The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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24 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2016 FOOTBALL PREVIEW has been programmed for combat and within six months will pick a fight with the big- gest, baddest bully on the block," he wrote. "Urban Meyer, you have been warned." It wasn't the Ohio State head coach but rather the school's athletic director, Gene Smith, who took Harbaugh's first shot when, reacting to Michigan's week of 2016 spring practice at Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy, he responded he might push OSU to do the same if "we were jump-starting our program" before adding that the Buckeyes were "in a different place." "Good to see Director Smith being relevant again after the tattoo fiasco. Welcome back!" Harbaugh tweeted in reference to the tattoo scandal that rocked the Buckeyes program of fired coach Jim Tressel in 2010 in which play- ers were alleged to have traded merchandise for free tattoos. Harbaugh was front-page news yet again. "No coach dominated the offseason news cycle quite like Jim Harbaugh," Athlon wrote in its preseason annual. "The second-year Wolverines coach climbed a tree to impress a recruit, went to World Religions class with a recruit and slept over at another prospect's house. He also sparred with the SEC and the Ohio State athletic director." And he was just getting started. **** There wasn't much fanfare surrounding Har- baugh's Dec. 29, 2014 arrival in Ann Arbor. The former San Francisco 49ers head coach grabbed a late flight from the West Coast, ar- riving at Detroit Metro airport late in the eve- ning, when only a few reporters were fortunate enough to get a glimpse of him. Friends and family filled the front rows dur- ing his opening press conference the following day, and hours later word got out that he'd be introduced at halftime of Michigan basketball's Big Ten opener with Illinois the next day. Ticket prices skyrocketed on the second- ary market — not only did everyone want a glimpse of the prodigal son, but many probably wondered (or hoped) he'd follow Tressel's lead in all but guaranteeing a win over a fierce rival, like the former Buckeye head man did at half- time of an Ohio State basketball game when he was first introduced. Harbaugh, nursing a cold, didn't oblige, keeping it simple. It was good enough for the masses, though, and the buzz in the building remained throughout Michigan's 73-65 win. The ruffling of feathers would begin only a few months later. Penn State and others had started holding camps on campuses of smaller universities in the south, and Harbaugh saw an opportunity to expand on the idea. His June 2015 'Sum- mer Swarm' tour included 10 camps across the country in nine days, and for the first time, he got the South's attention. ACC commissioner John Swofford said his league would support a national rule prohibit- ing satellite camps, and NCAA president Mark Emmert said the topic would be at "the top of list" at the national football oversight commit- tee's upcoming meeting. SEC coaches, led by commissioner Greg Sankey, were appalled at the idea of U-M tak- ing advantage when their own conference rules prohibited them from holding camps more than 50 miles from campus. Harbaugh's response — he invited coaches from any and all other schools to join him. "Our vision for the University of Michigan football camp is to bring together players and coaches in all different levels from around the country to provide maximum exposure for our great game of football," he wrote on a brochure explaining U-M's mission. Not long afterward, the NCAA would pro- hibit Michigan and other schools from adver- tising their camps, passing a rule that only the schools hosting the camps could promote the event. It would be the first of many head-scratching responses from college football's authoritative voice. Michigan professor and author John U. Bacon would later write, "The NCAA is ignor- ing felonies … and creating misdemeanors." They would come up with another this sum- mer in preventing coaches from taking pictures with or signing autographs for camp attendees. Some called it the "Harbaugh Rule" given that the coach would graciously spend hours after the events obliging everyone he could before hopping on a plane for his next destination. Harbaugh seemed to marvel at the response, telling reporters the NCAA was "making it up The buzz Harbaugh generated by attend- ing the Illinois basketball game the day after his introduction press conference gave the first indication of the attention he would draw in his return to Ann Arbor. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN