Minor Violation Committed at Atlanta Camp

Submitted by kvnryn on

https://sports.vice.com/en_us/article/football-fun-and-an-unintentional…

 

Thought this was a good, fair piece that shed light on the positives and negatives of the camps.

 

The short of it:


There was some real teaching being done by the Michigan coach and his staff, no doubt. That was cool. Harbaugh was energized and plugged in. I can see the allure.

Now for the downside.

A big-time lineman who plays for a high school in the Atlanta area was under a water tent on the sidelines, dressed in blue jeans. He told me he was there to watch his cousin. He was not registered for the camp. I confirmed that with him.

...

 

"Hey, warm me up," Harbaugh said as he threw his arm around the lineman's waist under the tent. It was already plenty warm. The lineman is 6-foot-5, 290 pounds. We are talking about a serious prospect.

The lineman's mom was sitting on a chair close by. Harbaugh took a picture with her.

Harbaugh's contact with the lineman was an NCAA violation. These camps are supposed to be about "instruction," not "recruiting," and a coach cannot talk to a prospect who just shows up and is not registered for the camp.


I was actually there for a little while yesterday and saw the kid the article mentions and the photo Harbaugh took with his mom, so the author really isn't making it up.

 

The violation itself is of course minor, but does give some credence to those who have warned of "unintended consequences" of the camps. There's just so much going on so quickly that the chances of things like this happening are pretty high. You don't need me to tell you that though, as I am sure every SEC outlet will be shouting this from the rooftops soon enough.

Truthbtold

June 4th, 2016 at 1:23 AM ^

If it was about Meyer or Saban ?? UM woul be acting like university staff and Brady Hoke had just cover up the rape and bulling of the victim by their players..... No doubt about it. UM is excellent at making excuses, maybe the best in the Big10. Then again, you have also had the most practice

SBo

June 3rd, 2016 at 6:59 PM ^

Seemed like a fair article. Will definitely be blown up in the next few days by SEC slappies. Hopefully it doesn't lead the NCAA to reinstate the ban. Im guessing they've been looking for a reason to shut these down.

getsome

June 3rd, 2016 at 7:43 PM ^

no doubt its fair.  but its also the type of violation (secondary or however theyre being classified today) that occurs numerous times every recruiting cycle by all programs and all major coaches and typically self-reported after the fact.  if not at this camp, itll likely happen at the kids school, at another camp, via telephone or twitter contact, etc.

naturally some will blow it out of proportion but id be surprised if violations occur at greater frequency at satellite camps given the heavy compliance presence.

not much to do but laugh when cash and whores and felonies are swept under the rug while actual football camps and a few accompanying bump violations are held up as the all corrupting force

SBo

June 3rd, 2016 at 7:29 PM ^

If that is indeed the recruit, it changes everything. We're not actively recruiting that guy, in fact it looks like he doesn't even have an offer. Of course this will be ignored by the SEC media.

Jeff09

June 3rd, 2016 at 7:01 PM ^

Aren't these little recruiting violations commonplace at every school? As other posters have said this will def get blown out of proportion but I don't think the NCAA will bat an eye. But, the NCAA is unpredictable and irrational, so what I think doesn't really matter.

Mr Miggle

June 3rd, 2016 at 10:05 PM ^

extra careful about following the rules at these camps. Harbaugh just got into a twitter war with Saban about rule violations at the camps. He's been getting nearly non-stop good press. If this type of thing keeps happening, that will change. The NCAA isn't going to do much aut self-reported secondary violations, but they do expect you to avoid repeating them.

TESOE

June 4th, 2016 at 1:44 AM ^

http://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/files/DIEnf-Standard_Penalties_for_Level_III_Violations_20160114.pdf

Standard Penalties for Level III Violations in Division I

Bylaw 13 violations – Recruiting – Most Bylaw 13 recruiting violations result in a 2-for-1 penalty. For example, if a coach has an impermissible in-person, off-campus contact with a prospect prior to July following the completion of the prospect's junior year in high school (or during a dead, quiet or evaluation period), the institution should count the impermissible contact as one of the permissible off-campus contact opportunities with that prospect, and reduce the  remaining number of permissible off-campus contacts with that prospect by one. Please note that recruiting violations in football and basketball may result in more significant (e.g., 4-for-1) or other penalties as well.

