Stanford cornerback Wayne Lyons is reportedly considering transferring to Michigan. Those rumors picked up some momentum a couple of days ago when it was announced that Wayne Lyons' mother Gwendolyn Bush is a staffer at the University of Michigan's Athletic Department.
"Lyons' mother, Gwendolyn Bush, appears in the school's directory as an athletics player development staffer. Michigan's football program had been looking for a director of player development. The DPP job was one of several new positions created by Harbaugh, including the recruiting operations coordinator (Chris Partridge), senior offensive analyst (T.J. Weist) and senior defensive analyst (TBD).
Typically, a director of player development helps coordinate off-field activities for players, and helps them balance football, academics and other responsibilities throughout each year. Per her LinkedIn page, Bush was formerly an teacher/administrator in the Broward County Public School system in Florida."
Wayne Lyons mother confirmed the move on Twitter:
From Jack Blanchat about Lyons:
"Lyons was a highly regarded prospect coming out of high school - he was the 6th-best safety prospect in the nation - but his college career thus far has been more average than stellar. If this is indeed Lyons' final year at Stanford, perhaps he is looking for a starting opportunity after being forced to split time at cornerback this fall. Under first-year defensive backs coach Duane Akina, Lyons appeared to grow as a player, but some costly lapses may have forced Akina to restrict his playing time.
Stanford also added a recruiting class that touted four new defensive back prospects, some of whom would likely compete with Lyons for playing time this fall."
Transferring to Michigan would afford Lyons plenty of playing time, and living in the same town as your mother (as opposed to a continent away) is certainly appealing. It is important to note, however, that this is all still rumor and speculation and we still do not have confirmation about Wayne Lyons' plans for next season.
Comments
Inducement?
Hiring his mother smacks of an inducement. I’m sure that it isn’t technically, and this kind of crap – and worse – happens all over CFB, but it still smells.
Maybe Shaw/Anderson told Lyons he wasn’t going to see the field much next season, and with Stanford not offering an MS in Architecture (really? really?) this is his best opportunity to pursue his education and play football.
By Cardman88 on 02.08.15 1:28pm
Depends on the order of events, obviously.
Lyons has been showing interest in the transfer for about 2 weeks now, so it’s possible that Lyons’ interest was expressed prior to offering his mom a position.. A couple of things to note in addition to the possibilities you mention, re: Has Shaw told him something? Harbaugh recruited Lyons. Lyons has done "okay" at Stanford, but still needs to improve his angles and tackling (he may be thinking that he needs a fresh start and that Michigan’s new coaches can help him with the aforementioned skills). He can get the Master’s he may want at Michigan (it’s a fantastic Architecture school). He may also want the opportunity for his mom to see him play a bit more than she’s been able to with him being out on the West Coast. Finally, doing something "crappy" doesn’t really fit with Harbaugh. If you have followed him closely over the last 5 years (as both a Michigan grad and Stanford grad, I have) and listened to what he’s said about academics and football, doing things "the right way" and how much he wants to replicate the way things were done at Stanford now that he is at Michigan, an "inducement" doesn’t fit with those professions.
By SVSocrates on 02.08.15 2:20pm