Bill Martin: Michigan will evaluate its recruiting practices after Justin Feagin incident
University of Michigan athletic director Bill Martin said Tuesday that football coach Rich Rodriguez handled the Justin Feagin situation properly. Still, Martin said the university will use Feagin’s recent dismissal from the team to evaluate its recruiting standards.
“We take this situation very seriously,” Martin said. “It’s an extremely rare event - one that’s never happened in my career here. So the question has been raised: What’s your due diligence in the recruiting process?
“We have a very thorough process. Rich and the football staff followed it. That said, no process is perfect. Rich did absolutely the right thing when he heard in dismissing the student-athlete from the team.”
Feagin told police last month that he brokered a failed cocaine deal between a friend in Ann Arbor and another in Florida. He also said he previously dealt drugs in his home state, where he had two minor run-ins with the law.
Rodriguez said Monday he was unaware of Feagin’s troubles, and when he learned of them July 23, he immediately kicked the quarterback/receiver off the team.
According to Michigan’s official recruiting visit policy, last amended in 2004, “coaches are responsible for evaluating a recruit’s character, citizenship and academic ability.” If a coach discovers “arrests, citations or any other potentially embarrassing incidents” that might signal “a lack of character,” he is required to report the issues to the athletic director.
“A joint decision will be made on whether to continue the recruitment,” the policy states.
Martin, who didn’t learn of Feagin’s problems until after he was dismissed, said he plans to get a group together to discuss if any changes need to be made in the screening of recruits. He didn’t say who would be involved in the talks or when they would take place.
“My take on it?” Martin said. “It’s always an opportunity to learn, an opportunity to improve the recruiting process, the vetting for all sports.”
Rodriguez said he’s followed the same methods in investigating recruits since he was the head coach at Glenville State in the early 1990s. He doesn’t run background checks on players, but said he and his assistants thoroughly explore a recruit’s character by talking to teachers, high school coaches, teammates, family members and people in the community.
“We’re not like the FBI, we don’t have the resources to go” run background checks, Rodriguez said. “But a background check, is talking to the family, talking to the people at the school, talking to coaches, talking to teachers, talking to people that know him, is that a background check? That’s a background check. Isn’t that what that is?”
Dave Birkett covers the University of Michigan football team for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at davidbirkett@annarbor.com
Sports director Jim Knight contributed to this report.
Comments
81wolverine
Wed, Aug 12, 2009 : 4:10 p.m.
Sometimes just asking friends, coaches, teachers, and the like won't turn up something like this. If there is some relatively easy way to find this type of background information (like doing a search of crime reports/arrests over the last few years), then U-M should look into it. But, serious crimes need to be dealt with quickly and decisively. And RR seemed to do that here. What you DON'T want to see are serious incidents get dealt with by a slap on the wrist with the player staying on the team. In my book, when athletes are found to be dealing with drugs, carrying guns around, committing violence against other people, or guilty of theft, they should be kicked off the team - permanently. Other less serious things deserve consideration and second chances. But, Michigan should set a high standard here like they do in everything else.
Jimaize
Wed, Aug 12, 2009 : 1:44 p.m.
Stan, Maizenbluenc, jcpdog...agree 100%, especially about this stuff not necessarily being revealed in screens. I was just guessing that something like that might be added in the future, as schools try to cover all the bases. jcpdog..thanks for the history on the WVU players..it really supports what you said. Also agree that this has run it's course; time to move on. Go blue!!
jcpdog
Wed, Aug 12, 2009 : 9:06 a.m.
@ Tater and Jimaize I think both of you are missing the bigger issue. Under 18 in most states is considered a minor and you can't get information like that. Its not that simple. Background check or not. In some cases..those records are sealed because they are a juvenile and unless a court order is issued..they stay sealed...period. So what does Michigan or any other institution for that matter do...?? Next..Feagin by his own admission tried to broker a drug deal. Key word in there is tried. It was never to found to have happened. So here we have other schools (Michigan State) who lets a player just released out of jail and on to the field without suspension (so far) compared to a player who was kicked out of school without EVER being found guilty of any crime and that makes Rodriguez look bad how?? If anything it should bring into question Dantonio's discipline regimen. Next Chris Henry and Adam Jones' trouble started after they left WVU. Some bozo on WXYT in the afternoon who is a MSU honk and I can't stand him..wants to say that Jones was involved in a fight in high school...what's the point. AI was involved in one of the more famous fights in high school and he still went on to become an outstanding college player...something that happens in high school like a fight. mischief. breaking a city curfew is not a signal that the kid is doomed. IF Michigan or any other school chooses to not recruit the kid so be it....but not ever kid that does something minor is a bad seed....
stan
Wed, Aug 12, 2009 : 5:59 a.m.
