CC: Mullen pulls 2015 QB's scholly
Per 247Sports, Mississippi State has pulled the scholarship of 3* QB Chason Virgil, who had been committed to the Bulldogs since May and planned to early enroll.
"They called my coach today and (Mississippi State) is wanting me to grayshirt," said Virgil. "Just knowing that I am graduating early in a month, it is hard to just sit out a whole year without playing and being in a program. So I have to start over now. I haven't talked to any other schools in awhile so I just have to see what happens."
http://michigan.247sports.com/Bolt/2015-QB-Chason-Virgil-no-longer-committed-to-MSU-33120946
The kid's coach is hopping mad an not afraid to tell twitter about it:
Miss St. pulls scholarship from our QB Chason Virgil w/16 days til graduation. Classless move by "coach" Dan Mullen
— Jeff Neill (@neill_jeff) November 21, 2014
Chason Virgil -35 tds/6int passing -8td rushing. One of the best young people I've ever coached -only flaw was trusting "coach" Mullen.
— Jeff Neill (@neill_jeff) November 21, 2014
Obviously we've only seen one side of this story, and will only see one side of this story, but this situation makes Mullen look real scummy, imo. Mullen had been my #2 CC behind Jim Harbaugh, but this is making me really reevaluate that. It would kill me if Michigan ever did something like this to a kid.
November 21st, 2014 at 10:12 AM ^
Thats not a strong rebuttal..no one mentioned Brady and more importantly these things are not mutually exclusive...in fact, over the long term I'd say caring about the kids is a key part of caring for the program.
November 21st, 2014 at 9:48 AM ^
November 21st, 2014 at 9:52 AM ^
He was offered a full scholarship and committed. He also informed the coaches he would be graduating early and reporting to campus in January 2015. Now, 2 weeks before his HS graduation and 7 weeks before he was to start classes at college, he is basically being told not to bother showing up, but to wait a year before being granted a scholarship. His options are:
- Sit around for an entire year until he would be allowed to join the football program in the spring of 2016
- Attend classes PART TIME beginning spring 2015 at a cost of $11k per semester (per msu's website), but have nothing to do with the program until spring 2016
- find another school
If he were offered a greyshirt from the beginning, then this would be a complete non-issue.
November 21st, 2014 at 10:19 AM ^
Well... he wasn't so much offered a full scholarship as he was "offered a full scholarship"... and HE committed, but the university never did committ. A LOI only commits the player to the school, it doesn't commit the school to the player.
November 21st, 2014 at 10:23 AM ^
Nobody is arguing that what he did isn't allowed - of course it is. What everyone is arguing is that it's blatantly dishonest and unethical.
November 21st, 2014 at 10:06 AM ^
November 21st, 2014 at 10:11 AM ^
I wouldn't say "thank you" as if this is some kind of vindication. It isn't. The situations are nothing alike. Had he been initially offered as a greyshirt, that would be different. He wasn't, and this is a dirty move by Mullen.
I've been saying, and will keep saying; I don't want Mullen. He hasn't proven anything yet, and this is a low character thing to do. We can do better, and should.
November 21st, 2014 at 10:48 AM ^
For some kids, a greyshirt isn't an option since you have to pay your own way and basically just be a student until the school decides to pay your way for you. For someone out of state, that can be a pretty big bill. Around $25k for a year according to Miss St's site. And if that same school had offered to give you a full ride, and then changed their minds a month and change before you were set to enroll, would you really trust that they were going to give you a scholarship after you enrolled?
So yeah, that's a pretty big deal.
November 21st, 2014 at 9:48 AM ^
that their initial offers from Michigan were grayshirts? So when they got a scholarship it was an upgrade.
Unlike this case here at MSU which is a downgrade.
November 21st, 2014 at 9:50 AM ^
Yes. That was the question I was answering.
November 21st, 2014 at 9:39 AM ^
So no.
November 21st, 2014 at 9:41 AM ^
November 21st, 2014 at 9:49 AM ^
what I am saying is that for everyone who has ever posted something about;
"why can't UofM play for national champtionship"
you can't really be sanctimonious about this sort of thing
either you want UofM to be in the playoff hunt every year and oversign like the other teams do
OR
you are happy with solid kids and solid coaches who are class. You are happy challenging for the B1G title every 2 or so years and maybe a playoff invite once a decade (which I prefer)
November 21st, 2014 at 9:53 AM ^
I can't speak for the others, but my outrage stems from the fact that the two should not be mutually exclusive.
I want solid kids and coaches with class and I want them to have a chance to win.
November 21st, 2014 at 9:58 AM ^
this seems like an almost impossible standard
Dan Mullen squeezes 1 kid out and now he is a outcast
November 21st, 2014 at 10:02 AM ^
November 21st, 2014 at 10:14 AM ^
2012 - 25
2013- 24
2014- 23
2015 -21
that is a total of 93 in a 4 year period (doesn't include any redshirts in the total)
November 21st, 2014 at 10:24 AM ^
And how many of them transferred and left early for the NFL (or other reasons)? More than 8, I'd wager.
November 21st, 2014 at 10:31 AM ^
24 in 2011 as well
some left , some transferred, some went to the NFL
but thats a lot of kids
November 21st, 2014 at 10:54 AM ^
In a four year span (2010-2013) Michigan signed 26, 19, 25, 27 -- that's 97 recruits. So acording to you, Michigan must be super evil at recruiting too.
