The Considerable Attrition of Stanford's 2010 Recruiting Class
Tony Jefferson (L) and Kain Colter (R) left Stanford's class for very different reasons.
I swear I'll be posting a full recruiting mailbag this week, but when looking at Michael Spath's article on Jim Harbaugh's recruiting style, this merited a closer examination:
At Stanford, The Cardinal produced a slew of decommitments during Harbaugh's tenure (18 alone in 2010), and we've been told that when Harbaugh accepts a commitment, it is often the early stages of the vetting process, and that over the next few months both coaching staff and recruit could come to the conclusion it is not the right fit.
If such were to happen at Michigan, fans would have to ask themselves if they are OK with a recruiting strategy in which players are recruited and offered a scholarship but ultimately told prior to Signing Day that it would be best for all involved to part ways.
Stanford's elite admissions turned away a few prospects, and one could argue it was the school not Harbaugh that had final say, but a staff should have a pretty good feel from the onset which players have the grades to be admitted and those that do not. At Stanford, Harbaugh was willing to accept pledges from an abundance of borderline prospects.
18 decommitments in one class! On its face, that's alarming, especially in the context of Michigan taking this many early commitments. To get a clearer picture of what happened at Stanford and what we can expect from Harbaugh at Michigan, I took a look at the decommitment stories of every one-time 2010 Stanford commit I could find to see what really occurred.
The good news: Harbaugh didn't just kick 18 players out of his class to make room for better players. In fact, a good number of these decommits were players Harbaugh didn't want to lose. There was no Elliott Porter situation. The bad news: while Harbaugh didn't seem to go so far as to yank anyone's scholarship outright, a couple of the tactics he used probably won't sit well with Michigan fans, and understandably so.
I've separated out the 2010 decommits into categories. I believe Spath's source for the 18 decommits figure is this Bleacher Report article. There's only one player on the list (Tyler Brosius) whom I couldn't verify was ever a Stanford commit in the first place; neither Rivals nor Scout even listed him as holding an offer. Here's the rest:
Prospect Chose A Better Opportunity
Several of Stanford's 2010 commits had one of the more common reasons for a commitment flip: they got what they found to be a better offer from another program and made the switch.
- Four-star CA S/LB Tony Jefferson, now on the Arizona Cardinals, committed to Stanford in September of his junior season. He backed off the following January, saying he wanted to keep his options open while citing concerns over Stanford's strict admissions, and ended up at Oklahoma.
- Four-star CA LB Jordan Zumwalt fielded heavy interest from both Los Angeles schools while he was a Stanford commit, and on Signing Day he switched to UCLA, in part because it was closer to home.
- Four-star MD CB Louis Young committed to Stanford without taking a visit, had second thoughts, recommitted, had second thoughts again, and eventually wound up at Georgia Tech.
- Three one-time Stanford commits—four-star GA WR TJ Jones, three-star UT S Chris Badger, and three-star KY OL Tate Nichols—flipped to Notre Dame during the process. Jones switched after an official visit to South Bend, while the other two made their decisions shortly after receiving Irish offers.
- Three-star OH CB Courtney Avery changed his commitment to Michigan after earning a camp offer in the spring.
- Three-star TX DT Will Hampton started fielding increased interest, decided he wanted to take visits, narrowed his choices to Notre Dame and Northwestern, and eventually chose the Wildcats.
That's eight of the 18 who simply decided to pursue what they found to be a better opportunity elsewhere.
Standard Recruitment Issues
For one reason or another, something came up during the course of these players' recruitments that led them to end up elsewhere:
- Four-star FL OL Torrian Wilson changed his commitment to Louisville when his primary recruiter at Stanford, Willie Taggart, took the head coaching job at Western Kentucky. He also said his mom wanted him closer to home. There's good evidence that was the driving factor—he'd later flip his commitment again, this time to UCF.
- Four-star TE Blake Barker, who hailed from Cambridge, MA, changed his commitment to Harvard, telling Rivals he wanted the right combination of academics and proximity to home.
