Sorry, Jim Harbaugh, that’s not how we do things in the Big Ten

Sorry, Jim Harbaugh, the way you’re recruiting is not welcome in the Big Ten.

It’s effective. It gets the job done. Recruits seem to like it. All of those are actual reasons for backing Jim Harbaugh’s recruiting tactics at Michigan — but all are becoming more of a stretch by the day.

As one of most respected coaches in the Big Ten, this isn’t a rivalry thing. This isn’t because Michigan is the top rival of Michigan State. No, it’s bigger than that. This is about the kids who have been granted scholarships by a university only to have them rescinded with little to no notice.

On Monday night, three-star defensive end Rashad Weaver announced he was decommitting from Michigan, one of a handful of decommits in the past few weeks for Harbaugh. The letter he wrote on Twitter regarding the option to open up his recruitment was clearly a jab at Harbaugh’s way of handling things:

In the open letter of decommitment, he stated how Harbaugh told him blatantly that there might not be any room for him in the class, despite his verbal pledge being announced over the summer.

Weaver wasn’t the first to come out and knock Harbaugh for basically pulling a scholarship right before National Signing Day (Feb. 3), but long-time commit, and four-star offensive lineman, Erik Swenson also suffered the same fate.

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Swenson had been committed to Michigan since 2013 and Harbaugh and the new staff even made sure he knew that he had a scholarship waiting for him when he graduated, sending him a letter in the fall. However, whenever Swenson tried to reach out to Harbaugh, he sent an assistant to talk to him and he was left in the dark until a week ago about his future with the Wolverines. His scholarship was pulled, to his surprise.

It’s not illegal. It’s unethical.

See, what Harbaugh is doing is over-recruiting. It happens all the time in college football. Heck, he’s over-recruited so much that he’s had nearly 10 decommitments in the last month — unsure of how many were actually rescinded scholarships.

What is unethical about what he’s doing is that he’s pulling scholarships with very little notice just weeks before National Signing Day. Picking a college can be the most stressful time in a kid’s life, and he’s making these kids rush into taking last-minute visits and pulling the trigger on a decision far before they even know what they want from another school.

A lot of these former commits were dead-set on going to Michigan. It was their dream school. It’s a great school. Great education, cool campus and impressive quality all-around. Harbaugh is swiping that from these teens.

Imagine you were a high school football player and Michigan offered you a scholarship and you committed shortly after. For months you prepared to play for your dream school only to find out two weeks before National Signing Day that you no longer had a scholarship waiting for you because there was a better player available. Kind of a low blow.

Don’t get me wrong, I have a tremendous respect for Michigan and their athletics — the winningest football program of all time, but the way Harbaugh is going about things goes against everything that university strives for.

In fact, part of the University of Michigan’s vision statement proclaims: “We strive to be an exemplary employer and a positive influence in our community.”

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This is giving the university a black eye because of one man’s dirty recruiting tactics. We already have one SEC-wannabe coach in the Big Ten, no need for two.