Can Harbaugh Be This Smart?
With Harbaugh being the most pronounced advocate for the camps did he just eliminate much of the competition for recruits going forward? How many parents are going to let their kids commit to coaches that have shown they rather ensure a vacation, than ensure the best interest of kids across the country.
Frankly, there's very little vagueness in terms of what programs voted for and against satellite camps. Also, the general sentiment amoungst players was/is for the camps continuing (We all saw DJP's twitter post).
So, thoughts?
April 11th, 2016 at 11:12 AM ^
April 11th, 2016 at 11:57 AM ^
My favorite game growing up.
April 11th, 2016 at 11:13 AM ^
I don't think we all saw DPJ's Twitter post, as many of us don't follow recruits.
Care to elaborate?
April 11th, 2016 at 11:31 AM ^
Check out this thread: http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/players-are-starting-speak-twitter-about-satellite-camps-hastag-changencaa
The aforementioned tweet by DPJ is here: https://twitter.com/dpeoplesjones/status/719232046745300993?ref_src=twsrc^tfw
...But there is a further discussion at the first link (and that tweet is also embedded there.
April 11th, 2016 at 11:32 AM ^
You can come down from your ivory tower because, you don't have to follow recruits to see their tweets if their account is not private.
April 11th, 2016 at 11:36 AM ^
There is no Ivory Tower to come down from. The OP made an assumption that we call had read the tweet, clearly we all did not. It's that simple. I didn't mean "follow" as in be a twitter follower, I meant "follow" as in track their thoughts and movements on any social media platform.
April 11th, 2016 at 11:38 AM ^
My bad. I thought you were insinuating that you were better than those who follow recruits on twitter.
April 11th, 2016 at 11:44 AM ^
Follow whoever you choose, I couldn't care less. Just didn't know what he was talking about.
April 11th, 2016 at 11:34 AM ^
DPJ tweeted his thoughts in what amounts to a two-pager supporting Sound Mind Sound Body which was a camp originated in Detroit. Said he was blessed with a great background foundation but many others weren't. These camps were the easiest way to showcase his ability to college coaches (names UM, MSU, OSU specifically).
Closes with, "Detroit isn't the only city that is being harmed by the new NCAA rule...the NCAA is crushing many kids' dreams and killing their futures."
April 11th, 2016 at 11:13 AM ^
Harbaugh is a fucking genius. He will always find a way around ridiculous NCAA bullshit.
April 11th, 2016 at 11:21 AM ^
This is one thing that I have discovered about high-level coaches, and perhaps one of the reasons they reach such a high level. Harbaugh and others are great problem-solvers and outside-the-box thinkers. Maybe it comes from having a lot of power, but they find ways to get things done that others might not think of or bother attempting. Sometimes it makes me wonder if football coaches wouldn't also make good politicians, because they find creative solutions to fix problems.
April 11th, 2016 at 11:24 AM ^
We are seeing this already. Note that Harbaugh himself has not come out and given a statement on the issue. Instead, he's letting the kids themselves make their pitch. No doubt he coordinated this strategy in at least some respects.
April 11th, 2016 at 12:37 PM ^
I doubt that he coordinated it.
April 11th, 2016 at 11:24 AM ^
jeez no politics man i don't want my politicians to be creative or fix anything and i take offense to the thought that they should
April 11th, 2016 at 11:28 AM ^
Completely agree. But this also extends to essentially everything in life - business, medicine, coaching, etc... Folks who exceed at innovating and finding solutions to problems that are unique tend to excel at almost everything they do.
For the record, I would definitely vote for a Harbaugh/Drevno or Harbaugh/Brown ticket any day.
April 11th, 2016 at 12:06 PM ^
BORGES / GERG 2016
HONESTLY IT COULD BE WORSE
It's interesting that MICHIGAN has the only guy you think would be a good politician, while the other 127+ coaches would, of course, all be terrible.
Michigan is really a special place. Everybody who's a Wolverine is awesome, and everyone else sucks.
"Michigan is really a special place. Everybody who's a Wolverine is awesome, and everyone else sucks."
Yeah, and?
While being a great problem solver is something that successful people nearly universally must have, they also need to be REALLY smart and be able to identify the particular problems they are tasked with solving, and come up with unique solutions to THOSE problems. Harbaugh has dedicated his ENTIRE life to football so he knows the game, the coaches, and football players really well. He knows the problems they have and how to solve them. He is in their heads. He lives it.
I have no doubt that if he dedicated his entire life to foreign policy or healthcare or something else that he would be very good at it, because he's a smart guy and a very hard worker, but just being a problem solver isn't enough to translate to being able to solve all these other really complicated problems, immediately. In another life, sure, Harbaugh for public office. But not in this one.
At the risk of delving too far into politics, I'm not advocating him for President of the United States of America. I'm simply saying that the willingness to think outside the box and find creative solutions - which Harbaugh does - is a trait that we could use more of in the political realm.
April 11th, 2016 at 11:14 AM ^
i think it's foolish to try and spin this as a great victory for us/harbaugh.
April 11th, 2016 at 11:17 AM ^
I'm convinced this would not have happened if Harbaugh didn't take his Summer Swarm tour last year. It happened before, and SMSB was going on, and people shrugged their shoulders when James Franklin did it a couple years ago.
Harbaugh decided to push boundaries, and these things sometimes happen when you push boundaries. Sometimes there's a backlash, and sometimes you start a trend.
April 11th, 2016 at 11:18 AM ^
April 11th, 2016 at 11:25 AM ^
Yes, I think you are correct.