- Four-star MO RB Brandon Bourbon also decided he wanted to play close to home, swiching to Kansas just days before NSD after being committed to Stanford for six months.
Senior Year Injury
This is where things start getting uncomfortable. In two documented cases, Stanford stopped contacting recruits after they suffered injuries during their season season. That's how Kain Colter, a three-star athlete, wound up at Northwestern instead of heading to Palo Alto:
During his first game that fall, Colter heard a "pop" after throwing a post route. An MRI revealed a torn labrum and biceps, but he kept playing as a running back and receiver while rehabbing a shoulder that eventually needed surgery.
Stanford originally stuck by him, but then their correspondences dwindled. They wanted his MRI results and claimed he would have to wait for clearance from the admissions office. Interesting for a kid who carried a 4.2 grade-point average.
Finally, Spencer said, "They just stopped calling. It was a bad situation. I wanted them to man up and talk to Kain."
Colter decommitted in late December. Three-star FL OG Joe McNamara had a similar experience:
The 6-foot-2, 270-pound McNamara, a three-star prospect rated the 28th-best offensive guard in the country by Scout.com, was excited to become a Cardinal. That's when his recruitment started taking a turn for the worse.
Tearing his ACL roughly a week before the season started, forcing McNamara to sit out his entire senior season, McNamara wanted to be sure Stanford was still behind him. After no returned calls or emails, McNamara had to start from scratch.
"The thing that took the longest was finding out if Stanford was in or out," McNamara told Badger Nation Monday. "They never came out and said I was out of the picture but at the same time, there was no communication. I would say probably November was when I re-opened the recruiting process."
McNamara wound up at Wisconsin. If there's a positive to be found in these two cases, it's that Harbaugh never formally pulled either player's scholarship, and both opened up their recruitments with enough time left in the process to find suitable landing spots. It's tough to sugarcoat the complete lack of communication from Stanford's end, however.
Stanford Ceased Contact
Somewhat related to the above, the main way it seems Harbaugh indicated to recruits it was best for both parties to go their separate ways was to stop talking to them.
- Three-star GA S Daunte Carr opened up his recruitment because he hadn't heard back from the admissions department with less than a month to go before Signing Day. He later committed to Arkansas.
- Three-star NV LB Evan Palelei committed in the spring of his junior year, then decommitted in early September of his senior year because he "lost contact with them over the summer." Palelei eventually signed with Navy.
The Late Grayshirt
- In arguably the most concerning situation of them all, the Stanford staff informed three-star TX TE Zachary Swanson that he'd have to take a grayshirt with about a month to go before Signing Day. He chose instead to sign with Virginia.
I can't find anywhere what happened in the case of three-star OG Harris Williams, who flipped to Boston College in July after originally pledging to the Cardinal in late April.
So?
A lot of the attrition in this class occurred for reasons outside Harbaugh's control, but there are definitely red flags that come up. Falling out of contact with recruits as a way of not-so-subtly pushing them out the door isn't a great look, especially in the case of injury; even worse is blindsiding a prospect with a late grayshirt.
We'll see if Harbaugh operates in a different way at Michigan, where he won't have to worry as much about potential attrition within his classes due to problems with admissions. While this stuff doesn't quite rise to the SEC level of recruiting malfeasance, it's not going to go over well in Ann Arbor if Harbaugh isn't more open with recruits about their place in the class as the process moves along.
USC's violations involved an agent buying houses and cars for a player. So not at all similar?
The players received benefits because they were NCAA players they wouldn't have otherwise received, what's the difference? If you are saying the violations were less egregious because less money was exchanged, that's not really how it works. A benefit is a benefit.
Isn't that supposed to be how it works? Petty theft of $50 is a slap on the wrist, but stealing $50 million from Enron is 30 years. Why would the NCAA be different? Oh right, the NCAA :(
On the scale of bad things an NCAA player can do, trading their cleats for a tattoo is a lot less bad than whoring your family out to the highest bidding agent for the nicest house and fanciest car, imo.
