Reasoning behind 2019 5 star Zach Harrison's CB to Michigan
Intro
For some background, here's 2019 WDE Zach Harrison's 247 profile, and here's a link to the original article.
Summary of Article
General info from Hole's sources
- Hole's sources say Harrison's personal inclination is for Michigan based on relationships/fit
- Same sources say that parents are pushing for Ohio State
- Penn State is running 3rd and is mentioned as a 'compromise' option
- Michigan official went well, and Hole upgrades his sources' initial assessment from 'really well' to 'A+.' There's more info in the link about who he bonded with, etc.
- Hole still not convinced enough to throw in a CB for Michigan
Evan Petzold's Reasoning for CB
- Same info as above, plus optimism from current recruits
Some Thoughts
There's a bunch of hedging in this article, which I don't intend as a critique. Harrison is a quiet guy and Hole's sources seem to be from Michigan's program.
It's weird to me that Penn State is a potential compromise destination. That seems to imply that the parents are actually down on Michigan instead of just favoring Ohio State.
Petzold's twitter bio has him graduating in '21. I've got nothing against the guy, but maybe that CB reflects some optimistic naivete.
Hopefully he follows his heart and not his parents.
Harrison may be a quiet kid, but, as they say, still waters often run deep. If the article is accurate, the parents are a likely source of anxiety for him preferring a "neutral" third party to the "place up north." They may have other friends/associates who are OSU fans and are thinking about those relationships. For Zach, it comes down to making the easy local choice and pleasing others, or following his own road. What was it that Ricky Nelson once sang?... "You can't please everyone, so ya... got to please yourself." Let's hope he makes HIS choice, whatever that honestly is.
Need to send him that video of Landon Collins committing.
I think Ricky Nelson also tried singing "Trolololo"---but not nearly as well as you.
There are a lot of valid reasons why someone might prefer a particular school. I don't have a problem with a parent encouraging a kid to go to the parent's favorite school. Pressuring your kid away from his preferred school because you're concerned about your friends' opinions would be spectacularly bad parenting.
On the flip side, if PSU is indeed a compromise, then he must not be loving OSU.
Parents probably don’t want to deal with Ohio fans scorn if he comes here.
This is spot on. Columbus (the actual city) isn't bad, I live here, but from September through January people are psycho's and have the osu blinders on 24/7. Now think if your kid, who is a stud athlete, went off to the rival. It'd be tough to live here still and feel like people weren't always judging you.
Isn't it interesting how when a local Michigan recruit goes to OSU, and the family isn't treated poorly. Goes to show what lowlifes OSU fans TRULY ARE.
What's interesting to me is how in a few short sentences you stereotyped an entire fanbase of millions, and implied your fanbase is superior, based on an assumption that Harrison prefers Michigan, yet would have to deal with a fallout for going there. And all this based on 1 person and his unfound "sources." Now imagine if I were to stereotype your entire fanbase based on your ridiculous comment?
There's a healthy amount of respect in Columbus for Michigan, the school, the team, the tradition. Maybe some of this boils down to the neighborhood in which you live, but even at the fuel stations I'll have some guy in his pick-up pointing his finger at my M in the back window while shaking his head with an O on his cap, but in the next moment acknowledging they love the rivalry and want us to win every game except the last one. (Frankly, you're kind of a hero of sorts to be an M guy here.) And amongst the fan base that actually makes decisions in this town, most would send their kid to Michigan if they could get in. But, yeah, being the top priority for the local team does add some extra pressure to the kid and family, but all of that evaporates at signing day and then you're forgotten until you prove yourself on the field-- see 5-stars Jonathon Cooper, Justin Hilliard.
I think it also depends on the age group you're talking to. If you're talking to the older generation, Gen-X'ers or Baby Boomers who lived through the ten year war and watched Michigan rip OSU's heart out almost every year in the 90s, there is much more of a healthy respect for Michigan because they've seen Michigan at the top of its game. Or they've seen Michigan rise to the occasion and knock off plenty of OSU teams that were, on paper, just better.
Of course, if you talk to the generation of OSU fans who grew up in the Tressel/Meyer era, they've known nothing but OSU dominance over Michigan. They largely have no respect for Michigan because there hasn't been a reason to have respect. Hatred is really just replaced with pity. That's why I firmly believe that the next time Michigan beats OSU, especially if it is a great Meyer-coached team, the OSU campus will be engulfed in riots. You've got 50,000 students who wouldn't know how to handle a loss like that. Such a shattering change to their status quo.
I have never lived in Columbus, but I always had the impression it was more than just Sept to Jan. I have stopped at that Ashland/Mansfield fast food mecca many times in march, july, august only to find Buckeye football playing on the tv. Whole games and discussion. Not just highlights. They need a life.
That has to be it considering PSU is a compromise but is 2 hours further from Columbus than Ann Arbor is.
They are all GREAT schools. Let your kid go where he wants.
They are all great football programs. However, they are not all are great schools
I have fierce loyalty to and great respect for Michigan as an institution, particularly its graduate programs, but let's get real. You can get a great education at any school in the B1G. All public universities have raised their academic games due to the affordability of in-state U's and the number of applicants there are for every seat.
Strongly disagree with you on that one. You can get an education at any Big Ten school, sure. But you cannot get a great one. I'm talking about quality of professors, peers, networking, alumni base, resources for students and athletes, etc. Michigan is a flagship school with a ton of funding. I have degrees from Michigan and an Ivy and I'd say both were very similar in terms of student body and quality of professors. Not to disrespect other Big Ten schools, but to say they are all equal academically is just inaccurate
Who said anything about equal?
This is true, but what is the Michigan Difference for a general studies degree? Are you really significantly more prepared for life with 3 years at Michigan than PSU or OSU?
