Absolutely agree. Nothing personal against the kid at all either.Swafford is a good example of why greyshirting kids is not necessarily a good thing. I have no idea if he turns out to be good or not, but you can't tell me you'd rather have him in the '14 class over any of our current commits/targets.
Swafford is a good example of why greyshirting kids is not necessarily a good thing. I have no idea if he turns out to be good or not, but you can't tell me you'd rather have him in the '14 class over any of our current commits/targets.
Not sure how this makes sense. For one, it wouldn't have mattered had he ended up in the 2013 or 2014 class for the purposes of available scholarships for the 2014 class - the upper limit is going to be in the end based on how many we have under the 85 limit.
Secondly, since he's going to be a W/O it worked out great to "greyshirt" him instead of signing him in 2013.
If he greyshirted (and didn't walk on), he would count against the '14 class. I was using this more as an example more than anything. Obviously, it's distinguishable.
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FTR...I think he's a walk-on and will not be given a scholarship next year
I agree 100%. Another example would be Tino Thomas. He absorbed a scholarship and will be a career special teams player at best.
He has a scholarship this year because we have a couple open. And if someone gets kicked off the team or leaves next year, we'll have an open one, and he'll get it.
I mean, it's not the ideal situation for him. But it's better than paying for college elsewhere.
Unless his original offer has changed in the past 5 months (and I don't think it has), Swafford is not a walk-on.
Tennessee offered Swafford a grayshirt opportunity, meaning he would go on full scholarship in January 2014. If an extra scholarship were to open up in the spring, Swafford said, he could get that.
Im going to enroll (at Tennessee) in August and practice with the team regardless, he said.
Dobyns-Bennett stars Foreman, Swafford headed to Knoxville | Kingsport Times-News
"They offered me a grayshirt and said that there could be an opportunity where they have an open scholarship come August, and if not then I'll enroll in January 2014 and be on full scholarship from there," said Swafford, who emphasized to his prep coaches and during the interview his gratitude and intent to make the most of this opportunity.
http://footballrecruiting.rivals.com/barrier_noentry.asp?ReturnTo=&sid=&script=content.asp&cid=1453950
^^^
This is the reason I would be disappointed to hear Swafford was forced into a walk-on or nothing situation. He was supposed to be a GS and would have a scholarship in 2014 IF not in 2013. If the staff wants others to consider the GS option in the future, they have to follow through with the promise. If they decide before NSD a GS is not possible, tell the kid and let him choose another school. Swafford had other full ride scholarship opportunities to smaller schools. Same with the Dews deal. If a GS and a scholarship is not possible in 2015, let him know BEFORE NSD and let him do whats best for him. JMO