Michigan Football Recruiting: Why Brady Hoke's "No Visits" Policy Could Hurt U-M

Is Michigan's strict recruiting policy of not allowing a committed player to go on visits a good or bad idea? Well, everyone seems to have their own opinion on the matter.

The first incident occurred in last year's recruiting class when committed tight end Pharaoh Brown took a visit even though he was strictly told not to. Even though Brown was a solid 4-star, the Michigan coaches had no problem telling him goodbye.

The second occurrence was just a number of weeks ago, when the coaches and long-time Cass Tech offensive line commit Dave Dawson parted ways. Dawson continually expressed interest in visiting Florida, but once again the coaches were having no part of it. Again, Dawson was a highly regarded 4-star that was shown the exit as well.

The latest instance occurred with Massillon, Ohio cornerback Gareon Conley. Like the others, he continually expressed interest in visiting other schools, eventually leading to his departure from Michigan's class.

Is this policy becoming a problem? Well, it all depends on how you look at it. One point of view could be that it is simply not worth losing highly-rated commits over a policy that may not seem to be worth it. If that rule wasn't in place, all three of the aforementioned players would likely still be here.

However, another way to look at it could be that these kids knew what they were getting into. They all knew that they wouldn't be allowed to take visits once they committed, so how could we possibly fault the coaches?

Plus, a school like Michigan won't have any problems finding adequate replacements for the lost commits who chose not to honor their word.

Yes, it's a shame that Pharaoh Brown didn't end up at Michigan and that Dawson and Conley likely won't either, but if their heart isn't 100 percent maize and blue, do they really belong here anyway?