Harbaugh Comments on Erik Swenson Recruitment of Last Year
Interesting article written in the Chicago Tribune about the recruitment/decommitment of OT Eric Swenson from last year. In particular, Harbaugh finally is able to give everyone his side of the story of why Swenson's scholarship was pulled.
January 25th, 2017 at 11:55 AM ^
Appreciate Harbaugh reaching out to give his side of the story. It sounds like he's learned his lesson about being more communicative and honest with recruits. The "it's a business" line doesn't fly when the optics on the situation were so bad for Michigan, so at least he came out and gave his side. I'm glad it all worked out for Swenson
January 25th, 2017 at 12:14 PM ^
January 25th, 2017 at 12:33 PM ^
1. Recruiting these days is all about camps. It's lazy of him and his coach to not go to camps. My friends that coach send ALL their kids to as many camps as they can. Unless you're a stud, you have to camp.
2. Getting the scholarship and then not doing what the new staff asks you to do isn't on the staff. Still your responsibility. If it's your kid, and their teacher keeps telling them to do extra credit all year, and then they miss out on a B by 1 point because they didn't do extra credit...the teacher isn't being dishonest.
3. A 17 year old kid tells Jim Harbaugh and Tim Drevno, fresh out of the NFL "No, I'm not going to camp, like you are asking me to. You watch my TAPE to evaluate me." I'm ok with his scholarship being pulled.
January 25th, 2017 at 1:14 PM ^
That can all be true and still make Harbaugh in the wrong by not making things crystal clear with Swenson. There was a communication issue and it's on the staff to make it right
January 25th, 2017 at 2:10 PM ^
also be made that if you're the kid that needs this kind of specific direction, you're not the kind of kid that will respond well to my coaching style because I expect players to see things before they happen and think on the fly. On the field and in life, reading subtlety is important.
January 25th, 2017 at 3:31 PM ^
January 25th, 2017 at 7:10 PM ^
January 25th, 2017 at 7:07 PM ^
at most Harbaugh is only a little bit in the wrong and he has corrected it, not a big deal and good job on fixing the minor issue.
January 25th, 2017 at 2:19 PM ^
Also not a good move to tell a coach to evaluate me with my Senior tape knowing it was a recovery year.
January 25th, 2017 at 4:16 PM ^
January 25th, 2017 at 7:41 PM ^
January 25th, 2017 at 11:58 AM ^
January 25th, 2017 at 12:02 PM ^
Basically, the Swenson didn't come in for additional evaluation by the UM staff and sort of relied on his previous commitment as still being binding, Harbaugh and co. evaluated the tape they had and didn't think he was up to par, and nobody really communicated all that well where they stood and so everyone shared some blame. Ultimately it falls on Harbaugh to be more forthcoming, but it's also a bit of a by-product of there being outstanding, accepted offers lingering from the Hoke years.
January 25th, 2017 at 12:06 PM ^
Still why didn't Swenson camp?
January 25th, 2017 at 12:13 PM ^
he said, "4-stars don't camp. Evaluate my senior film." Or something to that effect.
January 25th, 2017 at 12:16 PM ^
Complete speculation, but if he was recovering from surgery, maybe he didn't want the UM staff to evaluate him in person and instead rely on his senior tape.
January 25th, 2017 at 12:34 PM ^
If you gather all the available information, I would suspect the same. He said watch the tape and wouldn't go to the camps. He might've suspected the staff wouldn't like what they would see and maybe he was just hoping he could coast into Ann Arbor and then continue growing from there
January 25th, 2017 at 1:44 PM ^
Asking a coach to rely on old tape to evaluate your skills is like trusting someone's 5-year-old picture on Match.com. "No, you can't have a newer picture. Trust me, I'm still that hot..."
January 25th, 2017 at 5:03 PM ^
Swenson wasn't asking to rely on old tape. He wanted them to wait and review his senior tape (to be forthcoming at that point).
