BAMANEWSBOT
Staff
When Jim Budzynski told his wife that he was going to drive from their home in central Florida to Prattville, Alabama, on Friday, she called him an idiot. It was "in a loving, kind, supportive way," he quickly pointed out. But passion pushes men to do irrational things. The caffeine of more than a few coffee and energy drinks helped with the roughly seven-hour trip, too.
Budzynski wanted to see his coach, even if there was no game to be played and the sweltering heat of a June day in the South to deal with. Jim Harbaugh, the new man to lead the Michigan Wolverines, was simply too close to let this chance pass by. That Harbaugh was boldly invading territory normally reserved for Alabama and Auburn of the SEC made it all the more enticing. Gus Malzahn and Nick Saban could gripe about the "satellite camp" being an unfair recruiting advantage all they wanted. The lifelong Michigan fan described the camp as straightforward as he possibly could: a slap in the face to the SEC.
"Slapping everybody," he said. "Saban, Meyer, we donāt care. Slap 'em all."
"I understand completely why the SEC and those guys would be upset," Prattville High coach Chad Anderson said. "But Iāve got to look at it from the standpoint of the betterment of my school. I donāt push kids one way or another. Iām an Alabama graduate. If they want to recruit our kids, great. If they choose not to, there are other schools out there too. ... I guarantee you if theyāre released, theyāre going to go into [Michiganās] recruiting areas and put on a camp, too.
"Itās like Coach Harbaugh said, 'We welcome all.' Itās not a big deal for us at all. Heās not afraid to compete with any of the coaches and go toe-to-toe."
Keith Washington in February, and Prattville running back Kingston Davis has verbally committed to sign next year. Less than 24 hours after Fridayās camp, another Prattville player, outside linebackerDytarious Johnson, committed to the Wolverines.
Two hundred players pre-registered for the camp and 200 more showed up the day of -- more than double the attendance of U-M's last appearance in Indianapolis.
"Itās competitive. Itās competition," Washington said. "If youāre going to overlook some of the guys that are right here in your home state and in this area and go way out to California, why are you upset somebody wants to come down and give them an opportunity?"
If it weren't for Harbaugh, we might not be having this conversation. As Anderson put it, "When you have a guy like Coach Harbaugh here, it raises eyebrows. [Penn State coach James Franklin] comes in last year and you donāt ever hear anything about it -- no ripple, no wave." But Harbaugh is all waves. By bringing his entire staff to Prattville and the rest of their summer recruiting tour, he's hoping to make a splash. A cannonball would be better.
The man has an aura. When he takes off his shirt to play a game with the campers, it might look silly. He nearly broke the Internet with his pasty torso and patented khakis. But it connects with recruits.
"It was funny," Davis said. "I double-looked for a second and I said, 'Thatās Coach Harbaugh with his shirt off interacting with kids, playing.' Itās pretty cool.
"Heās a cool coach. Heās serious about football, but he interacts with players, too, and thatās a big thing."
As one observer on the sideline noted when Harbaugh ripped his shirt off and began running around in his khakis: "Letās see Nick Saban do that." The comparison is inescapable.
No coach has brought more excitement to a program since Saban arrived at Alabama in 2007. More than 90,000 fans packed Bryant-Denny Stadium for a spring game that year. He was the man to resurrect a sleeping giant, they said. And they were right. He became the rightful heir to Paul "Bear" Bryant.
He hasnāt coached a game in the Big House, but one Michigan fan called Harbaugh their "savior." Another said he was "Bo Schembechler Round 2." Borrowing a Harbaughism, another fan said, "He represents energy with enthusiasm unknown to mankind."
"Itās the dawn of a new era thatās been a decade coming," Budzynski said. "Weāve been slapped around for a long time and Iām looking forward to slapping back."
Michael May, a U-M fan who settled in Athens, Alabama, wasnāt sure whether all the controversy surrounding the camp was merited. As several parents of athletes at the camp noted, this was about the kids getting exposure, not the coaches. One parent said he will spend $5,000 this summer going to camps like Michiganās. If a scholarship offer comes out it, then it will be well worth his investment.
But May liked that others were mad about Harbaughās presence in the South. If they were mad, that meant they were talking.
"We want it to be a story," he explained. "We want it to be out there as much as possible, because we want these kids and recruits to know about Michiganās history, what kind of program we have, and we want them to know itās available to them. Kids down here are more than welcome to suit up with the winged helmet. We want them up there."
Dale Gray wouldnāt mind if his son, an offensive lineman, wore the maize and blue one day. Sitting in the shade with a crimson Alabama cap atop his head, he was surprisingly level-headed. He had a gray Alabama windbreaker, a crimson Alabama undershirt and crimson shoelaces. Heās loved the Crimson Tide his entire life and would be overjoyed if his son played for Saban.
But he doesnāt see any controversy with Harbaugh or any other coach competing for recruits on the SECās turf. The bottom line, he said, was they could stop their "whining."
"Heās doing his job," he said. "The SEC coaches, they get paid a lot of money and they have to win or they donāt have a job. I can understand their situation, but believe you me, there is plenty of talent to go around.
"The SEC is so competitive, and these coaches have worked so hard to get this part of the country covered up. But bless their hearts, it hurt their feelings because somebody from up North came down here."
There will continue to be pushback from the SEC. At the leagueās spring meetings last month, it was announced the conference would push for the NCAA to ban all satellite camps. But if that doesnāt happen, they said they will dive right in, setting up camps far and wide.
