The story of Mike Weber's recruitment needs no extensive refresher course in these parts.
The top-ranked player in Michigan in 2014 committed to Michigan, before switching allegiances to Urban Meyer's Ohio State after watching the Brady Hoke's regime fall to the ground like an imploded building.
Upon the hiring of Jim Harbaugh, however, Weber's family urged him to listen to the former NFL coach. Tyrone Wheatley, Michigan's new RB coach, also bent the ear of the talented back.
As Signing Day approached, there was smoke emanating from Detroit that Weber would end up where he started. As it turns out, there was fire to that smoke.
Buried in Brett Forrest's ESPN.com article about the natural-born rivalry between Urban Meyer and Jim Harbaugh is this:
"It became a street fight to get him at the end," Meyer says. On Feb. 3, the night before national signing day, Weber was on the phone with Harbaugh and Wheatley. Then Weber called Wilcher with news. "Around 1 in the morning on signing day, he called Ohio State and said, 'I'm going to Michigan,' " [Detroit Cass Tech coach Thomas] Wilcher says.
That's right. Weber went to bed the morning of National Signing Day as a Michigan commitment. Obviously, it didn't stand, so what happened?
Stan Drayton informed Weber that Karan Higdon, a three-star back out of Florida, planned to flip from Iowa to Michigan, which was news to Weber.
The following afternoon, as Weber marched to the podium at his news conference, he confided in Wilcher: "Coach, I'm really not sure." Wilcher put it to him straight: "Mike, now is the time when you need to make a decision." Weber flipped one final time and signed with Ohio State.
It turned out flipping Weber back from Michigan for a second time would be Stan Drayton's final act at Ohio State, as the running backs coach took a job with the Chicago Bears the next day.
Weber was hurt, but as evidenced by the header photo, it's all water under the bridge.
Such is how the recruiting cookie crumbles in 2015.