Since we are not recruiting him... this is counted as a permissible contact and we can eliminate an additional future contact - no wait... let's eliminate three additional contacts.  Since he is not on the board... this is not an issue.

If Gray is interested... he can visit officially without any issues from this contact.  The coaches can text him as much as they want since texts don't count... or did that change?  If the NCAA wants to put on further  penalties - they are not helping Gary or football.  But that was never the issue anyway I guess.

Prince Lover

June 4th, 2016 at 3:30 AM ^

But if you know this, I guarantee Harbaugh knows this and is blatantly doing this on purpose!!!
It's like Prince's halftime show at the Super Bowl when he was playing his "guitar" in a stroking motion in the shadows. A nice FU censorship after the wardrobe malfunction.
Well played Harbaugh, well played.
Your move Saban!
No really, games not over yet. Battle of the wits continues until the loser quits.
So eh, you're quitting then?

AmayzNblue

June 3rd, 2016 at 7:11 PM ^

Welp, it sounds like he asked the kid to warm up, which would involve instruction. What am I missing? Is the picture with mom a violation? Harbaugh is a massive celebrity, so it's asking quite a bit to expect people like him to know who their signing autographs or taking pictures with at all times. Not justifying, just saying I wouldn't care if Saban or Meyer did this exact same thing.




Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

Wolfman

June 3rd, 2016 at 7:33 PM ^

things are going to become so distorted, by time the third person hears it there will be no similarities to that which really occurred, and I am talking about multiple possibilities here. I can recall when Stu Schweigert was being recruited out of Saginaw, Saban offered him a jacket while he was visiting E. Lansing and there was a big stink about that made by the MI fandom. It's only going to become more intense.

Wolfman

June 3rd, 2016 at 7:36 PM ^

He - Harbaugh - has a lot of young men excited. So it does not surprise me that the young man was there with his mother. I would not doubt if he - if he's, indeed, D1 caliber player, and he has interest in MI, he brought mom along just so they both could get their first impression of Harbaugh The Great.

LKLIII

June 3rd, 2016 at 8:13 PM ^

Not really. A big Michigan contingent attended the IMG-Paramus game in Florida last year when Harbaugh went. In some photos yesterday I saw a scattering of Michigan fans in the background. As
long as the Michigan fan base doesn't talk to the high school kids directly I think it's cool. Especially for the camps where multiple university coaching staffs are present--if Michigan fans show up but Pitt or Georgia or Iowa State fans don't, it certainly sends a visual message to kids about the size and scope of the Michigan fan base.




Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

CalifExile

June 3rd, 2016 at 8:18 PM ^

Jalil Irvin was there under similar circumstances, there to see a cousin but not registered. That made me wonder about this sort of problem. Most of the camps seem to include a T shirt with registration so that seemed like it would be a good indicator of who a coach can talk to. (Note: MLive specifically noted that there was no contact between Irvin and our coaches during the camp).

Wolvie3758

June 3rd, 2016 at 7:24 PM ^

Harbaugh is doing something NOBODY Else had the guts to do..I think whats happening here is Harbaugh is going to expose the SEC for what it is..Corrupt and Dishonest and filled with cheaters...The heat is turning up...He will find out what schools are cheating because he will hear about it from the kids...Hes not taking it sitting down nor should he..Hes challenging them and pointing fingers where fingers NEED to be pointed...I LOVE this guy!

Its CLEAR hes getting under their skin..Hell the Paul Finnebaum is pretty much all Harbaugh all Michigan every single day....

 

I also believe now more than ever he will win a NC sooner rather than later

Everyone Murders

June 3rd, 2016 at 7:28 PM ^

Not the violation, although I'd love for a compliance officer to be in tow for all of the camps.  It's plainly a foot fault, but with Jim out there taking shots it would be better to not have foot faults at these things.

What disturbs me is

"Hey, warm me up," Harbaugh said as he threw his arm around the lineman's waist under the tent.

As they say in the South, "do what?"!