Colorado football coach Jon Embree has pulled three scholarship offers from recruits who committed to the program under former coach Dan Hawkins.
Embree called the high school coaches of Texas running back Kenny Farrow and California quarterback Nick Sherry and informed them the program would not honor the scholarship offered to them when Hawkins was at the helm in Boulder.
“I don’t think it’s fair to pull a kid’s scholarship, especially after they’ve committed to you, especially with it being this late” Farrow said.
Embree also informed potential transfer Vlad Emilien, who last played at Michigan, that the CU depth chart was already full at the safety position and needs more cornerbacks. Emilien is now considering Maryland and Southern Mississippi.
Emilien was hoping former secondary coach Ashley Ambrose would be retained. When he learned that didn’t happen, Ambrose told him he should still consider CU because Greg Brown was returning to the program and had served as Ambrose’s position coach in the NFL and coaching mentor at the college level.
But then Emilien said Embree called to tell him the bad news.
“They need corners so I’m looking at other options,” Emilien said.
The move is not uncommon when coaching changes occur at the major college level in all sports, not just football and basketball where the moves receive the most attention. However, it does put the players in a bind because they might not have the same options available to them that they once had before they picked a school.
Colorado now has four known commitments and is expected to sign a small recruiting class of 12-15 players on national signing day Feb. 2.
Embree is honoring the scholarships of three other players who were committed to the program under Hawkins and is also honoring the program’s commitment to two players who were part of last year’s recruiting class but grayshirted this fall. A grayshirt is a player who delays his enrollment for one semester.
Wide receiver Donnie Duncan, a product of the Los Angeles area, was initially denied admission to CU but has been living in Boulder and attending Front Range Community College on a part-time basis to improve his academic record. He is hoping to enroll in classes in January.
Alex Lewis, an offensive lineman from the Phoenix area, intentionally opted to delay his enrollment and is slated to come to Boulder in early January.
The possibility of having a scholarship offer pulled by a new coach is a big reason why struggling programs with coaches under fire have such a difficult time recruiting. Prospects don’t want to play for a losing team and don’t want to take a chance that they could be left out in the cold if there is a coaching change.
Farrow and Sherry both still have options. Farrow is being recruited by Iowa, Houston and Western Kentucky and is trying to get back on the radar of other programs that had expressed interest. He said he plans to visit Iowa in January.
Sherry could end up playing against the Buffs in the future if he signs with a Pac-12 school. Arizona and Washington were showing the most interest in him before he committed to the Buffs in June.
Junior college players are able to sign with programs this week, but Colorado is not expected to take a junior college player in this recruiting class. Junior college transfers have proved notoriously difficult to get into CU and to keep in school in Boulder in the past.
