Damien Harris Decommits
2015 Berea (Ky.) Madison Southern RB Damien @Damien_D1Harris has officially decommitted from #Michigan per his mother.
January 21st, 2014 at 11:00 AM ^
Michigan should have a much better shot at getting Harris back than Campbell, so that's good, at least
January 21st, 2014 at 11:01 AM ^
Any particular reason?
January 21st, 2014 at 11:02 AM ^
His coach is close friends with Borges.
January 21st, 2014 at 11:02 AM ^
No, I meant - Any particular reason it should be easier to get him back?
January 21st, 2014 at 11:03 AM ^
Gotcha.
January 21st, 2014 at 11:04 AM ^
He grew up a Michigan fan, as someone notes below, and he lives in Kentucky rather than Florida, meaning that he's closer to Michigan and also not in the home state of the reigning national champion.
January 21st, 2014 at 11:07 AM ^
Harris also grew up loving Michigan, and idolized Mike Hart. Gotta show on field improvement and show coaching stability
January 21st, 2014 at 11:02 AM ^
Probably Borges being fired
January 21st, 2014 at 11:01 AM ^
But... but... 2014.
January 21st, 2014 at 12:15 PM ^
January 21st, 2014 at 11:02 AM ^
For a kid that has grown up a lifelong Michigan fan, I just don't understand how Borges leaving makes such a huge impact...I know that his HS coach and Borges are friends, but Borges has only been here 3 years....seems lifelong means he liked UM well before Borges arrived.
January 21st, 2014 at 11:17 AM ^
I think Borges leaving was just a convenient "out" for him....made it easier to do.
January 21st, 2014 at 1:34 PM ^
There was also this (HERE), which was written yesterday and does say this about a conversation TomVH had with Harris' mother:
"ESPN.com's Tom VanHaaren then spoke to Harris' mother, who said the family was in a state of "shock" over the news, and wished not to speak about the situation."
It could be an out, but it could also be that something about Borges' scheme was attractive to Harris, or the staff as it was perhaps. I only post this so there is maximum perspective on this point.
January 21st, 2014 at 2:20 PM ^
I don't think it was a convenient out and think it has everything to do with Borges leaving. The thing I have trouble with is why that makes a difference. Honestly, if I'm a running back and I watched what happened at UM this past season I'd be much more inclined to leave if Borges and his scheme stayed as opposed to the opposite. I mean how attractive is it to come play for the coach who contributed to putting the worst rushing offense in school history on the field.
Now I don't know Damien Harris obviously, so I can't say anything for sure but from what I've read about him thus far leads me to believe he is a pretty standup guy for his age. So if he was genuine about being a lifelong UM fan I have to think he will find his way back in this class after the dust has settled. Honestly, I can see a person being shocked by the firing, but not shock so much you forget the fact that you rooted for a team your whole life.
If he doesn't find his way back in this class, I wish him the best where ever he ends up. At the end of the day it's his decision and people need to respect that. I'd love to have him come to UM and I won't try and downplay his importance to the class, but we all just need to keep calm and respect a kids decision to go where ever he wants for whatever reasons he deems appropriate. Everyone uses different criterea when picking a university and UM just isn't the place for everyone.
January 21st, 2014 at 2:35 PM ^
schools while he waits to see what type of offense Nuss is going to run. He may not run a Saban offense if given free reign.
January 21st, 2014 at 12:04 PM ^
I think the on field results pushed both Campbell and Harris away. Also McDowell who I know is not yet gone but all the signs are there. Even Peppers was waffling- cmon if UM was 10-2 last year this stuff would not be happening. IMO Hand would be a Wolverine if this team was 10-2 with close losses to MSU and OSU or whatever. Sorry we can talk about 1938 results or 1997 all we want but most kids want to see their team kicking ass on the field and ours has looked not good against top end teams the past few years, and this year was particularly bad. We didnt belong on the same field as KSU or MSU. And Akron and Uconn played us to the end. I know I know OSU but that is 1 game versus a top end team... results on the field matter and this was brewing on his twitter page even before Borges. This one is particularly sad due to his talent and his love for UM growing up....
January 21st, 2014 at 12:52 PM ^
This season will decide a lot of things for Hoke and his program. Success and a lot of "noise" goes away. Failure and I'm back using flight tracker from San Francisco and Baltimore.
January 21st, 2014 at 11:03 AM ^
It would be great to have Harris, but our trade seems to have been Nussmeier for Harris. I'll take a top-notch coordinator over a single player, however good, any time.
January 21st, 2014 at 11:23 AM ^
Nussmeier probably will not even be here by the time Harris gets significant PT.
January 21st, 2014 at 1:01 PM ^
That depends on his level of success
January 21st, 2014 at 2:07 PM ^
If you think that Nussmeier and Hoke have until 2016 to get things turned around and that winning the Big Ten Championship is the bar of success then there is a good chance that Nussmeier is gone by 2017.
If Hoke doesn't get it done he and his staff are gone so Nussmeier is swept out with the rest of the staff. If the team wins the Big Ten Championship, there is a very good chance that it makes the playoffs. Getting Michigan to the playoffs is more than good enough for Nussmeier to pull a head coaching job somewhere attractive enough for him to leave.
It's hard to construct a scenario in which the teams performance is good enough to keep Hoke and his staff around that doesn't put Nussmeier in a position to get snapped up as a head coach.
January 21st, 2014 at 8:09 PM ^
I'll take Cam Newton. I like my odds in a game against your team.
