Michigan Football: What to Make of Erik Swenson Case
Michigan football parted ways with 2016 four-star offensive lineman Erik Swenson under some foggy circumstances. What should we make of this?
Back in 2013, under former head coach Brady Hoke, four-star offensive lineman Erik Swenson became Michigan‘s first commitment in the 2016 recruiting class.
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Despite the long marriage, Swenson took to Twitter on Wednesday to announce that he’s reopening his recruitment, citing “unforeseen circumstances” as the reason for his decommitment.
— Erik Swenson (@erik_swenson77) January 20, 2016
Simple enough, but he told MLive’s Nick Baumgardner that the Wolverines called not too long ago to let him that his scholarship was being pulled and to cancel his official visit. Swenson told MLive that the program didn’t offer a reason.
To add even more salt to this, Swenson just commented over the summer about how important it is to stick with your commitment.
So, how do we dissect this issue? Who’s at fault? Is anyone at fault?
From a human standpoint, it’s hard to let Jim Harbaugh off the hook on this one. I know we’re always supposed to look past shadiness he might cast, but pulling an offer from someone who’s been committed for more than two years seems to undermine the humanity.
It’s important to note that, while some will point to National Signing Day coming up on Feb. 3, athletes have until April 1 to sign with a team. That’s almost two months. Is it late in the process? Yes, but not damningly late.
It’s also being reported that Harbaugh didn’t even take the time to personally tell Swenson that his scholarship was being pulled.
This of course isn’t the first time Harbaugh has made headlines for similar reasons. Before last season Ondre Pipkins told ESPN that Harbaugh, along with head athletic trainer Paul Schmidt and assistant athletic director Jim Minick, asked him about 10 times over a two-month period to take a medical redshirt, effectively ending his Wolverines career.
Pipkins said he constantly felt pressured to retire, and he ultimately chose to transfer to Texas Tech, where he’ll play his final collegiate season this year.
None of this is to say Swenson is completely clear of blame, though. And maybe “blame” isn’t exactly the right word.
Swenson was guilty during his senior season of not producing the game tape that you’d normally expect to see from a Michigan commit, perhaps hinting at undesirable laziness. Throughout the season, Swenson’s ranking dropped considerably. He’s now the No. 583-ranked prospect according to 247Sports.
We’ll unfortunately never be able to hear the other side of this story because NCAA rules prohibit coaches from talking about such things.
What really matters now is that Northwestern is reportedly high on Swenson’s list, and Michigan has another spot open in the 2016 class.
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Make of this what you will. Battle it out in the comments below.