Georgia SB Nation writer calls Ann Arbor "a barren wasteland". Is mad at Harbaugh

Submitted by Maizen on

Naturally Harbaugh’s gambit has Greg Sankey and the SEC coaches up in arms. I can’t say I blame them completely. In the cut throat world of college football recruiting they almost must object to anything Harbaugh does to gain a toe hold in a recruiting territory which puts the barren wasteland in which he resides to shame. 

Harbaugh’s still going to have to get players (and parents) up to the frozen north at some point before Signing Day. That’s going to be a great reminder that Ann Arbor is still a heckuva long way from Orlando.

 

Even in this connected world of ours, the best predictor of where a recruit will sign remains where he’s grown up.  I don’t think Harbaugh’s going to turn Johnny Five Star from a lifelong Florida State Seminole to a dyed in the wool Wolverine by having him witness a few practices. 

 

Finally, you have to wonder how Mark Dantonio, Urban Meyer, and other Rust Belt coaches spin this one. If I were Dantonio I’d be visiting every high school coach and top recruit from Detroit to Ontonagon and asking them if they’ve seen ole Jimmy around. In short, this move may help Harbaugh a little, but it probably doesn’t really hurt SEC programs that much.

http://www.dawgsports.com/2016/2/11/10966456/Michigan-spring-practice-Florida-Jim-harbaugh

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lilpenny1316

February 11th, 2016 at 1:30 PM ^

Not the #1 college town in America.  And I will say this.  I want Harbaugh barnstorming in the South and West because there is a big source of talent there.  I hate Notre Dame as much as anyone else, but the good thing for them being an independent is that they play all over the place (even if it's a home game against a crappy team in the Alamodome).  If we're making our presence there in the Spring and Summer, I hope it yields us the same type of recognition/notoriety.

Joined: 11/19/2009

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d_ronii

February 11th, 2016 at 1:31 PM ^

The quote from the article didn't name Ann Arbor as a barren wasteland specifically. I think the context is he is referring to perception that the south has the talented recruits and our area is a barren wasteland in comparison. I don't agree with that analogy BTW.

Joined: 09/09/2012

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jackw8542

February 11th, 2016 at 1:31 PM ^

Ann Arbor is a great place to go to school and a great place to live.  When I was an undergrad, I can't remember the weather ever once interfering with what I wanted to do.  In fact, I still have happy memories of traying outside of South Quad and in the Arb.  Winter was a blast, spring was beautiful (if a little late) and fall was football.  Who's got it better than us?  NOOOOBODY!

Joined: 10/30/2010

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Maizen

February 11th, 2016 at 1:37 PM ^

Why is it that every time someone posts anything here they get attacked for it? Don't we all root for the same team? Should we really be attacking fellow Michigan alums?

I shared something from SEC country that gave me a laugh. Some here are acting like it's the worst thing that's ever happened to them. Some of yall really need some perspective in life. This is a sports blog. I don't get the vitriol. People need to stop being so overprotective of everything that gets posted here. If you don't care for it don't comment or click the post. 

I don't get what's so hard about that.

 

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LSAClassOf2000

February 11th, 2016 at 1:39 PM ^

Finally, you have to wonder how Mark Dantonio, Urban Meyer, and other Rust Belt coaches spin this one. If I were Dantonio I’d be visiting every high school coach and top recruit from Detroit to Ontonagon and asking them if they’ve seen ole Jimmy around.

I laughed here because he's pandering to the "gotta win your state" view of recruiting, which really is a non-starter in a place like Michigan where much of the talent - from a national standpoint - is not. As we've discussed before, there's not really a geographic component to Harbaugh's strategy and that is to Michigan's advantage - we're seeing that pan out now, in fact. 

The level of contrived indignation and annoyance that the someone should dare challenge the SEC in their own backyards is hilarious at this point. 

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Coldwater

February 11th, 2016 at 1:49 PM ^

I'm in the minority here and thinking you do need to lock down Michigan and get the best 5 to 10 players from here a year to sign with Michigan.

