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Message
In recruiting, Big Ten's hands are just as dirty now as everyone else's
Posted on 1/28/16 at 12:39 pm
Posted on 1/28/16 at 12:39 pm
quote:
With Signing Day just a week away, congratulations are in order to the Big Ten conference.
For many years the league's collective recruiting efforts lagged far behind the SEC's, if not others. But for 2016, Ohio State is in position to land the conference's first consensus No. 1 class of the Internet era. Archrival Michigan will likely join it in the Top 5, while Michigan State (No. 7) and Penn State (No. 11) are in or near the Top 10 on Scout.com. That's quite a departure from just two years ago, when No. 5 Ohio State was the lone Big Ten school higher than 19th.
But all that newfound success comes with a cost that most Big Ten fans won't readily admit to -- which is, they can no longer claim moral superiority over the SEC or any other league when it comes to shady recruiting practices. The conference that once prided itself on so-called gentlemen's agreements and honoring commitments is no different from anybody else.
Just look at what Michigan savior Jim Harbaugh is doing in order to restore the Wolverines' rightful glory. Simply put, he's running off prospects with longstanding commitments to the Wolverines to make room for others.
Chicago-area offensive tackle Erik Swenson, who committed to former coach Brady Hoke way back in 2013, says he found out last week he needed to find anther school. On Monday, Florida defensive end Rashad Weaver, who committed to Michigan last June, tweeted that Harbaugh told him of a "50-50" chance there'd still be room for him come Signing Day. Weaver is looking elsewhere.
Because coaches can't comment on unsigned recruits, we only know one side's version of events. A report surfaced last week that Michigan began backing off Swenson way back last summer, which his high school coach denies. Nevertheless, it's a bad look for Michigan.
All told, nine Wolverines recruits this cycle have decommitted, including five this month. It's safe to assume they weren't all voluntary.
Harbaugh is hardly the first coach to pull scholarship offers at the 11th hour. We've heard similar tales from jilted recruits before, including those involving Louisville's Bobby Petrino and Tennessee's Butch Jones this time last year.
"I wouldn't say it's rare," said Rivals.com national analyst Mike Farrell, "but [Harbaugh] is a bit of an extreme example. ... I don't think it's wrong to be honest with [a recruit] and say it's not a fit. My problem is with the timing."
As SBNation's Bud Elliott wrote: "I often hear the refrain on social media that kids drop schools all the time, so schools should be able to drop them. But the key word here is 'kids.' Kids are going to act like kids, but schools are run by adults and should act like it."
There's a twinge of hypocrisy to see this happening up north, where fans have long cast aspersions at Southern schools for what they perceived to be ethically questionable methods of "roster management."
About five years ago, there was mass uproar about the seedy practice of oversigning, with Alabama's Nick Saban the primary target. The media (myself included) helped guilt the SEC into adopting stricter measures. But nowhere was angst greater than in Big Ten country, where the league's own self-imposed limits gave fans a convenient excuse why SEC schools kept winning national championships while Big Ten schools kept losing Rose Bowls.
Five years later, Michigan itself is expected to sign as many as 30 players this recruiting class, which means it, too, will need to clear room. The same folks who used to cry bloody murder about SEC recruiting tactics now find themselves in the awkward position of rationalizing Harbaugh's recruiting practices. You know these are strange times when even Ohio State folks are defending Harbaugh.
Like it or not, this is recruiting in 2016. It just took the Big Ten a while to get on board.
It was only four years ago, in fact, that then first-year Ohio State coach Urban Meyer drew ire from his league counterparts for having the audacity to "flip" other teams' commitments -- a commonplace practice elsewhere.
"We at the Big Ten don't want to be like the SEC in any way, shape or form," Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema -- who left for an SEC job about 10 months later -- said at the time.
Today, of course, nearly the entire conference does it. Not coincidentally, the Big Ten is landing better recruiting classes -- which started when league schools began hiring more cutthroat recruiters.
When Penn State made Vanderbilt's James Franklin its head coach in early 2014, the high-energy salesman immediately tried to poach the bulk of his Vanderbilt commitments. (He got five.) Shortly upon his arrival at Michigan last year, Harbaugh flipped four-star quarterback Zach Gentry from Texas. Earlier this month, Meyer reeled in two longstanding Maryland commits that hail from that state.
The days of a so-called "gentlemen's agreement" in the Big Ten are ancient history.
"Urban Meyer did the Big Ten a huge favor by coming and introducing the league to Big Boy recruiting," said Farrell.
He also did the conference a solid by winning a national championship in 2014.
