So we got that going for us, which is nice.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/chi-prater-northwestern-expect-to-hear-from-ncaa-in-july-20120627,0,4607439.story

Good to see Fitzee isn't above pretend hardship waivers if lying suits his needs.

Different type of coach.

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Fire Phil Emery

huh?

I'm having a hard time faulting Fitz for anything with this. Virginia QB Sims just got a waiver for the exact same thing. When you look at the situation, I can't find a single reason why Prater shouldn't be able to play immediately. And it's not the homer in me talking.

How about because transfer rules exist for a reason? Prater left USC because he wasn't playing. If he was a starter last year he'd be there still.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

You are making an assumption... you're allowed to do that on a sports messageboard. But I think you have to give him the benefit of the doubt. His relative is indeed very ill. There is no denying that. You could call it convenient, but I still have a hard time believing if "not playing" was the only reason that he would choose another school besides Northwestern. Certainly would have chosen a midwest school with a pro-style offense where his attributes would have been better utilized... not Northwestern's spread.

If his family member is very ill why not just sit out the year and take care of him/her?

Given how he basically didn't play at USC, I think my assumption is far more likely than anything else.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

He wasn't granted permission to go to U of I or ND.

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He was injured. So no you're assumption is not more likely in my opinion.

My assumption was that if he was starting at USC he would have stayed. Are you saying that he would have left USC even as a starter in order to go to Northwestern?

I think that is unlikely.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I don't think you leave USC for anything... unless its an important family matter. That's just my opinion.

I would. I would leave USC for a specific medial reason:


Lane Kiffin makes me sick.

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He left because he was buried on the depth chart and Kiffin told him that because he wanted his scholarship.

Granting the waiver would set a precedent. Go to school out of town and you can transfer home without penalty so long as you can find a sick relative somewhere, which of course you always can.

Fitzee is a liar and he'll get away with it because 1995. This is just one of several examples.

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Fire Phil Emery

Disagree, IB... there are four people in just this past year that did the exact same thing. It is NOT setting a precedent. The relative is indeed ill. And while it is your opinion that he was buried on the depth chart (and I cannot refute that since you or I have no idea what the Spring depth chart was going to look like), he was indeed injured... I believe the foot was injured for a good portion of last year. They actually talked about his recovery during a Rivals interview over the winter before he decided to transfer.

Call me a homer, but I'm not really sure what you have specifically against Fitz. He's a good guy (admittedly this is just my opinion, but it is based on a decent level of interaction). My wife went to school with him at Sandberg and I met him a couple times at NU and I know a bunch of his friends. I don't deny the media goes overboard with the "boy scout" thing... but I think you are going a little overboard the other way with the "liar" comment.

Then under these circumstances a kid should never have to sit. Why should a kid have to sit because a coach wants him gone?

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He's a liar. He lied about his involvement withthe the Michigan coaching position. He has lied about comments he makes to recruits about rival programs, specifically Iowa and Illinois (and he still hates Jim Harbaugh for the same behavior towards him, so he's a hypocrite too). He lied about the Persa situation. There's a pattern. Maybe he's no different from any other coach but that's the point. He should be treated like other coaches, not Saint Fitzee.

As for Prater, I've followed his career out there since he was an Illinois recruiting target. He was injured but reports from the beginning were negative out there. He wouldn't be the first athlete to get things a bit later in his career, and he's reportedly a good kid, so I hope he finds success. That being said, he doesn't deserve a waiver.

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Fire Phil Emery

Lied about being offered the job or lied about being considered or what? I'm not sure how he could have handled this better than he did. I don't really even know your source, since there were tons of rumor about this, but no real facts from either him or Michigan. So I gotta assume this is conjecture on your part.


If this were meaningful, I'd give this some credibility. But I chalk this up to trying to keep the recruit relationship a little more private as well as misrepresentations of his comments in the media. There is no smoking gun here.


C'mon... you honestly hold that against him? That's just silly.

I still don't get it. If his relative is so sick that he literally needs to give up a promising career at a place like USC to come back and be close then why does he want a hardship waiver at all? Take this year to be with the sick relative that you needed to change your entire life in order to accommodate.

It also could be that he wasn't happy at USC and thought he'd be happier at Northwestern and that's why he wants to play right away.

Mud, I understand wanting him to play right away but this story doesn't check out.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Northwestern has been one of the better coaching staffs we have dealt with when it comes to football recruiting.

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Are you a parent or a coach that has dealt with the process? I talked to Tim O'Halloran once about it... he knows more about HS recruiting than anyone I know... and he was telling me that NU is a little more upfront about the process than many schools. But I'm not sure if Edgy Tim was just telling me what I wanted to hear. Fitz is pretty aggressive, but there was only one situation that I can remember where he couldn't fulfill his promise. And that was a local kid... I think his name was Shawn or Sean something. They had to pull his offer because of admissions. And I think it completely blindsided the kid. I think that was a situation that Fitz wished he handled a little bit better. But unfortunately recruiting isn't as black and white as what some would like.

But I think we agree, IB, that Fitz isn't the boy scout the media paints him as. But I truly think he takes a bit of a different approach to recruiting. If he tries to "market" that style as being superior, I think that is his perogative... you have to do something to differentiate yourself.

I'm surprised it took so long, but he finally got the waiver.

http://northwestern.scout.com/2/1207056.html

Eligible.

Hanley is going to be excited to see him play QB this year.

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My Maserati does 186.

That should give him more time to spend with his sick relative.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

That good news takes the sting off of losing Austin Logan to the Boilermakers. BR, you got a great kid with Austin. I thought we had him.

I'm not sure how they could not grant the waiver given the Carlisle and Arnett decisions. Right? You may not like the transfer waiver rules, but they are there for a reason. I think they made the right call. And that's not my inner homer talking. You need to be consistent

I don't think any of them were the right call. I wouldn't give anyone a waiver for coming home to be near a sick relative. Eventually, the NCAA is going to have to stop granting them too given that they are being abused more and more.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I think it will go the other way. Any kid that is released from scholarship cause the schools does not want him should never have to sit.

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There is not a chance that happens, and it shouldn't.

Any player who wanted to transfer would just be a huge jerk until being released.

It's not relevant for all players yet, because the rule is still new, but any current recruit who doesn't sign a 4 year scholarship gets what they deserve if their scholarship is dropped.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I don't think any scholarship is guaranteed 4 year (is that what you were suggesting in the last comment?). I thought each year they run the risk of the scholarship being revoked.

They changed the rules. You can now extend 4 year scholarships. I know that it was available for the recruits that signed this year. I don't know if it was available before that.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!