Matt Falcon Status
Falcon offered a medical meaning U-M would keep him on scholarship academically, but he would not be able to play: http://t.co/6WE1oLYXkC
— Allen Trieu (@AllenTrieu) October 19, 2015
October 19th, 2015 at 3:47 PM ^
"I only read 11W for the articles." I'm sure the full-page spreads of Urban do nothing for you, right?
October 22nd, 2015 at 9:02 AM ^
October 19th, 2015 at 2:27 PM ^
There are two differences here:
- Ohio State stated that they knew that Dean would be medicaled before Signing Day, but didn't inform him of it until after signing day. He signed with a school that knew it was never going to clear him to play because they never mentioned it to him.
- Dean has to sit out the year because he transferred to Auburn. If Falcon decides to go somewhere else and play, he is eligible right away, because he hasn't signed with Michigan yet.
How does this look similar to you at all? If Falcon had waited to commit until after this season, and Michigan pulled the offer after his injury, would this even be an issue? High school kids get hurt playing football. Coaches pull scholarship offers because they're afraid of injury concerns. It happens, it's not shady.
Holding back on the information until after kid is signed and enrolled is shady.
October 19th, 2015 at 2:51 PM ^
Your first point is totally not true at all. OSU didn't know he would need a medical until they got him on campus and tested his knee with their medical staff during his entrance physical. Reading your point out loud doesn't even make any sense. Why would OSU go through all that trouble just to medical him? And hide it from him? I know we're the enemy but we're not Darth Vader over here.
Dean enrolled early, OSU gave him a physical. Dean failed. OSU targeted and signed a different, lower rated prospect to take his place.
Could OSU have just pulled Dean's offer after Dean's his high school injury? Yea I guess. But OSU believed he could still play. Until they worked him out and realized he wasn't at that level anymore. They waited until after the physical to determine that.
I guess Michigan is giving Falcon more options by preemptively guessing his knee is wrecked forever, but they also are totally severing ties with him before having their doctors formally evaluate it. Apparently other doctors think he can play still.
Again, your perspective depends on your fandom.
My opinion is OSU expected Dean to recover after his HS injury back to his 4 star status, they evaluated Dean once he arrived on campus, realized he couldn't play up to his 4 star status, then dumped him, for a lower rated kid. That's not a good thing to do.
It sounds like Michigan is just deciding Falcon won't live up to his recruting status either, but they are dumping him now, instead of holding out hope he can play as well still, and having their doctors look at him. Is that because they really don't want him to hurt himself more, or is it because they have a better running back in mind and Falcon probably can't play as well as he could have before he got hurt again? Idk, but Ace and this website posted a whole story about Harbaugh cutting off ties with recruits who get hurt. That doesn't mean it's wrong. It just means it happens.
I guess Michigan is slightly better because they're cutting him before he has to lose a year. Or they're slightly worse because they aren't even giving him a chance with their medical staff.
October 19th, 2015 at 3:20 PM ^
did not determine that Dean would not be able to play at a high level due to injury until after Dean arrived on campus.
Harbaugh has determined that Falcon will not be able to play at an elite level before even signing the letter of intent.
I do not see anything wrong with a coach determining that a HS player offeree has suffered an injury and, therefore, will no longer be able to play Big Ten level football. This happens every year to guys that suffer injuries in HS.
The offer to a HS player cannot be accepted until signing day. Until then, it is just an offer.
A 'verbal commit' can back out due to a material change of circumstances (such as Sarkesian getting fired), or even just becasue the verbal commit changed his mind,
Likewise, before the letter of intent has been signed, so to can the coach pull the offer due to a material change, such as an injury that will degrade player ability.
Before the letter of intent has been signed it is just an offer that may not be accepted until signing day. Therefore, we often see verbal commits back out. And sometimes, due to HS injuries, coaches withdrawn the offer.
Therefore, before signing day, there is nothing wrong with replacing the atheltic scholarship with a medical scholarship if the coach determines that the injury is incompatible with Big Ten level performance.
Before a letter of intent is signed, the way that most coaches deal with an injury incompatible with high level play just pull the athletic scholarship offer and do not offer a medical scholarship at all.
After the letter of intent has been signed, it is a very different situation.
October 19th, 2015 at 3:25 PM ^
Harbaugh has determined that Falcon will not be able to play at an elite level before even signing the letter of intent.
