June 25, 2011 · 7:56 AM

It’s okay when they do it.

A Kentucky high school safety just got a greyshirt offer… from Michigan.

I’m sure we’ll hear the gnashing of teeth from the usual quarters any minute now.

19 Comments

Filed under Big Ten Football, Recruiting

19 responses to “It’s okay when they do it.”

  1. Bad M
    June 25, 2011 at 8:01 AM

    If it’s an upfront offer, I don’t have a problem with it. The kid just needs to know so he can make an informed decision.

    Like

  2. semicorrect
    June 25, 2011 at 8:29 AM

    I’m not a fan of greyshirts. Then again, 1. Signing day is eight months away, 2. Verbal commitments eight months before signing day don’t particularly matter, 3. In the next eight months they could have room to offer him a scholarship, and 4. Acting like there isn’t a clear difference between this and other notorious instances of “roster management” is asinine.

    Who is “they”? I don’t want to put words into your mouth.

    Like

  3. SouthGa Dawg
    June 25, 2011 at 9:39 AM

    I’m ok with Michigan Little Sisters of the Poor doing it. Didn’t they drop to 1AA?

    Like

  4. Go Dawgs!
    June 25, 2011 at 11:42 AM

    Mr. Delaney, a delivery man is here with a plate of crow for you. Should I send him in?

    Like

  5. AuditDawg
    June 25, 2011 at 7:00 PM

    Strange…. The folks over at oversigning.com have disabled comments. Texas_Dawg not commenting about how the B1G rules would make the SEC respectable. What is going on here?? I’d like to think that maybe they realize that no matter what rules are in place coaches will figure out a way to avoid them, but that would just be too simple for them.

    Like

  6. Huh?
    June 28, 2011 at 12:57 PM

    Isn’t it obviously ok if the recruit knows he’s greyshirting coming in? Who’s been arguing that greyshirting as a whole is unethical? That’s like arguing that no one should be allowed to go to college without a scholarship. If a recruit would rather pay his way at Michigan instead of taking a scholarship at a non-BCS school, that’s his business. Giving him a scholarship and then yanking it away from him and telling him he’ll have to pay his way is unethical, and that’s what the SEC is/was getting blasted for.

    Like

    • Senator Blutarsky
      June 28, 2011 at 1:07 PM

      I assume you’ve made it here though Brian’s post.

      Actually, we’ve had a few commenters here – one in particular – who find that greyshirting in all its forms is part and parcel with oversigning and should be condemned. Feel free to take a spin though my archives to confirm. Oversigning.com is guilty of some of that attitude, as well. So is Bernie Machen, for that matter.

      As numerous prior posts here and the first comment in this very thread should indicate, I don’t have a problem at all with what Michigan did in this case. As long as a recruit knows going in what the conditions are and is in agreement, I think this sort of greyshirting is completely acceptable.

      In other words, I completely agree with your position. Sorry to ruin your mood of righteous indignation. 😉

      Like

  7. Jeff
    June 28, 2011 at 1:03 PM

    The problem occurs when a school offers a kid a scholarship and THEN subsequently renegs and offers him a greyshirt instead. It’s a problem because the kid is now in a bad position because he already committed to the school and might have passed on offers elsewhere in reliance on the scholarship offer. Here, Michigan never offered him a scholarship – just a greyshirt. He has a full range of options, including going to any other school that might offer him a scholarship. So it is not at all like what SEC schools do. Try again.

    Like

    • Senator Blutarsky
      June 28, 2011 at 1:09 PM

      I don’t want to repeat myself over and over again to the Michigan faithful, so how’s about looking at my first comment in this very thread to see that Brian has mischaracterized my position. If that’s not good enough, feel free to search the term “greyshirting” in the GTP archives.

      Like

      • georgiablue
        June 28, 2011 at 2:06 PM

        Give Brian a break. He just got married. 😉

        Like

      • Corey
        June 28, 2011 at 2:11 PM

        In defense of the people going after you, I can see where the confusion would result. For those who aren’t keenly aware of your position on greyshirting (before reading through the comments), it does come off in a way that doesn’t seem to reflect your actual attitude towards greyshirting.

        Like

  8. DeathReau
    June 28, 2011 at 4:02 PM

    Yeah, how could anybody possibly think you have a problem with what they did when you use the title “It’s ok when they do it”. Those morons.

    Like

  9. Jeff2
    June 28, 2011 at 4:18 PM

    If you truly believe, according to your comments, that it’s okay for a player to grayshirt when it’s made clear to him going in, then you wouldn’t have titled your post “it’s okay when they do it,” as they implication is that there is some kind of double standard at play.

    Like

  10. D
    June 28, 2011 at 5:14 PM

    You knew the wheels were going to come off at some point when they started comparing one conference to the other. I just never expected the wheels to come off in mid-air as the car fell off a 3,000 foot cliff.

    You would think an issue like oversigning would be relatively easy. How a few Big 10 fans managed to run that car into such a large ditch continues to amaze me.

    Like