Stephen Herron Decommits
Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man. Stephen Herron's decommitment went from foregone conclusion to likely outcome to possible outcome, but after spending several weeks denying any ongoing interest in Stanford, Herron finally yanked the band-aid.
“For I know the plans I have for you”, declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” #CardClass19 #FearTheTree pic.twitter.com/XqW0EBV3FK
— Stephen Jr. (@stephenherron_) July 23, 2018
The most likely scenario was that Herron hadn't gotten formal word from Stanford admissions, and has now received said word. Herron was a composite five-star until recently, and remains a top-100 prospect.
Michigan now has three defensive end commits, 5-star SDE Chris Hinton, 3.5-star-for-now SDE David Ojabo and 3-star WDE Gabe Newburg, and will presumably look to replace Herron in the class. They remain Lloyd-Christmas-There's-A-Chance interested in 5-stars Zach Harrison (a presumed Ohio State lock) and George Karlaftis (a Purdue commit). The Herron news may actually help somewhat with 3-star DE Aeneas DiCosmo, who seems to be down to Michigan and Stanford.
Michigan's class is now down to 18 commits, and is ranked #9 in the country and #2 in the Big Ten behind Ohio State.
Some folks were not particularly upset after seeing his Opening performance.
http://www.cbssports.com/general/video/ae74807f-f9c4-4636-bb67-4a311895…
Still would have liked to see what Mr. Mustache Brown could have done with him.
People are going to lose their shit after the Hinton kid goes.
Where did you pull that out of? Provide some kind of evidence or insight that he's been looking around, or STHU.
It's always been tough to pull high end prospects out of the south. It's been done, even recently, but I wouldn't be shocked if Hinton doesn't end up in the class. It's more the norm than the outlier.
Dave, let me give it to you Straight - you're an asshole.
As seen by the unhinged replies to Dave - this place rates LOW in comment quality. Back in the early days it was excellent. It’s now a wasteland of pompous prickishness.
A verbal commitment is like a pledge to marry. It's not official until you tie the knot. Seems like he has had his eyes on the other pretty girl and was waiting for her to say yes. Best of luck to him.
True enough, but he also kept telling the first girl he loved her, which is pretty bad form.
Eh, recruiting is basically the college sports version of The Bachelor.
I'm partial to the "Dinner Reservation" analogy. We'll hold you a table if you say you're coming. But these things get cancelled from time to time.
Good Luck Stephen, enjoy Cali.
Send Giles Jackson, Isaiah Foskey and Kyle Ford this way; M 'kay? Thx!
My kids believe if you chant something over and over you will get it.
Karlaftis! KARlaftis! KAR-LAF-TIS!
If "waiting for admissions" is true, and I have no reason to doubt it, then I can't begrudge a person the desire to go to a great academic institution like Stanford.
Now, if he had flipped to Alabama or Michigan State...
Best of luck to him.
I disagree. If a kid is waiting for something from an academic institution, don't commit somewhere else until you know. Saying these are young kids doesn't fly with me either - lots of eighteen year old kids are overseas and in our armed forces making life and death decisions. It isn't fair to another kid who might have taken the spot and stuck with it, but then committed somewhere else because the opportunity appeared to be gone.
It is pure selfishness. I also get that there are circumstances that sometimes dictate that a verbal commitment needs to change. This isn't one of those times.
But what if Harbs said to commit here before he got word from Stanford? I wouldn't be surprised if that were true, though I do prefer to share your opinion on it.
Don't be pedantic about the word "commitment." Nothing is committed until a LOI is in, and everybody involved understands that that's the way it is. "Committing" to a university before national signing day simply indicates that there's strong mutual interest, and it's often necessary to express that level of interest to stake a claim to a place in the class.
If a school can pull an offer to a "committed" prospect, I don't begrudge a prospect from switching a commitment if his situation changes.
You bring up a good point I hadn't thought of before regarding the other kid who might have sought a UM recruitment.
That said, I have a hard time with him looking out for himself when the way the system is set up the school can always drop it's commitment.
Early in my career I chose to leave a job once after working there a month. I felt really guilty. My Dad looked at me and said "Son, do you think if they needed to let you go for budgetary reasons they'd think twice? Take the better job'.
*DONT* have a hard time with him looking out for himself. I wish we could edit posts.
No politics.
Now if you hold off on committing, you risk losing your spot. Michigan has 3 other DEs committed already, Michigan is already recruiting multiple other DEs. There is no guarantee that had he waited, his spot would still be there.
Youre also comparing a kid who just finished his junior year of high school (so he’s 16 or maybe 17) to adults who graduated high school. He’s called a kid because he IS a kid.
It's not selfish. It's the landscape.
Programs send out hundreds of offers, most of them merely window dressing, unless, of course, the coaches miss out on their top targets and decide to then pursue some of those original offers seriously. It's a backup plan, the same as the players.
Kids commit to the best school they can to ensure a spot and gain visibility. Perhaps a better offer comes along or perhaps it doesn't, but it's not selfish. Ensure your spot at the best program you can, and if that offer you really want comes along you decommit. It's the game.
And these are indeed young people, with a million voices in their ears and a huge decision to make at a young age. Your argument about the kids overseas doesn't hold either, because if they decided to join the military in the first place they've already shown that youthful, ill-advised decision making process.
The word commit in college athletics has changed, and everybody seems to understand that - coaches, players, fans - expect these, "Stick by your word. If you commit, you commit," purists.
