Football Offer to 8th Grade QB Ty Simpson
March 16th, 2018 at 10:43 AM ^
Harbaugh is one step ahead. Obviously this means he's going to the NFL for the next 4 years, and is already recruiting for when he plans to return to UM.
March 16th, 2018 at 10:43 AM ^
I turned 13 during my 8th grade year. Times have clearly changed...
March 16th, 2018 at 10:46 AM ^
Yeah, what???
March 16th, 2018 at 10:50 AM ^
one turns 14 in 8th grade
March 16th, 2018 at 10:52 AM ^
Is a Sophomore in High school. This kid w be 19 to 20 when he graduates. Go figure
March 16th, 2018 at 11:11 AM ^
Ugh. I turned 14 a week into my freshman year. Had teammates that were older than me by a few days that were a year behind me in school.
Obviously if my parents waited a year to put me in school I would have went D-1 after throwing a football over them mountains and winning state.
March 16th, 2018 at 10:51 AM ^
HUMBLE BRAG ALERT
March 16th, 2018 at 11:04 AM ^
You mean because I said I turned 13 that school year?. Trust me, no brag. I hated it. Just contrasting with Simpson. That kid has a huge advantage on his peers. I've heard of coaches in particular doing that with their kids, but wow. I was done with my 11th grade varsity football year at his age.
March 16th, 2018 at 10:52 AM ^
most people turn 14 during their 8th grade year (I did a couple weeks before the school year ended; my sister however didn’t turn 14 until 3 months had gone by for her freshman year) so he probably was held back once.
March 16th, 2018 at 11:32 AM ^
and I never was advanced a year or anything like that. Just a late birthday.
That does seem to be a huge advantage in terms of sports!
March 16th, 2018 at 10:53 AM ^
Well I turned 16 AND 17 in 8th grade.
HUMBLE BRAG ALERT
March 16th, 2018 at 10:56 AM ^
I was in 8th grade before being born. Boom.
March 16th, 2018 at 10:59 AM ^
It's not that unreasonable. I'm assuming he was just held back a year and had his birthday early in the school year.
March 16th, 2018 at 11:08 AM ^
The slang term for it is "Texas Freshman." Many parents are electing to hold their children back a year in hopes of capitalizing on athletic opportunities down the road. It's pretty silly.
March 16th, 2018 at 11:18 AM ^
My bride is a preschool teacher. Her colleagues call this phenomenon the kindergarten redshirt.
March 16th, 2018 at 11:35 AM ^
He has a June birthday, so I will elect to have him do 2 years of pre-school before enrolling him in kindergarten. He could use another year of developing and strength training before heading out to the monkey bars.
March 16th, 2018 at 11:57 AM ^
how's his pad level?
March 16th, 2018 at 12:41 PM ^
Honestly, your child's kindergarten teacher will thank you. The September cut-off is really early, especially for boys, and there would be a lot of benefit to pushing it back a couple months.
As for recruiting, it always amazes me how little football seems to take birth year into account compared to a sport like hockey where it is a major, major factor. Especially since it probably plays an even bigger role in football.
March 16th, 2018 at 12:50 PM ^
Back in my day, if you got held back in school it meant you were a fucking moron borderline imbecile
deep mental scar from this experience. Once or twice?
March 16th, 2018 at 12:27 PM ^
This is the new normal for high school athletes. I’ve been bitching about the age thing for years - too many men playing against kids three to four years younger than them in high school. Last season in Texas I watched a pretty good QB who turned 18 in October of his junior season. The dude is going to be three years older than most of the kids he plays against.
but I don't know if they can be determined at 4 years old, the age at which you and I started school. I was fine socially, acedmically and even athletically I achieved quite a bit compared to my peers, a few who were a full year older than me but the majority probably only 6 - 7 months.
If your family has a history of great athletes but later (not necessarily late) development, you might want to consider holding them back to 5 for Oct and Nov kids. Think that was as late as it went. I was varsity for three years in two different sports, starter for two seasons in two of them and a four year letter winner due to track, which included a school record as a sophomore. But damn, I also put on 15-20 lbs and 3 inches in the year after graquation which really would have helped me in the big 2 sports. I also lowered my 100 time by over 1/2 a second so there are considerations. I am certain it would have helped me from a confidence standpoint simply because of size(oh yeah, I got teased by the OL, but mostly in fun so certainly didn't give me a complex.
So I think there might be something to considering holding them back and still have them graduate at the normal age of 18. Seeing as how he's 6'1" already, the reasons for holding him back two years are obvious and would give me just as many questions in the other direction as I would have toward the younger kids. That is why I am always quick to jump in and assume Dylan and other youngsters his age will become faster with time, considering genetics.
March 16th, 2018 at 10:47 AM ^
First off, I'm old. Secondly, does the Freep not have copy editors? "It peaked Harbaugh's interest" ugh.
March 16th, 2018 at 10:51 AM ^
That's just sad...
But I'm not sure what's worse - that a 'journalist' wrote that, or that an editor let it go...
March 16th, 2018 at 11:29 AM ^
You do not read MLive Articles?
March 16th, 2018 at 10:54 AM ^
He's a gym rat!
March 16th, 2018 at 10:57 AM ^
Obligatory "It's a long way until signing day" comment.
March 16th, 2018 at 11:13 AM ^
I want nothing but a team of OL...
March 16th, 2018 at 11:20 AM ^
This is really nothing more than establishing a relationship. No one knows what things will be like by the time this kid would sign.
March 16th, 2018 at 11:21 AM ^
Oprah will be POTUS with The Rock as VPOTUS.
March 16th, 2018 at 11:35 AM ^
You forgot the s/ lol
March 16th, 2018 at 11:39 AM ^
I live ten minutes from where this kid plays. He got hurt last year and only played one or two games at QB. I guess Harbaugh has seen enough of him in 7 on 7. His Dad is pushing him really hard to a bunch of schools. Dad is a bit overbearing and completely disregards the coaches he currently plays for. Kid already had a huge ego, hate to see him after this. Maybe he will pan out someday.
March 16th, 2018 at 11:58 AM ^
When I was in 8th grade I acted like an asshole because I got a brand new DYNO bike. This kid is getting phone calls from Jim Harbaugh.
He has time to grow up, but the overbearing father part will be tough to break.
March 16th, 2018 at 12:24 PM ^
FWIW, his dad is the head coach at UT-Martin so he’s probably a Type A guy.
March 16th, 2018 at 12:05 PM ^
I'd feel pretty good about myself too if I were two years older than all the kids in my grade. Time will level out the playing field. I'd be very surprised if he ever played here.
March 16th, 2018 at 12:47 PM ^
What exactly did Harbaugh base this offer on? Where has he seen the kid perform at a high-level to show he’s worthy of a scholarship to Michigan? And don’t tell me he’s look good on film against middle schoolers. Middle-schoolers lol
And don’t tell me he’s looked good in 7on 7 games. That’s not real football. We all know that.
Don’t tell me he’s look good in quarterback drills his dad put on YouTube. Thats flat out embarrassing if that’s how Harbaugh decided to offer.
Needless to say I hate offering middle schoolers
March 16th, 2018 at 12:53 PM ^
How many times was this kid held back?
This seems like a gigantic waste of time