That said, on the whole, I'd rather Harbaugh be Harbaugh and push boundaries where he feels he can and must.
April 11th, 2016 at 11:27 AM ^
The summer swarm may have been a catalyst, but the responsibility is fully on the NCAA and the schools who voted for the ban. "Blame" is a strong and inaccurate word to use with Harbaugh/Summer Swarm.
April 11th, 2016 at 11:34 AM ^
"He made us do it" is a poor excuse for a bad decision.
April 11th, 2016 at 11:37 AM ^
Media pundits can "blame" Harbaugh for this all they want, but anyone with half a brain knows that's ludicrous. If we agree that hosting satellite camps isn't "wrong" then holding more of them shouldn't be wrong either. Either holding a satellite camp is OK or it's not. if you believe that it's not OK, then it doesn't matter if Harbaugh held one or one thousand. If you believe that holding satelitte camps is a good thing, again, it shouldn't matter how many of them he hosted.
The reality is, "satellite camps" have been going on for years (SMSB as an example), well before Harbaugh was at Michigan and M was hardly the only school doing them. I don't ever recall anyone having an issue with them then, so it shouldn't have been a problem with anyone for Harbaugh to simply do more of an acceptable thing.
But this ruling isn't about "satellite camps," despite what the media pundits say. This is a turf war, and the Southern schools don't want elite recruiters from other leagues coming down and taking their talent.
April 11th, 2016 at 11:56 AM ^
restrictions of the camps rather than an outright prohibition. The NCAA overreacted and overreached. Ultimately, more coaches, parents, and athletes will come down on the side of Harbaugh.
And that's why I don't understand the argument that I see again and again, that the coaches who are against it just don't want to work hard. It isn't about that, it's about protecting their recruiting territory. Full stop. There is no other reason.
"Can't blame them for not going out with a fight but to me it just shows how elite they are not."
I'd rather be "elite" for winning national championships, not organizing satellite camps. It seems a bit petty and backwards to say "You're not elite because we're better at satellite camps!" while the SEC (8) and ACC (1) won 9 of the last 10 championships.
I think this is a bit Michigan-centric. I don't/didn't define SMSB as a satellite camp, although sure, it can fit the mold. However, there's something to the idea that SMSB is acceptable while going to Alabama or Florida or California is not.
To a certain extent, the SMSB camp in Detroit can be seen as a coach/coaches helping the community, making good with the locals, giving kids a chance to meet local-ish celebrities, etc. The University of Michigan is a state school, and it makes some sense that they would mingle with students and coaches within the state.
That same thing does not apply to Prattville, AL or Dallas, TX or Miami, FL. This was not a case of Harbaugh trying to build up the local community of Detroit, or reward people who come to see them on Saturdays. If all he was doing was SMSB, this legislation wouldn't even be occurring right now.
I also think there are other elements at play here. Nothing this big is about one factor and one factor only.
April 11th, 2016 at 11:43 AM ^
April 11th, 2016 at 11:15 AM ^
Harbaugh was actively thinking about this,I think he was/is just doing whatever he thinks is best.
April 11th, 2016 at 11:15 AM ^
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April 11th, 2016 at 11:22 AM ^
April 11th, 2016 at 11:31 AM ^
I do not take that as a given at all. Harbaugh has shown in the past that he is extremely driven by principles. I doubt that this positive UM storm was orchestrated by our coach. Rather, his energy and creativity are threatening to his peers so they use power against him. The positive publicity is simply the response of the public to a principled, creative, and outstanding leader doing good things and less-principled, creative, and outstanding opponents taking the low road. I also doubt that we are going to reap all the five stars as a result of this. But if we get just one true difference maker as a result -- say, DPJ -- then we are well compensated.
It sure was a long haul from 2008-2015, but we are in a terrific position going forward. It's the beauty of having a truly great tradition -- our past births greatness to rally us for the future. So glad I didn't go to Purdue.
April 11th, 2016 at 11:42 AM ^
Competition yes, pushing boundaries yes, thinking outside the box yes.... but I believe he would not have support the ban if he were in the South for the sake that he's seem to genuinely support fair play, hard work and opportunities for youth.
he'd be thinking up ways to outrecruit other Southern schools. I have no doubt that he would be an outspoken critic of this rule, which would set him apart from his rivals and likely work to his advantage,
April 11th, 2016 at 11:17 AM ^
April 11th, 2016 at 11:17 AM ^
Michigan has a bunch of former coaches in positions that are not consdered to be "coaches" by NCAA definitions - such as Devin Bush Sr. Are these guys allowed to go to satellite camps and represent/scout for Michigan?
April 11th, 2016 at 11:22 AM ^
I'm almost 100% certain the answer is no. They're still athletic department employees and representatives of the football program.
April 11th, 2016 at 11:36 AM ^
April 11th, 2016 at 11:51 AM ^
I don't think anyone will be able to attend SMSB under this ruling because there will no longer be an SMSB unless they make some sort of exception for it.
April 11th, 2016 at 11:21 AM ^
I think harbaugh is genius for staying silent at this point in time. No need to draw attention to himself and AWAY from the student atheletes when they doing just fine making the same argument. The more this discussion centers around opportunities for prospective talents without means to travel across the country the better. And I don't mean in a cynical winning the argument for UofM kind of way I mean for future students etc.
"Eliminated much of the competition for recruits" is probably a bit far. I'm pretty sure kids will still want to go to bama despite this ruling...
April 11th, 2016 at 11:24 AM ^