I know the common thought around here is to blame Harbaugh and/or Milton for Dylan McCaffrey decision to opt-out and transfer which has been unfair to both of them and also to Dylan McCaffrey because it paints him as someone who transfers when there is stiff competition for starting job instead of sticking it out.

But there are a lot of things that didn’t make sense about that view and nobody appears to have looked closely at what actually transpired last August through September.

If you remember the B1G waited late to decide to cancel the season in fact they announced a schedule one month from the first game and then cancelled it less than a week later. Michigan had less than a week of no pads, no contact practices before the cancellation. Couple that with  little to no spring practice there was very little to make any judgements on who were the starters since last year’s bowl practice.

March 15th - Michigan cancels spring football practice
August 5th - B1G announces schedule starting September 5th
August 7th - Michigan starts fall camp
August 11th - B1G announces fall football canceled
August 11th - Any additional practices are voluntary, 20 hours a week of strength and conditioning and walk throughs only.

But even if as some have suggested that Harbaugh decided to go with Milton based on very limited practice or for other ridiculous reasons I won’t cover here then why was Dylan and his parents so adamant about the B1G playing the season on September 5th? Why come to Ann Arbor and participate in the protest? Practice was over, things were on hold.

Angelique (September 5th) asking why he/they was there at the protest:

https://twitter.com/chengelis/status/1302294330556715009

Dylan: “We didn’t know they were going to cancel, they (B1G) kind of egged us on, they gave us a schedule, we were doing well.. and then our season got stripped from us, right at a time when things were looking really up for us.. as a programs, as players.. we are here to vent”

Doesn’t sound like someone who thought the starting job was all ready decided or taken from him unfairly and honestly no matter what your feelings are about Harbaugh it is very doubtful that he would make a starting decision on such little practice time. Sounds like someone who really wanted to play this season and someone who is angry with the B1G.

September 6th - Dylan and his parents in Ann Arbor for protest
September 16th - B1G Announces there will be a season starting in late October
September 16th - Dylan announces publicly that he is opting out and transferring
October 24th - Michigan first game

So then why on the same day that the B1G announces that they will play in late October choose to opt out? This turn around is what on the surface makes no sense and why the rumors and hype about Milton quickly filled in blanks.

But there was other information that was overlooked when everyone was trying to figure out why the presumptive starting quarterback decided to leave.

Sometime between September 6th and September 16 with the football team and season in limbo Dylan and his family made the decision to move on. To graduate from Michigan but play elsewhere. This decision was more than likely made before the B1G announcement to resume and if there was going to be no football the decision would be made public only after Dylan graduated. The B1G announcement made it necessary to make it public but Harbaugh was probably already aware of the decision.

But why not play when the season wouldn’t count against your eligibility? I believe and we will find out in a month or so that Dylan decided he was going to transfer to a team that he believed was going to play the 2020 season in the spring.

What team or conference would that be?  Pac-12? perhaps, there were rumors at the time they would try to play in the spring but what about FCS Big Sky conference? They had already announced in August that they would play in the spring and one of the teams in that conference just happens to be coached by Dylon’s dad - Northern Colorado.

There already was a Michigan to Northern Colorado connection - Tru Wilson had transferred there back in the spring. Ed McCaffrey who was against the B1G cancelling fall football was for the Big Sky conference moving to spring.

August 7th - Big Sky conference postpones football until spring
February 27th (2021) - Northern Colorado’s first game

Knowing this it is easy to put yourself in Dylan’s frame of mind. He really wanted to play this season and at some point believed that it wouldn’t happen at Michigan because of the B1G decision. I believe the reason he decided to opt-out was because he couldn’t play for both Michigan and then again for another team which would technically be the same season - I could be wrong here but I haven’t found any rules on this.

Finally, even though it would be dropping down to an FCS school he would be able to play for his father and help him in his first year coaching at the college level. If he did well he would already be known because of his name and having played at Michigan so it shouldn’t hurt his stock too much and he would have a Michigan degree

I like to think this is what happened because it makes everyone look better and is totally understandable. It also makes it more clear why Harbaugh was trying to build up Milton in the wake of this decision. He had no choice, he was left with two inexperienced quarterbacks.

Now the full timeline:

March 15th - Michigan cancels spring football practice
August 5th - B1G announces schedule starting September 5th
August 7th - Big Sky conference postpones football until spring
August 7th - Michigan starts fall camp
August 11th - B1G announces fall football canceled
August 11th - Michigan fall camp ends
September 6th - Dylan and his parents in Ann Arbor for protest
September 16th - B1G Announces there will be a season starting in late October
September 16th - Dylan announces opting out and transferring
October 24th - Michigan first game
February 27th (2021) - Northern Colorado’s first game