It has recently been made known by Rich Rodriguez that Sam McGuffie is among those considering transfer after his absence from the team’s end of the year banquet. He is believed to be looking at schools close to home in Texas in order to be closer to his family, particularly his younger brother. He is also coming off three concussions in one Big Ten season.

It’s hard to be mad at McGuffie in this situation, he was always known as a very nice, quiet kid. He was considering dropping his commitment last year but made the decision to stick with Michigan after Lloyd Carr left, when a lot of players, let alone recruits, decided to go elsewhere. McGuffie showed great potential during the first half of the season with two games rushing for 100+ yards and two others for 70+ yards. He was also a great passing threat coming out of the backfield. There will be very few bitter feelings toward him should indeed decide to go back home to Texas. He might be better suited with an explosive Big 12 offense that doesn’t have to worry about getting hit by Big 10 linemen.

I’ve heard people say that if he added 15-20 pounds of muscle this off-season, he’d be better able to take the hits. However, if it’s a recurrent concussion issue, I don’t think that adding muscle is going to solve a head injury, but why not give him a medical redshirt this season?

If McGuffie leaves, Michigan should be able to manage in the backfield, but I will miss watching his Waterboy running style. Brandon Minor and Carlos Brown will be back for another season and Michael Shaw had some good moments last year. Rich Rodriguez is also bringing in running backs Fitzgerald Toussaint, Vincent Smith & Teric Jones in the 2009 recruiting class.

What do people think? Will McGuffie stay or will he go?

Update 12/12: McGuffie has officially received his release from Michigan. He will likely transfer to Texas A&M, though TCU and Texas Tech are other options. I wish him the best of luck in the future, so long as it's not against Michigan.