My guess would be that he knew he was recovering from surgery, was afraid that his camp performance would be sub-par, and bet that he would be up to form by fall. He lost that bet and his tape from the fall was sub-par so his scholarship got pulled.
If you're gonna put all your chips on one number of the roulette wheel, you can't get mad if you lose all your chips.
January 25th, 2017 at 12:13 PM ^
January 25th, 2017 at 12:18 PM ^
I am also certain this sort of misunderstanding never happens to Saban, Meyer and the other D1 coaches around the country.
/s
January 25th, 2017 at 7:53 PM ^
January 25th, 2017 at 2:22 PM ^
Yep Harbaugh basically said I need to be more straight forward. Tell them we need to see you or we can't honor the verbal. I am guessing this is pretty standard when new coaches come in. Expecially from the NFL because they haven't seen the kids previously.
Seems the grumpy HS coach threw shade out there and things got kind of nasty.
January 25th, 2017 at 12:04 PM ^
Swenson and his HS coach basically say Harbaugh and Co. cut them out and left them hanging without warning.
Harbaugh says they really wanted to see Swenson in person, he passed on a couple camps, told them to just watch his Senior season (which both sides agree was a bit lackluster) tapes. Harbaugh feels he was trying to convey to Swenson and coach that this was putting his scholarship spot in jeopardy, regrets that apparently that communication was not successful. Vows to do better in the future.
January 25th, 2017 at 12:12 PM ^
Whole thing seems pretty simple to me.
As the adult in the position of power in the situation - Harbaugh needed to say something like "Come camp and let us evaluate you or you might lose your scholarship."
Not hints. Not suggestions. Straightforward, no nonsense, direct cause and effect.
January 25th, 2017 at 12:44 PM ^
was to be evaluated based on his senior film. His film was not good, Harbaugh said no thanks, we have better options based upon what we are evaluating on your film. I have no problem with it. I think kids understand the word evaluate in the realm of recruiting means that they will be offered or not offered. Harbaugh is offering a scholarship to play football which is going to require the kid to work hard and dedicate, and he told the coach 'no" on two separate occasions to coming to a camp. He told Harbaugh to evaluate him based on his film.
Also, telling someone if they don't do A, B might happen is not straightforward, but is likely what happened in this case.
January 25th, 2017 at 12:55 PM ^
The one issue is that it sounds like Harbaugh didn't expressly tell Swenson "No Thanks" soon enough. It sounds like they tried to push him away gently when they should have just said "Okay, we evaluated your tape, we don't think you're a good fit and you should look elsewhere".
January 25th, 2017 at 1:19 PM ^
Correct. Anyone saying differently is not being honest considering Harbaugh is quoted as having said that very thing in different words. Plenty of blame to go around still but the position of authority is the one that has to be responsible to make sure the messaging is clear in my opinion. Harbaugh makes mistakes too just like the rest of us. It's okay. He said he needs to get better at that. And he probably is.
January 25th, 2017 at 1:04 PM ^
I bristle at your adult comment. These recruits are not orpahns. there are adults on both sides. Furthermore, the kid could have left on his own at the same moment and we would all just say, Crootin'. It seems legitimate to roll both directions.
Crootin"
January 25th, 2017 at 1:19 PM ^
Sorry... but the idea that a 17-18 year old, powerless "adult" should be held to the same standards as a university representative making millions of dollars who is an actual adult... is just silly.
January 25th, 2017 at 1:21 PM ^
January 25th, 2017 at 1:34 PM ^
In the relationship with multi-millionaires running D1 college football programs, yes they are... and they should be held to significantly higher standards.
January 25th, 2017 at 1:52 PM ^
January 25th, 2017 at 2:21 PM ^
My daughter is a senior in HS. She was just accepted to Michigan. In her acceptance letter they told her that her offer could be revoked if her grades tanked this year. So she's continuing to work as hard as she ever did.
Same thing happened here. Kid said evaluate me based on my senior tape. Senior tape sucked. Offer pulled.
I honestly don't understand the outrage.
