Michael Harrison confirms he was never offered a scholarship at Colorado

Former Buffs tight end heads to San Diego State with two years of eligibility

Ron Chenoy, USA Today

Michael Harrison announced on Monday that he’s committed to San Diego State University.

COMMITTED🔴⚫️ Excited to be an Aztec‼️@TheHC_CoachLew @DarianLH3 pic.twitter.com/xgjL4TTLjz

— Michael Harrison (@MikeyMHarrison) December 18, 2023

He joins former Buffs recruit Danny O’Neil as two of the latest additions to the Aztecs. Harrison will reconnect with Sean Lewis, Colorado’s former offensive coordinator, who accepted the head coaching position last month. Lewis also added former Buffs staff members Bill O’Boyle and Darian Hagan.

Coaches and players leaving schools jumping for better opportunities is just part today’s college football. 

However, from the outside, this situation appears to be entirely different. Harrison wasn’t chasing every last NIL dollar. He confirmed to BuffsBeat there was never a scholarship offer presented to him. To those who watched this season, especially the early wins, this outcome might seem a bit incredulous. Based on what we saw on the field. I don’t see how Colorado beats TCU and Colorado State without Harrison in the lineup.

Wasn’t that alone worth a scholarship? 

We have all seen the feel good walk-on stories. If you scroll through YouTube, practically every team has multiple emotionally charged walk-on surprise scholarship montages. 

They’re like team-building exercises where everyone can celebrate for a moment that, in most cases, the kicker now has a full ride. These videos typically don’t involve the starting tight end, who had 31 receptions and five touchdowns. And we know by the multiple camera crews that follow the team around, nobody rises to the occasion like Coach Prime. Take a look this scholarship presentation from Jackson State in 2021.

Even early last Spring, another productive Colorado walk-on, Charlie Offerdahl, was told he may not be a walk-on for long after impressing in practice. 

Offerdahl’s scholarship never materialized as well. 

Whatever the reasons for Harrison not getting a scholarship really don’t matter all that much at this point. When Coach Prime made the play-calling change away from Sean Lewis to Pat Shurmur, there was collateral damage. Because of staff limitations, Tim Brewster was demoted from tight ends to make room for Shurmur. Brewster has since joined Biff Poggi’s staff at the University of Charlotte.

If there were mistakes made on any or all sides, I guess we may never know to what extent. There’s no shortage of talent headed to Boulder and the future also seems bright for those departing.