The league that took the brunt of so many punchlines for nearly a decade is now flexing its muscle both on the field and in recruiting. Ohio State and Michigan get the lion's share of the pub, but 2015 playoff participant Michigan State is using its newfound cachet to land nearly as many blue-chippers as those bluebloods. Penn State under Franklin is recruiting at its highest level since the late '90s.
Flipping committed recruits is no longer controversial. If anything it's expected. But dropping them at the 11th hour, while not illegal, is undeniably callous. Clearly Harbaugh's sole focus is to build the best possible roster. Swenson and Weaver have their entire academic and athletic futures at stake.
LINK
Posted on 1/28/16 at 12:42 pm to RLDSC FAN
So Harbugh is a piece of shite and that somehow translates to the whole conference? Blah, blah, blah. What a hacked up piece of journalism.
Posted on 1/28/16 at 12:43 pm to RLDSC FAN
quote:
But for 2016, Ohio State is in position to land the conference's first consensus No. 1 class of the Internet era. Archrival Michigan will likely join it in the Top 5, while Michigan State (No. 7) and Penn State (No. 11) are in or near the Top 10 on Scout.com.
Recruiting article based in scout.com, stopped reading.
Posted on 1/28/16 at 12:43 pm to VABuckeye
so wait
Urban is now following all of those stupid, unwritten B10 rules like not communicating with committed recruits?
Urban is now following all of those stupid, unwritten B10 rules like not communicating with committed recruits?
Posted on 1/28/16 at 12:43 pm to RLDSC FAN
quote:
But for 2016, Ohio State is in position to land the conference's first consensus No. 1 class of the Internet era.
Quit reading right here.
Posted on 1/28/16 at 12:45 pm to RLDSC FAN
So a new coach is forced to honor offers/commitments done by the previous coach that got shitcanned? I see nothing wrong with telling those players to go elsewhere.
The other coaches mentioned (Petrino, Saban) were the ones offering those scholarships.
The other coaches mentioned (Petrino, Saban) were the ones offering those scholarships.
Posted on 1/28/16 at 12:45 pm to Choupique19
Then why open this thread
Posted on 1/28/16 at 12:51 pm to Chillini
quote:
So a new coach is forced to honor offers/commitments done by the previous coach that got shitcanned? I see nothing wrong with telling those players to go elsewhere.
it would be one thing if Harbaugh was just hired, but he's been there a year and allegedly just pulled the offer from the kid
Posted on 1/28/16 at 12:52 pm to Chillini
quote:
So a new coach is forced to honor offers/commitments done by the previous coach that got shitcanned? I see nothing wrong with telling those players to go elsewhere.
No, they clearly state that it's the timing that's shitty. The new coach should tell those players when he takes the job. Instead, he leaves them with the impression that they are mutually committed, only pulling the rug out from under them when they find a superior replacement.
Posted on 1/28/16 at 12:54 pm to Chillini
quote:
So a new coach is forced to honor offers/commitments done by the previous coach that got shitcanned? I see nothing wrong with telling those players to go elsewhere.
The other coaches mentioned (Petrino, Saban) were the ones offering those scholarships.
Like the article said, it's all about timing. Tell the kid MONTHS ago and allow him time to take visits and evaluate where he'll spend the next 3-5 years of his life. It's a pretty damn big decision, and you should be able to drop someone at the 11th hour.
You're not a dick for breaking up with a girl, but you're a dick if you stand her up at the alter.
Posted on 1/28/16 at 12:56 pm to RLDSC FAN
Another one of these threads? Jeeeeez
Posted on 1/28/16 at 1:01 pm to FootballNostradamus
quote:
Like the article said, it's all about timing. Tell the kid MONTHS ago and allow him time to take visits and evaluate where he'll spend the next 3-5 years of his life. It's a pretty damn big decision, and you should be able to drop someone at the 11th hour.
You're not a dick for breaking up with a girl, but you're a dick if you stand her up at the alter.
Am I supposed to care? Part of a new coach taking over is turnover and a change in philosophy. Unless he explicitly rerecruited the kids just to cut the cord now I just don't care.
This post was edited on 1/28/16 at 1:04 pm
Posted on 1/28/16 at 1:11 pm to FootballNostradamus
quote:
stand her up at the alter.
Posted on 1/28/16 at 4:07 pm to Chillini
quote:
So a new coach is forced to honor offers/commitments done by the previous coach that got shitcanned?
Harbaugh has pulled offers from several kids that HE offered as well.
Posted on 1/28/16 at 4:15 pm to RLDSC FAN
quote:
a cost that most Big Ten fans won't readily admit to
Doesn't bother me at all. Successful people copy successful people. That's how you win in life.
Posted on 1/28/16 at 4:17 pm to RLDSC FAN
Stephen Ross is letting JH use the dolphins facility to recruit.. If you ain't cheating you ain't trying
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