Agree. It's a low class move esp with the length of commitment. You N blame his upbringing also. Enough.
It's called holding a spot in the class. It's a back-up plan. Don't knock the kid for doing what's best for himself. He did the smart thing. Just a shame it burned us. It happens.
As long as the UM coaches were aware that this was the situation, I have no problem with this either.
Not sure how this affect DiCosmo, who is being recruited as a Josh Uche-type SAM LB.
Didn't something happen to Beilein a couple of years ago when someone gave a verbal. then changes his mind and went to Syracuse and another top recruit considering Michigan chose somewhere else (MSU?) as the position was filled.
Yes (reply to bluebyyou), but that worked out as Michigan went to national championship game, and the guy that went to Syracuse helped beat MSU in the NCAA tournament earlier this year.
Begrudge him no. Dislike that he lied about his intentions, yes. He could have said nothing or left his commitment status open. He didn't have to commit and he didn't have to say his pledge was solid. He could have left it alone. That I don't understand, but whatevs. Best to him anyways. You never want someone that doesn't want you.
didn't want him anyways
/s
Seems like if it comes down to us or stanford, Stanford always wins.
Ah well.
I am a two time UM alum. If my children were offered from Stanford, I'd tell them to go there. Stanford has great academics, athletics, weather, and is surrounded by great companies for internships.
Yeah duh. In hindsight I wish I would have looked at them a little more strongly, despite my love for all things Michigan. It's one of the best schools in the world. I mean Michigan is too. But Stanford is an amazing school. I'd never fault anyone for choosing it
The irony is Stanford became an attractive destination for a football player because of Harbaugh's efforts. No good deed goes unpunished.
Lol true, no 5* would consider the program pre-Harbaugh
Good luck to Mr Herron, nothing but the best wishes to any young man who has that 40 year decision.
We need more posts like this. Let's all wish the young man good luck.
My hope is that in the long run this will work out better for us. As soon as the winning begins here the ability to attract high caliber kids will work itself out. We will be the winner when coming down to the choice between two schools. The arrow is pointing up and I am really looking forward to watching the narrative change on Coach Harbaugh after this year. Didn't suddenly forget how to coach. Saw the same thing at Stanford as what we saw last year here. The Amazon Series showed me all that I needed to know about why the team didn't respond. Won't happen this year. Go Blue!!!
It would have been great to have him, and see what Don Brown and Greg Mattison could do with him. But if he's that committed to going to Stanford God Speed kid. It's a great school and you'll do well. I can't get bugged by a 19 YO looking out for himself.
Sometimes college success is about fit. And a student might find the right fit at one school and excel, while fail at another, equally rigorous school. If his fit is at Stanford then he made the right choice.
Sucks to admit, but if your kid believes his future is professional sports then Michigan is the choice, otherwise, if athletics are not the likely future then Stanford is superior choice for a profession. Life on campus, with exception of the weather, definitely favors Michigan. Stanford campus social life pales in comparison. Herron is likely calculating that football is not his ultimate destination, which is fine for him, it's the safe position to adopt. Next.
You can still get to the NFL and be a 1st round pick if you go to Stanford. See Christian McCaffery and Solomon Thomas who are the recent 1st round picks coming from that school.
Here's the poster child for what recruiting is today. Thankfully for Michigan he didnt drag this out any longer like some prospects who like to flip on signing day for the attention. I no longer feel bad when coaches pull the offers, dog eat dog world
Fine. Hope he gets sunburned in Cali, although Palo Alto is kind of cloudy and cool. Never mind.
I'm not sure exactly when, but I think it was during his interview with Sam that this guy would constantly hedge about his recruitment. It's one thing to change your mind; it's quite another to be deceptive. Why not stay quiet?
That's not to say I thought he'd join the class. I'm just unimpressed with how he went about it.
On the plus side, we don't have to hear about this/him anymore
Good luck, young man.
Let's face it... Michigan is a safety school rather than a first priority for most 5-stars.
Despite what some of you may say, there's no need to lie and say you're 100% if you're not even close to that. Leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
I have no problem with the kid choosing Stanford. Losing out to them is different than a kid that says he's serious about school and then goes to Ole Miss or Alabama. Good luck to him there and I hope David Shaw says a prayer that Harbaugh built that program to where it can attract kids like this.
My problem is that you don't need to go out and tell everyone you're 100% solid when you're not. Either be honest or don't say anything - why is flat out lying okay in our culture? I hope he was up front with the coaches and they with him. In this case there's no way Harbaugh would have pulled his offer if he came out and said "it is between Michigan and Stanford once I confirm my transcripts with both schools."
Maybe that's a pipe dream - but why come out and say that he's solid to Michigan? It won't actually calm the rumors or chatter and now he looks like someone who's word can't be trusted. Oh well - I like our DEs just fine even without him.
Ojabo is gonna be the better player in the long run, book it. He might even end up being the better ranked recruit by NSD.
Agreed. Ojabo has Zach Harrison athleticism. He could end-up being the best player in our class. Herron looks like a solid player, but not a great one.
Don't get me wrong--I'm not pretending I don't want Herron in the class or that I don't think he's a good player. But if you asked me to choose, I'd take Ojabo.
My bad, everyone.
While I've been living in Louisville, Herron was committed. I go and spend a summer in Alaska and now he's gone.
Maybe he will recommit when I go back in September?
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