Dallas Crawford Update

Submitted by icefins26 on

I just stumbled on this article about how he may reopen his recruitment (FWIW, Rivals has an article up):

http://www.news-press.com/article/20101216/SPORTS01/12160405/1010/SPORT…

Crawford, who has verbally committed to Michigan but grew up a Miami Hurricanes fan, said Miami's new coaching hire and rumors surrounding the Wolverines coaching staff could leave the door open for him to resume taking offers."I may open back up. Not decommit," said Crawford, who said Southern California has gotten in touch. "I don't know anything right now."

I know this was rumored a few days ago.

EDIT:  also in the article:

North defensive linemen Aaron Lynch and Jimmy Stewart of Island Coast got their first looks at South quarterback Dallas Crawford of South Fort Myers."He's fast," Lynch said. "He's probably the best I've ever seen."

UMaD

December 16th, 2010 at 4:52 PM ^

Kids who would have committed might have pushed things back long enough to go elsewhere.  Kids who were leaning to Michigan might have committed elsewhere.  Kids who were considering, might have crossed M off the list.  We get a fraction of whats going on by following recruiting "insiders".  We/you know very little except for the 2nd hand glimpses we get occassionaly. 

You have no basis for your claim.   You have no way of knowing what might have happened for the positive (e.g. Avery Walls), just as other people have no way of knowing what negative things happened (e.g. Walls would have gone to Cal anyway).  The only tangible change so far is Dee Hart not enrolling early.  But TomVH, and other plugged in scources say its hurting us with recruits, at least for now.

You're right in that we can't know if what ultimatly happens is good or bad.  Newsome decommitting was viewed as terrible, but (probably) as a direct result, we ended up with Denard Robinson.  Bad became good.  Unlucky can become lucky.  Fate is tricky.  Who knows...

That said, we can GENERALLY say that decommitments are bad.  You're right that the world won't end and to make a reasoned request for perspective and patience.  But you're wrong to say "nothings happened yet".  Something IS happening and it IS impacting things.  Maybe a lot, maybe a little, maybe nearly nothing -- but with no certainty can anyone say its not worth discussing...particularly in the world of recruiting, where argualbly nothing is anyway, till signing day.

UMaD

December 16th, 2010 at 5:32 PM ^

All you'll know is who the HC is and good class, bad class, or (the heavy heavy favorite) somewhere in between class.

If Zettlel picks Michigan in February we can say DB's indecision had no impact.  If Zettlel picks MSU we can say DB had an impact...or not...we still won't know.

Would Avery Walls have picked Michigan w/o DB's indecision?  We don't know and we still won't in February.

If Michigan goes 4 and 8 next year, we won't know if DB's actions could have prevented it.  If Michigan goes 11-1 we won't know if DBs actions could have made it 10-2 or 12-0...we won't know.

What will change in January or February?  We'll have more information, but its unlikely any of it will tell us if DB did the right thing.

But I agree...apeshit is a bit much.

His Dudeness

December 16th, 2010 at 2:01 PM ^

I don't see anything wrong with DB putting together a press conference re: CC (which no doubt will be national news worthy, ESPN) right now and announcing RR will be retained as coach. He could always research after the bowl game and fire him anyway. Coaches/owners/ADs have done this for years. Nobody would even bat an eye at the fact that the first announcement was a complete show. It would firm up recruting for the time being and IME be a good solution to the problem at hand. I am not saying it is right or ethical or anything, but it has become so commonplace. Hell Saban did just as bad or worse and now he is glorified in a fucking commercial eating a cookie with Herbie and the Gang of Morons. It's all about the wins, unfortunately.

WolvinLA2

December 16th, 2010 at 2:09 PM ^

I disagree, that's the wrong thing to do. It hurts our credibility as an AD and University and will turn off recruits even more if DB goes back on his word. In the end, what difference will it make to "shore up" recruiting for 2 weeks? That will only make damage control that much harder if RR is not retained. People need to stop worrying about the short-short-term so much. What happens between now and Jan 3/4 is meaningless.

