For the good of Michigan, Greg’s going elsewhere

By Bart Doan  |   Monday, April 27, 2009  |  Comments( 3 )

Michigan Wolverines
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As if Michigan's public image really needed to take another perception blow right now, the Greg Paulus ordeal certainly gave it the old college try. Thankfully for everyone involved, it has finally been cemented that if Paulus will be playing college football, it will not be as a Wolverine. It was reported last week that Paulus was not a scholarship option being explored by Michigan at this point after rumors that it was nearly a done deal surfaced. With all due respect to Paulus, this is necessary news.

First things first, and that being the thought of Paulus taking snaps as a Michigan quarterback. The nation knows the position was a problem. Five minutes of watching film of the offense would have proven that fact. Likewise, it's not always easy to sell multiple recruits on taking up the position, even with the promise of playing time, when the other end of the spectrum means losing the starting job to another freshman and likely sitting for most of your career.

Though Michigan hauled in two well-documented quarterback recruits, the program is still thin. Most coaches will tell you that they want at least three guys they feel comfortable with running their system. Turning to an NCAA exemption that allows a Duke basketball player to compete would have been laughable, however. Paulus hasn't taken a snap in four years. Somehow, though, he was supposed to pick up Rich Rodriguez's complex offensive scheme in six months? Not likely.

Aside from that, had Paulus been so concerned with living out his lifelong dream of making it to the NFL, would it not have been more prudent to play college football instead of hoops? Not to be too critical, but if you have a goal of being a marine biologist, you're probably not going to school intent on majoring in English. Paulus' case reeks of an athlete who thought after starting at point guard as a freshman that he was bound for the NBA; and after closing his senior season as a backup, he realized that he'd better seek out other options.

Basically, Paulus wants to attend a school that will all but hand over a starting job to him, because he only has one year to prove that he apparently is an NFL-type talent. Again, most of this seems like the plot line of a really questionable movie. The focus of his desires now lies in the potential to end up at Syracuse, a team in far worse dire straits than even the Wolverines.

While everyone deserves a shot to chase their own rainbows, Paulus' pit stop in Ann Arbor would have been disastrous. Michigan just closed up a fairly impressive spring campaign from freshman Tate Forcier and doesn't need the added pressure of a one-year stopgap at the position to damage Forcier's confidence. This isn't professional baseball, where you buy an expensive starter for one season and hope he's the missing link to a World Series. In college football, players rarely turn into NFL-caliber in one season.

Supposedly, Rodriguez has a vision that has been set in motion with his second recruiting class in Ann Arbor. Michigan needs stability. Syracuse needs Greg Paulus.
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About Bart Doan

Bart has been with Realfootball365.com for about six months and thoroughly enjoys writing for the site. He has been featured for his writings on college football in The Sporting News, The Indianapolis Star, Sports Illustrated, and on CBS Sportsline.com. When he's not drowning himself in the...
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