Harbaugh hasn't medically examined the kid, and isn't qualified to do so anyway.
Michigan medical personnel haven't examined the kid either.
Harbaugh has decided, with no real medical input, that the kid is unlikely to recover.
October 19th, 2015 at 3:37 PM ^
Nothing in the reporting suggest that Harbuagh did or did not consult with medical experts. At this point this piece the story is not known.
Do the rules even permit a school to require that an offeree submit to a medical exam by a doctor chosen by the school before even signing a letter of intent?
Regardless, the offeree is free to walk away for any reason before the offer is accepted with a signed letter of intent. Likewise, a coach/program is also free to withdraw the offer before it has been accepted due to the coach's judgment that the injuries are not compatible with Big Ten level play.
Offering to give the kid a free ride with a medical before he has even signed a letter of intent is above and beyond the way these pre-letter of intent injuries are usually handled.
October 19th, 2015 at 4:12 PM ^
1)
Michigan medical folks can't look at him until he enrolls
2)
Falcon told Scout that Harbaugh told his mother: "Quote 'if Matthew comes to Michigan, he will not be able to play football.' But they would pay for my college education for academics. I would have to sign a waiver saying I can't play even though top surgeons told me, my family and Coach Harbaugh I will be able to get back on the field and play at a high level."
October 19th, 2015 at 5:04 PM ^
I had already seen that quote from Falcon. Butit does ot really matter. That is the opinion of Falcon's doc, which may or may not be correct. Docs disagree on these things often. Moreover, at best Falcon's doc believes he could again play 'at a high level.' That could mean a broad range of capability.
Given that there is no way for Harbaugh to have a team doc evaluate him, the best he could do is ask team doc for their opinons of the injury type. etc..
I do not see any other way to deal with HS players who suffer (multiple in Falcon's case) serious injuries prior to signing the letter of intent. Once the letter of intent is signed, I would agree that a program should at least let they guy show up and try to re-hab for a year before putting him on a medical scholarship.
But before letter of intent, the HS play holds nothing more than an offer and either side is allowed to change their mind. Though allowed, I do not think it is good practice for a program to withdraw the offer just becasue they changed their mind (though the HS offeree can change his mind). But when there are serious injuries, I do not believe that the offer must still remain open until signing day That is a legitiamte reason for the coach to withdraw the offer. And becasue independent medical exams are not allowed, the coach has to exercise his best judgment.
Harbaugh is offering the guy a free education, just not a spot on the team. That is above and beyond what most programs do in these situations.
October 19th, 2015 at 3:37 PM ^
"I do not see anything wrong with a coach determining that a HS player offeree has suffered an injury and, therefore, will no longer be able to play Big Ten level football."
Counterpoint: Football coaches are not doctors. Harbaugh has no idea about that. Plenty of people tear their ACLs and play after. At a high level too. Harbaugh can't even begin to know anything until his staff doctors inspect the kid's knee and talk to him about their inspections. They can't inspect him until he is on campus as an enrolled scholarship player. Falcon has independent doctors saying he can still play at a high level. Michigan has nothing except a guess and a football coach's opinion (and the No. 1 overall recruit at the position who needs a spot in the class).
Again, I'm not making a value judgement on whether that's ok for Harbaugh to do. If Falcon can't run and cut as well as he used to, sorry that's the breaks sometimes, football is a violent sport, you can still have a UM degree. But there's two ways to look at it. Is it better to cut him before your own doctor looks at it even though other doctors say it's all good, or is it better to take the chance your doctor can clear him, and if he can't then the kid loses a year? I guess good for Michigan treating him like a pawn with time to still recover. Or bad for Michigan for not even giving him a chance to honor the commitment he made to accept their offer.
October 19th, 2015 at 5:15 PM ^
do not allow Michigan to submit Falcon to their own or even independent medicala evaluation prior to enrolling as a student athlete. So Harbaugh has to make the best judgment given imperfect information.
For me the fact that the letter of intent has not been signed is the key. Until the letter of intent is signed Falcon had only an offer. He verbally committed. But just as the verbal commit can change his mind, until the letter of intent has been signed to accept the offer, so to may the program rescind the offer (especially in a serious injury situation).
