Walk ons Cut from football team--WHY?
A friend's son walked on to the team and was told he was on the team. He went through spring practice and has been in the weight room with everyone else, and then, last week, he and a number of others were simply told they were no longer on the team. This does not sound like Harbaugh's normal way of doing things. Can anyone explain this to me. Not surprisingly, the kid (and the others) is devastated.
was he a Preferred Walk On or Walk On?
No, but Harbaugh had made a point of letting him know he had "made the team."
You can only have 105 players in fall camp I believe. So, it's not uncommon where some walk ons are left out of fall camp and then invited back once the season starts. Maybe that?
Is there actually a rule on how many players you can have in camp? If so, whose rule is it?
Yes and the NCAA’s.
You probably should have googled this before talking about how devastated your kid is because Harbaugh ... followed NCAA rules.
The specific rule is (17.9.2.1.2), and also states that there is no limit to the number of athletes who can be on the roster when school is in session. So yeah, this is a non-issue.
Well, there's a communication issue, apparently?
How was this not CLEARLY explained to the players? It's actually almost difficult to believe.
But I don't want to get into casting doubts on OP's friend's son's story.
Just... doesn't seem all the story has been told?
Perhaps its a violation to tell the kid he will be on the team in the fall, since it defeats the purpose of telling them they didn't make the 105.
I don't know, but deductive reasoning and logic would point to something like that.
The communication issue could be that we are getting this story 3rd hand about his "friend's son". Considering everyone on this blog knew players would not be invited to fall camp (supposedly including scholarship guys), I doubt the guys at practice were unaware. It's still probably disappointing for the kid and his family.
Yep. Communication issues with parents are OFTEN because the correct thing is not told to the parent by the kid. Sometimes kids want to avoid embarrassment, and sometimes kids just generally aren't great at telling ALL the information.
I had a parent apologize to me just last week, because his kids didn't tell him ALL the information, so he sent me a nasty e-mail that was totally off base.
Anyway, I doubt a bunch of walk-ons were kicked off the team entirely. This is part of the deal with preferred walk-ons coming in, though. The PWO kids have to have a spot on the roster, so the student body walk-ons have to play second fiddle.
Maybe the trolls were right about Jeff George Jr’s transfer!
What were they saying?
What were trolls saying about the transfer?
They thought the sky was falling because JGJ was coming in as a 7th string walk on QB.
one guy, maybe AK47?, was crying over the loss of a walk-on spot.
After going suicidal, the following folks went silent on JGJ: Maizen, or whatever the hell his name is now, MGrowOld, Albatross, AK47 and maybe Caesar?
Dude-i am me and have one and only one screen name and have used it for the past 9 years.
I know the thought that two or more people might share a dissenting opinion to yours is probably beyond your ability to process but trust me-that's where we are.
I was talking about Maizen. Sorry not clear.
So you are still upset about JGJ getting a walk on spot?
I am wolverine devotee
NO! I AM SPARTACUS!!!
Am i doing it right?
I am Tiger Woods
I am hungry?
I am what I am, and what I am needs no excuses ...
(It's probably not every day you'll see lyrics from "La Cage aux Folles" on this blog.)
I am what I am and that's all that I am.
I don't read every post, so I don't know, but I HOPE that lyrics from "Popeye the Sailor Man" are more common on this blog than lyrics from "La Cage aux Folles." At least I'm doing my part.
Probably because 17 recruits just showed up and they need to make space. There's always more roster room in spring for walk-ons as seniors have departed and most scholarship freshman aren't there yet.
The party line is everybody knew where they are ranked 1-105 coming out of spring so it's surprising to me that this would be out of the blue to him.
The number allowed is actually 110.
While I can understand them being "disappointed", but "devastated" sounds like hyperbole.
If you try out and don't make it, you are disappointed. If you are told you have made it, and then focused your entire life around being a part of the team and you are then told you are gone, you can certainly be devastated.
Walkons should know that they are not guaranteed a spot. Their existence is always contingent.
Walk-ons aren't guaranteed a permanent spot on the team. If the team no longer has a spot for them, they get cut. It's unfortunate but that's how it goes.
I walked into the M-Den to buy the MJ Retro 12’s at 11:00 o’clock last weekend and they told me I had a spot. But they were all sold out. So I was spot on when I walked in, although when I walked on out of the store, I was not in possession of my promised Retro 12’s. I am still disappointed.
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Melted...and evaporated. Already.
For walk-ons, being told you have made the team is not the same thing as being told you will be on the team forever.
I feel sorry for the kids who misunderstood, but that's doesn't mean anything untoward has happened. And though the next part is untoward for me to acknowledge, it's still true that their disappointment is somewhat born of a bad assumption they made about what making the team actually meant.
Believing it was forever was a very bad assumption.
Focused your entire life? Give me a break powder puff. How many of these walk ones can actually afford to play football and go to school full time there on their own dime? Not very many and most are spoon fed little yups in my opinion just shut up for the sake of the real men in this world! Losing a little sister to cancer is devastating. Not getting to play as a no talent show all on at Michigan isn’t. I can assure you it shouldn’t be anyway.
How long was he actually on the team? If it was just a couple of months, they should have been told this was temporary and they would be off by June. This sounds more like winning a fan experience contest than actually making a team.
Agreed. Would make more sense if the kid said he was devastated that he made the msu or osu football team.
I'm actually more concerned if they were "surprised" than any "feelings" they may have about it.
Communication! Thought that lesson was learned in the Swenson Affair?
Kids get cut from every sport. Can't take everyone. This happens every year, not sure why it's surprising.
It probably because of how many players are allowed in fall camp. Remember when it was mentioned around her that Harbaugh has said even scholarship players wouldn't be invited to fall camp if they weren't in the top 105 or so players on the team.
It should be clarified that being in fall camp is not the same as being on the team in the fall. Fall camp is actually in the summer. The NCAA puts a limit of 110 players only for that. Once classes for the fall term start, the limit is off and more players will join the team.
Exactly this, this is also why student body tryouts are after the season starts, instead of during/before camp where it would make more sense (thanks NCAA).
As a walk on you had to know you are in the 100-105 range, so any transfer or recruit will bump you off the team. I hope your friend does not develop a bad attitude. I would tell him to keep working out and stay in shape. As long as he stays enthusiastic, he may get back on the team during the season if there are injuries. I know a lot of friends who tried to walk on in the early 80s and they were all dismissed right away.
It sounds like the cuts are being made as discussed for fall camp.
I am sure it was devastating to be told you were on the team and then to be told otherwise later on, but I believe the understanding for walk-ons always was that this could happen depending on the scholarship situation and other factors.
I'd be content to have made the team for even five minutes.
My understanding of why any players are cut from any team in any sport is that they're not as good at playing [INSERT SPORT HERE] as the rest of the players on the roster.
Or they did something pretty bad and there was a video.
He probably had made the team for spring, then was trimmed for Fall when the freshman class comes in. Maybe they could have handled it a little more tacitly, but this seems normal.
Tell him to stay determined and come back stronger...
Even Rudy got cut once or twice.
Jordan Kovacs and/or Glasgow Bros.
There, FIFY.
There's a number they needed to get down to prior to fall camp. Harbaugh has been very clear guys will be cut, including scholarship players if they fall behind walkons.
Spring walk ons that disappear once the spring roster becomes the official Fall roster is nothing new.
Justin Meram, Elias Kos, Mike Walker etc. etc.
Names maybe you haven't heard of them and that's because they were on the spring roster and were cut.