lolmsm
recruiting is for gentlemen only
erik swenson

Processing Is Not Rare Comment Count

Brian

conveyor-solutions-belts

If you had Teddy Greenstein in the Brings Up Erik Swenson Next pool, collect your winnings. I get annoyed at Greenstein because he puts up a front of objectivity while putting out article after article designed to put Harbaugh in a bad light. See the recent article on refereeing where he asked the Big Ten's head of officials if he was bad at his job, got a "no," and said "well, I guess that wraps it all up, folks!"

Anyway. This one was somewhat spoiled by Harbaugh explaining the situation from his perspective...

"There's a camp in June, and we really want you to come so we can see you.' It ended up, after a couple of conversations, that he wasn't going to come to camp.

"I said: 'We're going to be in Indianapolis in the beginning of June for a satellite camp. It's closer to your home.' He said no. I said, 'We really need to see you for ourselves.' He said, 'Just evaluate my senior tape.' 'OK, that's what we will do.'"

...but Greenstein does his best to frame it anyway.

What happened to Swenson is exceedingly rare: a high school player in good academic standing, who remains loyal to the school to which he verbally committed, getting dumped within weeks of signing day.

There is a term for a school dispatching a player it no longer wants: "processing."

Connecticut coach Randy Edsall got crushed last week by national media figures Paul Finebaum ("total disgrace"), Mike Greenberg ("How you go to sleep at night, I have no idea") and the Washington Post's Sally Jenkins ("No one is more committed to Randy Edsall than Randy Edsall") after his scurrilous actions regarding a high school linebacker from New Jersey named Ryan Dickens.

Contrary to pearl-clutchers in the media, "processing" kids before they can sign is a common practice getting ever more common. That's why there's a term for it. Most of these situations go uncommented upon because the kid and coaches know the score and are just looking for a landing spot. The rare thing is a kid getting pissed off about it in the media.

I think we can safely assume that someone moving down from a Power 5 program to a lower level has been processed, and there have been a number of these this year: CB Nick Roberts and QB Todd Centeio went from P5 programs to the AAC. S Ahman Ross is trying to find a landing spot at Appalachian State or Colorado State. RB Bentavious Thompson looks likely to end up at UCF. FIU is the crystal ball favorite for WR Kevaughn Dingle.

That's five guys not from all of the Power 5 or one P5 conference but one recruiting class: Miami's. Every collection of team-specific recruitniks in America has a subliminal list of a few guys who are technically committed but won't actually be in the class. For Michigan this year they were Carter Dunaway and Chase Lasater; for Ohio State they were Danny Clark, Bruce Judson, and Todd Sibley.

The 24/7 decommitment tracker is missing a pager so it only goes back three days. In those three days (three days!) there are four recruitments that look like processing of some variety:

  • WR Warren Jackson decommitted from Arizona and fielded a couple of quick CSU picks.
  • LB DeMarco Artis decommitted from FSU and told 247 that it was "unfortunate."
  • LB Jabreel Stephens decommitted from Louisville and looks set to pick USF.
  • LB Jaquan Henderson flipped from Tennessee to Georgia Tech.

It is exactly one week from signing day.

Even if not all of these are genuine processings that should be sufficient to demonstrate that the practice is not rare, or anything close to it. If Greenstein had done 15 minutes of research he would have reached the same conclusion. You have to wonder why he would not take such a basic step before making an easily-disproved factual assertion.

Comments

Everyone Murders

January 25th, 2017 at 2:15 PM ^

I love that your example is from Miami, since (while the school itself has a shady reputation - hard-earned in days gone by) Mark Richt is not a particularly shady guy.  By most accounts he's a stand-up and straightforward guy.

So yeah, sometimes things don't work out, and parties go their separate ways.  Swenson did not take obvious clues and messages, and both sides could have handled it better.  But to paint this, as Greenstein apparently has, as a scandal?  Please.

Joined: 12/14/2010

MGoPoints: 65552

schreibee

January 25th, 2017 at 2:33 PM ^

Zactly my friend. You will not hear Finebaum rail against Richt - SEC ties.

You won't read Greenstein rail against Richt - Miami too far away, always been shady anyway.

But Jim Harbaugh and the Holier than thou Michigan Wolverines and their community?!?!

Now that'll get some eyeballs, some clicks, move some needles! That's a story!!!

I think we can all assume this is as much editorial thought as is put into any story ripping JH or Michigan. The Michigan Difference (called arrogance by those not granted admission) will make a ripe story with red meat for those who despise us.

