Jim Harbaugh, Michigan create buzz, challenge convention with Florida 'circus'

BRADENTON, Fla. — The fans began lining up long before 4 p.m., at which point the gates opened at IMG Academy and a high school football stadium turned into a Southern annex of the Big House for a few hours on Friday afternoon.

They erupted as coach Jim Harbaugh, khaki pants and all, ran onto the field. They sang Hail to the Victors. Then they kept packing the stands at least until Michigan began to scrimmage, at which point the sun went down and the temperature cooled to fewer than 60 degrees (Hey, even hearty Michigan fans have their limits. You don’t come to Florida, after all, to be outside in jacket weather.)

Then it was over, leaving the college football world to wonder what controversy du jour Harbaugh will come up with next.

First it was satellite camps. Then it was the over-the-top obnoxious  “Signing of the Stars” event on National Signing Day.

And this week it was a five-day trip for four practices on the campus of one of the most talent-rich high schools in the country, an encroachment move that clearly got under the skin of the Southeastern Conference and may very well inspire NCAA legislation to ban similar excursions in the future.

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“Coach Harbaugh is an innovator,” senior defensive tackle Maurice Hurst said. “He’s always going to try to find something new, a loophole to help us get better. He told me he’s going to top the Signing of the Stars. I don’t know how you top that.”

We may not know how, but if there’s one thing we’ve learned in 14 months since Harbaugh’s return to Michigan, it’s that he will. As much as he’s intent on returning the Wolverines to the elite of college football, he seems just as hellbent on making Michigan relevant by being unique.

And if that annoys some of his colleagues, well, it’s pretty clear by now that complaining about it will only put them on the wrong end of a subtweet from a coach whose surgical insults left both Georgia’s Kirby Smart and Tennessee’s Butch Jones looking like rank amateurs in recent weeks.

“I think my favorite one so far was the comment that this was a circus, like a big circus. This and the Signing of the Stars, like, ‘What a circus,’ ” Harbaugh said Friday night after the final practice here was complete.

“As a youngster I remember the circus coming to town, looking forward to it, saving my pennies and dollars because the circus was coming to town and I couldn’t wait. Every circus I ever went to, I left feeling really great about it. It was a lot of fun.”

Take that, Greg Sankey.

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Meanwhile, let’s pause for a moment just to consider how unusual it is that Michigan has roared into 2016 as the nation’s quote-unquote “cool” program, something it has probably never been before in its 136 year history. Michigan has been the best program on occasion and quite often been the one that takes itself most seriously, but never the one that projects the image of having the most fun.

And it happened Friday night with a number of high-profile players at IMG stopping by, with a cameo appearance from ESPN commentator Dick Vitale (who lives nearby) and an estimated 5,000 fans coming to watch a pretty standard football practice.

“It’s exciting they’re here in Florida, it’s exciting to see the new players and he makes it so fun for the kids,” said Debbie Fielder, a former Michigan season ticket holder for 31 years who spends the winters down the road in Sarasota now that her husband has retired from General Motors. “We had to be here.”

“There’s a lot of pent-up demand,” said Dave Carr, a Michigan alum who lives 30 minutes away in Clearwater and flies to Ann Arbor for every home game.

“Michigan isn’t used to the droughts we’ve had. I’m surprised by the reaction of the SEC and ACC coaches. They did Harbaugh a lot of good by complaining. It’s a non-event if nobody says anything.”

The question is whether it will be a one-time event.

Harbaugh was adamant Friday that he’d like to bring spring practice back next year and make it even better, saying there were “no negatives.” He also, in what might be considered a subtle trolling attempt, said he would “recommend this to other football programs.”

The IMG experience is very different, right down to the sushi

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It would also not be a surprise, however, if the pushback from other leagues leads to adoption of a new NCAA rule banning schools from holding a spring practice outside their area.

Though the SEC and ACC have keen interest in stopping Michigan from operating on their prized recruiting turf, Sankey, the SEC commissioner, is using the hot-button issue of time demands on athletes to bolster his case.

But college sports encroaches on the free time of athletes in all kinds of ways — fall practice, after all, starts during what is traditionally summer break for regular students never mind the bowl game preparation over Christmas — and it would be hard to find a player who didn’t enjoy the way this week unfolded.

“Normally we go on spring break with a bunch of teammates anyway; now we get to come all together as a unit and everyone has had a lot of fun,” Hurst said. “Going from 6-10 inches of snow to being able to put my feet in the sand was nice.”

There was beach time. There was a movie night. There was a spring training batting practice. There were 19 team meals for players to sit down, talk, and learn each others’ stories; moments Harbaugh characterized as “being together in football.”

“Not having to worry about school and stuff like that at the same time we’re learning a whole new defense at the start of spring ball has definitely been a benefit,” defensive end Taco Charlton said.

“You can wake up and get after it and that's all you have to worry about for now, especially for some of the new guys who have never been through this.”

“We haven’t missed out on anything,” running back Drake Johnson said.

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Of course, there were also some awkward moments by the nature of the event and the strict NCAA rules in place due to practicing on a high school campus during a “quiet” period for recruiting.

IMG players couldn’t interact with Michigan coaches. After Friday’s practice, Harbaugh wanted to sign autographs for the 100 or so fans who waited but was shut down by a Michigan compliance officer. An NCAA representative was hovering over pretty much everything. And Michigan had cards distributed all over the stadium Friday for fans that basically instructed them not to interact with recruits.

Still, at one point Friday a reporter observed an unidentified IMG player being followed to the bathroom by a group of Michigan fans, one of whom asked, “What do you think of Harbaugh?”

“He’s cool,” the player responded before walking away.

And even if the SEC succeeds in shutting him down, he won’t get any less cool. He’ll just come up with something else.

“The arguments don’t hold water,” Harbaugh said. “It was a great thing for everyone involved, most importantly the fellas. Let the guys play. Let the fellas play, let them have fun. What’s wrong with that?”

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