If Harbaugh is such a great coach can't he turn local kids into players that can compete for national championships?

Then he can pick and choose the best of the best from hotbeds like Florida, NJ, California, and Texas.

Joined: 12/14/2008

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Toasted Yosties

February 11th, 2016 at 2:08 PM ^

How does that logic work? I'd say as long as you fill your positions of need with great player, you're going to be successful. I don't see what a recruit having lived in Michigan adds.

I think we've had enough articles on the blog to show that while a high-star rating guarantees nothing, generally the teams that are successful and that win National Titles recruit high-star rated kids. I am happy to see Coach Harbaugh pursue the best there is across the country. If there are kids within the state that are among the best, he has shown that he will pursue them. It seems unlikely that the fact that other commits happen to come from other states are going to impact their decision of whether to play for Michigan.

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The Mad Hatter

February 11th, 2016 at 2:11 PM ^

I want the top 20-30 players every year.  If they happen to reside in Michigan, great.  If not, that's ok too.

We should only offer 4 and 5 star rated players from now on, unless JH really sees something in them that the recruiting services missed.

Going forward, for now until eternity, I want and expect Michigan to have a top 5 recruiting class every single year.

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Hab

February 11th, 2016 at 3:59 PM ^

I'm sure we're all happy just letting Harbaugh do his job and put together whatever team he sees fit to assemble.  To hell with how ESPN and other recruiting services mesure it.  If anything, the biggest difference between Harbaugh and past coaching staffs is the ability to coach up the talent you bring in.  If he does it with 3* recruits, awesome.  Look what he did at Stanford.  If he does it with 5* recruits, I'm cool there too.

Joined: 01/02/2015

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trueblueintexas

February 11th, 2016 at 1:39 PM ^

Soooooo, the person who wrote this:

- couldn't actually provide an opinion on holding practice during spring break

 - could not find data to prove a benefit or negative impact

 - couldn't provide further insight or view points from other respected people

.....and resorted to making fun of the landscape of a state without pointing out any redeming qualities of the landscape he prefers. 

Why didn't he just pen "oh yeah?, well, it's cold up there!" and call it an article?

Joined: 11/10/2008

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Wolfman

February 11th, 2016 at 1:42 PM ^

Thank you for today's publicity on Coach Harbaugh. You SEC writers are making the jobs of marketing people for UM extremely easy as of late. Jimmy H. is as relaxed as he can get, playing golf in California, and despite that he is still gaining a ton of publicity all throughout SEC land.

We are truly blessed that  Michigan didn't begin to experience cold weather prior to the recruitment of Steve Everitt, Dr. Stefan Humpries, Denard Robinson, Anthony Carter, only a brief list of the many All Americans who chose the maize and blue. Damn, if only we could get back to those days prior to climate change. 

Joined: 07/23/2008

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charblue.

February 11th, 2016 at 1:47 PM ^

conference is the best and has produced the best coaches. Its best coaches are essentially snow birds who migrated there from the barren wasteland of Big Ten country and the MAC. Nick Saban, Urban Meyer and Les Miles not to mention Butch Jones, the league's most recent addition, all made their bones coaching in Michigan and Ohio. And Michigan chased Saban out of the state before he started winning big at LSU and Alabama.

The SEC hasn't produced a national title winning coach from its region since Spurrier was coaching the Gators. When was the last time Georgia won anything?

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michelin

February 11th, 2016 at 2:03 PM ^

To see the value of learning to play in the cold, look no further than Brady's first NFL playoff game (which ultimately led to his first of 6 SBs and first of 3 SB MVPs).

Note too that the major threat to Brady's advancement in that game was UM's perrenial Pro Bowler: Charles Woodson.  His experience at UM prepared him for a far colder climate in Green Bay--where he too led his team to a SB season.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kl_VvJTyMwo

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BlueMan80

February 11th, 2016 at 1:49 PM ^

24x7.  Keep whining guys, because you are playing right into the man's hands.  Please make everyone in America aware of Michigan football and the excellent head coach of the team.

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