Update on '16 OT Commit Swenson

Submitted by Space Coyote on

Yesterday, it was reported by Spath and Fishsaw that Swenson may not end up in this class.

It appears Wiltfong has now relayed the same information.

Apparently, this isn't Swenson waivering on his committment, this is coming from the Michigan side of things due to lack of development on the football field over the last couple seasons.

My take:

I'm on board with most of what Harbaugh does. And it's my belief that most things that are best for the Michigan football program are best for Michigan. However, this does not sit well with me at all. Swenson committed and stayed committed through everything. He was absolutely 100% loyal. Harbaugh re-affirmed his scholarship and was glad to have him on board when the class wasn't filling up.

Now it's two weeks before signing day, and suddenly he hasn't been progressing enough to be a part of the class. Maybe he knew a little while ago, but that isn't much time either. This doesn't sit well with me. This may be best for the Michigan football program for the short term, but this isn't what is best for Michigan. Loyalty, in my eyes, still means something, and while I understand some of the guys getting pushed out (either they waiver, they were told up front, etc), Swenson doesn't sit right.

And don't get me wrong, there are always reason to rescind scholarships (grades, off field issues, etc), but a guy not developing at your expectations when you had the choice to offer him a scholarship early or not (or rescind it earlier when he wasn't developing as you expected) is part of the risk/reward in recruiting.

This guy was loyal through all of that, loyal when Hoke (his coach) was fired, loyal when Michigan had no coach, and loyal once Harbaugh was hired. It was Harbaugh's choice to stick with him at the time, and he did. He still should now.

So yeah, I'm not on board with this from Harbaugh if true. It doesn't sit well to me at all. But about all that means is this post on this board, so it's whatever. Still don't like it though.

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Space Coyote

January 19th, 2016 at 4:42 PM ^

Just like Michigan fans jumped on Meyer for trying to force a medical on a kid that was apparently healthy enough to play. If you want to stick your head in the sand and think everyone would ignore the issue, then go ahead. RCMB's "Harbaugh'd" thread is about people Harbaugh has supposedly "run off" and it dates back to when he was hired.

Oh, and sources are "apparently" a Michigan Rivals guy, a well respected Michigan recruiting source, and perhaps the most well respected guy at 247. So yes, about equivalent to blah, blah, blah.

Those are sources to a rumor, yes, I understand that. And if that rumor is true, which smoke doesn't necessarily equal fire but is sometimes a good indication, then I'm not particularly feeling good about the rumor.

As someone who cares about Michigan, I'm allowed and should express when I'm not happy about something someone is doing. Or else we'd still have Brian praising Dave Brandon as Mike DeBord coached the team.

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Nolongerusingaccount

January 19th, 2016 at 4:51 PM ^

Agreed. I guess where I get uncomfortable is oversigning and then kicking out healthy scholarship players who want to stay for a full four years.

Carr would occasionally suggest that a player transfers if he wasn't up to snuff. My guess is that people on this board would go through the same existential crisis if mgoblog existed then.

As for me, I never thought college football was that honorable.



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Pepto Bismol

January 19th, 2016 at 4:59 PM ^

You mention "sources to a rumor", and "if that rumor is true".  Can you elaborate on what that rumor is, specifically? 

From the links you've provided, we have 2 guys saying Swenson won't be in this class.  I don't see anything more.

Where are you getting your info about this "coming from the Michigan side" and being "due to lack of development on the football field"?  Is this documented somewhere?  Or is this personal speculation?

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Pepto Bismol

January 20th, 2016 at 8:28 AM ^

Thoughtful, unbiased opinions are fine. But this is a Michigan fan blog. Spouting off unfounded accusations of wrongdoing aimed at a Michigan coaching staff is going to draw criticism. I'm asking for any evidence that what Coyote says is true. We have none. I'm asking where he's even getting the rumor that it's coming from Michigans side - I have no answer. He might as well be accusing Harbaugh of paying players. It's just wild speculation at this point painting the staff in a negative light. I'll lay off if we can find a single source that will corroborate his "rumor". I'm not asking for much. And I'm not blindly defending M. I'm asking who or where this is being said. Ive received no answer. So as of now, in my eyes, this is just an internet poster throwing crap against the wall.

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Albatross

January 20th, 2016 at 9:24 AM ^

I am going to treat your post as a sincere question. So lets look at the unfounded accusations. These rumors are not coming from a random postered, but rather multiple recruirting sources. They seem to all be consistent in the belief that Swanson won't be part of the class and not through his decision. They have furhter gone on to say that it is due to the coaches feeling he hasn't developed like he should.

That is the information that we all have to work off of. Logic can take you to some pretty safe conclusions, if you look at it objectively.

And this isn't a question of wrongdoing, if in fact the coaching staff pulls an offer or tells a kid they don't have a spot for him, then that is within the rules. They can allowed to do that. The question is should they? Is that how we want Michigan to conduct business?

For the last question you will surely get answers that run the gammit.

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Pepto Bismol

January 20th, 2016 at 1:07 PM ^

Considering you took my post as a sincere question, I find it irritating that you failed to provide an answer to the only question I'm asking. 

 

I now read on Mlive, quoting Swenson, that Harbaugh likely pulled his scholarship.  That's all I was looking for.

And now knowing that, I agree this is not the best way for this to go down.

 

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MoBuster55

January 19th, 2016 at 4:09 PM ^

To me, this is unacceptable. Pushing other kids out to get higher rated recruits bugs me already, but then having a highly rated guy who had stuck with us for so long, to say "sorry not sorry but your no longer good enough" two weeks before signing day is absurd to me, it kinda makes Harbaugh look like a dick. And if you think about it, doing this type of things will get noticed by other recruits present and future, and if you see that a coach continually pushes kids out who he offered and had made a commitment, you begin to wonder if you can trust that guy.