January 21st, 2014 at 11:08 AM ^
January 21st, 2014 at 11:10 AM ^
January 21st, 2014 at 11:09 AM ^
Hopefully he comes back into the fold. Borges was the primary reason he committed to us, he had a very good relationship with him. I don't think we are out of this, but we have to rebuilda relationship with Harris and his family.
Damn, talk about ruining my Tuesday.
January 21st, 2014 at 11:09 AM ^
2 Top 10 commits in the 2015 class have now decommitted. That's kinda depressing.
January 21st, 2014 at 11:49 AM ^
whats more depressing is that by that time he'll have a strong Oline in front of him and a schedule that would allow him to make a significant impact his first year
January 21st, 2014 at 12:43 PM ^
But what's NOT depressing is that if we in fact do have a powerful, mauling O-Line in the near future, it won't matter all that much if we get a Top-10 RB behind them. So, silver lining and all that...
January 21st, 2014 at 12:54 PM ^
I feel good about that.
January 21st, 2014 at 12:04 PM ^
thats what happens when a team does not just simply dissapoint on the field during a given season, but they rush for negative yards in consecutive games along with mostly poor rushing performances in all other meaningful games. harris is widely considered the most talented RB in his class and has very realistic nfl aspirations - he needs to make best decisions to realize those aspirations. while i eventually believe um will field a competent OL and get back to competitive football, harris watched osu lead the nation in rushing last season just as he watched 27 for 27, etc. theres a reason osu and other programs, particularly sec squads, field consistently better teams than um in modern era....athletes....relentelessly pursuing as many straight up genetic mistakes as possible at every position.....and then advertising your winning culture and pro factories on national tv. its great recruiting according to the um "profile" or whatever if you can make that work in this modern game (stanford has but few have sustained) but only so many role players and "um guys" can comprise a truly elite championship roster. hopefully hoke realizes that he needs elite athletes like hand and mcdowell and campbell and harris to win big - not necessarily those kids but similar talents....i just dont know if he does considering the pallante and runyan offers, etc and the big problem is it might be too late...theyll turn it around and be competitive for all 13 games in a year or 2 but they needed that consistency last yr. prime example of trouble is every article written about UM's DEs next year indicateing a sense of promise and improvement given the returning senior starters in beyer and clark....but what i and many informed fans see are 2 good kids who proudly rep um but ultimately perform as mediocre athletes. they need athletic specimens at many positions including RB and they need them stacked back to back to back if they want to reach ultimate goals hoke has set. harris not just a huge loss in next years class, but its a killer to programs recruiting image and momentum along with campbell and questionable closing to 2014 class (even if harris were to jump back in fold - be great if he did bc i think hed actually have some experienced OL to run behind and a flexible OC with a feel by time hed get rolling at um). one more line in my rambling post here - hopefully most have the maturity to leave this kid alone on twitter and whatnot - not only is it beyond pathetic to interact with kids and recruits online , but hopefully majority of fans can try to somewhat view thru eyes of 16-18 yr old recruits, especially truly athleticly gifted kids with legit professional aspirations, and consider um just might not be the ideal place for all to pursue nfl dreams despite fandom
January 21st, 2014 at 2:31 PM ^
Punctuation does exist, you know?
January 21st, 2014 at 5:24 PM ^
Why in God's name are you even questioning that? Did Hoke not extend offers to all the guys you mentioned?
Or are you subscribing to the theory that hasn't landed them because he doesn't "want it enough?"
January 21st, 2014 at 11:10 AM ^
January 21st, 2014 at 11:11 AM ^
January 21st, 2014 at 11:12 AM ^
Top 10 players are always going to be difficult to prevent from taking visits. Why wouldn't they.
January 21st, 2014 at 11:15 AM ^
We probably lost Mike Webber by taking Harris too.
January 21st, 2014 at 11:16 AM ^
January 21st, 2014 at 11:17 AM ^
i thought this wasn't supposed to happen in 2014.
January 21st, 2014 at 11:17 AM ^
DONT FREAK OUT!
/freaks out
January 21st, 2014 at 11:21 AM ^
Eventually, Hoke and co. need to win. I think with Harris and Campbell decommitting you've seen the shine wear off on selling a turn around and family atmosphere. That works for a lot of recruits, but the top guys want to win and play on the biggest stages and Michigan just can't sell that right now.
Had 2013 been a better season, they could have sustained and built upon their recruiting momentum. But, after three straight years of regression, it would seem that the momentum that got them into the conversation with guys like Hand, Campbell, and Harris is gone.
So for a lot of reasons, Michigan needs to have a really strong showing in 2014 if they want to try and continue recruiting these elite kids.
January 21st, 2014 at 11:26 AM ^
2011 was 11-2
January 21st, 2014 at 12:56 PM ^
January 21st, 2014 at 1:23 PM ^
Good catch. I was using that first 11-2 as a starting point, but still counting it as a year. So its two years of regression. Which really isn't a ton better than three years.
January 21st, 2014 at 11:21 AM ^
I really hate losing Harris and Campbell at this stage, but if they're going to decommit and reevaluate their options I'd rather have them do this now than a year from now.
January 21st, 2014 at 11:22 AM ^
It kind of sucks that these guys (Harris and Campbell) were pushed hard by adults to make their decisions. Harris by his coach and Campbell by his uncle but I guess that's how it goes.
January 21st, 2014 at 11:25 AM ^
Campbell, yes, that was a lot of the uncle's doing
January 21st, 2014 at 11:25 AM ^
So why are we not taking a RB in the 2014 class again?