Stop the presses...

Joined: 11/02/2009

MGoPoints: 21143

Hail-Storm

January 26th, 2017 at 12:20 PM ^

and your posts, is you ruin my view that all OSU fans are cooler pooping neanderthals that you can't have a rational discussion with. Your insightful and witty comments do nothing to advance my stereotype. 

Don't worry though, the guy who writes the Michigan Monday on the Ozone does the same thing. 

Joined: 06/07/2010

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buckeyejonross

January 26th, 2017 at 12:04 PM ^

That for sure, and I also don't think there was a stigma about OSU's passing offense until the MSU, Michigan and Clemson games. Post duds in all of those games back to back to back, the rival WR coach magnifies the problem through hyperbole, and bam the deal is done.

I'd pretty much get it if Tyjon was an outside guy, but Samuel just caught 74 balls from the slot and Zach Smith helped turn Braxton Miller and Jalin Marshall from QBs to NFL WRs out of the slot. Philly Brown was another OSU h-back slot WR turned NFL WR.

Don't get me wrong, none of those guys are super developed at the nuances of being a WR, but they all got the ball a lot and they're all in the NFL. The goal's the goal.

Joined: 07/27/2010

MGoPoints: 13808

lbpeley

January 25th, 2017 at 2:18 PM ^

snark and vitriol in this fisking. Brain is getting nicer as he ages. Not a bad thing, but I miss the piss and vinegar.

Joined: 01/29/2009

MGoPoints: 19651

jdon

January 25th, 2017 at 2:18 PM ^

call me old fashioned but I would prefer a coach who explains exactly what he means to both the student athlete and his high school coach.

It seems like Harbaugh has learned from this... so there is that.

 

Joined: 09/28/2009

MGoPoints: 5906

bsand2053

January 25th, 2017 at 5:58 PM ^

I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this way.  I'm not opposed to it pulling offers if the student hasn't kept up (we were warned mulitple times as HS seniors that our grades had better not fall if we wanted to keep our spot), but there shouldn't be any ambiguity.  I would argue that unless Swenson and his coach are complete liars there must have been some poor communication. 

Joined: 04/14/2010

MGoPoints: 19317

BassDude138

January 25th, 2017 at 7:44 PM ^

Harbaugh did essentially admit responsibilty on his/Michigan's behalf for not communicating as well as they probably could/should have. Maybe part of it was them trying to let the kid down as easily as possible. Regardless, I'm glad the kid found a good landing spot, and the coaching staff seems to have learned from it as well.

Joined: 03/01/2016

MGoPoints: 3977

Maynard

January 26th, 2017 at 10:36 AM ^

In all fairness, if all of my friends jumped off a bridge I might because then I wouldn't have any friends and I'm too lazy to make a bunch of new ones. 

But yeah, I agree with you on the actual point. I don't like when Michigan does it. I'm glad Harbaugh took responsibility in the article for the lack of good communication. 

Joined: 02/19/2016

MGoPoints: 9888

Everyone Murders

January 25th, 2017 at 2:42 PM ^

When I got into college, I got a letter saying that my admission was conditioned upon my continued good academic performance.  They specifically noted that if my grades fell in the last quarters my admission could be revoked.  This was de rigeur back in the day.

This seems awfully analogous.  You are invited to join a program as a scholarship player, but that's based on an assumption that you're not going to get way off course in your development as a player or student.  Wanting to verify that does not strike me as being unreasonable.

Now if a kid is killing himself trying to improve, I get queasy if the school pulls its offer because of a shinier prospect becoming available.  If, though, the kid adopts an attitude of "I was offered so now it's time to slack off" then it seems that processing that kid out is a fair result.  (Especially since other programs will nearly always offer the P5 kid that is processed out.)

Joined: 12/14/2010

MGoPoints: 65552

Wolv1984

January 25th, 2017 at 3:22 PM ^

Swenson got his offer and acceptance from Hoke, not Harbaugh though.  But was given the boot for not meeting Harbaugh terms, so I don't really how your analogy works.

This is more like getting in and the admissions officer telling you that you need a 3.7 or better senior year.  You get a 3.8, but still get the boot because the new admission officer has decided they only take 3.9s or better now.  After all Swenson did still end up a 4* composite with nother P5 offers, so it's not exactly like he slacked off to the tune of getting a 2.0.

