Harbaugh better hope he never has a scandal. The interesting thing is that one of the biggest beneficiaries of some of the things Harbaugh is doing could and should be NU. You guys have a big name and I'm guessing aren't cash poor. If the NCAA does not step in the way of future team trips and satellite camps, NU could have a front and center presence in more places and at more times in the places you need to recruit without having to return the favor (the Bama's of the world aren't going to be setting up shop in say Omaha next spring). This is the answer to your "500 mile radius" problem and you should be thanking Harbaugh for this...and also following him.
You won't be able to do this next year, anyway. They will throw the 'welfare of the student athlete' thing around and get a ncaa rule against it. It won't just be the sec that doesn't like it and wants it gone. Jmo
Before the trip started I was 99.9% convinced that this would be one time thing also. However, the narrative in the media has been the exact opposite of what the SEC and NCAA were hoping for. The kids are loving it and so far (knock on wood) Michigan and the players have done this 100% clean. There are already rumors floating around, from reliable sources, that a handful of other schools have put out feelers to locations for next year (including at least one big name school).
Yeah, Harbaugh didn't come up with the concept of satellite camps...he just took the whole thing to a higher level. But what I think the poster saying the whole thing about "long game vs. short game" is missing is that the long game in CFB is just a series of short games...and in this game the 1st quarter is as important as the 4th. Coaches (at schools like ours) don't have 10 years to build up a program and what you do in year one and two is going to determine where your program is in years 4 and 5 (yeah I know that is an obvious statement to most on this board)...literally as in the games you win or lose then will be because of the battles you win or lose in recruiting now...if a coach is hoping that his efforts (overall) in "building relationships" finally pays of with some recruiting wins 5 years from now...well they aren't going to last very long.
You may have heard Riley raise this concern when asked severals days ago. As he noted, the coaches have the players under their control for almost the entire academic year as it is.
I can only speak to the reaction of the Michigan players...they aren't split at all. The vast majority said they'd basically be hanging out in their rooms all week if not for this...well that and going to their "voluntary" S&C sessions.
Curious, which sports have held off-season practices and competitions over spring break for decades?
I think his point was the "off season" part. The NCAA is going to have to skirt some issues especially the fact that FB players don't get a Thanksgiving or Christmas break while pulling in millions of dollars for their schools. My guess is they are actually going to spin this argument to say because that is a necessary part of the equation, because it is "in-season," it thus becomes even more critical to protect personal time "off season."
