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 22nd, 2014 at 12:08 AM ^
photos you can find.... of one michigan player being overly aggressive in a state game? The second photo, although a penalty, is not going to inflict injury, and occurred in the same game that Gholston put an "arm bar" on Lewan within the first few minutes of the game.
November 21st, 2014 at 11:09 AM ^
metaphor
1. a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance
And it was Narduzzi who said that, not Dantonio. I'd prefer the Woverines play tough football and take a few 15 yard unnecessary roughness penalties to what we've been watching lately.
November 21st, 2014 at 1:31 PM ^
Narduzzi coaches for Dantonio, yes? He doesn't run the program, does he? Okay then. Good talk.
November 21st, 2014 at 11:50 AM ^
Tell that to Mike Martin and Willie Henry's lower legs after they were deliberately chop-blocked by Spartan offensive lineman. And incurred penalties for it.
November 21st, 2014 at 9:38 AM ^
We need QBs.Let's get on an offer!
November 21st, 2014 at 9:39 AM ^
I don't want SEC tactics brought here, and hopefully none of you do either.
November 21st, 2014 at 10:53 AM ^
you know, being nationally relevant. I'll take that tactic.
November 21st, 2014 at 9:40 AM ^
Its early enough the kid can at least go looking around for another school. Its much better than having the kid move into a dorm room and then pulling his scholarship. Great? Certainly not, but this young man has a chance to decide his future before its too late. I'd rather have that than he has to try and sort things out after he signed his LOI or showed up on campus.
November 21st, 2014 at 9:58 AM ^
Did you miss the part where he was supposed to enroll in january?
November 21st, 2014 at 9:44 AM ^
November 21st, 2014 at 9:44 AM ^
Per Scout Football's piece - HERE - the other schools that had looked at Virgil include Mississippi, Arizona State, Boise State, Florida, Nebraska and several others.
It would be interesting to know why Mullen did it, because as others have said, this is a terrible look and a pretty shitty thing to do to someone who arranged their life (i.e., early graduation in lieu of early enrollment in your school) around the promise of that scholarship.
November 21st, 2014 at 9:50 AM ^
November 21st, 2014 at 9:45 AM ^
This is exactly why there needs to be an early signing period. No more of this revokable "offer" stuff. If you want your guaranteed scholly, sign early, if not, you take the risk. It forces the coaches to put their money where their mouth is, and lets the kids decide how much risk of this sort of thing they're willing to handle.
November 21st, 2014 at 9:46 AM ^
There's no risk-free candidate, but Mullen has some definite question marks.
- 2-21 vs. ranked teams prior to this season
- basically one stellar season, in a year in which a lot of things lined up for MSU (e.g., a very experienced roster and a very good QB)
- personality conflicts with many other coaches, former players, etc.
- very questionable game/clock management in the biggest game of his career (Bama)
- this gray-shirt story, if what's described is roughly what happened
I can forgive a lot of those things, but it's much easier to forgive some negatives when you're looking at someone with Harbaugh-like positives. Mullen's a good candidate, no doubt, and I want Michigan to look closely at him... but I want Michigan to look closely at him. We need to figure out what we'd be getting with this guy. As a candidate, I see him as much closer to Todd Graham territory than Jim Harbaugh / Bob Stoops territory. And that's fine, since that's the territory where we'll probably have to find our coach.
November 21st, 2014 at 9:48 AM ^
November 21st, 2014 at 10:03 AM ^
Another point about Mullen is that I think his records give a distorted view of MSU's performance (making it look more positive than it has been). He gets credit for playing a nightmarishly difficult SEC schedule, but here's who MSU has played out-of-conference since he's been there:
2014- Southern Miss, UAB, @ South Alabama, UT-Martin
2013- #13 Oklahoma St, Alcorn St, Troy, Bowling Green
2012- Jackson St, @ Troy, South Alabama, Middle TN
2011- Memphis, LA Tech, @ UAB, UT-Martin
2010- Memphis, Alcorn St, @ Houston, UAB
2009- Jackson St, #25 GA Tech, Houston, @ Middle TN
That's garbage. Throw in a couple of conference games against teams like Kentucky, Vanderbilt, and Arkansas, and those 7-6 type seasons really don't look all that impressive, even for MSU.
