| For more on Michigan football and Michigan basketball, or for more from Sean, check out SB Nation Detroit. |
Rich Rodriguez Dismisses Boubacar Cissoko from Team
Share
2 CommentsBoubacar Cissoko finally worked his way back from a suspension and saw some playing time against Penn State this past Saturday. Apparently he erased all of that work pretty quickly in the last couple of days, though, because Rich Rodriguez has dismissed him from the team for a “violation of team rules.”
Thomas Wilcher, the head coach of Cass Tech and former coach of Cissoko, shared the details of what led to Cissoko being kicked off the team.
Cissoko’s high school coach, Thomas Wilcher of Detroit Cass Tech, said Cissoko was dismissed from the team for missing class, missing workouts and missing study table.
“That’s what he was suspended for in the first place,” Wilcher told The Detroit News. “He’s upset. He’s going to transfer as long as he can meet the requirements.”
I’m going to assume that Cissoko was facing an 0-2 count and struck out on Monday or Tuesday, which is why this is such a sudden change from him playing against Penn State.
No matter how bad Cissoko played at times this season, this is still a big blow to Michigan’s already thin depth at cornerback. Cissoko has the potential to be a solid corner; it is just going to take some work. Unfortunately we won’t get to see that happen at Michigan, meaning the Wolverines are down to only three corners who have real playing experience — Donovan Warren, Troy Woolfolk, and J.T. Floyd (and Floyd’s experience is pretty limited). All I can say is I really hope Donovan Warren doesn’t go pro. If that happens then my only reaction will be “yikes.”
That is why losing Cissoko hurts so much. He already started getting playing time again against PSU, and had he kept everything in order, chances are he would have worked his way into the rotation even more by next season. The problem was that he needed to take care of his business both on and off the field, and ultimately that is what led to his demise at Michigan.
Wilcher said Cissoko had a difficult time handling the “social structure” at Michigan.
“He couldn’t handle it,” Wilcher said. “He’s always been a quiet kid. (But) he needs to do what needs to be done as a student-athlete. Nobody is bigger than the program.”
I hope Cissoko lands on his feet somewhere and gets things in order. Like I said, he has the potential to be a very good player; he just has to work harder both on and off the field to realize that potential.
It’s too bad that this happened, however I feel that if you don’t do the required work you are not worthy of playing. I wondered earlier this season if BC had become a disruption to the defensive side of the ball. In his first game back it sure seemed like the D was out of whack. Even in the games we lost prior, the D came up big when needed, however that wasn’t the case against PSU.
I’m not saying he is the complete blame, of course not, I’m just not crazy about what he brought to the secondary. I’d like to see Turner play and get ready for next year. The hell with redshirting, four years from now is four years from now. I’m concerned with the imediate future.
I wouldn’t be too concerned about Warren declaring for this draft. While he is as talented as many who will, he simply doesn’t have the “body of work” that would convince some team to take him in the first couple of rounds of the draft.
My concern is that both CBs in the 2010 recruiting class are physical clones of Cissoko. Both are 5-9 and both are listed under 170 lbs. Neither is likely to be successful in late October/early November against the taller WRs we traditionally face (Wisky, OSU) at that point in the schedule.
Turner is stuck with his redshirt. It would be unfair to his future to sacrifice it for 4 games and (hopefully) a minor bowl appearance.