scholarship is still up for grabs until you aren't.

MGoblu8

December 15th, 2011 at 9:51 AM ^

100% agree. At no point did they say he was no longer considered a recruit, just not a commit. All things considered, it was probably in his best interest. If you are not sure, look around. However, we're not going to save your spot while you do. I would love to see him be a part of this class.

Marlin Jackson…

December 15th, 2011 at 9:52 AM ^

But do we think it is different to hold a scholarship for a kid like Dunn who is committed elsewhere, but pull one from a kid that decides to take a visit?

There is no right or wrong way of thinking, but it is something that should be considered.

Here2CWoodson

December 15th, 2011 at 9:55 AM ^

We necessarily held one for him. There weren't any other RBs that I can think of that were trying to commit ahead of him. Now if we were at 27 taken spots and we were waiting for him before we filled the 28th that would be different, but we have 7 open spots at this point.

snakedog

December 15th, 2011 at 10:13 AM ^

There is a huge difference. When PB commits, the coaches stop recruiting that position, there is a trust that has to be between both of them. Its not that they dont wany PB, but if he is gna visit other schools, they are gna consider him uncommitted, and continue to recruit the TE position. It is just a good way to go about business.

Dunn on the other hand, is just a RB we are (were) recruiting? That fact that he is committed else where has littled to do with the coaches policy on commits.

I would love to get PB back in the class, he was the most athletic commit on the board, IMO and will do huge things as a 6-6 TE, especially after he puts on some throwing around weight.

MGoblu8

December 15th, 2011 at 10:08 AM ^

I think so. There was a lot of chatter about him switching from a DE prospect to a TE/WR prospect because he was lighting people up offensively in games and camps. I am pretty sure that we were recruiting him at DE, but he was starting to prefer TE. Considering how badly we seem to want a TE in this class, maybe we're recruiting him differently now.

trueblue262

December 15th, 2011 at 9:55 AM ^

I think/hope he got the message the coaches were attempting to send. Hopefully its not too late.

As much as I hate to say it, looking at Ohio's class right now, it looks pretty good. Plus the fact that Noah Spence is looking like he will commit this weekend. I would really like this whole NCAA sanction thing to blow up like NOW.

Logan88

December 15th, 2011 at 10:21 AM ^

Spence is leaning towards OSU, now? WTF?!? They just got commits from two elite DE's (Pittman and Washington) in the past month.

It feels like OSU is actually going to come out of this whole situation better off than they were before. It really makes me sick to my stomach to think that they got away with buying players for 10 years under Tressel and their "punishment" is to get Urban Meyer as their new coach and a sh*t-ton of 5* players to commit to him in the span of a few weeks.

It's official: Life sucks and God hates Michigan.

/emo rant  ;-)

neoavatara

December 15th, 2011 at 9:55 AM ^

I think the punishment is fair.  Recruiting other TE put the kid on notice.  Now, he has to decide if he is truly committed or going elsewhere.  Hoke and Co. played this perfectly. 

BlueGoM

December 15th, 2011 at 10:25 AM ^

There was no punishment to give, and Brown's only mistake was not telling the Michigan staff he wanted to take visits elsehwhere.

Brown knew about the policy of the Michigan coaching staff regarding visits and commitment status,  he just up and left and took the visit to Oregon without notifying Michigan.

I guess Brown is the most athletic TE we're going after, so I get why they are trying to retrieve him so to speak.  But at the same time his behavior concerning not telling the staff about the visit is concerning.

 

michgoblue

December 15th, 2011 at 10:01 AM ^

Hoke and Co. never said that it was a mistake for him to look.  They never even told him not to look, from what we have heard.  They simply told him that if you are looking, you are not a commit, and we cannot turn away other people while we hold the spot for you.  That is just good policy - imagine that Brown is looking around while committed to us, and we turn away (or do not pursue) a top TE recruit who we otherwise could have gotten.  If Brown ultimately goes elsewhere, we are shit out of luck.  So, if he is not really committed, we can't hold the spot while he figures it out.

Ron_Lippitt

December 15th, 2011 at 10:14 AM ^

I admire the kids who take their time, and look at the programs that match their goals (football or otherwise).  But I don't think this is the case with this kiddo.  Once you make the choice, you stick with it.  It's called a "commitment" for a reason.  You can DE-commit, but in my mind -- that ends the relationship. 