January 25th, 2017 at 2:32 PM ^
"In her acceptance letter they told her that her offer could be revoked if her grades tanked this year."
Right... and this appears to be a case where the coach HINTED that his offer could be revoked for his senior year performance, but never actually STATED hat his offer could be revoked for his senior year performance.
Your daughter got it in writing. It appears Swenson didn't even get it verbally.
January 25th, 2017 at 3:48 PM ^
in writing, or verbally, because she's not an idiot.
January 25th, 2017 at 5:59 PM ^
January 25th, 2017 at 9:13 PM ^
The onus is on JH to tell Swenson (willfully ignorant or an idiot) that he will not be part of UM football moving forward! Swenson appears to have been resting on his past performances. It was a gamble HE willfully took and lost. I agree with the Hatter and fail to see the outrage.
January 26th, 2017 at 8:06 AM ^
The onus is on JH to tell Swenson (willfully ignorant or an idiot) that he will not be part of UM football moving forward
Yes.
If his scholarship is dependent on camp performances you say "Your scholarship is dependent on camp performances", not "We'd like to see you at our camp"
If you decide based on performance that you don't want him you say "Your performance wasn't good enough, and we're not offering you a scholarship" as soon as you see his tape, not wait a while and say "You should probably visit other schools"
...and if you're unsure of hima as a player and want to see tape/have him camp before he gets a scholarship you say "We're going to reevaluate your commitment" when you get hired, not extend the kid a written offer.
This isn't that hard - you act like an adult and be direct and honest. You don't act like a 16 year old trying to break up and "let them down easy" by not saying what you mean,
January 26th, 2017 at 4:04 AM ^
Are you kidding me. That is common knowledge. Swenson reeks of some sense of entitlement, but your flay out saying he is braindead. I guess your from the school of thought that everyone gets a trophy bullshit. There are standards that have to be met for scholarships as well as academically for entrance into major institutions. Harbaugh gave this kid to many chances to show his stuff and should have cut bait much sooner in the process.
January 25th, 2017 at 2:27 PM ^
he said "there are adults on both sides" meaning the HS student had parents and coaches to help him as well.
January 25th, 2017 at 1:33 PM ^
January 25th, 2017 at 1:56 PM ^
January 25th, 2017 at 12:05 PM ^
Swenson and his coach both were mad because he got bumped at the last minute, and they said it was out of the blue.
Swenson got bumped because his senior year tape wasn't good and he declined Harbaugh's request to attend a Michigan summer camp for more evaluation.
Harbaugh says we probably could have done a better job communicating with them, and we will try to do so with recruits in the future.
January 25th, 2017 at 12:16 PM ^
January 25th, 2017 at 12:28 PM ^
My father is a journalist, and has a lot to say about Medill grads. Mostly, that they know a lot about the academic side of journalism, but don't know anything about investigative journalism or actually writing stories.
January 25th, 2017 at 1:25 PM ^
Quite a statement. Guys like Michael Isikoff know a bit about writing stories and investigative journalism so I'd say that's a broad brush your dad might be painting those graduates with. Seems to me individuals aren't always a homogenous product of a grad school no matter where that is.
January 25th, 2017 at 3:31 PM ^
I guess I should have clarified and said this is from his experiences with the Medill grads he has personally hired for reporting positions and not so much ones he has read.
January 25th, 2017 at 1:02 PM ^
January 25th, 2017 at 12:00 PM ^
It's a Greenstein article so I'm instinctively dubious about it, but this largely meshes with what I expected. It sounds like the staff saw his lack of progress and asked him to come to various camps or visits to reaffirm his ability, Swenson and his coach didn't for whatever reason, and Harbaugh and his staff didn't communicate all that well to him (and to a lesser extent Weaver) that they were not able to offer a full ride and they needed to look elsewhere. This is the messiness that comes with a coaching transition (in Swenson's case, not Weaver's), and while it could have been handled better, I don't think this is all that atypical except it got outsized media focus.