Who was the "Worst Decommitment Ever"?
I realize this is a morose topic a few weeks out from signing day; however, as I prepare for This Month in MGoBlog History for January 2007, I came across the news of Indiana Safey Jerimy Finch decommiting. He was a 4 star and 37th nationally to Rivals and was set to join a young, untested Michigan secondary. On January 15 he decommitted and promptly committed to Indiana, though he would sign with Florida. Brian declared this the "worst decommitment ever". In hindsight, this wasn't that big a deal. Finch was later named the biggest recruiting bust for IU in the last ten years.
This has made me wonder if Brian's statement is still true. Finch was a highly rated player at a position of need. Given what was to come in the next few years, it probably didn't matter much one way or another. Three others come to mind since then that are probably bigger: Dee Hart, Damien Harris, and George Campbell. Hart and Campbell for what they would have meant to to the coach who recruited them. Hart was supposed to finally be the super athlete to thrive in Rodriguez's backfield. Didn't Campbell refer to himself as the "mayor" and was going to put together a magnificent recruiting class. Harris might be the biggest talent of any of these for Michigan to lose. Interestly but probably not coincidentally, all four of these guys decommitted from a coach who was out the door.
Are there any I am forgetting? Any who could have had a bigger impact on the program or had a lot of success at another program?
EDIT: I should have checked out Touch the Banner right away, but here's a great list of decommits and transfers.
January 16th, 2017 at 7:32 AM ^
Ryan Mallett, He was committed to Michigan then he decommitted and committed to Arkansas. We probably could have used him. No offense Sheriden and Threet. Literally NO Offense.
January 16th, 2017 at 7:34 AM ^
January 16th, 2017 at 8:40 AM ^
You mean verbally committing. Which really isnt a commitment at all.
I know the difference, thanks though.
Im making the point that most, if not all of the other guys mentioned never did anything anywhere else. Mallett did, and he left a void not filled for 2 years. So we really could have used his commitment.
January 16th, 2017 at 9:18 AM ^
lol, so then Jabrill Peppers decommitted from his Senior year?
January 16th, 2017 at 9:39 AM ^
Ryan Mallett played...as in, he was on the team, wore the uniform. The term "decommitment" refers to never signing your national letter of intent because you changed your verbal commitment to another school before national signing day. This was not the case with Mallett at all. Mallett signed his LOI, and was a Wolverine at one point. He then transferred to another institution to play in an offense that better fit his QB toolset.
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January 16th, 2017 at 9:52 AM ^
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January 16th, 2017 at 10:29 AM ^
Ryan Mallett not only signed with Michigan but played here his freshman year (2007) and started a few games at QB. It was after his freshman season, and the coaching change, that he transferred.
January 16th, 2017 at 11:29 AM ^
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January 16th, 2017 at 2:00 PM ^
I do actually. My point is this. This thread has been talking about players who never played for Michigan many of whom were big hype guys who never did much at the school they played for.
I think about players who left us for other schools after playing for us who did make a difference. Think about what would have happened if Mallett stayed. Maybe Manningham and Arrington stay. Those two and Matthews (they might have made their decisions first, a historian could correct me).
Maybe we dont go through the horror we had for 5 years.
My comment also points to the fact that Ryan Mallett actually committed to Michigan. Its not actually a commitment if you dont sign on the dotted line.
January 16th, 2017 at 7:54 AM ^
January 16th, 2017 at 8:05 AM ^
January 16th, 2017 at 8:05 AM ^
January 16th, 2017 at 8:29 AM ^
January 16th, 2017 at 8:15 AM ^
Was Nick Perry ever a commit? He was out of Detroit Mackenzie and recorded something like 30 sacks as a senior. Ended up going to USC and is now staring for the Packers. IIRC, it came down to M and USC.
Edit: beat to the punch by previous poster.
January 16th, 2017 at 8:28 AM ^
No, he was never committed.
January 16th, 2017 at 8:21 AM ^
January 16th, 2017 at 8:31 AM ^
FWIW, I have a list of decommits (and transfers) at TTB (LINK).
January 16th, 2017 at 8:31 AM ^
& see Dylan McCaffrey.
January 16th, 2017 at 8:40 AM ^
Not sure if it technically qualifies but the most stinging loss to me is Treadwell. Second would be any of the guys we could've taken and Hoke passed on, a-la Pocic and Burbridge.
January 16th, 2017 at 10:51 AM ^
I believe that UM did not "pass" on Burbridge in the usual sense. He was a borderline guy academically and there was a very real chance that he would not qualify. I think MSU only found out that he did qualify in the summer before he enrolled.