There are plenty of good reasons to sign lots of full classes and they aren't all nefarious.
November 21st, 2014 at 11:18 AM ^
In fairness to Michigan, though...that 2010 class was terribly unproductive. I think out of the 27 players they signed, only Tacopants's little brother, Burritoshorts, was left after two seasons. And nobody wants Burritoshorts.
November 21st, 2014 at 10:24 AM ^
I actually think this could very well bite Mullen in the Arse...let them slip a bit..let them struggle a bit. I mean this is not Bama or another regular top 5/10 program. This will be some great material for those coaches recruiting against him down the road.
Its also has to make him a lot less attractive to programs outside the SEC.
November 21st, 2014 at 9:44 AM ^
No, Dan Mullen didn't really give him an option.
I've copied ESPN's definition below, but he basically said thanks, we want you, but not until spring semester in 2016. He graduates in 2 weeks. if he wants to go to mississippi state, he can't enroll full time. He could theoretically enroll part time, pay $12k per semester for tuition, room, board, books, etc., and have nothing to do with the football program while on campus. Great option.
Everybody who follows college football is pretty much aware of what a redshirt is, and a grayshirt is basically a delayed version of a redshirt. When a recruit grayshirts, he signs a letter of intent in February but doesn't report for fall practices with his teammates. He delays entry to the school until the spring semester of his freshman year, keeping the NCAA five-year eligibility clock from starting. During that first semester, he can't enroll in college as a full-time student, can't receive his scholarship, can't practice and can't be around the program in any official capacity.
November 21st, 2014 at 10:07 AM ^
It's true. Good seasons in the SEC change the way teams recruit. That's just the way it is. Why is everyone upset to hear this?
November 21st, 2014 at 2:36 PM ^
"he gave the kid the option of still going the university, just didn't give him the scholly right away"
Sure......there is absolutely no difference between going to school on a full athletic scholarship and having to come up full tuition, room and board out of pocket 16 day before your graduation, right? I mean, I'm sure he's got that kind of money just laying around. So what's the big deal?
November 21st, 2014 at 9:32 AM ^
That move is like school in the summertime... No class.
November 21st, 2014 at 9:32 AM ^
November 21st, 2014 at 9:34 AM ^
oversigning.com
November 21st, 2014 at 10:47 AM ^
That's their favorite "Big 'O'!"
November 21st, 2014 at 3:20 PM ^
They certainly get off on it.
November 21st, 2014 at 10:04 AM ^
on their roster.
November 21st, 2014 at 9:35 AM ^
I thought Mullen could take anybody and in 3 years turn them into a an all SEC player.
This also makes it look like Mullen isn't going to change jobs, if you were going to leave the school next year why wouldn't you just honer the commitment and not go out looking for a better player?
November 21st, 2014 at 10:13 AM ^
I thought Mullen could take anybody and in 3 years turn them into a an all SEC player.
Why do you think that?
November 21st, 2014 at 10:25 AM ^
Sarcasm, I'm sure
November 21st, 2014 at 10:30 AM ^
November 21st, 2014 at 1:26 PM ^
Sorry. Have a point on me.
November 21st, 2014 at 1:54 PM ^
November 21st, 2014 at 9:36 AM ^
November 21st, 2014 at 9:38 AM ^
Leave on a positive-our Mich State commit tears ACL in a game-HC Mark Dantonio calls 8am and assures me that they'll honor their commitment!
Sounds like Dantonio did the right thing with one of his teammates.
November 21st, 2014 at 9:42 AM ^
As much as I dislike Dantonio and there are certainly very valid criticisms of the way he's coached his players to play (very dirty) sometimes, as national representatives of the Big Ten go, we could generally do worse.
November 21st, 2014 at 10:12 AM ^
Dantonio doesn't coach his players to play dirty. Historically they've played with a chip on their shoulders and have hated UM more than the Wolverines have hated them. Hopefully the results from last seven years are changing the attitude in Ann Arbor (Stakegate?). "Dirty plays" have been committed by both teams. A couple by Gholston may stick out, but Lewan was just as bad.
November 21st, 2014 at 10:14 AM ^
60 minutes of unnecessary roughness.
November 21st, 2014 at 11:00 AM ^
Why are people so offended by the 60 minutes thing. Isn't that how you want your team to play? I don't care much about MSU, but is it just me or are they playing football the right way? We have had our off the field issues and the MSU issues aren't any worse. But on the field, between the lines, aren't they the team we wan't to be? I am talking about the style, I think we should have and do have better talent. In a bubble, forgetting who they are, I like the aggresiveness on D.
November 21st, 2014 at 11:16 AM ^
What you're talking about is 60 minutes of necessary roughness. Unnecessary roughness is still outside the rules of the game and includes things like the Denard helmet twist.
November 21st, 2014 at 11:24 AM ^
Back to RCMB, amigo.
November 21st, 2014 at 2:13 PM ^
Come on, are you really pretending to be a Michigan fan? Your posting history leaves no doubt that you're a Sparty.
I like having other schools' fans here - even MSU fans - but it helps when they act like adults.
November 22nd, 2014 at 8:47 AM ^
OK Sherlock, you got me. I am an MSU fan, and I like to participate on other teams' boards. After registering and finding out one needs "MGoPoints" to start threads here, I knew I'd never build them up as an outright MSU fan. But try as I might I couldn't bite my tongue on a few posts and had to be the contrary guy. I'm not here to troll, but I'm sure you all think I am. Neg away...
