The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/698673
22 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2016 FOOTBALL PREVIEW BY CHRIS BALAS I t's June 1, 2016, a date many college football coaches look forward to as down time. There's not much of it in the profession, after all — not in the age of social media, which has essentially made recruiting a 24/7 endeavor — but in Ann Arbor, Mich., head coach Jim Harbaugh has gone above and beyond once again. While some begin their mini-vacations prior to their school's summer camp, Michigan's coaching staff makes its way to Indianapolis for the first of (at last count) 51 stops on a sat- ellite camp tour that literally spans the globe, from both coasts to American Samoa, Australia and Hawaii. On local radio station 97.1 WXYT in De- troit, the talk turns once more — and as it has many days over the last 17 months — to Harbaugh. Today's show includes audio clips from Alabama's Nick Saban, the latest head coach south of the Mason-Dixon line to feel the burn from the self-described "jackhammer" to the north. "I don't know how much [satellite camps] benefit anybody because all the people that say this is creating opportunities for kids … this is all about recruiting," Saban said from the Southeastern Conference's annual meeting. "That's what it's about. "What's amazing to me is somebody didn't stand up and say, 'Here's going to be the un- intended consequences of what you all are doing.' It's bad for college football. … There needs to be somebody that looks out for what's best for the game, not what's best for the Big Ten or what's best for the SEC or what's best for Jim Harbaugh." Most would have expected Harbaugh to fire back. He doesn't take to twitter very often, but when he does … well, he really takes to twitter. He didn't disappoint. The response is typical Harbaugh, and he doesn't pull punches. "'Amazing' to me — Alabama broke NCAA rules and now their head coach is lecturing us on the possibility of rules being broken at camps. Truly 'amazing,'" he wrote within the confines of 140 characters — referencing, many believed, Saban's recently dismissed assistant coach Bo Davis in the wake of an investigation that tied him to potential NCAA violations. This wasn't Harbaugh's first run-in with an SEC coach, nor will it likely be his last. Saban's has become the typical reaction, in fact, to the second-year coach who has taken college football by storm, a man determined to do everything in his power within the rules to level the playing field with college football's Wild, Wild West. Sacramento Bee and San Fran- cisco 49ers writer Matt Barrows told Michigan fans to expect as much in his column titled, "Congratulations on the purchase of your new Harbaugh!" outlining what to expect from their new head coach. "Your Harbaugh JACKHAMMER The Jim Harbaugh Is Living Up To His Self-Appointed Nickname