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Pepto Bismol

January 19th, 2016 at 4:38 PM ^

I know Harbaugh can't comment on this, but there's nothing stopping Swenson from unloading here, is there?  I assume no, because Matt Falcon voiced mild displeasure at being offered his medical.

So if that's the case, shouldn't we wait until Swenson (or Sir Patrick Scott, or Kiante Enis, or any of these other guys that Harbaugh is allegedly giving the ultimate shaft and nuking their hopes and dreams) has at least one critical thing to say about the Michigan process before putting our own staff on trial?

If I've missed the criticism from Michigan recruits, please share. Otherwise, half of this thread is basically assuming the worst of our own coaching staff without a thread of fact to support it.

 

What are we doing here, guys? 

 

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Albatross

January 19th, 2016 at 5:02 PM ^

Recruits know that unloading is not going to do them any good and will probably hinder them moving forward. But there have been players that were not pleased with the way their situations were handled. Pipkins, Falcon and Norfleet.

Norfleet never unloaded either but his high school coach sure did, and you can probably conclude he didn't do it cause he was happy with how the Norfleet situation was handled. I know there was damage control done after that.

I would like to keep these situations at a minimum and from what we are hearing about Swenson, it would be disappointing if the staff is forcing him out.

 

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Albatross

January 19th, 2016 at 4:39 PM ^

I am the biggest Harbaugh fan there is. I wanted Jimmy to be our next head coach when he was at the University of San Diego. But the reason why Michigan holds such a special place in our hearts is what it stands for. Integrity, honesty, loyalty. Winning and winning the right way.

 

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akblue

January 19th, 2016 at 5:25 PM ^

"I'LL TELL YOU SOMETHING YOU LITTLE SON OF A BITCH! YOU COCKY SON OF A BITCH COMING INTO MY MEETING 10 MINUTES LATE! YOU WILL NEVER PLAY A DOWN OF FOOTBALL AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, NOT WHILE I'M HERE. YOU GOT IT?"

Bo Schembechler to Jim Harbough

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Harbaughs_Pants

January 19th, 2016 at 6:12 PM ^

....sure do troll this board a lot. How do I know? Because I do the same. They have a lot to say about this subject, however I agree with posters here instead of Slappy Central at 11W.  I don't like the idea of dropping early scholarships in favor of better players who come later. Grayshirts will be lining the bench before long and we'll start looking like Ohio or Alabama...and that's not a good look. However the business models demands victories. I don't know what the fair middle ground is. I guess I'll have to trust in Harbs and staff doing the right thing and we'll see how this all pans out.

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TheCool

January 19th, 2016 at 6:25 PM ^

Well, if the coach decides a player is not worthy of a scholarship, then so be it. The player has time to find another program and while the timing isn't perfect it's better than waiting later. Harbaugh is amazingly competitive and demands the same from athletes. I find it amusing that his nature was pretty well known and he was welcomed with enthusiasm, yet people now despise some of his actions that had been documented even when there is very little evidence suggesting something wrong was done. His job is to get Michigan football to the pinnacle and doing so, as this isn't a Disney movie (or is because Disney likes to kill off parents), may lead to a committed athlete being told he has to move on. Is the coaching staff informing recruits that they are constantly being evaluated? Maybe. Maybe not. But, it seems like what Harbaugh would do. To summarize, stop bitching when there's very little reason to. Show some patience and stop being so quick to draw conclusions.

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ca_prophet

January 19th, 2016 at 7:54 PM ^

I would be ok with this if, for example, Harbaugh had told him "I reaffirm your earlier offer, and here's what I expect from you to keep it" last year, and he had not met those goals. Then we're being upfront with him about what we expect. I would be ok with this if he didn't make the academic cut (although that doesn't seem to be an issue here). We can't know that until late in the game. I would be uncomfortable with Harbaugh telling him "our class has changed a lot in 9 months, you should take a hard look at it and decide what you want to do" (about the politest way to say you're likely to ride the bench) last year. I would not like it but would accept it. I would not accept it if Harbaugh told him this month that he would not get an LOI and/or told him he was being switched to a preferred walk-on, without a lot of prior communication about what was happening and a clear plan as to what he could do to change that. I would definitely not accept it if Harbaugh told him he's not getting an LOI because we offered too many people. That is the definition of oversigning and I don't want our coach doing that.

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BigOzzy86

January 20th, 2016 at 12:40 AM ^

tough. Better to go somewhere where you are 100% wanted from the start.. than to show up and never have a coach look you in the eyes or have your name penciled in on the Thursday night travel roster. Some guys lose their edge once they commit... maybe this happened... maybe we will never know.

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Bones032

January 20th, 2016 at 12:49 AM ^

Sorry if this has been said, but I couldn't read through every comment to find out and on mobile. So presumably we don't want Swenson, but are looking at Stephen Spanellis. I know we really want a tackle inthis class, so I am confused by this. Swenson is 6'7 285, composite ranking 322, #31 OT. Spanellis is 6'5 295, composite ranking 736, #62 OT. So it seems like we have a pretty good OT already, but want to replace with a shorter much lower rated tackle, very strange.

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gord

January 20th, 2016 at 2:27 AM ^

http://gregghenson.com/rumor-longtime-ol-committment-out-of-2016-class/

"Before you get upset with the staff for waiting so long to inform the kid, relax, I’m told Swenson has been told for some time his commitment was not guaranteed and that he should have a backup plan, which he seems to have according to sources who now believe he has had contact with the staff at Northwestern.  The Wildcats could very well be his new team."

 

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