| For more on Michigan football and Michigan basketball, or for more from Sean, check out SB Nation Detroit. |
Rich Rodriguez Offers Paulus a Scholarhsip… Or Not? (UPDATE: He Hasn’t)
Share
11 CommentsI don’t like the direction the Greg Paulus situation is taking.
He held a conference call this morning and told reporters that he has an opportunity to compete for the starting job at Michigan.
“There has been an opportunity given there,” Paulus said Thursday morning on a conference call with reporters. “I thought it was a really good visit. It was really helpful to get to be on a campus and meet with coach [Rich] Rodriguez and see the system and understand what types of opportunities are out there.”“The chance to compete for a starting job is important,” Paulus said. “With me only having an opportunity to play for one year, the chance and the opportunity to compete at a high level is important. There is an opportunity to do that at Michigan.”
ESPN and other media outlets are reporting that Paulus has a scholarship offer based on the above quote. I haven’t seen Paulus say he has an official scholarship offer, though the conclusion obviously is that he has one. The problem is that Tate Forcier was asked about Paulus today and said that his coaches are telling him no offer has been granted yet.
From what I’ve heard, I’ve been talking to coaches all morning, my position coach, Coach (Rod) Smith, he told me specifically that they have not offered him. They don’t know why he would lie. They don’t know the kid. They haven’t offered them. They said we’ll let you’ll know what’s up, because right now, their specific words were, they haven’t offered them.
I want to believe my coaches, I committed (to) them. Why would a kid like him lie to national media? So to me it’s still up in the air.
Whether or not Paulus is offered a scholarship does not concern me. He would only be here for a year anyways, and adding depth is a good thing, especially at the QB position. The problem is you can’t piss off your current players by handling this situation poorly. I don’t think Michigan has, but this has the makings of a problem between Forcier and the coaches. The media is set on the fact that Paulus has already been offered a scholarship, yet there is no quote that actually says that. Yes, Paulus said he would have the opportunity to compete for the starting job at Michigan, and it is implied that a scholarship would be offered as well. However, Paulus never actually said that much, and now Tate Forcier is wondering about it, even though his coaches have told him Paulus hasn’t been offered.
It is my belief that if Paulus did come to Michigan — and that certainly looks like a possibility, as he is basically considering U-M and Syracuse — he would be a backup and nothing more. He could take a year to get bulked up by working out with Mike Barwis and could try his hand at the NFL in 2010. I just don’t think he has enough time to beat out Tate Forcier, though. Some may then wonder why there is any point to add him if he is just going to sit on the bench. Well, there is a good chance injuries will happen, and having a backup that can get you through a game or two or whatever would be a nice luxury. Once Denard Robinson arrives there will be more depth at QB than last year, but that still doesn’t say a whole lot. Adding Paulus would be nice simply because it is another body at the QB position.
One thing I will concede is that if adding Paulus is going to cause a rift between the coaches and Tate Forcier, it is not worth it at all. I don’t get how this has been blown out of proportion so much already and don’t see what the big deal is, but things need to be smoothed over immediately if there is any problem. I think there is more confusion than anything else, but I really hope this whole situation gets cleared up quickly. For this team, the less drama the better, and right now the media (mainly ESPN) is doing its best to turn this into a bigger story than it really is. ESPN, for example, is trying to give viewers the impression that Rich Rodriguez doesn’t have faith in Forcier and is desperate by taking a look at Paulus. In reality, though, he is simply taking a look at Paulus to add depth to the QB position, most likely behind Forcier. They won’t tell you that, though, because it isn’t as dramatic of a story.
UPDATE: University officials have said that Greg Paulus has not been offered a scholarship. He has an offer to join the team, but nothing more right now. Paulus was just interviewed on PTI and never once said the word “scholarship.” He made sure to say he was offered an “opportunity,” so it looks like ESPN completely missed the boat on this story.
” In reality, though, he is simply taking a look at Paulus to add depth to the QB position, most likely behind Forcier. They won’t tell you that, though, because it isn’t as dramatic of a story.”
Even if that’s what RR is doing he clearly isn’t telling that to Paulus. His quote:
“The chance to compete for a starting job is important.”
I wouldn’t blame this on the media, RR is blowing it by not getting the two on the same page.
Rodriguez isn’t going to tell him that he has absolutely no chance of playing if he comes here. Then Paulus wouldn’t bother. I’m just saying that Rodriguez likely sees this as an opportunity to add depth. Paulus will get a chance to compete, but in all likelihood he will wind up being a backup or farther down on the depth chart.
Did you see the EPSN.com poll? Most people think Paulus will start if he comes to Michigan. What? Was he really that good in high school?
If Rodriguez knows for fact he has no shot but he still it telling Paulus he does I think that’s messed up. The kid is trying to get some experience and take a shot at football and RR is using him and at the same time lowering his chances of being able to transition into the NFL.
Ethics aside, telling two people two different stories is usually just a bad game plan. Too often it blows up in your face, like this thing might do.
I’ve been saying this same shit all afternoon. Please don’t piss Tate off…you see his bro’s don’t have a problem transferring.
Brian, that’s precisely the problem. Most people don’t understand that the chances of Paulus starting are very slim barring injuries.
This is the last thing RR needs after his first year. Forcier, Robinson and Sheridan (and please in that order) are fine as for depth. If Michigan needs to go four deep…it would not matter at that point anyway!
Michigan does not need to be the team that
“took the basketball guy” from Duke. And if the Duke Football team would not take him as QB, that should tell us something.
The kid seems like a very nice guy. He would be better off going to Syracuse in order to have some playing time. I am sure Greg Robinson could give him a good recommendation.
Have been beating this drum, how is Paulus a better prospect that Furrha?? he might be ahead physically, but he hasn’t played football since January 05!!
What is RR trying to achieve by bringing him in, this is such a stupid move and we can as always trust the media to fuck it up and blow it out of proportion with misquotes and what not!!
We find ourselves in a not so great situation with regards to teh QBs, but that was a given once Threet decided to transfer, why don’t we just get on with it. Sheridan is what he is, so with a better OL and more experienced O personnel wen can still be better than last year.
This whole Paulus thing is a distraction we do not need, especially after the smashing success/positive publicity of spring practice/game!!
And RR try as hard to bring in some players on D, we need them bad. I know they are looking that that Tank Carradine kid, but kids on D are the ones they should be concentrating on!!
that is precisely how i feel. thank you.
Does it really matter if ESPN said scholarship when they shouldn’t have? The point is that RR invited him to play, whether he pays his own bills isn’t really an issue, it sure doesn’t make it any less of a distraction.
Paulus was nowhere near landing at Michigan. ESPN and other irresponsible media, once again, misreported and took out of context a bunch of quotes in an attempt to “get the story first.” The belief by some, or many, that Paulus could come in and compete for the starting job was laughable from the start. Regardless how good he was in college, he hasn’t taken snaps in four years, let alone take some hits with a “football-ready” body.