Jim Harbaugh Removes Scholarship From 2013 Commit

(Photo Courtesy Fox Sports)

Jim Harbaugh has been making a splash in recruiting headlines lately. He’s had a sleepover with Penn State commit and number one kicker Quinn Nordin. He’s climbed a tree to fetch a football with David Long who’s a four-star cornerback from Los Angeles, California. Today, he sat in class with two targets at their high school in Concord, California.

And now, he’s pulled a scholarship offer from Erik Swenson, who has been committed to Michigan since 2013.

Harbaugh had been giving himself, and his school, a questionable image for the past week or so with his actions. Now, he’s put his school in an awful position.

With the first report that Harbaugh was trying his best to land a visit with Nordin, college football analysts began pondering how odd Jim Harbaugh really was. Not only were Harbaugh’s tactics borderline stalker, he was also targeting a kicker who committed to Penn State in July of last year.

Harbaugh said he would visit Nordin right when the recruiting dead period ended- literally. He told the kicker he’d visit Nordin at 12:01 A.M. on January 14. Furthermore, Harbaugh planned to watch a movie with Nordin, stay the night, and attend class with him the next day.

Sleepovers are cool for kids these days, and Coach Harbaugh is doing his best to make it cool for adults too.

Nordin said he was “in tears laughing” after Harbaugh told him his plans.

Harbaugh is going to extreme measures to land this recruit, but let’s remember one thing.

He’s a kicker.

Nordin won’t change games, he won’t sell jerseys. He might be able to win a game or two in his entire career at Michigan.

Harbaugh’s somewhat creepy actions are supposed to show how much he values his targets.

Maybe those who aren’t getting attention should be worried.

Erik Swenson committed to Michigan in November of 2013. Today, Jim Harbaugh revoked his scholarship, two weeks away from National Signing Day.

Swenson’s smile was as bright as he though his future was at Michigan during an unofficial visit, Courtesy 247sports.com

Now, I understand that Brady Hoke originally picked him out and recruited him. But why take his scholarship away with just fourteen days to choose his college?

I really doubt that Swenson did something in recent days to warrant his removal of his free ride. If Harbaugh didn’t want him, he should have let Swenson know much sooner.

And that’s just the thing. Harbaugh never talked to Swenson about him losing his scholarship.

Here’s a tweet detailing what went on prior to today’s event. The tweet was sent out by Bobby Kunz‏ (@UofMDieHards).

“I talked to Erik Swenson today about his scholarship being waived by Harbaugh recently. Take it as you see fit.”

Harbaugh gave no warning to the four-star recruit, which is just unprofessional and cruel. His actions give his name and university a bad rep. It’s just too bad it happened to a recruit who fell in love with Michigan in 2013.

Crystal ball predictions now peg Northwestern as the leader to gain Swenson in their 2016 class.