His Dudeness

December 16th, 2010 at 2:22 PM ^

I disagree that the next two weeks are meaningless. It is prime time for recruting now that most seniors are done with the season. I agree with the point that it doesn't really matter because nobody signs until Signing Day, but I would bet that 100% of recruits make up their mind more than 5 minutes before they sign. This is just giving reason to kids to look elsewhere, IME. And as we like to say "if we get them on campus there is a shot." We are giving other places that shot.

Mitch Cumstein

December 16th, 2010 at 2:52 PM ^

Fair enough, but players contacting coaches can only go so far. You made it sound like schools would be dialing up our recruits and getting them on campus.

This is just giving reason to kids to look elsewhere, IME. And as we like to say "if we get them on campus there is a shot." We are giving other places that shot.

And I'm not saying this whole situation isn't hurting, but I don't think its absolutely killing our class.

His Dudeness

December 16th, 2010 at 3:07 PM ^

except that this statement by me "This is just giving reason to kids to look elsewhere, "

and this statement by you "You made it sound like schools would be dialing up our recruits and getting them on campus."

are exactly the opposite of one another.

moffle

December 16th, 2010 at 2:54 PM ^

I disagree that the next two weeks are meaningless. It is prime time for recruting now that most seniors are done with the season.

How terribly inconvenient, then, that most of the next two weeks are a recruiting dead period.

Edit: Beat to the punch. But still I don't think it's fair to call this prime recruiting time if coaches are not even allowed to contact recruits.

Magnus

December 16th, 2010 at 2:31 PM ^

Person A suggests that the athletic director of the University of Michigan should be two-faced and deceive players, fans, and coaches by giving a public display of support for Michigan's coach when he might not really mean it.

Person B suggests that Person A's idea is dumb and sleazy and uses sarcasm to point it out.

And yet Person B is the one who displays dick-baggery, huh?  Interesting...

His Dudeness

December 16th, 2010 at 2:50 PM ^

Like I said (now twice) it happens all the time with coaches around the country. They are not villified and if they win they are eventually glorified. And I don't know if you know this, but not many people outside of this board and Michigan fans could even pick DB out of a lineup. It would blow over in a news cycle and the second "real" announcement (if it would even be needed; only if he fired RR) wouldn't even make the ESPN bottom line. It has happened so many times it is predictable now.

And yes you are a snarky asshole and I think you take pride in that for some reason. It is demonstrable and repeatable. Science.

Magnus

December 16th, 2010 at 3:01 PM ^

I guess if it happened before, it's okay if it happens again.

When dealing with people like you - who suggest that our AD lies to the public - I'm not sure that "snark" is such a horrible crime.

But hey, if calling me an asshole makes you feel better, then I'll be your huckleberry.

His Dudeness

December 16th, 2010 at 3:39 PM ^

WHich one of those statements happened as recently as his "hilarious" new commercial? None, it blew over and he is now glorified. Like I fucking said in the first place. Jesus. Reading Comp. 101.

moffle

December 16th, 2010 at 4:00 PM ^

FYI:

"They are not villified and if they win they are eventually glorified." != "They are eventually not vilified and if they win they are glorified."

But regardless, the implication that nowadays nobody thinks Saban is a slimebag is preposterous.  Practically everyone thinks he is except Alabama fans.  A successful coach, obviously, but also a massive bag of slime.

gwrock

December 16th, 2010 at 2:44 PM ^

RR will have to wait until after the 2011 bowl game to find out whether he has a job or not.  If he's retained, he'll get to deal with all the bitching and moaning about how the recruiting class wasn't as good as it could have been.  Which is okay, because then he'll have a built-in excuse up his sleeve for why the depth chart still isn't deep enough.  Which will piss off his detractors even more -- and then everyone will have to wait until after the 2012 bowl game for DB to decide what happens next.

gwrock

December 16th, 2010 at 5:25 PM ^

I don't think the buyout comes into play at this point.  RR's contract requires 30-day written advanced notice of termination without cause -- which I believe means we have been within the window where Brandon could still save that $1.5 million by making his decision and notifying RR in writing now.

I expect DB is going to do what he said he would do.  He is going to take his time, wait until the full season is over (which includes the bowl), and then make a complete assessment based on what he has in front of him.  He doesn't strike me as a shoot-from-the-hip kind of guy whatsoever.