Erik Swenson Officially Re-Opens his Recruitment

This is the single creepiest thing I've read on MGoBlog all day.

Everybody loves young men!

Ha!

No, and we'll never know the whole story as Harbaugh and the coaches can't speak about it.

You will never know hard facts in these situations, you take what you know and apply logic and it usually leads you to a fair conclusion.

I am okay with reserving judgement, but then we should also do it when similar things occur in Saban's program or Myer's program. But alas we are quick to judge in those instances.

My judgement will always be consistent regardless of what program it is. Others have to make their own judgments.

For me personally not a proud day.

No, we don't. What's the worst case, though? Or rather, the worst case of the most likely scenarios?

It sounds like people are worried that we pulled this kid's scholarship a few weeks before signing day becuase we decided he wasn't good enough, that sounds like the worst accusation that's flying around.

Is that acceptable? Officially, yes. I don't think that breaks any NCAA rules, does it? It's dishonorable though, which makes it a bad look for the team and university.

What if we were still offering him a scholarship but informed him that he would not be on the football team? So he could still get his degree, but he would not be a member of Michigan football. That happened with Matt Falcon, right? Would that be okay in this case?

People on this board criticize other teams and fans based off a lot less information.  In my opinion, this is fair game.  Personally, I feel sorry for Swenson, and I think he's a very good kid.  

At the same time, I agree with you in that we should stop pretending like the kid's life is over (I had the same reaction to Weber/OSU last year).  I do think the coaching staff should probably have handled it better by letting him know sooner.  Regardless, I would rather have the coaching staff tell him now (before signing day) rather than push kids out later.

Wish nothing but the best for the kid (and that goes for all recruits whether they go to Michigan or not).  If he has designs on going to the NFL, then I hope the coaching staff's evaluation was wrong and that he ends up a first round draft pick.  

don't think there is any need to take a sensationalized position on this.  Everybody is either "this cannot happen ever" or "this kind of thing happens all the time, deal with it!'  Neither has to be the case.  To call objections to pulling a scholarship offer(if that is what happenned) akin to a "participation medal" is ridiculous and marginalizes what is a legit ethical consideration.

But they are many of the same people that complained about Hoke not demanding higher standards from his players and that he promoted an entitlement environment in the locker room.  They are also, in large part, the same people that complained about the Norfleet and Countess transfers and how Harbaugh done dirty by them.  

People that love sausage probably shouldn't watch sausage being made.

I mean, recruiting insiders have been saying that they don't think Swenson ends up in the class, they do however say NW is recruiting him.  Swenson himself says it was due to "unforeseen circumstances".

I mean, you should be able to come up with a good idea of the circumstances here.

Jim Harbaugh is not beyond criticism. He's not Gandhi or Mother Theresa, or any other saint. He's an aggressive, hard-driving individual with the same self-serving attributes that virtually all highly successful executives possess. He will say, and do, anything that he believes will help him be victorious over his competitors, even if what he says at one job seems to be at odds with things he's said at other jobs.

FWIW, Sam Webb addressed the Swenson situation this morning. While he stated openly that he is not privy to what communications there were between the staff and Swenson, he did say that the situation was "regrettable" and that he didn't think it would become standard practice here. Coming from somebody who's been an extremely enthusiastic and supportive fan of everything Harbaugh's done so far, that's as close to an open criticism of whatever happened as we're likely to hear from Webb.