All this being said, these are kids we're talking about.  Mistakes are sometimes made.  I hope Pharoah has learned something from all this.

Rabbit21

December 15th, 2011 at 10:18 AM ^

Absolutely not, the mistake is assuming that his spot would be held for him while he looked at other schools.  Also allegedly going on the trip to Oregon without informing the coaches probably wasn't a happy moment.

On the other hand the coaches do want another Tight End in the class and there's no sense lighting all of that ground work on fir without a good reason. 

artds

December 15th, 2011 at 9:58 AM ^

I said before that some people were making too big a deal out of this. Essentially all the staff told him was that he's perfectly at liberty to take other visits, but if he does, he needs to understand that we consider him a recruit rather than a commit and can't hold his scholarship spot for him and guarantee that it will be there if he later decides to reaffirm to Michigan. This perfectly reasonable, and both Brown and the staff acted reasonably.

nyc_wolverines

December 15th, 2011 at 12:44 PM ^

Agree and your comment that "... Brown and the staff acted reasonably." does not suggest that they were unreasonable you are merely confining your viewpoint to an affirmative point of view. The logical leap that you think the staff was unreasonable was others exercise (no pun intended) in jumping to a conclusion.

UMichYank11

December 15th, 2011 at 10:14 AM ^

That is something interesting to think about really.  Remember Terry Richardson was looking around and flirted with the idea of taking visits.  If Brown comes in, some of the guys may be thinking "well damn, I could have done the same thing and might have still gotten my spot".

WolvinLA2

December 15th, 2011 at 10:26 AM ^

"Might" being the key word.  Meaning they might not have too.  Had Terry Richardson done so, we might have gone hard after Reeves at that time, and his spot might have been gone. 

The point is, when you decommit, there's a chance that your spot isn't there when you get back.  If Michigan is where you want to be, then that's not worth the risk.

JCM26

December 15th, 2011 at 10:34 AM ^

As I understand it PB did not go to the coaching staff before taking the visit and took the visit without their knowledge.  TR, I think, went to the coaching staff to say he was considering taking another visit for which the coaches expressed disapproval, and he dropped the idea.   Big difference in my view.

bluenyc

December 15th, 2011 at 11:24 AM ^

That;s a big concern is trust,  trust in your relationships.  I think brown knows he made a big mistake, i think he wants to be in the class. I think it was really shady when you know your actions will cause and do it anyway.  Sort of saying, ok, Coach Hoke, your choice.  Putting him on the spot.  I am not sure I like that part.  All of this is my opinion.

Magnus

December 15th, 2011 at 10:36 AM ^

Richardson committed because cornerback spots were filling up fast and because Royce Jenkins-Stone and James Ross (two of his good friends) had just committed.  He's always been afraid of losing his spot because then he might not be able to play with his best friends for the next four years.  AFAIK, Brown has no such connections in Michigan's class.

GatorBlue

December 15th, 2011 at 10:29 AM ^

I think it's important to establish the guideline that if you're going to look at other schools and take visits then U of M doesn't consider you to be a solid verbal.  As much as we want to lock guys up and build upon a recruiting class, we need to remember these are kids and they are under a lot of pressure.  Recruiting is often the hardest and most taxing part of coaching.  Hoke's staff is to be commended for their efforst thusfar and they'll continue to build a solid reputation with future recruits based upon how they're handling the process.

 

bluenyc

December 15th, 2011 at 11:21 AM ^

Absolutely, relationships are very important.  Look at Dunn and Kalis, lifelong Ohio fans, but one committed because of the coaches and his friends on the team shining the light, while another one struggled, because of the scheme and the coaches. 

I think P Brown made a mistake.  Not having any insider knowledge, but my opinion, he wanted to go for fun at Oregon and thought that he may get by.  After his visit, he still thought he was committed to us.  He never decommitted.  I think he knows he made a mistake and wants to be back in.

The interesting part is what happens to the outehr recruits that wanted to visit for fun.  I think Mags wanted to go to a USC game with Stanford, but decided against it because one event doesnt ruin a lifetime choice. 

Or RJS and t-rich.  I think they wanted to visit some schools for fun, but also decided that it wasnt worth it for their future,

Brown knew and he decided to go and it cost him,  I am wonderign what other guys think about this if he comes bak in the class.