decommit you bastards
recruiting is weird and scares me
decommits
jordan elliott

Exit: Jordan Elliott Comment Count

Seth January 28th, 2016 at 11:21 AM

Oh right, we should report this. In least surprising decommitments not involving Penn State recruits whom Michigan leads for:

Decommit = exit post but this one's been heading that way for several weeks. It does make that weird exchange with a Texas247 guy who wouldn't believe his Michigan commitment even weirder.

FWIW this one is more Antwaine Richardson than Rashad Weaver: the coaches wanted him in the class, as evidenced by Harbaugh flying in for an in-home visit a week ago. Elliott is expected to visit and commit to Texas this weekend, the fourth (and presumably last) school he has committed to during the process.

Take as further evidence that "commitment" can mean vastly different things to different people, and that it is foolish to presume another party has the same meaning as you. This is also the flipside to continuing to recruit a nominally filled position in the class; Elliott made comments to Sam Webb ($) in November that made it seem like he was certain to stick. With no 2015 NT and just Mone and Pallante left after Glasgow graduates, Michigan badly needed at least one and hopefully two nose tackles in this class. If they'd stopped with Elliott they'd be in a bad spot right now.

The Michigan coaches moved on last week, securing a commitment from former PSU commit Michael Dwumfour; they remain in pursuit of another NT type in Californian Boss Tagaloa.

Crutin.

Comments

Maison Bleue

January 28th, 2016 at 12:03 PM ^

Man, I can't wait to read all the articles about how kids don't know what commitment means these days. And how these last minute de-commits put the coaches in a really bad spot of trying to scramble to fill the newly empty scholarship before signing day...

Wait, what? That's not going to happen? Oh, I guess this might be why the coaches have backup plans.

Joined: 11/30/2012

MGoPoints: 12680

bigp62guard

January 28th, 2016 at 11:41 AM ^

"Committed" to 4 schools in the process.. Yet the "right" thing to do is always honor a "commitment" to a kid who can decommit whenever the flavor is sweeter somewhere else... Anyways kbye good luck.

Joined: 04/15/2009

MGoPoints: 132

Laser Wolf

January 28th, 2016 at 11:43 AM ^

So did the staff move on from Antwaine Richardson or did he move on from us? Everybody seems to keep saying he reopened his recruitment on his own, but the oft-quoted Ben Spath article from last week (LINK) included this little bit that indicates Richardson's offer was not commitable:

"I don’t disagree that this whole thing is ugly, and I can completely understand the Swensons or Richardsons or Enis feeling like they got a raw deal, their dream school coming through with an offer only to take it away."

Joined: 07/09/2008

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alum96

January 28th, 2016 at 12:09 PM ^

Yes this.

And also it would be rather dumb to decommit without having a landing spot lined up.  Sort of like quitting a job without having a new job lined up.

He came for his official in mid Dec before quiet period - at that time we heard he would not be doing EE.  Obviously this bothered him.  Then we had a quiet period where he could not go visit anyone and only talk on phone.  That lasted to mid Jan.  He decommited shortly thereafter when he at least had opportunities to talk to coaches in person I presume.

If for some wacky reason he could not find a landing spot at a school who would take him early then he could have just stayed in the class and signed in Feb.  So it was smart not to decommit immediately upon the news he wasn't EE because he didnt have a backup plan yet.

Good luck to the guy - we need as many DBs as possible to reload after losing our top 6 after 2016 presuming Peppers will leave with his 1st round grade.  I liked his size and how he won over coaches despite playing on a bad knee.

Joined: 04/28/2012

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Seth

January 29th, 2016 at 6:01 PM ^

I have my own pet conspiracy theory on Richardson. At one point wasn't he being discussed as an early enrollee? After that he didn't enroll early, then Durkin left, then later Richardson decommitted and went to Maryland. So I kinda wonder if Durkin had anything to do with him not enrolling early.

Swenson and Weaver are in the same boat, except Weaver they left open the possibility of a scholarship being available whereas with Swenson they were pretty clear in october and very clear when he tried to come on an official.

Enis I think was more the Dytarious Johnson story, hence not making a fuss.

Joined: 10/14/2008

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harmon98

January 28th, 2016 at 11:47 AM ^

In all likelihood Michigan dodged a bullet with this recruitment. Hope the best for the kid but these recruitments largely end up with a disappointing career.

Joined: 07/24/2008

MGoPoints: 8622

Wolverine 73

January 28th, 2016 at 11:49 AM ^

but I don't regret losing someone like Elliott.  If he has this much trouble with commitments, you have to wonder how committed he will be to the program he ultimately signs with.  You don't need people who are lukewarm or always wondering if somewhere else may be better; you need people sold on your program and dedicated to making it work.

Joined: 08/03/2009

MGoPoints: 5361

Erik_in_Dayton

January 28th, 2016 at 11:49 AM ^

1.) I choose to see the hilarity in this.

2.) The DL is set to be very young and possibly very thin in 2017, but then the whole 2017 defense is set to be very young and possibly very thin in 2017.

Joined: 12/03/2008

MGoPoints: 35231

alum96

January 28th, 2016 at 12:03 PM ^

Which is why this class is very important.  We need a ton of guys who can start or compete to start in year 2 out of this class on defense.

Top 6 DBs gone, only LB we believe will start in 16 for sure gone in Gedeon, and much of the DL not named Hurst or Mone who have done something in their career gone.

Don Brown is handed a Mercedes on defense in 16 but will earn his paycheck in 17.

Joined: 04/28/2012

MGoPoints: 63601

TreyBurkeHeroMode

January 28th, 2016 at 1:11 PM ^

Oh the other hand, if this is the kind of recruiting that Harbaugh pulls off with just one season of relative success in the program then imagine what the 2018, 2019, etc. defenses will look like.

I fully expect that once we get through some of the lingering echoes of "RICH ROD Y YOU NO RECRUIT OL?" and "Fred Jackson, RB whisperer" and "My name is Inigo Borges, you are my quarterback, prepare to die" and the like, the amplitude of our boom and bust years will smooth out pretty significantly.

Joined: 11/04/2013

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