Mike Weber's HS coach says Weber feels misled by Ohio State
The high school coach of four-star running back recruit Mike Weber said he and Weber feel like they were misguided by Ohio State.
Weber, an RB from Michigan, signed with the defending national champions on National Signing Day on Wednesday. The next day, the Chicago Bears announced that Ohio State RB coach Stan Drayton would become the team's RB coach. Drayton had been with the Buckeyes for four seasons.
When asked by Cleveland.com if Weber felt misled, Thomas Wilcher said "Yes. 100 percent. 100 percent."
Michigan was one of Weber's top choices. After the Bears announced Drayton's hire, he tweeted that he was "hurt as hell." That apparently was referring to Drayton's departure.
Wilcher told Cleveland.com that he hasn't heard from Ohio State coach Urban Meyer since Drayton's departure. Weber was the No. 1 recruit in the state of Michigan.
He also said he didn't know if knowledge of Drayton's departure would have changed Weber's decision to attend Ohio State.
"I don't know," the Cass Tech coach said. "I am quite sure it made a difference and it would have made a difference in his decision. It would have made a difference in what he wanted to do. But the most important thing is it would have been up to him and his parents. That would have played a big role in what was going on."
When on 105.1 FM in Detroit, Wilcher was more pointed towards Meyer. Via a transcript from Land-Grant Holy Land:
"I think Urban Meyer is going to have to step his game up [if he wants to come back here again]. He's going to have to come down here, we're going to have to talk. We're going to have to meet. Because he just came here to my school and got the number one athlete, got an All-American athlete out of my school, two years in a row; number one player in the state. I think that's big. I think that's real big for the university," Wilcher said.
"But the most important thing is you can not come up here, come up to the north, and walk out of here with your pockets full and no give us respect. That's the most important thing right now. You have to respect us. You can't just walk all over us. That's not going to happen again. I can tell you that right now."
"I talked to the recruiting coach already. I really haven't gotten my words together for Coach Urban Meyer. I'm really kind of hoping he calls me. That's what I'm really waiting for. This is a very tough situation. I can tell you right now, Mike Weber's not happy. I can tell you right now his family is not very happy. But they're teaching him morals and values and standards right now. Because Coach Drayton ,he's supposed to want to go get a higher job. That's just how it is. I'm not mad at Coach Drayton. I'm not mad at him at all, I'm mad at the protocol. That's what I'm mad about," he added.
And unfortunately, due to the nature of recruiting, waiting until after signing day to announce a coaching change isn't too uncommon (Yes, there is misdirection in recruiting. We hate to break the news to you). News of Florida DL coach Terrell Williams' departure didn't break until after NSD. Both scenarios are why kids shouldn't get too attached to coaches during the recruiting process.
For more Ohio State news, visit BuckeyeGrove.com.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