I don't have a problem with either of them to be honest, but a dumb rule is a rule as they say, just ask any UM fan about the letter of the law on countable hours. I'm no NCAA apologist, I'm not sure if there are any left.
The OSU and USC penalties weren't for the benefits received per se, but for using players the coaching staff knew were inelegible. You don't get more inelegible by taking more benefits. USC got hit way harder, about 3 times harder(3 year bowl ban, 30 scholarships), for a scandal that only involved one player and significantly less evidence of lack of oversight. USC was an egregious witchhunt.
I've wasted a lot of words on a topic that isn't really relevant to the topic of discussion. My bad.
those that want to win have to accept the ...distasteful fact that this is how the game is played today. Only the very young or those with their heads in the sand or obliterated elsewhere believe that having a blueblood pedigree entitles you to a NC. Urban Meyer has baggage but he wins and C-bus gets it, the question is does the AA elite get it. Put me in the camp that says play the game in all its facets and win. 18 decommitments in one year? So what, it's what good coaches do, get players that fit your program and dump the rest.
Before you seize the moral high ground for Michigan, don't forget the Michigan Kicker incident. He allegedly raped a girl before his freshman year; he was kicked off the team for the incident at the end of his senior year. People in the know who did nothing at Michigan include: the Coach, the AD, the President and the Board. Other than PSU/Sandusky, can you name any conduct by a program, ever, involving college football that is worse? Can you name any incident involving college football that the Board knew about, and did nothing, that is worse?
Edit: To be clear, I think pretty highly of the Michigan program, and think that it is run pretty ethically. And I think the same is true for most college football teams, including OSU. I am just responding to the notion that Michigan ethics are somehow superior.
Not trying to make an accusation or a defense of Gibbons, but at best it doesn't seem like you're very informed about what happened.
The Kicker was kicked off the team in December 2013. Here is a link to public comments made at a Michigan Board meeting in November 2011:
http://annarborchronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Comments-for-the-Regents-Meeting-1117111.pdf
It went through the criminal system. It is in no way anything like what happened at Penn State. Gibbons was expelled (not charged and not suddenly kicked off the team) in 2013 because there was enough evidence to show he had violated the code of conduct.
If you want to say he should have been kicked off in 2009, that's fine, but there wasn't some conspiracy to keep an alleged rape hidden.
http://www.annarbor.com/news/university-of-michigan-student-arrested-af…
Penn State is certainly a lot worse. I agree. But on degrees of bad conduct by an institution, is this No. 2? (I am not aware of anything that looks worse, but there may be something worse that I cannot think of.)
And in terms of institutional knowledge, the Michigan Kicker incident goes all the way up to the Board; something that is not true in Penn State.
What are you talking about? There was an arrest in 2009. The arrest made the news multiple times between 2009-2013. The "knowledge" was disseminated to anyone with an internet connection or a newspaper subscription, in addition to the local prosecutors office and police department.
You're confusing not kicking him off the team with a coverup of facts, and they're not even remotely the same thing.
Yes, the arrest was public. In fact, as an OSU fan, I had seen rumors about it well before he was kicked off the team. There was no cover up that I am aware of.
The problem is the what you identify -- he was allowed to stay on the team for three years after the incident, and was not kicked off until late 2013, after his football eligibility was used up (save a couple games). The Board knew about it at least by 2011, but let him play.
And don't forget that the OT allegedly threatened the alleged victim that he would rape her if she pursued charges; if I recall correctly, he was eventually made a team captain.
Can you provide any information on the OSU football player who appeared to commit suicide due to depression? Seems he had multiple concussions and complained to team mates and family about them. How does such a player continue to practice after multiple concussions and symptoms under OSU coaches and medical staff.
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I do not know all the facts, but he was a walk-on who was formerly on the wrestling team. There are accepted medical protocols for dealing with players with concussions. I have never seen any claim that OSU did not follow those protocols. If you have seen a credible claim, then that would certainly be a significant concern.
