Exit Brandon Peters
The least surprising departure of this offseason is finally quasi-official. Former starting quarterback Brandon Peters, who graduated from Michigan yesterday, has entered the trasnfer portal with two years of eligibility remaining, and Purdue the most likely destination.
Michigan QB Brandon Peters has entered the NCAA transfer portal.
— Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) May 4, 2019
Peters was the guy this site fell in love with after Ace and David took in a high school game of his in Indiana. Concerns about his lack of arm strength morphed into excitement over his ability to float a perfectly catchable ball with impeccable accuracy. Peters redshirted in 2016 and entered 2017 trailing Hoke/Borges leftover Wilton Speight and Houston transfer John O'Korn for the starting gig. But Speight was injured in the Big Ten opener that season, and after a pair of disastrous road starts against Indiana and Penn State, a nice easy home date with Rutgers seemed the natural launching point for Harbaugh's first true quarterback recruit at Michigan. Peters clearly had the training wheels on, but looked reasonably functional. A perfect wheel to running back/classmate/fellow Hoosier Chris Evans caused QB coach Pep Hamilton—and in fact the entire Michigan fanbase—to exclaim "The Brandon Peters era has begun."
The Peters Era would last only a few weeks. A week before The Game, Wisconsin's front seven turned Michigan's Drevno-constructed OL into swiss cheese; by the time Peters was knocked out of the rest of the regular season with a concussion, the freshman quarterback had already lost all semblance of composure. Michigan nearly beat Ohio State the following week but couldn't overcome O'Korn's terrible performance. Peters returned to start the bowl game against South Carolina, but looked extremely skittish and unconfident. Meanwhile, dismissible rumors leaked from the program that Peters didn't have the take-charge, devil-may-care attitude of a high-level quarterback. These were not helped by the Peters portion of Amazon's yearlong look inside the Michigan program, in which the presumptive starter came across as a generally passive, normal college kid.
Michigan pursued former 2016 five-star Shea Patterson to start in 2018. By the following spring, it was redshirt freshman Dylan McCaffrey, not Peters, challenging Shea for the starting job, and early enrollee Joe Milton got as much hype as the returning starter. It seemed a fait accompli by that point that Peters would seek a transfer. Already three years into his education, his choices were to lose the year of eligibility by transferring somewhere immediately, or stick around a few more semesters, get his degree, and have the freedom to transfer and play immediately wherever he liked.
It's impossible to tell if it was Pep Hamilton's overly long-developing route trees, Drevno's overly complicated offensive line calls, Brandon's own makeup, or what combination of the above, led to Peters not coming close to his potential at Michigan. There are probably 30 ways his career could have worked out differently.
Like Shane Morris and Alex Malzone before him, Peters demonstrates why the grad transfer rule is good thing for Michigan and its players. Peters leaves with a Michigan degree and more value than he had as a freshman. He offers immediate eligibility, three years of Harbaugh coaching, starting experience against Big Ten and SEC opponents, two years left to play to any school with a good graduate program that needs a starter. While Peters has the option to shop, a rising Purdue program near home and in dire need of an established QB is probably harder to pass up than the chance to coach Louisville was for Jeff Brohm.
Congrats Mr. Peters on earning your Michigan degree. That's a big accomplishment and you'll now forever be one of us.
I remember him taking over for JOK against Rutgers and I thought he'd be the guy for the future. He took some massive hits that year including getting knocked out at Wisconsin. And that was it for the Brandon Peters era. He was never able to get on track.
Peters can be a productive QB some where. Good luck !
Great write-up and send-off, Seth, for a very star-crossed young Michigan Man. Peters gave it his best shot but in the end the sum of his injuries and sieve-like offensive line plus a major change in offensive scheme made his transfer inevitable.
I still wince when thinking about that hit that knocked him out vs Wisconsin. More than anything else, I think from that point forward he became too tentative of a QB to be successful in our plodding offense, especially when he was constantly being chased around when to the protection broke down around him. I hope he can regain the confidence needed to be a successful college QB.
Best of luck, Mr. Peters!
Good luck to Brandon. Hope he lands on his feet and can be a starter for two years.
Good luck to him. Handled himself well at Michigan. I do think there's a slightly different reality where he's a multi-year starter. My guess is he walks into a good spot at Purdue and flourishes.
One of the biggest surprises over the last 10 years is Peters not making at qb in my opinion. I thought he was going to be an absolute stud. Somehow he shrunk in the spotlight. It's like his personality is just not cut out to be a big time qb.
Just my .02 cts. Not killing the kid just stating my personal observation. He reminds of Ellerbe in the sense he is an introvert in an extroverts role. Just look at Brady. The guy wants to be the leading man. I think Peters isn't disappointed that he lost his job or went down the ladder because I don't think he really wanted to be the MAN.
Reminds me a little of GRIII. Being the star isn't for everyone.
I'm not sure thing take is fair... He got put when quite young, and did well, and had it going until he got hurt...then the team seemed to have deflated... Different circumstances and he may have thrived here. Imagine him playing in this offense as a redshirt junior...
