I suspect had we insisted he do spring football totally he would not be here. So. Would you rather have him and the publicity that came with signing the top recruit and the signal it sent or not have him cause he's not meeting your expectations? I suspect getting Harbor enhanced our chances with another top flight recruit in the DC area as well as some others. There's no doubt in my mind the Olympics was a huge goal for this young man and he made that clear from day one..
Thoughts on Harbor not participating in spring practice?
- Thread starter 18IsTheMan
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Of course we'd all rather have him than not. I don't know what great benefit we got from the brief publicity that came with his signing.
With all due respect, signing the arguably number one prospect is a big deal. I don’t think it hurt us with the recruitment of Dylan Stewart the following year. It also increased our credibility in the D, C, Maryland area.
I have no issue with Harbor not being part of Spring practice. We knew this would happen when he signed. He made it clear from day one that his first love is track and his goal is Olympics.
I 100% agree with this. He only gets this opportunity once every four years.
We might not have been in the room during the recruitment, but we know what he told the recruiting people that covered his recruiting. And we all know why it came down to USC and Oregon. It was no doubt the track teams that were a huge factor in his choice. We know he has been clear about his first love being track and his ultimate goal is the Olympics. So with all that, I think it is a safe bet that Beamer knew up front and gave his blessing on him dedicating the spring to Track and not football spring practice.
He should be playing DB, the position he has played his whole football career. I think he wants the "glory" of being a WR and catching td passes. He should have thought of that before he played DB for his whole career up to college. Who knows, maybe he did try his hand at WR and it didn't work out in HS?
I think Beamer was so desperate to sign a 5 star he would have agreed to anything Harbor wanted. Harbor could have called the plays if he wanted to.
With all due respect to you, signing Harbor didn't exactly propel us to lofty recruiting rankings. Even with the #1 player we still finished in the mid teens in recruiting rankings.
Hate to break it to you, but his first few steps improving will come much quicker at track practice. This is a nothing burger.
Oregon's track and field program is light years ahead of USC, if track was his first love and he was motivated by being on a great track team, he would have gone to Oregon. I still think Beamer is the only coach who agreed to let him switch to WR, run track and not participate in Spring practice so he could run track.
The reason he wants to play WR and defense is he does not want to put on the weight that would be required to play on that side of the ball. That would hurt his track career and he has been clear about track being his 1st love over football.
Yeah, you will have to excuse me for not being excited about the supposed jewel of our football recruiting class not having football as his main sports focus.
He only visited us, Maryland, Michigan, Oregon, Penn State, USC (California) and Virginia. That is a pretty short list for a 5 star who was ranked #1 as a recruit. I think everyone else pretty well backed off of him when he let it be known he wanted to change positions and pursue track.
Maybe he did not want to go all the way across the country. Maybe he and his family wanted to be closer to home. Maybe since we weren't in the discussion with Harbor and his family our speculation is just as good as yours.
With all due respect I didn't say a word about rankings. It did signify we beat some big time programs who would have been glad to have him which did enhance our recruiting reputation and I suspect got the attention of some other DC area prospects including Dylan Stewart.. Michigan thought they were in it til the very end.
Just assuming that his missing spring practice was agreed ahead of time, and part of an agreement during his recruiting, the impact is what concerns me.
He is going into college, learning a new position, and missing spring ball. I've seen it said that 5 stars are usually more immediate impact players, but we're entering year two with him, hoping he learns his role while not practicing with the team.
I suppose it just means his development will be way behind a normal 5 star WR recruit.
He is going into college, learning a new position, and missing spring ball. I've seen it said that 5 stars are usually more immediate impact players, but we're entering year two with him, hoping he learns his role while not practicing with the team.
I suppose it just means his development will be way behind a normal 5 star WR recruit.
Yeah…that’s it. Why take a 6’5” guy at 230 pounds with world class speed. Any of you geniuses remember he was a D end and TE in HS. I will cut him some slack. You can practice routes, watch film, catch balls all year to get better. I find this thread comical knowing full well track was part of the deal.
As a matter of fact, in my lifetime, most of the best players skip spring practice anyway with some sort of made up ailment.
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Maybe the best players skipping Spring practice with made up ailments accounts for Carolina's continued mediocrity.
Their football team is ahead of us also. You thinking something doesn’t make it factual. I care what he does during the season….nothing else.
So you’re obviously not familiar with official visit number limits in recruiting.
Yeah, you're probably right. He looked at our football and track programs and decided we were a much better place to make his name than a school that is the personal favorite of the founder and head of Nike. I'm sure our facilities are much nicer than Oregon's too. Our perennial top 5 ranked recruiting classes in football help to bolster your position.
That 195 yds receiving last season is a strong testament to his worth as a WR. I'm sure you are really proud of those numbers on the season.
I think you're spot on. More have failed trying to do more than one than have succeeded. Bob Hayes, Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders come to mind but, anyone else?
Michael Jordan tried baseball briefly. He saw very quickly that it wasn't going to work out for him.
Let’s see how he does this year. If he sux we can complain about him missing spring together…I will join in.
Just to be argumentative, but no matter how good he does, you could always ask "how much better could he be if he dedicated 100% of time to football".
I believe he was a “PR” recruit for Shane. Track is big for him and most recruited him as a DE.
Pay article, so I can't read the whole thing, but Harbor said of his time away from football this spring: "The physical aspect, running routes and stuff - I'm going to take care of that when I get closer to the season."
Hmmm. That would be an alarming statement for a regular WR to make.
247sports.com
Hmmm. That would be an alarming statement for a regular WR to make.
Harbor details plans for football and track this spring
Nyck Harbor will be a busy man this spring.
247sports.com
It would. I think the implications are worse for a guy who's still learning to play the position, much less the position at this level.
But I think it boils down to expectations. He is a part time player. Think of him that way, and have those expectations, and you'll have less stress.
Which then leads to the next question ... Which one, leads to the Yellow $$$ Brick Road? I've heard the term 'world class' used when talk'n' track. Very, very few get past year 2 @ The Show. Gotta consider ....'injuries'. Only one man can look into himself.
I agree 110% with your comments, only to add, when I played HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL, 158 years ago, 2 words were hammered into me, every single day of my life, for 4 years. The first was more of a Phrase .... "The Name of the Game is HIT!'. The other word was COMMITMENT. For those players who can read, you can Google the definition.