Hand To Alabama
Da'Shawn Hand chose Alabama over Michigan and Florida in an excruciatingly long televised announcement on NBCSN, citing the opportunity to major in civil enginering and the chance to win a national championship.
I've got nothing else. This month can't end soon enough. Please be civil in the comments, especially since it's pretty darn difficult to blame Hand given, you know, the state of things.
November 14th, 2013 at 2:05 PM ^
I'm in complete agreement with this. I wonder if we hadn't complelely looked lost on the field the last two months whether Hand would have chosen differently. That, we may never know. We are all making assumptions that it's because of the poor performance, but maybe Saban and Bama just gave him a better impression.
November 14th, 2013 at 1:55 PM ^
yes agreed. Also let's keep in mind that the only reason everyone here creamed their pants over Hand in the first place is because of Hoke & Mattison's excellent recruiting. Think about it, we're disapointed that we lost the #1 recruit in the nation to the nations best college football program led by Nick fucking Saban. When was the last time that happened?
It's a tribute to this staff's recruiting efforts that Hand's decision actually came down to the last day between us and Alabama. Sucks he didn't pick us but the decision is understandable. Prior to Hoke & Co, Hand is just another elite recruit from the SouthEast region, not even a blip on UM's radar. It's disapointing to get so close and miss, but the outrage over this kid's decision on where to play football is misplaced.
November 14th, 2013 at 4:54 PM ^
Exactly. If I have a choice of going to Michigan or Alabama to play football here in 2013, I'm picking the Crimson Tide in a heartbeat.
November 15th, 2013 at 11:50 AM ^
Good point.
November 14th, 2013 at 1:54 PM ^
I was kind of thinking the same thing. We kept hearing about Clowney being this super-dominant player on the line and SC has still struggled at times. It is so difficult for even the most dominant defensive players to truly take over a game like offensive players because they are always reacting to the play in front of them, so teams can gameplan around them in a way you can't with, say, a QB or RB. Still a major loss, but this never felt like a death knell.
November 14th, 2013 at 2:04 PM ^
Clowney, or, you know, Taylor Lewan...
November 14th, 2013 at 5:13 PM ^
That's a big "if." That's the problem. All signs point to "no."
November 14th, 2013 at 1:26 PM ^
Thats the sound of Malik McDowell becoming priority #1 and Jashon Cornell right behind him. Heres hoping Saban heads to Texas before signing day
November 14th, 2013 at 1:29 PM ^
leaving as a reason to keep Hoke.
November 14th, 2013 at 1:44 PM ^
They are ranked 13th on Scout right now despite having only 16 commits. That's not fantastic, but it's pretty good.
November 14th, 2013 at 1:48 PM ^
Have you forgotten about the guys actually committed already? Geez.
November 14th, 2013 at 2:36 PM ^
But I admit that's the only reason I want to see Hoke still here next season. I just find it interesting that our HC is also the DL coach and he lost the top DLineman on the board. I guess trotting out Glenn Steele's and Rob Renes' names were not a strong enough recruiting tactic.
November 14th, 2013 at 1:27 PM ^
Hand is an exceptional talent and seems like an incredibly intelligent young man. He is going to have a great deal of success at Alabama and likely a long and productive NFL career.
I wish him nothing but the best. Unless we play him. Then I wish that we block him effectively and spends the entire game frustrated with his inability to make plays.
November 14th, 2013 at 1:29 PM ^
Fire Borges!
November 14th, 2013 at 1:29 PM ^
The status of the programs.
The weather.
The ability to major in a program you've studied in high school.
Objectively, this is an easy decision. Don't take it hard.
November 14th, 2013 at 1:31 PM ^
This is one of the biggest excuses that just don't make sense. I've lived in the South and I grew up in Michigan, Michigan's weather is nicer than the Deep South. We have a couple months of cold/snow. The have more months of heat and rain.
November 14th, 2013 at 1:34 PM ^
I've clearly been to Alabama in the summer.
"A couple months of cold / snow." HALOL. Try 5.
November 14th, 2013 at 1:46 PM ^
Alabama gets months like Michigan November and March. We don't get months like Alabama June, July, August, sometimes September.
November 14th, 2013 at 2:09 PM ^
You know what else Michigan doesn't get?
Any months of De'Shawn Hand.
This isn't worth debating.
November 14th, 2013 at 1:29 PM ^
To Bama so he can become a Civil Engineer and design sewage treatment plants. Yeah right.
November 14th, 2013 at 1:33 PM ^
I have a strong feeling in the end it wasn't the academic side of things being our downfall, but our lousy play for much of this season. It probably sent a bad vibe to him and his family about our coaching situation. So, in that respect I can't blame him a bit for wanting to go to Alabama.
But I agree with Magnus. Let's not jump off the bridge believing this all of sudden means our defense will not be elite in the future. Look at when we had Lamarr Woodley. Yeah he was damned good, but he was just one part of a good defensive team. I've said before, I think Jabrill Pepper will have a quicker and bigger impact on our team for his career here than Hand would have.
November 14th, 2013 at 1:39 PM ^
He outright said that the longevity of the coaching staff was a major factor, so once I heard that I knew it wasn't going to be Michigan. True or not, the perception that Hoke is the long-term guy at Michigan is very much in question. At least relative to Saban and Bama.
November 14th, 2013 at 1:38 PM ^
Really a no-brainer for the kid. Play for the dominant team that's stacking up championships, or the tire fire?