Once the letter has been signed and the offer formally accepted, then I think a program should give a guy an change to rehab for at least 1 year before moving him to a medical.
Look, if there were some material change in the program (Harbaugh were to leave, the program were to crater (as occured in year 4 of Hoke), etc) before Falcon had signed the letter of intent, would anyone say that Falcon has some sort of obligation to honor his 'verbal commitment'? No. No one would say that.
Likewise, the school may withdraw an offer prior to the player's acceptance if there is some material change in the player (an arrest, terrible grades, serious injury beleived to limit the player's ability, etc.).
October 19th, 2015 at 5:59 PM ^
October 19th, 2015 at 2:37 PM ^
But it is hard for me to believe that Urban gave the kid a legitimate fair shot to rehab and earn playing time before a medical was applied. I would think it the player would be afforded some time before that decision was made. I could be way off base, but this is where my pre-conceived notions come into play regarding Meyer's recruiting tactics.
In my estimation, UM is saying that they don't feel like Falcon will be able to get fully healthy (to the point where he was pre-injury), but are giving him time to make an informed decision. If he really believes that he is capable of getting on the field then he can prove it somewhere else. With more than 6 months before a decision regarding his future must be made, it seems like a fair, generous move on UM's part, but I'm not sure when the same move becomes "dirty." If a school pulls this 2 weeks before signing day to make room for another player then it is shady, but I don't know where to draw the line.
Interesting topic to say the least.
October 19th, 2015 at 2:57 PM ^
In recruiting, and in life.
Jamel Dean has to sit out a year b/c OSU accepted him on campus before saying he couldn't play for them. That is causing him to sit out a year at Auburn, and he wanted to play (e.g., he request an NCAA waiver from the one-year transfer rule, which was rejected).
http://www.floridatoday.com/story/sports/columnists/david-jones/2015/06…
If Falcon can play, he can play next fall for Toledo, Purdue, whatever. I have my doubts after two different ACL tears and a season-ending MCL sprain, but hopefully things work out for him.
I have no doubt the fact UM and OSU have other players in mind, that are less injury prone, played a factor in their decision. But the timing leaves Falcon with plenty of options for his freshmen year; for Dean, it didn't.
October 19th, 2015 at 3:27 PM ^
And the counter point to that is OSU attempted to give Dean a chance to still play for them, Michigan isn't giving Falcon that chance.
October 19th, 2015 at 3:46 PM ^
OSU took no risk -- if Dean's knee was fine enough (in their opinion) that he could get back to a 4-star performer, they had control of a very good player; if it wasn't, they could dump him easily in time to get their head count limit. OSU put themseleves in a win-win and Dean in a win-lose. Dean wants to be playing in 2015; he can't b/c of the NCAA and OSU.
UM is "medicaling" Falcon before he is on campus, and while that benefits UM, it also benefits Falcon. If he wants to play in 2016, he has the chance.
Both players are not ending up playing for their first choice, but only one is sitting out a whole year while he wants to play.
October 19th, 2015 at 6:02 PM ^
October 19th, 2015 at 11:56 AM ^
was his injury?
October 19th, 2015 at 11:58 AM ^
...times three.
Also, he's had other injuries to his shoulder, ankle, etc.
October 19th, 2015 at 1:00 PM ^
Harbaugh may have been told by the Michigan doc who did the most recent ACL reconstruction that Falcon might have a much higher potential for further injury, with the possibiilty that he is left him with permanent damage/disability. While I assume that players sign waivers that release their respective programs from liability in the event of injury, it might be that if there is an extraordinary possibility of injury and Michigan still allows him to play, there still may be a question of liability as well as obvious ethical considerations.
I would also assume that when an athlete commits, there is a reasonable expectation that he/she will be able to perform in their sport, with rare cases like Austin Hatch being an exception.
Regardless, offering the kid a four year academic scholarship is more than Harbaugh had to do.
October 19th, 2015 at 1:25 PM ^
Part of the offer is that the player needs to be physically and athletically in condition to play for the offering school. If I'm a 185 lb. wide receiver and I eat nothing but Twinkies and Doritos for six months, ballooning up to 250 lbs., I have no realistic expectation of a team honoring their offer to let me play wide receiver on scholarship.
October 19th, 2015 at 1:34 PM ^
You can't expect a school to honor an academic scholarship if your 4.0 GPA goes in the tank during your senior year. I saw it happen to one person back in the 90s and I never forgot that lesson.
