Someone on Michigan board claiming that Swenson was offered an academic scholarship and a designation as a preferred walk-on.
This does not seem plausible to me, but if it is the case, it may change my perception of the situation.
On one hand, Swenson would still have the opportunity to attend his dream school, to join the football team, and to prove his merit to break on to the field. I'm not sure I see anything wrong with that. Maybe Harbaugh is also gambling that the kid loved Michigan so much he would still come (and hence, open up another scholarship). On the other - it isn't exactly being straight up with him either. Should have told him earlier that he wasn't going to have an opportunity at Michigan to come as a full scholarship player.
For the record, I have no problem with what Harbaugh did with Matt Falcon. Was straight up with him, said he didn't think the kid would be able to play for Michigan, but took care of him with an academic scholarship. And did so much earlier in the recruiting cycle. Falcon could have chosen to stay at Michigan, get his degree, and try to make the team. Instead, he chose to go elsewhere where he thought he had a better chance of playing. It was up front, direct, and the kid made a decision.
Similarly, in this case, if Swenson was given the opportunity to go to UM on a scholarship, and was being asked to prove himself as a walk-on, I have less of an issue with that. I do think it may be gaming the system a bit, but it's not exactly the same as kicking him to the curb as I thought it was.
This said, I don't believe for a moment that's what happened. This following article seems to paint a different picture.
http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/ind...on_was_told_by.html#incart_river_mobile_index
This does not seem plausible to me, but if it is the case, it may change my perception of the situation.
On one hand, Swenson would still have the opportunity to attend his dream school, to join the football team, and to prove his merit to break on to the field. I'm not sure I see anything wrong with that. Maybe Harbaugh is also gambling that the kid loved Michigan so much he would still come (and hence, open up another scholarship). On the other - it isn't exactly being straight up with him either. Should have told him earlier that he wasn't going to have an opportunity at Michigan to come as a full scholarship player.
For the record, I have no problem with what Harbaugh did with Matt Falcon. Was straight up with him, said he didn't think the kid would be able to play for Michigan, but took care of him with an academic scholarship. And did so much earlier in the recruiting cycle. Falcon could have chosen to stay at Michigan, get his degree, and try to make the team. Instead, he chose to go elsewhere where he thought he had a better chance of playing. It was up front, direct, and the kid made a decision.
Similarly, in this case, if Swenson was given the opportunity to go to UM on a scholarship, and was being asked to prove himself as a walk-on, I have less of an issue with that. I do think it may be gaming the system a bit, but it's not exactly the same as kicking him to the curb as I thought it was.
This said, I don't believe for a moment that's what happened. This following article seems to paint a different picture.
http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/ind...on_was_told_by.html#incart_river_mobile_index
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