November 14th, 2013 at 1:38 PM ^
Best of luck with your studies and your football career. Thank you for considering the University of Michigan.
November 14th, 2013 at 1:39 PM ^
We used to be good!
November 14th, 2013 at 3:22 PM ^
November 14th, 2013 at 1:39 PM ^
He made the right decision for himself. Sorry about it.
November 14th, 2013 at 1:39 PM ^
i guess he wants to be just another 5 star at Bama and not make a name for himself somewhere else. I remember Mitch Mcgary saying something like he didn't wanna be just another big man at Duke. to each his own.
November 14th, 2013 at 1:40 PM ^
November 14th, 2013 at 1:44 PM ^
joins State.
November 14th, 2013 at 1:42 PM ^
November 14th, 2013 at 1:43 PM ^
At least I still have my beloved Browns.
November 14th, 2013 at 1:43 PM ^
that was likely preemptively written, it'd push this blog off the brink and into oblivion.
November 14th, 2013 at 1:43 PM ^
I hate to overreact...but with the pathetic nature in which we are losing, there has to be a sense some of our current committments may be reconsidering.
I think it incumbent upon Hoke and Co. to solidify the class and keep it in tact throughout the rest of this turbulent season.
November 14th, 2013 at 1:44 PM ^
November 14th, 2013 at 1:57 PM ^
I do not think our current record had much to do with Hand choosing Bama. He chose them because they are Bama.
And, to think that next year will now automatically not he an improvement and Hoke will be replaced in 2015, is even more ludicrous. Campbell and Harris signed up to play for this guy. So did a bunch of other 4 and 5 star guys. They must see something in him even if our program took a step back this year to take two forward next year.
November 14th, 2013 at 9:21 PM ^
The reason he picked mid November was to see how the program was doing. And he weighed his decision and probably thought Michigan would not be elite team until the last of his four seasons here.
If Michigan had only 1 loss, which was possible despite their young OL, then Hand would have committed here, or if he decided to commit after the ND game he would have picked us.
Oh well, these things happen. Hoke and his coaches will just have to look for good solid D lineman they can coach up and have kids who really want to play for the school.
November 14th, 2013 at 1:45 PM ^
Still it would have been nice to see his decision if the last 4 weeks hadn't happened. Bad timing.
November 14th, 2013 at 1:46 PM ^
I blame not landing Hand on 2 things:
1. The fact that our team has played shitty all season long (Blame coaches, youth, etc)
2. The fact that in Hand's mind (maybe true, I don't know) that he felt he had to choose between engineering at Bama, or Sports Management at Michigan. We all know Bama's engineering program is a JOKE compared to Michigan's, but let's let our top recruits go for whatever major they want, not dissuade them from certain majors. I don't know if that's what happened, but it sure feels like Hand felt it was either/or.
Best of luck to Da'Shawn at Bama. No hard feelings...just wish you didn't choose the dark side. Saban is a hell of a coach, but he's sold his soul to win at all costs.
November 14th, 2013 at 1:49 PM ^
Hand is just one player. Michigan football will survive.
November 14th, 2013 at 1:51 PM ^
There are academics and there are footballs "degrees." The truth of the matter is that Michigan's engineering program is no joke, and frankly Hand probably cannot pursue football as a career, and engineering at our school. At Alabama? Sure. Hand made a career decision today, he chose football. Unfortunately for us Alabama is the Harvard of football degrees now. I'll give us this credit, we were honest with the kid, if you want to pursue football as a career, here is our sport management department -- it is top notch. At Saban U they'll give lip service to allowing an engineering degree. I like that we have a program that will look a kid in the face and be honest with them. Hand is not a Michigan Man - next kid up.
November 14th, 2013 at 2:00 PM ^
The Dean of the Engineering School at 'Bama is a self-professed football fan and has stated in the past that they "take care of their football players in the engineering program". My guess is this sentiment was not conveyed to Mr. Hand from Michigan Engineering.
November 15th, 2013 at 8:49 AM ^
Hand will leave Alabama early to go to the NFL. And Alabama will still give him an engineering degree. They take care of their football players in the engineering program.
November 14th, 2013 at 2:05 PM ^
This was a football decision through and through. Obviously there's not a academic in the world who would pick Alabama over Michigan. Call me a skeptic but I think the whole "academics are a priority" thing was an act. If Hand completes an engineering degree at Alabama I'll eat my words.
November 14th, 2013 at 2:17 PM ^
Eh, he may well get a paper that says "engineering" on it. If he ever becomes a licensed civil engineer, then you should definitely eat your words.
Anyway, seems like a good guy and probably has the talent for the League, so he'll be fine.
November 14th, 2013 at 1:50 PM ^
That whole "Hoke poops gold" thing sure did die quickly.
November 14th, 2013 at 2:11 PM ^
"Brady Hoke poops gold." It was funny for a while...
Anyway, can anyone really say they didn't see this coming once Bama came on strong for this kid? Can you say he didn't make the best decision for himself from a football standpoint?
The vibe around this program is really bad right now. Let's just hope Hoke & Co. can hang on to the good commits we already have (Peppers et al.) until signing day.
November 14th, 2013 at 1:52 PM ^
November 14th, 2013 at 1:55 PM ^
Good Luck to him. Though Dee Hart comes to mind.....he probably could have had some PT had he gone Blue. Even without the injuries, he never made seroius inroads.
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