January 16th, 2017 at 8:57 AM ^
Who cares?
January 16th, 2017 at 9:14 AM ^
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January 16th, 2017 at 9:59 AM ^
January 16th, 2017 at 9:23 AM ^
Technically not a decommit, but Terelle Pryor may be the most impactful non-get recruit for Michigan in the last decade or so.
January 16th, 2017 at 1:59 PM ^
Agreed. The guy's maturity level is questionable at best, and maybe it was best for Michigan that he never set foot on campus. But there was no denying his talent when he stepped on the field. Had RichRod signed him, he changes the face of the program. You have the #1 recruit in the country leading your offense. Not Nick Sheridan and Stephen Threet. Guys who I could probably outrun on my own.
Losing Pryor wasn't he worst part. It was the fact that we lost him to OSU, and he proceeded to make a mockery of our team for 3 years. He made our defense look like a bunch of chumps time and time again.
To further rub salt in the wound, Tressel seemed it fitting to under-utilize Pryor's skillset. I don't know how good Pryor would've been under RichRod, but he would've been a far more dynamic player, in my opinion, in the spread offense.
January 16th, 2017 at 9:21 PM ^
Yeah he definitely did under-utilize him. I always assumed it was to keep him fresh.
Also, as far as RichRod goes, the right coach can turn a troubled individual around, and the wrong coach can exacerbate it. Both talent-wise and character-wise.
I've seen it happen over and over and over in my years as a coach.
January 16th, 2017 at 9:26 AM ^
Was he also the worst? Who knows how things would have turned out if he hadn't changed his mind.
Jake Fischer gets my vote as the worst loss of a player. Tyus Battle was a big decommitment. too. It wasn't just losing him, but the timing was terrible, as it felt like we lost Josh Langford too.
January 16th, 2017 at 9:37 AM ^
He might be the one that hurts the most in terms of roster weak links.
He decommitted from a positon that (as things played out thereafter with injuries and other recruiting misses) is right now super thin. Also decommitted very late, so there was no time to fill his spot with a guy of similar potential.
Other decommits have been higher ranked and/or had higher upside (though Hamilton had lots of that).
But others decommitted from postion groups that were/would not become so thin on the roster and, therefore, were less damaging in term of impact on W-L potential.
January 16th, 2017 at 9:51 AM ^
I was just scrolling through to see if anyone mentioned him. Really hurt O-line depth. I don't think he was committed, but the other one that really hurt was that Andrus Peat kid that was high on us but ended up going to Stanford. He ended up as a first round pick. He single handedly could have saved Brady Hoke. (Glad we have Harbaugh.)
January 16th, 2017 at 10:17 AM ^
Hamilton was committed to Michigan, and was an actual de-commit. Went to Stanford, like Peat.
Peat was very good. I like Hoke as a person. But...in my opinion no single missed recruit from the Hoke era could have made enough of a difference to save Hoke.
January 16th, 2017 at 9:47 AM ^
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January 16th, 2017 at 9:54 AM ^
But for me is was Jack Campbell. Killed the hockey team that year and I'm not sure the program ever really recovered.
January 16th, 2017 at 12:26 PM ^
I was gonna say that. And John Gibson - I believe they were consecutive years, right? I know Gibson has been in the NHL for a couple years now, what happened to Campbell?
You're right, after Hunwick left, the goalie situation has been rough. Not that the rest of the team has helped much to fix it.
January 16th, 2017 at 9:59 AM ^
January 16th, 2017 at 10:25 AM ^
Travis Johnson, #1-ranked defensive lineman c. 2000, said on Signing Day. "I went to bed a Wolverine and woke up a Seminole."
I'm still scarred by that one.
January 16th, 2017 at 1:25 PM ^
January 16th, 2017 at 10:53 AM ^
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January 16th, 2017 at 12:18 PM ^
January 16th, 2017 at 1:18 PM ^
Instead, not only did we lose him, but we lost him to our most hated rival. And we had to spend 3 years watching him skate circles around our entire defense.
Yeah the kids a dumbass and considering his display of maturity, or rather lack thereof, it doesn't hurt much now. But man did it suck watching him suit up for the enemy.
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January 16th, 2017 at 1:22 PM ^
January 16th, 2017 at 2:52 PM ^
Ric Flair
January 16th, 2017 at 5:49 PM ^
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January 16th, 2017 at 6:48 PM ^