EDIT: In my post above this one I meant to write "former employers," not "former players." I have no idea what Mullen's relationship is with his former players.
November 21st, 2014 at 10:21 AM ^
Dan Mullen has never been on my top 3 CC list. I honestly dont get why so many people want this guy here. He has one good season at MSU and now everyone thinks he is Vince Lombardi. If Miss St had 3+ losses at this time like they normally do, nobody would be talking about him.
Yes, it is very hard to win at a place like Miss St, and this year has been impressive, but it does not over shadow has average they have been since Mullen's arrival. They have obviously gotten better since Mullen took over, but I dont see him being the saving grace for Michigan. Im not saying I'd be upset if he was our next coach, but I certainly think there better options out there.
November 21st, 2014 at 10:43 AM ^
I think some of it is because of the way he cleaned our clock in the bowl game.
Of course, Bill Snyder also cleaned our clock in a bowl game. So why aren't we looking at him too?
November 21st, 2014 at 12:22 PM ^
Snyder is due to age. I think he is the 1st or 2nd best coach in CFB. Dude's average recruiting class is in the 60s. I mean MSU is in the 30s, Wiscy in the 40s - this guy is in the 60s. And he puts out a class team every year. He'd be my #2 behind JH even if he was 59 but he's in his 70s.
As for Mullen well I've been beating the drum abotu not going for the hot candidate. A year a go it was Sumlin, and his star has fallen quickly. And anyone who oversigns in the SEC you simply cannot translate their success to another conference. And his success is fleeting - he beats 3-4 baby seals a year, beats teams like Vanderbilt and Kentucky in crossovers and beats rival Ole miss every so often. It's all come together for him this year but 5 years of bleh and 1 year of HEY HO sounds a lot like what our current coach did at Ball State - albeit in a much easier conference. Last, his offense is a complete non fit for our players.
November 21st, 2014 at 3:23 PM ^
I was being facetious about Snyder.
November 21st, 2014 at 5:33 PM ^
This story, if accurately descrbed, sours Mullen in my mind as a viable canditate - but that doesn't mean he hasn't been remarkably successful at MSU.
He's the most successful coach in school history.
IMO, the two most difficult places to succeed in college football may be Miss St and K-State.
Crappy #2 schools in their state, with long history of losing. Lightly populated states competing against schools in football hotbeds. MSU has won exactly 1 SEC championship - in 1941.
Snyder is an absolute genius, and Mullen has turned the Indiana of the SEC into a team that's competitive in the SEC west.
And yeah, both Snyder and Mullen embarrassed us in bowl games.
November 21st, 2014 at 9:49 AM ^
November 21st, 2014 at 9:49 AM ^
What if he is rescinding the kids offer because he knows he is taking a job at another school, and wants to recruit him there instead of letting him enroll early at MSU?
Clearly he isn't letting the kid or his Coach in on the plot if thats the case, but it would be pretty slick.
November 21st, 2014 at 10:02 AM ^
came to my mind first.
Nice avatar, could you blow that up for us?
November 21st, 2014 at 10:38 AM ^
the opposite. that he knows he's staying and thinks he can leverage this year to get a higher rated kid.
seems to me if your theory was correct, there would be a wink wink nudge nudge bargain with the kid to that affect - and we wouldnt see his coach or his teammates slamming Mullen in the media.
November 21st, 2014 at 10:46 AM ^
Exactly.
He's staying at Miss State and he's trying to build a consistent powerhouse, SEC-style.
G'day to you, sir.
November 21st, 2014 at 11:59 AM ^
I would think he would at least tell the coach somehow of his intentions. But either way it would be a slimey move on Mullen's part. I suppose it woud be less slimey if he was actually going to recruit the kid at the new school.
November 21st, 2014 at 9:53 AM ^
November 21st, 2014 at 9:59 AM ^
Repulsive. The whole oversigning/grayshirting thing is just terrible. Keep that trash out of Ann Arbor.
When an athlete commits to you, I think that commitment really goes both ways, (s)he is pledging to you and you are pledging to them. Things can be handled on a case-by-case basis, sure, but I want to look for a better player is not an appropriate reason to pull someone's scholarship.
November 21st, 2014 at 10:24 AM ^
When an athlete commits to you, I think that commitment really goes both ways
I WISH it went both way, and I think the rules should be changed so that it DOES go both ways... but as of right now, they are two completely unrelated things.
