I didn’t need to think about this any longer. Even if they fixed it so that Mike wouldn’t play at Michigan, I would never have Coach Title as my coach. He’d made an ass out of himself at the Michigan camp held at Lincoln High, and now he showed his true colors once again. The guy was a jerk.
“Thank you for the clarification,” I said.
“I’m glad we could clear that up. Is there anything else you wanted?”
“Yes. I wanted to thank you and the University of Michigan for offering me a scholarship to play football. It saddens me to say that I will be playing elsewhere next year. I want to wish you and Mike the best of luck. If he’s an example of what your team is like, I won’t be associated with it,” I said.
I tried to sound as businesslike as possible, even though I was seething.
“I thought you understood. What part of ‘you signed a letter of intent’ did you not get?” Coach Title asked.
“I never signed one. I just verbally committed.”
“… Oh.”
“Please tell Coach Haber how helpful you’ve been,” I said as my parting shot and hung up.
Well, I might have dodged a bullet on that one.
◊◊◊
I had twenty minutes to step back and consider my options before I received the expected call from the head coach at Michigan.
“I just received some disturbing news and wanted to confirm it with you. Did you just pull your commitment?” Coach Haber asked.
“Yes, sir.”
“Is there some way we can fix this?”
“Short of firing Coach Title and pulling Mike Herndon’s scholarship?” I asked.
“Short of that,” he admitted.
“Then, no.”
“Do you have any idea where you plan to go to school?” he asked.
“I might not go to college. I might just see about entering the Major League Baseball draft,” I admitted to what I was considering.
“Might I ask one favor?” he asked.
“You can ask,” I said, not committing to anything.
“Will you let Wolf Tams and Tim Foresee make up their own minds?”
“They always do, but I will give you a heads-up. They don’t like Mike, either.”
“Duly noted. I’m starting to wonder if we have made a mistake,” Coach Haber shared.
“Could be,” I said and then added, “Coach, thank you for offering me. I was excited to play ball at Michigan and for you. I believe you’re on the right track, and if I play college football, just know that I will enjoy putting a beating on you.”
He barked out a laugh.
“I bet you will. Who knows, you might end up playing for me before it’s all done. I hope you and I will remain in touch. I also hope you decide to play football. You have a gift, and it would be a shame if you didn’t. I say that even if you do go to our hated rival,” Coach Haber said, putting a smile on my face.
Of course, he was talking about Ohio State.
“Thanks, Coach,” I said and rung off.
◊◊◊ Tuesday February 21
I’d held off talking to Wolf, Tim, and Ty about my talk with Coach Title because I wanted to make sure I felt the same way this morning. During PE, I got us excused so we could talk. We grabbed one of the coaches’ rooms.
“I talked to Coach Title …” I began.
I spent the next fifteen minutes recounting our conversation and my decision to pull my commitment.
“After hearing that, I can understand why you decided to do what you did,” Ty said.
“I wanted to make sure you understood this isn’t a knee-jerk decision. I was looking forward to continuing to play ball with you,” I said to Ty.
“Thanks. I’ll leave you guys alone so you can talk,” Ty said and left.
“I got a call from Coach Haber,” Wolf told us.
“Me too,” Tim added.
“And …?” I asked.
“I told him we were with you and gave him the complete rundown on Mike. He explained that if he’d known before Mike signed, they would have gone in another direction,” Wolf said.
“They’re just hiding behind that. I’ve seen schools pull scholarships before,” Tim said.
Florida’s former football coach, Jim McElwain, was a prime example of a coach who pulled scholarships. He’d made it a practice to reward walk-ons who played well enough by offering them a scholarship, only to yank it if a better recruit became available.
I’d also seen other schools pull one for an incoming player who did something that would bring trouble to a program. Mike assaulting my brother and giving his underaged girlfriend alcohol—and, I suspect, drugs as well—should rise to that level. In this case, the only difference was it hadn’t been made public, so it gave Michigan cover for not doing anything. The coaching staff had the power to decide who did and didn’t receive a scholarship.
“I agree. What did you tell him?” I asked.
“That we were going elsewhere,” Tim said, and Wolf nodded his agreement.
“Before I commit to another school, I plan to explore Major League Baseball,” I said.
“I think you should,” Wolf said, surprising me. “You’re good enough to get paid, and going to college might be a mistake for you.”
“You’re sure?” I asked.
“Yeah. Tami sat me down a while back and explained it to me,” Tim said.
That didn’t surprise me.
“Are you going to consider football too?” Wolf asked.
I took a deep breath.
