In college football’s social media age, far too many times has a player decommitted or transferred from a school and been attacked not just by that program’s fans, but by coaches inside it.
While not every instance of that results in a Les Miles-esque “chest” comment or a position coach going on an ill-advised rant, others are met with short, terse responses. Maybe that’s why Davis Webb’s decision to spurn Colorado and attend Cal stood out.
When Webb, who signed a financial aid agreement with Colorado in January, announced last week he would instead play a fifth year at Cal, the response from Boulder was classy and supportive. Buffaloes offensive coordinator Darrin Chiaverini sent this tweet:College Football is about young people. Let’s not forget that as coaches and fans! pic.twitter.com/AI8dJSKGOJ
— Darrin Chiaverini (@CoachChev6) May 18, 2016
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsThis was a good look for a Colorado program that, in reality, really could’ve used Webb. The Buffs haven’t been to a bowl game since 2007 and last finished over .500 in 2005. Adding Webb could’ve helped turn things around for Mike MacIntyre & Co., who went 4-9 in 2015.Fox Sports’ Bruce Feldman talked to Webb about his decision, though, and it’s clear the former Texas Tech quarterback went about his Boulder-to-Berkeley decision the right way:
The grad transfer quarterback from Texas Tech, though, wanted to make sure the coaches at Colorado didn’t hear the news from someone else first. Webb, a coach’s son, had committed to CU in late January, signing financial aid papers that bound the school to him legally more than it did him to them. However, some things changed since then and so last week the 6-5, 220-pounder first dialed up CU head coach Mike MacIntyre and then offensive coordinator Darrin Chiaverini, a former Red Raiders assistant, to tell them that a better fit for Webb had come along.
“Those two guys had invested a lot of time and effort recruiting me, and I really respect them,” Webb told FOX Sports. “They handled it very professionally. It was nothing against Colorado, but at the same time, I only have one year to do this.
(Read Feldman’s full story here)
This was a good moment for how to handle a college student changing his mind, but it shouldn’t take the kind of maturity Webb displayed here for coaches to have the reaction they had to him leaving. Seething in private is natural when a kid spurns your program, but grown men ripping high school or college students in public for being indecisive always comes across as a low blow.