Harbaugh Pressures Pipkins to Retire
Should be interesting going forward. It is one side of the story, but we have seen these instances (OSU had a similar situation a few months ago I believe).
http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/13154115/ondre-pipkins-s…
"I don't want to sign the form. I wanted to play for my seniors and for the team. Coach Harbaugh said, 'I recommend you take the medical.'"
"College football is a business. New coaches have to win games. They want to go with guys they think can win. If I'm a victim of making room, so be it. But if there is no concrete reason to disqualify a player. He should have the right to keep playing."
"I feel bad I wasn't able to complete this journey with my classmates," Pipkins told ESPN. "I feel I am healthy and without pain. I believe Michigan wanted to free up the scholarship. I felt I was practicing well and could compete at a high level at the nose tackle and tackle positions."
"All I want to do is play football," Pipkins said. "I tried to finish my career at Michigan but I wasn't given the chance."
"Schmidt told me, 'Call it quits. Hang it up.' He said, 'You've had a good run'," Pipkins said of the Wolverines' head athletic trainer.
"I need you to sign this," Pipkins said Harbaugh told him of the medical form. "It's not fair to your teammates. Let's get it done."
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Yep, that's it. Must be it. Let's go with that. Or something.
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Dismissing it as not a "big deal" is Penn State-esque.
Shame on you.
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No, I'm comparing the homerism of those who defend their team at all costs to Penn State supporters.
Don't compare this to the molestation of children.
Don't compare this to the molestation of children.
Not the same thing. You can argue Bo was motivating kids to be better football players. Here, Pipkins was asked to sign something that would end his career. That is not becoming a better football player that is becoming NOT a football player. He was not given the option of returning to Michigan football (at least according to the article) - so the motivational tactic is not not a viable scenario here.
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The kid wants to play football at Michigan. Michigan wanted and asked him to do that. No one wins by pushing him away.
Remember Pipkins had a MAJOR injury to his knee. It is quite possible that is why he has never lived up to his 5 star billing, it has not healed properly. That being said, this is suspicioius, but we don't know the other side.
Pipkins is not the player he appeared to be in HS and his knee is probably a big factor.
The whole point of this conversation is the ethics of (essentially) cutting somebody for not being as good as you hoped after they've been in the program for 3 years. Maybe that's not how Harbaugh sees it, maybe it is, but how good he is relative to expectations is sort of beside the point.
He played last year and made the effort to come all the way back from the injury his sophomore year.
The degree to which the injury is the problem is questionable. Pipkins, from the outset, didn't look to be as good as his rankings would have you believe. Some guys are just busts. We'll never know about Ondre, but it appeared he was more of a backup/rotation guy his freshman and soph year than a future starter. He could legitimately be 100% back from injury and still not be even a 3rd stringer on this current team. Which it's why it looks so suspicious that this conversation happened. If we were talking about Harbaugh telling a first string all-conference guy that he should take a medical (against his wishes) it'd be very different.
I am just saying there is a mitigating factor here. But you are right prior to the injury he was not playing at 5 star. My gut says this is roster management, but there is a teeny bit of grey here. Plus, I know Harbaugh is going to push the envelope.
Short of lying to kids (tough to prove) and clearly SEC levl oversigning, I am OK with this approach.
nftxt.
Last line of the article:
"All I want to do is play football," Pipkins said. "I tried to finish my career at Michigan but I wasn't given the chance."
Do not understand how this helps w/scholarships.
Damn. I loved Pip's potential. Hopefully he's successful wherever he lands.
I loved Pipkins, I think he would be a great player, but atleast were not cutting him yet. And Harbaugh is encouraging finishing their degree...
He is transferring. He was basically cut from the team and pressured to take a medical DQ so they could use his scholarship. That's not right and not the way you should do things.
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Use his scholarship for what, a walk-on?
There really is no reason to do this to a player in Pipkins situation unless you truly believe he is medically unable to play.
You mean you thought he would be a great player? Clearly he's not going to be now...
Depending on the whole story, I would consider the coaching staff with NFL head coaching experience if he would play at the next level... Especially after missing almost 2 years
be both.
If your only definition of success is top 5 program than it is difficult to find. Because most of those are OSU or SEC teams. Of which every UM fan finds dirty.
If your definition is top 15 - I'd ask what does Stanford do that is so awful? Georgia? Oklahoma? Those are quality programs who have coaches who dont seem to be outwardly pushing envelopes. I know Texas is down but do they have a history of pushing the envelope?
I feel terrible for Pipkins. He has been through a lot and given so much to the team.
This is ugly for the program.
At my house?......yikes, I don't like this.
In terms of the program's character, I hope they were acting in Ondre's best interest.
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I had high hopes for him.
Im glad the program finally has a staff that is willing to do what it takes to win. Michigan fans are just going to have to live with it. Try not to be hypocrites about it.
I just wonder how serious his injury is, if he leaves I hope he has success where ever that may be.
Seems, from a journalistic perspective, they could at least have TRIED to get Michigan's side of the story on this...
said they cant comment on students medical histories
UM cannot legally talk about this to the public due to privacy laws. Pipkins can say whatever he wants, and UM can only give PR appropriate 'he's still part of the team' reponses. Just the law man. We'll never know what really happened from both sides.
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