Joined: 06/09/2010

MGoPoints: 721

Reader71

January 26th, 2017 at 2:41 PM ^

Except you leave out the part of the analogy in which admissions doesn't send you notice that you've been rejected. Instead, it sends you Wish You Were Here postcards or some shit. I'm not creative enough to create a separate analogy for what type of letter admissions would send that would represent the nod and wink ghosting thing.

Joined: 08/30/2009

MGoPoints: 22968

victoriaed90

January 25th, 2017 at 5:04 PM ^

I was speaking about processing in general. Obviously if you are failing to meet the conditions of your acceptance, then that's on you. However, that's a far different issue than "oh we got someone better than you to commit and we are no longer interested, sorry!" which is what a lot of this is and it's wrong. Don't make a commitment if you're not going to honor it.

Joined: 05/23/2013

MGoPoints: 411

MI Expat NY

January 25th, 2017 at 4:28 PM ^

It obviously depends on circumstances.  I think it's bad if a new coach shows up in December or later of a commit's senior year, and the coach suddenly decides a committed player is not good enough.  I think it's bad if a coach accepts a player's commitment and gives no indication that there are circumstances where he may not honor that commitment and then cuts him loose late in the recruiting process.

I think it's fine if a coach accepts a commitment and says "this is contingent on you showing x, y, or z" over the course of the year, the coach keeps him apprised of his lack of progress, and ultimately cuts him loose for failure to achieve x, y, or z.

It sounds like Harbaugh was closer to the latter with Swenson, with the failure being adequately communicating what Harbaugh saw as lacking in their evaluations.  That being said, when you're committed to a school, and the head coach says "we would like to see you in person" and you don't show up to multiple opportunities, it's fair for the coaches to wonder how committed a player really is.  

Joined: 07/24/2008

MGoPoints: 8641

reshp1

January 25th, 2017 at 5:22 PM ^

Seems like a rather pedantic point for Brian to latch onto to discredit Greenstein. While I agree with the general premise that he's a troll, I didn't think the article was particularly unfair to Michigan or Harbaugh. I'm sure Greenstein selectively only printed the juiciest bits from his interviews with Swenson and his coach, but all the same, in their own words, they obviously were very upset with how things went down and felt blindsided. So, while processing isn't rare, it is pretty unusual for there to be this much bad blood from it, even a year later. It's kinda hard to chalk it all up to just sour grapes here, clearly Harbaugh could have handled things better too.

Joined: 10/31/2011

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Sac Fly

January 25th, 2017 at 2:36 PM ^

At least Harbaugh pulled the offer before he signed. How many times have we read about SEC schools pulling scholarships when the kid has already moved into the dorms?

Joined: 04/03/2010

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treetown

January 25th, 2017 at 2:42 PM ^

As someone get closer each day to retirement, it is just one more example of change - in this case a change in sports coverage.

In the past the major columnists would know a lot of things (really know why some one didn't play or who was messing around with what or whom) and didn't write about it because they (a) felt some obligation not to shatter the perception that a sports star wasn't human after all and really was a paragon, (2) were very much on the inside and they liked being included and didn't want to spoil that access, (3) knew that a story might 'sell' and attract attention but there are other aspects of it that would balance it out. 

These grey eminences would reign in other journalists. That era is gone - probably for the better - too many details kept from fans. But in its place, we have writers who want to be personalities and  Brian asks why didn't a byline columnists for a major paper couldn't do the same basic leg work that a guy on a blog could do - it is because that is the story the writer wanted to sell.

After reading everything, it sounds like this:

1. The kid - thought he had a lock despite being hurt, not having a good senior year, a major staff change AND not getting the hint, hint, hint about looking elsewhere or showing more direct interest - like going to camp. 

2. The HS Coach - not happy that "one of his kids" didn't get the lock, and also missed the hint, hint, hint about looking elsewhere.

3. UM staff - not happy to be labeled as if they had pulled the rug out from under the kid. But probably needed to be more blunt - they could have thought they were being blunt with their hint, hint, hint about looking around.

4. Writer - did not want to produce a story that explains the MULTIPLE factors involved and wanted to stick with his "UM staff are bad" narrative.

Could the UM staff have been more direct? Maybe - "hey, we didn't recruit you directly, so come in, let us take a good personal look at you and talk" - I wouldn't be surprised that it was the talking part and not the actual tape or no-camp factor that made them leery. HS Coach - hey, you are supposed to know "how the game is played" and when you were told hint, hint, hint, you were supposed to pick up on this. The Kid - I get that he was disappointed and hurt but with a major coaching change, make the effort and TALK with the coaches directly and ask "what do I need to firm up and lock up this offer." 

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