Scathing Story of Harbaugh Rescinding Offer to Recruit
- Thread starter Random UK Fan
- Start date
it probably happens more often than people think...
I don't know the specifics of this story...but if I had to guess I would say that Harbaugh probably recruited a bunch of OL and perhaps more committed than he anticipated, and in his eyes they're all more talented than this kid...or they needed the scholarship for another position..
pretty crappy the way it went down...there is probably a better way to do it than just dropping a bomb like that on a kid on such short notice...but that is how the cookie crumbles sometimes...
everybody over recruits...you have to...you can't rely heavily on the word of a high school kid...because plenty of programs get left high and dry by commitments all the time...
the recruiting game needs to be overhauled...
it's too easy for kids to string programs and staffs along and use them for all the perks only to bounce at the 11th hour...and it's too easy for coaches to leave a kid high and dry...
all that is probably another topic and rant for another day...
I don't know the specifics of this story...but if I had to guess I would say that Harbaugh probably recruited a bunch of OL and perhaps more committed than he anticipated, and in his eyes they're all more talented than this kid...or they needed the scholarship for another position..
pretty crappy the way it went down...there is probably a better way to do it than just dropping a bomb like that on a kid on such short notice...but that is how the cookie crumbles sometimes...
everybody over recruits...you have to...you can't rely heavily on the word of a high school kid...because plenty of programs get left high and dry by commitments all the time...
the recruiting game needs to be overhauled...
it's too easy for kids to string programs and staffs along and use them for all the perks only to bounce at the 11th hour...and it's too easy for coaches to leave a kid high and dry...
all that is probably another topic and rant for another day...
An early signing period would go a long way towards keeping kids from flipping. Anymore the hardest battle is keeping the commitments on board until signing day. I know this isn't an instance of that, but if there was an early signing period this kid might not have been in this position to begin with.
I have no issue if you give the kid time to get recruited. My issue is the 11th hour bull crap. The big programs lime things the way they are. Programs like UK prefer an early signing period. Too easy for the elite teams to recruit elite prospects then if they lose on signing day they take other teams recruits leaving teams like us screwed.
If my kid was being recruited there'd be no such thing as a school that offered him a scholarship that didn't at that same time give him financial aid agreement to sign. If they won't give you financial aid agreement, they haven't really offered you a scholarship or accepted your commitment.
Michigan took a commitment from an offensive lineman today, who is a line teammate of a commitment that they already had, and also a teammate of one of the top QBs in 2017.
i dont like it but this kid committed to the previous staff and harbaugh kept his committment. so it wasn't like he "recruited" him. early signing period would go a long way to stopping this though or at least let a kid know if he's on the border of take/pass.
I agree with most on here. It happens all the time and it really isn't a big deal. I don't like the fact that it happened right before signing day....but it is what it is. An early signing period would be a logical step to help this.
I think too many are disillusioned to what the term "verbal commitment" means. All it pretty much means is that the two parties have agreed to date.....by no means have they agreed to get married. Not to mention that it's open dating partnership as well. Both parties are free to look for other partners during this time.
I think too many are disillusioned to what the term "verbal commitment" means. All it pretty much means is that the two parties have agreed to date.....by no means have they agreed to get married. Not to mention that it's open dating partnership as well. Both parties are free to look for other partners during this time.
If that's Harbaugh's response to the situation then it's brilliant. I love "The Shooter".....it was an underrated movie. But the quote also speaks volumes. What it basically says is that "Don't believe everything you read and there's always more to the stories than what is reported."
There could be a lot more to this story than what is reported.
There could be a lot more to this story than what is reported.
Its crappy, but it happens and it never seems to really damage a coach or program's reputation. After a few wins everyone forgets and all is well again. Bama, UT, UofL, everyone has done it.
All you will ever hear is the kid's side of what happened, maybe it went down exactly like he said, maybe UM's staff had quit contacting him hoping he would decommit and the kid didn't so they had no other choice to get him off the list. Happens a lot, UGA has quit contacting kids, when a kid decommits from UK many posters here say UK pulled away. Always 2 sides of a story, too bad for the kid he isn't going to his dream school, but he has a chance to take some officials and get a free education, this didn't happen on signing day.
The more of these instances happen the better for programs like UK. Call for an early signing period in Late September to October. Great for UK but bad for big boys.
Let's hope there are a bunch of more like this and the outcry becomes huge. Hate it for the kids but hopefully the outcry will change the rules.
Let's hope there are a bunch of more like this and the outcry becomes huge. Hate it for the kids but hopefully the outcry will change the rules.
We do not get the whole story. I agree.
But, when an offer is made and is accepted, a coach needs to avoid subtle messaging. It should not be "we want you so long as you hear from us or so long as someone better does not come along." The kid was evidently COMMITTED, something we harp on all the time as fans. If the offer was contingent and kid dropped the ball, the coach needs to be overt and tell the kid early enough so the kid can make plans.
No one is committed until signing day. Verbal "commitments" bind neither side. It is a fair relationship. The kid could bail on the school any time, including on signing day, leaving the team dry.
The Harbaugh staff didn't make the offer, it was the Hoke staff who was all let go. So the present coach didn't accept his commitment. I have mixed feelings on it, the current staff shouldn't be forced to sign a kid they don't want, but if that was the case they should have met with him right after signing day 15 and told him he needed to look for something else, maybe he did meet with the kid and tell him that. Harbaugh can't tell his side of what happened.
No one is committed and then you proceed to use the phrase verbal commitments? You see the problems there, right?
Commitment is different than a signed recruit, but commitments matter to people with an ethic.
The Harbaugh staff did not make the offer, but accepted the commitment.
I agree with most of the remainder of your post, but think Harbaugh should have conveyed his decision expressly to the kid about 2 months ago. Maybe he did. But, if he did not, I think that is bad form.
