The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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THE WOLVERINE 2017 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ■ 39 Georgia and Alabama. They went to Paramus Catholic High in New Jersey, a recent hotbed of talent that produced first-round NFL Draft pick Jabrill Peppers. But they also taught football to hundreds upon hundreds of youth that would never enjoy a moment's consideration of getting a football scholarship at Michigan. They ven- tured to Samoa High School in Pago Pago for a camp attended by at least one student- athlete from every school on the island. They hit Hawai'i for a couple of youth camps, and fanned out east and west to offer a hands-on experience to players who could never have gotten to a football camp in Ann Arbor. The NCAA reacted by limiting camp and clinic participation to 10 days in June and July. The camps must also take place on a school's campus or in facilities used regularly by the school for practice or competition (schools can honor contracts signed prior to Jan. 18). Once again, it's Harbaugh acting and the rest of the college football world reacting. "Everybody can argue the motive behind it. Sure, there's benefit in recruiting," Jansen stressed. "But I know this to be absolutely true — the biggest benefit is for football. "Football has taken a huge hit in the last five to 10 years, in terms of concussions and mommies not wanting their kids to play foot- ball because of head injuries. The only way high school coaches will learn better how to coach is to see college coaches do it. "NFL coaches don't do clinics like that. All of these colleges used to have coaching clinics, where they would have coaches come in and have a chance to pick up some things Michigan coaches are doing. "Now, it's more inclusive, because he's going all around the country, and he's taking his assistant coaches. They're teaching these high school players good technique. Good technique will prevent injuries — not all of them, but it will prevent injuries. "He's also teaching a whole lot more coaches who would not be able to make the trip to Ann Arbor. In terms of the future of football, if we had more coaches doing what Jim is doing, football wouldn't be suffering the hit it is right now." 7. Never Backing Down Harbaugh brings an edge to what he does, and it's highly contagious. When he went off on the officials following Michi- gan's controversial double-overtime loss at Ohio State last November, it cost him $10,000 via Big Ten play-nice rules. It gained him untold respect and loyalty among his players, who experienced what was taking place and knew they had a coach backing them up 100 percent. The Wolver- ines reveled in seeing a coach not just sit and take it, but speak up. Harbaugh has done so numerous times at Michigan, including another skirmish with the Wolverines' biggest rival. He felt a program slight when OSU AD Gene Smith noted of Michigan's spring practices in Flor- ida: "If we were jump starting our program, I'd probably try to do that too." An answer arrived via Twitter the very same day. Harbaugh tweeted: "Good to see Director Smith being relevant again after the tattoo fiasco. Welcome back!" The "shot across the bow" referenced Ohio State's previous NCAA rules infractions re- garding free tattoos and other player benefits. Head coach Jim Tressel lied repeatedly to the NCAA regarding knowledge of any infrac- tions and eventually lost his job over it. The Michigan head coach has shown no reluctance to answer back in such situations, especially when he sees hypocrisy involved or a direct shot at the Wolverines. Harbaugh's former players at Stanford noted it wouldn't take long for their old coach to pick out the biggest bullies on the block and take them on directly. That's what he did, they said, when the Cardinal blasted Pete Carroll's heavily favored USC squad, 55-21, and Harbaugh responded to Carroll's "What's your deal?" at a midfield handshake with a "What's your deal?" of his own. "This goes back to the success he had with the 49ers, and even before that, the success he had with Stanford," former Michigan of- fensive lineman Doug Skene noted. "It's the way he called Pete Carroll on the carpet and Harbaugh's innovative ideas have forced the NCAA to put new rules into place to govern things like his satellite camp tour during the summer. PHOTO BY BRANDON BROWN