A kid who dies while in full monitoring by medical and coaching staff is significant concern. As a minimum, processes in place would need to be evaluated. The wrestling coach said the kid had no concussions while wrestling, so it appears his problems were on the football team. Your low level of concern here does not match your concern level for the Gibbons case.
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Yes, his death was tragic. That does not mean that the OSU coaches or medical staff failed to follow accepted medical practices. There are players on every team that have had concussions. If you have credible cites showing that the OSU coaches or staff failed to follow such practices. then please share. I have never seen any, and a non-thorough Google search did not turn up any. The coronor's report reflected that he had suffered concussions, but did not have CTE; but I do not really know what that means. http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2015/03/06/Karageorge-did-not-suffer-chronic-brain-damage.html
Again, if you have credible sources showing that OSU's doctors or coaches failed to follow accepted medical procedures, then, yes, that would be a significant issue.
"Oh what a tangled web we weave. When first we practice to deceive."
Remember that tweet? Harbaugh must have known that he set his own moral high bar when he directed that toward our rival. If he violates his own "principle" on the recruiting trail, his hypocrisy will be trumpeted far and wide. I'll trust that whatever tactics he may employ will at least be free of deception.
I'm really disappointed to see how many people don't give a damn about ethics and integrity and only care about winning football games. This site has attracted a much wider membership over the years, and I suspect a lot of people who don't have any real affiliation with UM outside of being sports fans. That's fine in and of itself, but not when they want to promote an unravelling of UM's way of doing things. The institution is much larger than just its athletics, and the core values of the University need to be the foundation of all its activities. To hell with those who would sell UM's soul just to win games. They don't have a real clue what Michigan is about.
I agree that if a coach makes a commitment to a kid he should keep his word. Over offering is bad business. That said, didn't everyone want Harbaugh because he could compete with Meyer & Saban? On December 30th we all lost our shit when it was official that Harbaugh was a done deal. Now, doing business like them is raising red flags. Pick a side guy's. Again, I don't like over offering. But, if everyone wants to be above the current recruiting tactics then don't complain when we go through 6-6 season after 6-6 season. We aren't going to be above it all and be competitive. Recruiting is a dirty business.
I would never take Dirty Calipari over John Beilein but I'm also happy with a team who's season will end most years in the sweet 16.
Like the practices, don't like the recruiting practices, I don't really care but we wouId all be better off not scrutinizing Harbaugh if we enjoy winning.
On another note...many people have been concerned by the low star players Harbaugh's been offering. Some 3 stars certainly pan out-- (Jake Ryan, 3 star), but I never knew he recruited Kain Colter, 3 star, who was quite the player at Northwestern. Richard Sherman... etc. I know it's been said before, but maybe alot of these 3 star players (or lower) are really not adequatly evaluated/ranked by the ranking services. More evidence that Harbaugh knows what he's doing...
I'm okay if the recruits are told that their committment can be unilaterally voided by the coach. But I'm not okay if we're literally just ignoring commits in hopes that they go away. That's simply not ethical.
And you know who's managed to win without similar shenanegans? Mark Dantonio.
Sorry. I hate saying it, but it has to be said.
December 22nd, 2015 at 10:12 AM ^
This may become relevant again. Just to track things so far:
David Reese: By all accounts, he was kept in the loop & decide to decommit based on information he was given.
Matt Falcon: Was told well in advance that he would be getting medicaled and decided to look to play elsewhere.
Dele Harding: Not a fit. Not sure how much contact he and staff had.
Rashad Weaver: Is currently looking around, what does it mean?
Antwuan Richardson: Is hurt, recently took an official, was going to early enroll, now isn't. . to be continued.
Sir Patrick Thomas: Says he hasn't had contact w/ staff in some time, but he's still solid.
Kiante Enis: Minimal contact, currently looking around
Chris Evans: ???
January 25th, 2016 at 10:08 PM ^
January 25th, 2016 at 10:08 PM ^
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