Nebraska commit escorted Michigan coaches out during visit after offensive statement

January 27, 2015

Read

Michigan defensive line coach Greg Mattison offended three-star recruit Daishon Neal with a comment during the recruiting process, leading Neal to stick to his commitment to Nebraska.

Michigan’s new coaching staff led by Jim Harbaugh has been trying to improve their recruiting class for next season. One of their strategies has been to talk with recruits from programs with shaky coaching situations. They already had success flipping a Nebraska commit considering the Huskers had a coaching change from Bo Pelini to Mike Riley. They attempted to do the same with Neal, a defensive end, but one comment ruined their attempt.

Both Neal and his father, Abraham Hoskins Jr., did an interview with Omaha’s 1620 The Zone Tuesday and talked about the situation. Hoskins says he was seriously considering pushing his son towards Michigan until Mattison made a critical misstep.

“Michigan was a powerhouse, they came in and they stormed us, they made one bad statement and it was over,” Hoskins told 1620 on air via MLive.com. “They said without football, Daishon wouldn’t be able to go to Michigan. Like we couldn’t afford to send him there, or that we couldn’t get him in academically.

“Once he said that, we pretty much escorted him out of the house.”

Neal continued by stating: “(They) basically tried to call me stupid in front of my face.”

Hoskins said he was probably going to push his son towards Michigan.

“I was leaning towards Michigan, with their academics, stats, everything,” Hoskins said. “What if he never played again in his life, that degree could have taken him anywhere.”

Maybe Michigan was just trying to give an example of what an opportunity Neal and Hoskins had, but clearly the way Mattison worded his pitch upset the family. They have every right to feel offended. And now Neal is officially solidified as a Huskers commit.