October 19th, 2015 at 1:46 PM ^
Unless something's changed, Michigan's offer of admission to a student has always been conditional on them completing their academic program in H.S. in a satisfactory manner. So, it seems athletic scholarship offers having conditions attached to them is pretty logical.
October 19th, 2015 at 2:53 PM ^
Thanks, Magnus
Is there a standard form that the NCAA uses that is available to read or are the terms and conditions unique to each school?
October 19th, 2015 at 11:58 AM ^
Twice in 2 years
October 19th, 2015 at 11:58 AM ^
to the same knee. I want the best for him and the team, but realistically he may not be sturdy enough to handle college football at this point.
I hope it works out for him Tough situation.for everyone.
October 19th, 2015 at 11:57 AM ^
He ain't come here to play football.
You can't beat a Michigan education. I hope he and his body can make a miraculous turnaround and he can have a football career somewhere, but I don't blame Michigan for pulling the plug on his athletic scholarship. Three ACL injuries by the time your senior year starts is not a good sign. It's too bad because he was a really good prospect.
Hopefully we can get another true running back from somewhere, like Kareem Walker.
October 19th, 2015 at 11:59 AM ^
Isn't this similar to what Urban did a bit ago? The player thought he could come back strong and Urban said no?
October 19th, 2015 at 12:00 PM ^
I believe so, yes.
October 19th, 2015 at 12:05 PM ^
October 19th, 2015 at 12:07 PM ^
Pipkins is redshirting. He was not a graduate transfer, so he has to sit a year.
October 19th, 2015 at 12:12 PM ^
October 19th, 2015 at 12:31 PM ^
October 19th, 2015 at 1:10 PM ^
OSU didn't get a chance to fully evaluate that kids knee until he got on campus. Why would they offer the wavier before when they didn't know his knee was shot. Pretty much the same situation. I think neither are bad.
October 19th, 2015 at 1:26 PM ^
October 19th, 2015 at 1:55 PM ^
following year to use the kid's scholarship. He had to cut someone. I'll go ahead and say that was the fundamental reason some of us questioned Meyer's ethics in this case.
October 19th, 2015 at 5:11 PM ^
that the kid wasn't cleared BEFORE signing day and therefore the scholly was available to offer.
IT was not a case of cutting the kid to get numbers down. His scholly was not going to count towards the number at all and Meyer knew it ahead of time.
October 19th, 2015 at 9:49 PM ^
Totally and completely wrong. Dean's unused scholarship was used to sign Damon Arnette. After Dean was declared medically unfit.
October 20th, 2015 at 2:19 PM ^
Meyer knew that his scholly (which would be medical at this point) would not count towards the total. So he then used it on Arnette.
So logically, he absolutely did not cut or medical Dean for oversigning purposes as this was all known prior to signing day.
October 19th, 2015 at 4:45 PM ^
October 19th, 2015 at 1:30 PM ^
Well, his ACL had been torn twice at that point, and they knew that. Regardless, I don't see any reason why they couldn't have evaluated his knee previously, including via medical records, a campus visit, etc. It doesn't take six months to evaluate a knee.
October 19th, 2015 at 2:09 PM ^
I read the reports on that kid and they knew the first week he was on campus his knee was done. They weren't allowed to personally evaluate it before. It was a long process leaving the team however, and that part I think is bad. Kinda screwed him. If they knew in januray have him leave in Januray. Other than that I see no problem with them giving him the hardship, just like how I think this Falcon situation is completely okay.
October 19th, 2015 at 2:56 PM ^
October 19th, 2015 at 12:03 PM ^
October 19th, 2015 at 12:15 PM ^
Auburn, if memory serves correctly.
October 19th, 2015 at 12:06 PM ^
October 19th, 2015 at 12:11 PM ^
Meyer yanked Jamel Dean's scholarship after Dean had enrolled early. Dean ended up transferring to Auburn.
So it's a different deal, but similar in some respects. The major difference is that Harbaugh is telling Falcon this right now, when it's still several months before National Signing Day. Jamel Dean was injured during his senior season, enrolled in January, and was pushed out in April.
October 19th, 2015 at 12:23 PM ^
I don't know the details in either case, but besides the timing, the nature of the injuries might also be different.