“I wanted to congratulate the four of you on getting offers from the University of Michigan. I understand that Ty has accepted.”
“Hey, good job,” Tim said.
“Thanks. My parents are excited that I got the offer. Dad bought the whole family Michigan gear,” Ty said.
“Coach Haber told me that he’s optimistic that the three of you will also accept,” Coach Hope said.
“We felt good about the visit, but we have a couple more places to go to,” Wolf explained.
“And I totally agree that you should make those. I understand that you have official visits scheduled for Alabama and USC, and I think you need to explore what they have to offer. I know that Bo Harrington has been in touch frequently, checking up on you. He’s pushing hard for you to join him at Alabama,” Coach Hope said, looking at me.
“They have a nice campus and outstanding football facilities. The women aren’t bad either,” I shared.
“There were several nice-looking women at Michigan,” Ty offered.
Someone was helping them recruit. Both Wolf and Tim picked up on it and started to tease him. Coach Hope stopped it before it got out of hand.
“Coach Haber called me today and wanted me to run something by the four of you. I understand that David won’t enroll in the fall because he has a movie to film. Because of that, he’ll gray-shirt and start school in the spring semester. Coach Haber said it will technically put him in the next year’s recruiting class.
“The reason that’s important is that Michigan likes to take at least one quarterback in each class. He wanted me to talk to you about the person they’re thinking of offering,” Coach Hope said.
We looked at one another. Why would Michigan ask us about whom they were recruiting unless it directly impacted one of us? For example, if they offered Wolf and got an acceptance from a highly rated tight end, they might tell him about it. That way, he could make the best decision about where to go.
All I could think was that they had had a positive response from another stud quarterback. I knew that all the top schools I was looking at either had or were recruiting high-level quarterbacks. I wasn’t afraid of competition. USC had signed Ridge Townsend two years ago. Bill had told me there was Heisman talk for him next year. Last year, Alabama had enlisted Wes Hunt; he was my Co-MVP at Elite 11 and the number one quarterback in that class. Clemson had signed Chuck Tess, another Elite 11 quarterback, last year, and had a commitment from Larry Dell, who ranked just behind me in this year’s class.
“I’m fine with whoever they take,” I said.
“Would you be fine if they took Mike Herndon?” Coach Hope asked.
That took me by surprise. I could tell that even Ty wasn’t happy to hear that news. I was okay with competing for a spot, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to have to watch my back the whole time. And I knew for certain that I would never let him near anyone I dated.
“I’m not …” I started, but Coach Hope cut me off.
“I also got a call from Mike’s dad, Coach Herndon. He asked that you give Mike a second chance.”
I let out a long sigh.
“We already did that, and it didn’t work out so great,” Wolf said, getting mad.
“I’ve already done that for him twice after the stuff he pulled, both times at his request. Funny thing is, he had no problem asking. But for some reason, he’s never shown even a thought of thanking me,” I added.
“I said I would ask,” Coach Hope said.
“Guys. I bet that on a college team with eighty-five to a hundred and twenty-five players, there’re going to be a few we don’t like,” Tim said. “I think it would be better if we knew that a guy was a dick instead of finding out the hard way.”
“Personally, I think Mike would be a problem,” Ty said.
Everyone looked at me. Since when was I the tie-breaker? My heart said no way. My head gave me two reasons to allow it. The first was Mike would never challenge me for my job. I know that made me sound arrogant, but it was true. The second was that Coach Herndon had asked. If it had just come from Michigan, I would have said ‘no.’
“I’m not going to change my mind about Michigan just because Mike’s going there. If he gets out of hand, we can always have Tim give him a shot in practice.”
That made the three of them smile.
“Of course, I would never cheap-shot a teammate,” Tim said.
I don’t think any of us believed him.
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Chapter 18 – I Would Have Wanted to Go Home, Too Friday October 7
