This is not sour grapes. But just an analytical perspective of Harbaugh's recruiting tactics from someone who has been following recruiting on this site dating back to the early 90's and the 'plotit.com' website address.
I am going to assume that Harbaugh is a smart guy. I am also going to assume that he has people around him who advise him on recruiting, who know the recruiting 'game. And it strikes me that Harbaugh's tactics of pulling scholarships this close to NSD, is not a very smart long term move.
His tactic of ignoring commits so they de-commit, reached a new low with this DeWeaver kid who just de-committed yesterday. Apparently Harbaugh ignored him for months. I guess when the kid did not get the passive aggressive message, Harbaugh had no choice but to contact him directly, and he told the kid that there was a 50/50 chance that he might not have a spot for him on NSD.
Fact is all of these kids Harbaugh is screwing over the past month have coaches who will be around for a while. They also have a network of HS coaching buddies who will be around for a while. You get the reputation amongst the HS Coaching circle of a coach who will do this type of bull-crap and down the road the HS Coaches will go out of their way to push their kids away from you.
So yeah, Harbaugh is "winning" the battle this year. He is trading in a bunch of 3* and lower rated 4* prospects, so he can upgrade to the better 4*/5* prospects. But down the road does Harbaugh lose the war, when a stud 5* prospect is coming out of the same HS as one of these kids he screwed over, and the HS coach blocks him from going to Michigan. And it's not just that high school, as many of these HS coaches are long time buddies. So what happens in a year or two, when some 5* stud is coming from the same area as DeWeaver, and the HS Coaches decide they do not like how Harbaugh treated DeWeaver.
I have to think Harbaugh realizes that this tactic could have long term negative ramifications. Can he be this stupid? Or, does he realize that he is not in college for the long term, wants to win immediately, and get back to the NFL ??
I am going to assume that Harbaugh is a smart guy. I am also going to assume that he has people around him who advise him on recruiting, who know the recruiting 'game. And it strikes me that Harbaugh's tactics of pulling scholarships this close to NSD, is not a very smart long term move.
His tactic of ignoring commits so they de-commit, reached a new low with this DeWeaver kid who just de-committed yesterday. Apparently Harbaugh ignored him for months. I guess when the kid did not get the passive aggressive message, Harbaugh had no choice but to contact him directly, and he told the kid that there was a 50/50 chance that he might not have a spot for him on NSD.
Fact is all of these kids Harbaugh is screwing over the past month have coaches who will be around for a while. They also have a network of HS coaching buddies who will be around for a while. You get the reputation amongst the HS Coaching circle of a coach who will do this type of bull-crap and down the road the HS Coaches will go out of their way to push their kids away from you.
So yeah, Harbaugh is "winning" the battle this year. He is trading in a bunch of 3* and lower rated 4* prospects, so he can upgrade to the better 4*/5* prospects. But down the road does Harbaugh lose the war, when a stud 5* prospect is coming out of the same HS as one of these kids he screwed over, and the HS coach blocks him from going to Michigan. And it's not just that high school, as many of these HS coaches are long time buddies. So what happens in a year or two, when some 5* stud is coming from the same area as DeWeaver, and the HS Coaches decide they do not like how Harbaugh treated DeWeaver.
I have to think Harbaugh realizes that this tactic could have long term negative ramifications. Can he be this stupid? Or, does he realize that he is not in college for the long term, wants to win immediately, and get back to the NFL ??