The kid has been committed to UM since 13, Harbaugh and his staff weren't there, Hoke and his staff accepted the offer. Rules prevent Harbaugh from commenting about the incident, for all we know he told the kid after signing day last year UM didn't have a spot for him and the kid held on hoping things would change. All we know is the kid says he was told a few days ago, and that's all we will ever know, his side of the story. What we are hearing is bad, but its easy to condemn someone when they can't give their side of the story. If the kid decided to bolt on signing day, unless he is bolting to our school that should be looked down on too, and happens a lot more often than this does.
Or Saban. Or Meyer. Or Spurrier. Or Stoops (Bob).
Just another personal hit piece written by someone angry, jealous, or a personal vendetta against the coach or school.
All of the top coaches at top schools have done this, on multiple occasions. It's really a non-story. Kids change their minds, sometimes on signing day. Coaches do too. The bigger the name of the coach/school, the more it happens, and the less of a story it becomes.
BTW, Petrino didn't pull the offer from that Coburn kid last year, he just asked him to "gray" shirt. Turned out well for the kid. He ended up at a prestigious private school in Wake Forest (very nice degree, if he can achieve it), much closer to home, and received PT as a true freshman.
I'm sure the kid who was committed to Michigan will end up somewhere else, and there's a very good chance it will be a better "fit" for him in the long run. And that's a good thing, for all parties involved. If Michigan is not a good fit for this kid, much, much better to know now, for all involved, than to find out after enrolling. Things often change over time. Recruiting is no different. It's an unfortunate piece of big-boy recruiting, and its definitely not as rare as some writers/reporters often portray it to be.
Just thought it was odd that an offensive lineman committed to Michigan THE DAY AFTER this story came out. It looks apparent that one's offer was pulled for the other.
The story as we know it is that Harbaugh's staff accepted him when they came on. It is common place for a staff to parse through prior recruits from the former staff and accept some and tell others they have to move on. This kid says he was told the former.
Kids bolt. No doubt. Other coaches keep recruiting and kids are making life decisions. The fact that kids bolt does not mean coaches should act like kids.
Finally, I have not condemned Harbaugh. I am saying that telling a kid 3 weeks before signing day that he does not have a scholly is just wrong. I am not saying that happened here, as only one side has been reported. Some are reporting that the kid is already committed to another school. So, maybe he had a heads-up before this week's news. I hope so.
Telling a recruit who has been committed longer than just about any kid in the class, one week before signing day, that he cannot enroll in the fall is unmitigated BS and lowlife. UL fans can put on their neck braces and rationalize by saying it was a grey shirt and not a scholly pull all day long. It was crap and exposed as such.
Since Smart came on, we have lost 7 commits, 2 yesterday. I don't think they told them they didn't have a spot on the roster, sure they could have, but one common theme from the kids is they weren't hearing from the coaching staff. Not a one of them recruited by anyone on current staff, but when Smart was hired he said he would honor all the committed guys scholarships. But kids are smart enough to realize when they aren't being contacted the new staffs aren't excited about what they bring to the table. Maybe it blows up on us and we come up way short with the class, we have about 15 deciding on signing day,will be a landfall and we could have the top class in the country or a crash and burn and maybe stay in top 20.
This is a two way street and it seems only the school gets raked over the coals when they pull an offer this close to signing day. You never here negative stories about kids that commit to a school then another school offers late and the kid flips to the other school. What is the difference? if a school is held to a standard that they have to keep the commitment, then why shouldn't the kid have to honor his commitment?
Yup. But, in the case of Swenson, he was hearing from the UM staff. Things evidently changed about the time of the bowl game.
That is still his side, I have no idea if he was or wasn't, but kids don't always tell the 100% facts. It could have just as easily been we are filling up and you need to explore your options as it was you are our number 1 guy at OL. If they lied to him up until this happened it will bite UM down the road, but if the kid hadn't signed financial aid papers with UM nothing he can do except go public.
He committed in 2013. Do you think the new staff went silent for the past year and he just did not get the hint?
I don't know what happened, I know the new staff didn't offer or accept his commit, it was there when they arrived. Anything else out there is directly from the kid or his camp. I also know that the UM staff can't comment on what happened and we will never hear their side of what happened and I don't think its fair to crucify a coaching staff for something I don't have all the facts on. But even if he did just tell him this week. I think it would be worse if it were a kid he offered and accepted their commitment from, you have to remember that staff was fired for being inept. No different than Smart not keeping all of Richt's commitments or Stoops not keeping all of Jokers.
If a kid remains committed for a year, I think we can accept the conclusion that the staff accepted his commitment.
I understand you don't like UM or Harbaugh, but before I believe everything a kid who isn't happy says I would like to hear the entire story. They could have told him he wasn't in their plans a year ago and for him to make other arrangements but the kid decided to hang on hoping that would change until now, UM was his dream school. Its no different than Richt doing it at Miami, Kirby doing it at UGA or Stoops when he came to UK. Kid committed to a staff that was fired.
You clearly do not understand. I love Harbaugh, but am not buying what you are selling. I cannot defy logic and you want me to suspend common sense. Won't happen.
Right. Seems pretty clear thats how it went down.
Right now, recruiting is nasty all around. Kids change their minds at the last second, so do schools. Its even happened after signing day on a few really nasty occasions.
An early signing period should be created. Theres really no excuse for not having one.
Common sense tells me kids lie to make them look better in bad times, been around too many of them to take everything they say as 100% truth when it makes them look not so good. We just happen to have different opinions, it happens all the time. Peace.
You assume a kid lied, but won't assume he was committed to Harbaugh during the year Harbaugh was coach? Even UM fans are not arguing this staff never accepted the kid as a commitment.