Update on '16 OT Commit Swenson

... I get the loyalty part, but when I was an undergrad, I had a merit based partial scholarship offer.  I chose to check out my senior year and my grades suffered. Then my scholarship was rescinded because I didn't merit it.  What you do, and how you develop, matter.  

A lot depends on how the overall communication went down since Harbaugh took over.  If this is the first time Swenson was told, that's not handling it well.  It still doesn't change the fact that his performance, in the eyes of the decision makers, does not merit a full scholarship to Michigan.  

Tell him in August or even in Nov.

So I get how this affects Swenson.  But how does this sit with you, personally?  

Not surprised since I saw Swenson is following the OLine coaches at Iowa and Northwestern a few weeks ago. 

This is part of the problem of the "Transition".  Hoke guys may not have the same staying power as Harbaugh's guys in Harbaugh's system.  The other Hoke guys have left too - Dele Harding, Messiah DeWeaver and Swenson is the last remaining one from this class if I recall correctly. 

Timing is rough, but Swenson is talented and it seems like he will find another top team to go to.

Yep, I agree with you Space Coyote. Harbaugh made clear that there were no guaranteed 5th years:  every year is a competition. Well, if that's how he feels about scholarships, that should have been made clear too. Because I never, ever have heard a whiff of anyone saying, "If you committed under Hoke, we may or may not honor that commitment. You need to prove yourself to us." Swenson could have done things a lot differently in the Fall (in terms of OV's, etc.) if he knew that his scholarship was in jeopardy.

I really don't

Just because Wiltfong says that's the reason doesn't mean it is. That said, people are always quick to point out that no one has signed anything when the recruit decommits. Same goes for the school. Plus, Swenson was a Hoke commit, not a Harbaugh commit. Splitting hairs? Maybe. But still true.

Unfortunately we are only getting one side (which may not be fully accurate at that) of the story, but if true I agree highly disapointing way to handle affairs.

I'm ok with it as along as Harbaugh is upfront & honest with the kid along with helping him find a suitable landing spot. I would feel bad for the kid to get on campus and never see playing time because the coaches don't believe in his abilities. This move hurts him in the short term but should benefit him in the long term if he lands with a school that is sold on his abilities. This is the world were going to be living in now, you have to take the good with the bad. Unfortunately these are the kind of tactics it takes to turn over/build this roster up to where we want it to be.

don't think anybody has enough information to judge this as criticallly as you are except the parties involved.  I am not saying it wouldn't be some degree of wrong to just pull the scholarship if he could no longer perform at the level expected when he committed but I think you are having to jump to a lot of conclusions to write a "scathing" commentary like this.

Honestly, the way I see it, is that recruiting is an ugly, dirty business. There are worse things than potentially pulling a scholly more than 2 weeks away from signing day before he is on campus. I will grant you that I am not enthused by it, but I am also not particularly upset. 

This is one of the problems with coaches being unable to comment on recruits. There is no way to know the real story.

When it's our coach, we give him the benefit of the doubt. When it's somebody else's coach, we are skeptical. In both cases, we simply do not know.

 

It reminds me a bit of Daishon Neal saying that Mattison called him stupid. Maybe Mattison did say something that was tone-deaf. Maybe he didn't. We have no way of knowing.

the fact that the schools and coaches can't say one word on it either way. remember the guy who went to Nebraska because Mattison allegedly "disrespected" him? They can't defend themselves at all. Not saying there's a defense here, but we will never know.

Serious question - I'm not being sarcastic: is the real world any nicer than this?  People are let go or have job offers rescinded all the time simply because they don't fit in or they aren't good enough at their job.  To me, expecting this guy's scholarship offer to be honored simply because he "stuck through it all" seems on the same level as a participation trophy.  But I'm open to other people's opinions if they disagree with that take.

Amazing how everyone on this board is all about only getting one side of the story now.  Didn't seem to make that argument when criticizing other schools based on what recruits said.  Maybe Mike Weber was told before his commitment that the rb coach was interviewing, we only got one side of that story too.

Honestly, I want to do everything within the rules to win at this point in my Michigan fandom. The past 10 years have changed how I look at Michigan football. If we want to be competitive in big time football, we're going to have to do things differently than we've done recently.

I'm not going to turn my nose up at letting recruits find another place to play before signing day when it turns out they aren't what the coaches expected

Academic scholarships can be pulled for bad grades during a senior year, I don't see how this is much different - except that for some reason people tend to see school grades as "objective" and athletic performance evaluations as "subjective" when they're both the same thing.

If true, I put this one firmly in the "good luck, sorry it didn't work out here" category.

I don't believe there is a coach in the country that would let it leak (tell anyone) that they are not going to honor a kids verbal committment because he didn't develop the way they liked, or thoughty he should. Other schools and highschool coaches would crucify them for that. Having said that, if you guys want to compete with Alabama and OSU on a yearly basis, these late decisions will be more of a norm going forward. You can't be pissed when they get curb stomped and then want to walk this moral high ground.