A LOI committs the player to the school, and places no onus on the school.
A “scholarship/financial aid agreement” commits the school to the player - and until they;ve given you one, they have ZERO committment to you regardless of your signing an LOI.
November 21st, 2014 at 12:22 PM ^
True, but that's what I intended to say. Of course the school is not legally bound to honor a verbal commitment but I think, practically, a commitment -- even if just verbal -- should be considered mutual, even if not legally so.
It just speaks to the character of the coach IMO.
November 21st, 2014 at 12:43 PM ^
November 21st, 2014 at 4:35 PM ^
This could support a legal action under the doctrine of promissory estoppel.
I don't think so.
This seems to be the definitive "promise made without consideration".
I just think the LOI contract needs to become binding on the school. That is the only avenue I see for fixing the issue.
November 21st, 2014 at 9:56 AM ^
and this seems like a pretty dickish move, especially from an academic standpoint: Mullen is telling the kid he can join the team in 2016 but only if he pays his own way first and delays his enrollment, and then can only start out as a part-time student.
Schlissel would not be impressed by this.
November 21st, 2014 at 9:57 AM ^
November 21st, 2014 at 10:17 AM ^
I don't understand why he was ever in anyone's "top 3", other than Brian saying it...
November 21st, 2014 at 11:01 AM ^
he is an up-and-comer doing well in the toughest division in college football at a non-traditional power. He is one of the few coaches where a switch to Michigan would be a large and legitimate upgrade over his current situation. Other than that, I don't know.
November 21st, 2014 at 10:00 AM ^
November 21st, 2014 at 10:05 AM ^
Unless there is a back story to this (and a class of 30 suggests oversigning may be a way of life for Mullen), I think we should cross this guy off of our wish list. He was very high on my wish list, but this last minute retraction of the scholarship is straight-up bushwa. It bespeaks a mindset that is too SEC for my liking. I don't want my school's coach ever treating a kid like a commodity.
Now if there's a back story to this, that's another kettle o' fish. But it's hard to see what the backstory would be, based on what we know.
November 21st, 2014 at 10:06 AM ^
November 21st, 2014 at 10:09 AM ^
November 21st, 2014 at 10:13 AM ^
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November 21st, 2014 at 10:22 AM ^
and he has only 19 seniors on his roster.
Math says this isn't the only kid who will be disapointed.
November 21st, 2014 at 10:13 AM ^
Kid planned his whole life around going to Miss St. Pulling his scholarship like that less than 3 weeks before graduation is awful. If true, Mullen should rightly get dragged through the mud for this one.
November 21st, 2014 at 10:25 AM ^
November 21st, 2014 at 10:27 AM ^
While I can't tell from the clips whether he's reading defenses well (Magnus?), seems like he's got a decent arm. He's not fast afoot, and I'm not sure I'd even say he's quick, but he displayed some really nice juking ability in tight spaces.
I bet what's going on is that MSU's success this season has meant that higher-rated kids are suddenly much more receptive to recruiting pitches from Mullen, and he thinks he can do better than Virgil. This is probably exacerbated by the fact he's at 30 commits and has to do some pruning. He certainly didn't do himself any recruiting favors in that area of Texas; I get the feeling that high school coaches get really, really pissed about this kind of thing.
November 21st, 2014 at 11:28 AM ^
Eh, I'm not very impressed. I mean, I'm not 100% up to speed with what level of talent Mississippi State normally recruits. Virgil isn't really "reading" defenses. He's doing some very simple option reads, or he knows where he's going with the ball pre-snap. He doesn't go through progressions. I also think he makes some really bad decisions that end up turning out well for him just because the high school safety or linebacker on the other team is bad at football. He makes some poor reads in the run game and the pass game.
Anyway, I think the kid is a 3-star for a reason. I would not argue for him being ranked any higher. Of course, that's no reason to yank his scholarship in late November. If you don't like his athletic abilities, you shouldn't offer him in the first place.
November 21st, 2014 at 11:51 AM ^
That's my opinion too. Don't make promises you don't want to keep, in other words.
November 21st, 2014 at 2:15 PM ^
Does that include the players who promise to attend colleges and then change their minds?
There is an entire list of former Michigan committs you should be calling out right now. /s