Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh defends satellite camps
Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh defended the practice of satellite football camps, responding to critics who say the events are for nothing but recruiting.
Harbaugh announced that he was going on a nine-city coaching tour next month with stops in recruiting hotbeds including Alabama, Texas, Florida and California.
The SEC and ACC do not allow coaches to work at a football camp more than 50 miles from their schools. But the Big Ten does, which enables Harbaugh's plan and has angered coaches from around the country. Alabama coach Nick Saban called the idea of satellite camps "ridiculous," and ACC commissioner John Swofford said the conference will support a national rule banning football programs from hosting satellite camps outside of a 50-mile radius from its campus.
Harbaugh, who was hired in December after spending four seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, says he doesn’t understand the fuss.
"In my America, you're allowed to cross state borders," Harbaugh toldUSA Today. "That's the America I know."
"I don't know what that means, a brand," he added, saying the camps were about "sharing a love for football."
"I don't know how you argue against that. I don't know what argument you would make that that's not good for everybody."
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In April, Harbaugh had subtly responded to the criticism by sending out a tweet inviting coaches from "every football playing college in America" to come help out at Michigan's "Exposure U" camp in June. He even put in a special line for coaches whose conferences would prohibit them from doing so:
"Where college coaches are restricted from working a camp outside of a 50-mile radius of their campus, we cordially invite your head football coach to be our keynote speaker."
- Scooby Axson