If recruiting weren't a crazy enough affair before now, itās going to get even more wild. Thanks to Harbaugh, everyone is taking notice.
ESPN's SEC BlogāContinue reading...
Budzynski wanted to see his coach, even if there was no game to be played and the sweltering heat of a June day in the South to deal with. Jim Harbaugh, the new man to lead the Michigan Wolverines, was simply too close to let this chance pass by. That Harbaugh was boldly invading territory normally reserved for Alabama and Auburn of the SEC made it all the more enticing. Gus Malzahn and Nick Saban could gripe about the "satellite camp" being an unfair recruiting advantage all they wanted. The lifelong Michigan fan described the camp as straightforward as he possibly could: a slap in the face to the SEC.
"Slapping everybody," he said. "Saban, Meyer, we donāt care. Slap 'em all."
"I understand completely why the SEC and those guys would be upset," Prattville High coach Chad Anderson said. "But Iāve got to look at it from the standpoint of the betterment of my school. I donāt push kids one way or another. Iām an Alabama graduate. If they want to recruit our kids, great. If they choose not to, there are other schools out there too. ... I guarantee you if theyāre released, theyāre going to go into [Michiganās] recruiting areas and put on a camp, too.
"Itās like Coach Harbaugh said, 'We welcome all.' Itās not a big deal for us at all. Heās not afraid to compete with any of the coaches and go toe-to-toe."
Keith Washington in February, and Prattville running back Kingston Davis has verbally committed to sign next year. Less than 24 hours after Fridayās camp, another Prattville player, outside linebackerDytarious Johnson, committed to the Wolverines.
Two hundred players pre-registered for the camp and 200 more showed up the day of -- more than double the attendance of U-M's last appearance in Indianapolis.
"Itās competitive. Itās competition," Washington said. "If youāre going to overlook some of the guys that are right here in your home state and in this area and go way out to California, why are you upset somebody wants to come down and give them an opportunity?"
If it weren't for Harbaugh, we might not be having this conversation. As Anderson put it, "When you have a guy like Coach Harbaugh here, it raises eyebrows. [Penn State coach James Franklin] comes in last year and you donāt ever hear anything about it -- no ripple, no wave." But Harbaugh is all waves. By bringing his entire staff to Prattville and the rest of their summer recruiting tour, he's hoping to make a splash. A cannonball would be better.
The man has an aura. When he takes off his shirt to play a game with the campers, it might look silly. He nearly broke the Internet with his pasty torso and patented khakis. But it connects with recruits.
"It was funny," Davis said. "I double-looked for a second and I said, 'Thatās Coach Harbaugh with his shirt off interacting with kids, playing.' Itās pretty cool.
"Heās a cool coach. Heās serious about football, but he interacts with players, too, and thatās a big thing."
As one observer on the sideline noted when Harbaugh ripped his shirt off and began running around in his khakis: "Letās see Nick Saban do that." The comparison is inescapable.
No coach has brought more excitement to a program since Saban arrived at Alabama in 2007. More than 90,000 fans packed Bryant-Denny Stadium for a spring game that year. He was the man to resurrect a sleeping giant, they said. And they were right. He became the rightful heir to Paul "Bear" Bryant.
He hasnāt coached a game in the Big House, but one Michigan fan called Harbaugh their "savior." Another said he was "Bo Schembechler Round 2." Borrowing a Harbaughism, another fan said, "He represents energy with enthusiasm unknown to mankind."
"Itās the dawn of a new era thatās been a decade coming," Budzynski said. "Weāve been slapped around for a long time and Iām looking forward to slapping back."
Michael May, a U-M fan who settled in Athens, Alabama, wasnāt sure whether all the controversy surrounding the camp was merited. As several parents of athletes at the camp noted, this was about the kids getting exposure, not the coaches. One parent said he will spend $5,000 this summer going to camps like Michiganās. If a scholarship offer comes out it, then it will be well worth his investment.
But May liked that others were mad about Harbaughās presence in the South. If they were mad, that meant they were talking.
"We want it to be a story," he explained. "We want it to be out there as much as possible, because we want these kids and recruits to know about Michiganās history, what kind of program we have, and we want them to know itās available to them. Kids down here are more than welcome to suit up with the winged helmet. We want them up there."
Dale Gray wouldnāt mind if his son, an offensive lineman, wore the maize and blue one day. Sitting in the shade with a crimson Alabama cap atop his head, he was surprisingly level-headed. He had a gray Alabama windbreaker, a crimson Alabama undershirt and crimson shoelaces. Heās loved the Crimson Tide his entire life and would be overjoyed if his son played for Saban.
But he doesnāt see any controversy with Harbaugh or any other coach competing for recruits on the SECās turf. The bottom line, he said, was they could stop their "whining."
"Heās doing his job," he said. "The SEC coaches, they get paid a lot of money and they have to win or they donāt have a job. I can understand their situation, but believe you me, there is plenty of talent to go around.
"The SEC is so competitive, and these coaches have worked so hard to get this part of the country covered up. But bless their hearts, it hurt their feelings because somebody from up North came down here."
There will continue to be pushback from the SEC. At the leagueās spring meetings last month, it was announced the conference would push for the NCAA to ban all satellite camps. But if that doesnāt happen, they said they will dive right in, setting up camps far and wide.
If recruiting weren't a crazy enough affair before now, itās going to get even more wild. Thanks to Harbaugh, everyone is taking notice.
ESPN's SEC BlogāContinue reading...
