Eh, the kid was hedging his bets. Michigan being your safety school while you wait to get into Stanford is a luxury not a lot of people have, I really can't blame him.
He could easily have hedged his bets by staying quiet instead of lying very clearly and many times.
He repeatedly said he was coming to Michigan unless something huge happened. He got accepted into Stanford University which, I don't know if you've heard, is very prestigious. Most people would count this as "something huge happening."
I understand being upset as he firmly denied looking around at other schools and stayed committed but... he always sort of left himself an out with there needing to be a "major situation" to change his commitment. Welp... that happened with Stanford so now we don't have to wonder all year until signing day. Michigan gets 3-4 recruits every year via flips after an offer is extended.
I will say I don't think he would've left us for anyone else. 2nd place stings...
I don’t know if I “feared” this one given Herron’s development and the army of other rising DEs they’re going to sign.
Good luck to him.
After his performance at the opening, it seems prudent that he get a Stanford degree. Not that a Michigan degree will fail you, but you know.
I saw Julius Welschof while riding my bike through the Diag the other day and that guy is a BEAST!
We'll be fine.
Yeah, it sure has looked like the coaches were prepared for this news. I'm not going to saying this class is as good without Herron, but it's a less painful loss than our other 4* recruits would have been.
Well...poop....
Not gonna hate on him much for his decision. I’m glad he’s gonna get an A+ education somewhere, but as it pertains to his football ability, was not impressed with him from what I saw from the opening. Best of luck but I personally didn’t see a surefire talent.
I didn't see the Opening. Thanks for the update.
Obviously Stanford is an awesome school -- just sucks when the only reason they are currently relevant in football is because of the coach he is leaving.
At this point Shaw has to be given his due credit. I'll admit I thought Stanford was going to fall off considerably after Harbaugh's recruits transitioned out of the program, but Stanford has been formidable long after those guys have left.
Harbaugh left Shaw the winning formula, but Shaw still has to execute those plans on his own. And he's been able to do so. I think Stanford is currently relevant by Shaw's own merit. And Shaw's alone.
Exactly. People act like Shaw hasn't done anything since Harbaugh left.In the 6 years that Shaw has been the coach, he's won 10+ games 4 seasons, including three PAC12 titles.
He's more than held his own post-Harbaugh.
Remind me again, what was Stanford’s record last year?
Futurama Fry Shocked Dot Gif
I dont want to come off as having some sour grapes because this truthfully doesnt bother me. It is just one of those things that remind you these are teenagers making decisions and how they choose to handle "committing" reflects on their character at this stage of their lives. The silent commit is always the best option.
That said I have always believed Karlaftis will be in this class. This will only turn turn up the heat on that recruitment.
I don't expect a kid to have much sense or smarts if they're like me when I was that age. However I find it hard to believe an adult is not guiding their decision and if an adult is guiding their decision they're doing some stupid things.
"I have always believed Karlaftis will be in this class."
Given his family ties to Purdue, I'd be more surprised if we landed Karlaftis than if we got Harrison.
I don't expect either.
Yeah but family ties to Purdue are a lot less difficult to overcome than family ties to school that is actually relevant in football
I'm not sure if Purdue even realizes it has a football program most days.
If we were Purdue fans, we'd be very worried about losing Karlaftis.
He's still looking around. He's made comments about making other plans if Brohm were to leave. That's not a solid commitment to the school.
A good start to the season and there will be a lot of talk about Brohm leaving. And he might. A poor season and Purdue looks like a worse choice. They need to walk a middle path, some improvement but not too much. Either that or a massive new contract for Brohm, very un-Purdue like.
Even then, the longer Karlaftis talks to Michigan or OSU or Clemson and their DL coaches, the more Purdue fans will have reason to worry.
I view it differently.. seems to be the longer he stays committed to Purdue the less likely he leaves.. As he is a legacy, the last thing he would do is want to hurt their program and string them along... however, maybe I'm wrong and he knows he wont go there but parks his comittment to get better players to go there... but I doubt this, and I'm with Don, I'd be very surprised.....
"The longer he stays committed to Purdue the less likely he leaves." Who could argue with that? I mean the only alternative is that he decommits.
The issue is that he is talking to other schools and making contingency plans. The longer that goes on, the more likely he flips.
His comments from the opening should have raised eyebrows. I think he waits to see how things play out during the season.
I also think this is different from Herron because Herron always had Stanford as #1 while I believe Karlaftis has Purdue at #1 right now.
This was expected. I stopped thinking he was going with Michigan a few months ago, when I came across too many credible people saying he was probably going to flip.
Nice sales pitch they have out there "if your football fails you're in with google, fb, twitter, etc, whatever" At least we won't be facing him in E. Lansing or Columbus.
Even if the kid used it as an excuse, he specifically mentioned his coach having no chance of going anywhere else. Apparently Harbaugh to the NFL rumors are not helping us much
Not even mad. The national response will likely be something like "Blar, blar, Harbaugh pulls offers ALL THE TIME!"
Good Luck Stephen, enjoy Cali. Looking forward to rooting against you in Pasadena one day :)
Hope that means a yes on DiCosmo and a we get a couple Cali commits in the exchange!
Can't fault him for that. I'd do the same thing.
And that's why I never trust a teenager when they re-affirm their commitment. Not trashing the kid, Stanford is Stanford, but I've been through this recruiting thing too long. Knew he'd be gone.
Good luck to him. I don't think we will miss him one iota (after hearing him interviewed, this decision comes as a relief to me). The cupboard is full on the defensive line, and the coaching is second to none.
Big dummy!.... Well, not really.
Maybe the FSU commit DE Morris that is coming up for the BBQ can take his spot.
Meh. Hard to blame him. Stanford has a great program and is an overall better school. It just is. I feel like the writing has been on the wall for this for quite a while. Put a good season together and we'll find someone to replace him.
Best of luck to him.
Sucks for us. But Stanford is a fine school too, and I wish him all the luck in the world when not playing us.
He applied to Stanford early decision, he's been decommitted since he sent that application in even if he didn't say it. It happens and Stanford is fantastic so don't fault him at all. The staff has been recruiting like he wasn't coming for a while so hopefully can land one of the DE long shots.
This is a good point that no one has brought up
I am not feeling this as nearly the loss it seemed to be when this outcome was 1st discussed early in the cycle. We seem to be loaded at DE on the depth chart and prospects for this class.
A man is only as good as his word. We don't need him and I no longer want him.
How Christian of him...
Sounds like the kid made the decision that works best for him. Best of luck, enjoy that sunny Cali weather and all that it entails.
Next!
Bummer, but expected. We all saw it coming. No big deal.
However, I did find a couple of his comments on the flip a little grating. He pumped up the Stanford degree which, okay, but then said "I'll be playing for a coach that just received coach of the year with virtually no possibility to be going anywhere". That just sounds like "Harbaugh-to-the-NFL" negative recruiting.
I don’t fault a kid for changing his mind, but the way Herron went about it was less than admirable. He was obviously just mouthing what he thought Michigan fans wanted to hear until he was sure he would get admitted to Stanford. Then, it was a quick goodbye. He may have a bright future in politics, which is not intended as a compliment.
With the quality on the DL in this class, I don't think he's a loss. Good luck to him at Stanford.
He just wanted to free us up for Harrison and Karlaftis.
Great, so does this class underwhelm just as last year's did? Just feels like so much of the excitement around the program has worn off heading into a season with a brutal schedule. I just feel bad right now, even if for one decommit.
Herron seems like one of those early risers who's heading in the wrong direction (in the rankings) as senior year rolls around. Hopefully Ojabo ends up out playing him in college.