Jim, most of these kids are 17 years old or younger when they are being recruited. A criminal background check would likely turn up nothing. As far as Pacman and Chris Henry, they did not get in trouble while at West Virginia. I agree with maizenbluenc, this story has run it's course, let's focus on this year's team!
Jimaize
Tue, Aug 11, 2009 : 9:25 p.m.
ooops! line 3 should have read,"There is far TOO much at stake.." 57 years old, and I'm still a lousy typist.
Jimaize
Tue, Aug 11, 2009 : 9:21 p.m.
I will also disagree with RR on this one, in that, in this day and age it would be appropriate to go ahead and add formal background checks (through legal channels) of potential recruits. There is far to much at stake to quibble about the paltry sums this would cost. That being said, I think that this is something of a learning process for RR and the U. A number of other schools were ready to take Feagin, having used presumably the same limited screening process. For those who want to flame on RR, remember that HE said right from the start (quoted on this site) that he was immediately getting together to review what was missed, and what to change in the future. I don't know what records were available on Pacman and the others in the WVU prog.who later were problems, but I'm betting the screening will be mighty thorough @ Michigan in the future, with some strict institutional reviews to be added. As I said...there's just too much at stake. Go Blue!
NoBowl4Blue
Tue, Aug 11, 2009 : 8:44 p.m.
You would think before RR was hired Martin would have looked at Rich Rod's history of recruiting questionable characters.
maizenbluenc
Tue, Aug 11, 2009 : 8:41 p.m.
First of all, bravo to Bill Martin. This is a right time to review policy. Second, if Rich had run one of the inexpensive background checks, I don't think anything would have popped, as he was arrested twice as a minor, but not convicted (that would not have shown). So Rich interviewed people (just as the FBI would), and they either didn't know, didn't tell him, or weren't legally allowed to. (I doubt Justin told his mom, his teahcers and his coach about selling drugs. Question is did his mom know about his arrests?) I'll say it again: I think Rich handled this correctly. It's an embarassment. It is good that Bill is looking at how we could improve our recruiting policy. And it is good how Rich responded to the flagrant transgression. Can we talk about football and practice now?
tzgoblue
Tue, Aug 11, 2009 : 8:11 p.m.
Everyone loves to highlight UM issues these days. Take a look at problems that Penn St has had in the past few years. They have current player that has been arrested multiple times for alcohol and drug charges, MSU just welcomed back a player released from jail for beating up another student, Tennessee leads the country in players arrested and not punished. The current staff followed the process and apparently Feagan was able to slip through. It is amazing if these issues were readily known that he would have finished third in the Mr Florida football voting after his senior year. Apparently the people that followed his career in high school and were around him on a regular basis didn't know about these things either. Go Blue!! We will overcome and be back on top before long.
MetricSU
Tue, Aug 11, 2009 : 7:28 p.m.
Any time a Michigan man gets lit up in the press, it's always someone else's doing. Get a clue. Michigan is full of people with CLASS and DIGNITY. Other places are jealous, and for good reason. We ARE the leaders and best.
tater
Tue, Aug 11, 2009 : 6:15 p.m.
I think I will disagree with RR for the first time since he has been at UM. Background checks don't cost a lot of money, especially considering the budget at UM. I would imagine that Martin will start requiring them soon. UM, on a whole, has less of these kinds of incidents than other schools. The internet trolls dwell on five or six things over the last twenty years as if they all happened this year, but it's just a lot of horse pucky from a dead horse.
David Briegel
Tue, Aug 11, 2009 : 5:34 p.m.
Yeah, Like he fixed the Stadium! Fighting the handicap laws, destroying the Big House that Yost built. Michigan has become a shadow of it's former self. 200th best, that's us! Print the Tee Shirts, We're Nunber 200! Name it the Coleman-Martin Memorial Debacle so that future generations will be able to attribute their "success"!
MetricSU
Tue, Aug 11, 2009 : 4:18 p.m.
RR is a pillar of integrity, as is Bill Martin. Michigan is and always will be the standard for collegiate excellence against which all other institutions are measured. Go Blue!!!