I just don't think that's a major factor for elite recruits, and for good reason.
Uhhh.. YES . it's the quality of the student body, peers, and alumni....
It's not that you're "significantly more prepared," it's the name of the university on the diploma. Having a University of Michigan degree immediately holds more weight than OSU, PSU, UW, etc based on name alone
I agree. I often use the "manufacturer's rep" example. If you play Big Ten football and wind up using your Eligibility degree to sell widgets, no one will care exactly where you went to school. There are guys like that all over the auto industry.
I don't know what Stephen Spanellis has planned for a career, but the Michigan Difference might matter for guys like him. They're in the minority, though.
And Zoltan Mesko who I believe went to work on wall street. Wall Street is the biggest school name whore and it turned out well for him..can't say the same for the MSU grads I know
da faq
Naivete? I don't think so.
Petzold has people talking about him, something that wasn't going to happen writing for CMU's student paper. He's taking advantage of an opportunity.
He's also helping drive traffic to a new website and doing it in a way that doesn't lose their credibility, by having the junior writer be the one who sticks his neck out.
If Penn State is indeed a compromise choice, Harrison would be a very strong candidate to flip. He's committing early and there are other, better ways to compromise.
So you're saying this doesn't reflect a decision based on the merits of Harrision going to Michigan but more on marketing/promotional considerations?
I'm saying it's wrong to call him naive.
I'd also say a lot of voters have the same information as Petzold, but he is the only one to put in a CB for Michigan. And that it makes a lot of sense from a marketing viewpoint. I can't say what he actually believes.
I have to agree. Wolverines Wire posts an article with Harrison's name in the headline about twice a week. They know that recruiting drives clicks, and this is the hot recruitment for 19. I do like the fact that there is another Michigan site putting out some good articles in the offseason, but it has its flaws. Hole may have some sources, but given that Petzold is 19 and a student at CMU, I doubt he has a lot of insider knowledge. It takes a long time to develop those relationships, Sam Webb has covered Michigan for almost 20 years and Hole for almost 10.
You are spot on. This last article was all about clarifying previous articles. No original content.
I am impressed they are making things happen with the new site. Its a process. Hopefully the quality of content comes around.
Now if only they stopped having those stupid autoplay videos on every single page.
You are spot on. This last article was all about clarifying previous articles. No original content.
I am impressed they are making things happen with the new site. Its a process. Hopefully the quality of content comes around.
We’ve posted four total articles on Harrison FWIW.
Before we dissect the reasoning, is there anything out there that suggests either of these guys are plugged in on this recruitment, or particularly plugged in generally?
This seems like a ton of speculation on his part and it remains to be seen how reliable WolverinesWire will be in terms of what they'll run and how much information is behind it.
I'm happy for more content I'm just going to wait and see before considering them reliable insiders who can walk you through the thinking of Michigan, recruits, and their parents.
Hole used to work with Sam and allegedly developed his own contacts within the program. I'm not sure why he left, however.
I believe 247 let him go. Which, as a member I thought was a mistake. I enjoyed his writing and photography for TMI.
I think that was just the inevitable result of the Scout merger. I like the guy and I'm sure he knows some dudes on campus.
When anyone serves up the same core "insider" info Sam said a week ago but with more color, I'm going to doubt the additional details until he has a track record.
There was a whole dust up on twitter over this very issue.
247 let him go, likely due to being over staffed after the merger. Although I thought he provided better coverage than some of the guys they kept on, I'd guess he was also getting paid more considering he wasn't just out of college like some of their writers.
I am very much in agreement with the "summary"...including the "compromise"...these have been my very thoughts on this matter. I hope Zach follows his heart and goes to Michigan...not for partisan reasons but for his personal well-being. As a long-time pediatric nurse with a spouse who is a CPNP and a brother who is a pediatrician...I have great empathy for this young man. His interview regarding his inner conflict with this decision saddens me a bit. The adults around him need to put on their big boy and girl pants and grow up and do the right thing. They need to sit down and have a long discussion about the long-term pluses and minuses and make the best decision they can.
You should post this exact thing on all the articles about harrison, in case he reads them. It's spot on and may make him make a grown up decision and overcome his petty parents.
Dude how can you call out his parents based on some unsubstantiated second/third hand info?
People need to chill that out...parenting and guiding a young man with his potential through the recruiting process has to be challenging.
If this is directed at me: I am not "calling out his parents". This is a legitimate, authentic parenting challenge. I am simply stating that they would do well to accept/take up/embrace this challenge and make it an opportunity.
Parents are afraid of living in Columbus if he goes to AA. those are selfish parents I'd say
I doubt that. We've had a surprising number of players from Columbus. I've yet to hear a story of anything happening to any of their families. People aren't that crazy down there. It might be hard to believe for Michigan fans, but people who live in Columbus know that.
They are probably OSU fans who have been dreaming about their son playing for the Buckeyes for a long time.
To be fair, there are some crazies in every group although I would venture to say that the percentage is probably a bit higher among the OSU fans than the Michigan ones. There were well documented stories about a former Michigan lineman (the name is escaping me at the moment) whose mother was basically assaulted in Columbus years ago. But as you say, those are generally the exceptions rather than the rule.
Drive down to a game with Michigan pkates .have your car keyed. Or get jumped . Both happened to me...
Yeah, that happened at the game. That's really the only place I'd worry about wearing Michigan gear. I'm pretty sure she didn't live in Ohio and I doubt they even knew who she was.
Well, the Columbus fanbase chased Kirk Herbstreit literally out of town, so...
I really hope this isn't this year's soap opera recruitment. There seems to be one every year. I hope for Zach's sake, that whatever decision he makes, everyone can just be at peace with it. But I'm not optimistic that will happen if he picks Michigan. As Yoda would say, "Ohio fans - perspective they have not".