Good luck at Purdue Brandon! I'm glad you stayed long enough to get your Michigan degree. I think you played well in 2017 and if you would have taken control of the WI game, well I think you would have had a chance to be the starter here.
Big fan of BP. Wish it would have worked out better for him at U of M.
Poor Brandon Peters. It's a tough pill to swallow that his fate was basically by one hit against Wiscy and/or one bad game against SC, both of which had a lot of do with the o-line. I guess the Shea thing would have happened anyways, but I feel bad for the guy. I hope he finds success wherever he lands. If he does decide to go to Purdue he will make an appearance back in AA in October of 2020 when we take on the Boilermakers. That would prove for an interesting matchup, particularly if JH is still at the helm.
Poor Brandon Peters?
As someone who's paying $60k+ in student loan debt...miss me with that bullshit.
So, you're mad that you've chosen a university that gave you $60k in student loan debt? That sounds like a you problem, not a Peters one. It was your choice after all.
Amen, this taken advantage of student athlete trendy rhetoric is a joke. If you do not have parents paying for college or athletic scholarships, you are likely graduating with sizable student loan debt at 7% interest or higher, regardless of where you go.
So don't go there. Don't go to college. Or go somewhere cheaper. Or go there and enter a field that will help you pay it off quickly. Do whatever you want, but it's not someone else's fault you chose that route. Whether you like it or not Brandon is worth more than you as he brings something to the university you do not. Yes, he'll have to take his lumps and transfer. But, our love for college football, and his ability to play it, make him valuable.
...but wait! He's leaving early and didn't play in the bowl game!
/sarcasm
I already shared my well wishes but I'll say it again, thanks BP! That first half versus Rutgers will stick with me forever, I remember texting all of my friends.
He'll get a shot in the NFL, when healthy he was growing into an efficient and effective QB.
Sidenote - how about some props for Harbaugh for keeping him on the team and allowing him to finish his degree? (for free)
It's been known for almost a year that he was transfering, Michigan got an emergency QB and additional reps for other player to catch passes from a legit B1G QB...AND no hit to their APR since he's leaving in good academic standing.
Peters gets a degree, ability to stay in shape and practice, top notch treatment and athletic training, quality nutrition, etc.
Worked out for everyone! Win-Win.
What else could Harbaugh have done?
He could process these kids before they get a degree? I appreciate that the program keeps these guys around until they get a degree in hand before they get "processed". Whatever anyone thinks of the business of college football, the platonic ideal is still to get a degree for playing football. Usually kids who come to Michigan do that; as long as they keep their nose clean and do what the coaches ask of them while they only marginally on the team.
It's those little differences that add up to a football program you can still be happy with, despite being a "business".
caused QB coach Pep Hamilton—and in fact the entire Michigan fanbase—to exclaim "The Brandon Peters era has begun."
It's funny how long it took to finally get Pep Hamilton out of the system. A poor coach from the beginning.
Drevno-constructed OL into swiss cheese
You are simply wrong. There were no major problems in the offensive line like there were the year Greg Frey was there.
Shane Morris and Alex Malzone shouldn't be lumped together with Brandon Peters in concluding what NCAA rules are good for Michigan.
My recollection is that UMBig11 told us Peters had the physical tools, but wasn't putting it together.
Do you understand how generic that is? You don't need Umbig11 nor any other insider to tell you that.
Peters is a former 4-star. We watched him start and win Big Ten football games. He has the physical tools.
For some reason he was always buried on the depth chart. He obviously never put "it" together.
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But that one pass in the spring game...
Feel bad for the kid. Close enough to get a taste but not really good enough to make it his own. Pep, Drev, his mild mannered ways, maybe just never had what was needed for the next level. As the article says, no way to ever know. At the end of the day, he just didn't have the jazz. Best of luck to him at his next stop. Hope he gets his confidence, finds his voice, finds his tribe.
It's bad for Brandon Peters, but so good for us as a program. It's nice to see recruiting and competition starting to build up depth at many positions of need, which has not been the case pre-Harbaugh.
I am sorry to read this, but the writing was on the wall. Brandon has the physical tools to be a good starting B1G QB and I hope that he lands on his feet and earns a starting job at Purdue or elsewhere.
Regarding his mental makeup.... remember the "Signing of the Stars" hype show in 2016? Brandon came on stage after his introduction and then sat behind everyone else, not interacting, and not even smiling at any of the jokes and the show, which was fairly funny and entertaining. He just seemed cold and distant.
This is no knock on him, it doesnt mean that he is not a great person...however his demeanor then and subsequently showed to me that perhaps he is not the firery-leader or even composed-but-engaged leader that a great QB needs to be.
My reaction to these situations is much like Don Corleone's when he turns down Virgil Sollozzo's offer to partner up in the drug business; "Mr. Sollozzo I'd like to wish you the best of luck in your new business, so long as your interests don't conflict with mine".
Best of luck Brandon Peters. Thanks for your efforts.
Bad OL play can break QBs. Just ask Devin Gardner.
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