THE GRUDGE REPORT: Harbaugh Has A Transfer Plan That Would Work

Most of the time I pay only casual attention to what is said at various conference College Football Media Days.

Every coach predicts good things for his team, which is as it should be in July.

I would take notice if one coach said, "We were lousy last year and we are going to stink this year.''

Some coaches say more interesting things than others, some present their information in a more interesting way.

Jim Harbaugh is one of those guys.

Coach "Khaki Pants'" is starting his fifth season as the head guy at Michigan. He has had four 10 win seasons during that stretch, which is impressive at any level.

He is also 1-9 vs. Top 10 teams and 0- 4 vs. Ohio State, which is also noteworthy.

One of the this year's hot topics is transfers and a process called the transfer portal which basically requires an NCAA waiver for an undergraduate to transfer from one school to another without sitting out a season.

Harbaugh picked up his starting QB Shea Patterson via that route.

The Big Ten and College football has been overwhelmed this season by a tsunami of transfers, many of them high profile QBs.

At last week's Big Ten Media Day, Harbaugh offered an idea which is so sound it should be adopted by the NCAA immediately, which probably means it will never happen.

"My opinion is that every student-athlete should have a one-time ability to transfer and will not have to sit out a year,"' said Harbaugh.' 'I'd keep the graduate-transfer rule in place that we have right now.'"

There it is: two sentences which said all that needed to be said.

Just as former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie took apart Florida Senator Marco Rubio's habit of returning to his stump speech on every subject during a 2016 Democratic Presidential debate in New Hampshire, with a simple response of "There it is. The 25 second memorized speech,'' Harbaugh cut through the debate rhetoric.

With college football coaches free to roam to new jobs (with some financial considerations), college football players should have the right to change their mind ONCE during their undergraduate days about where (and for whom) they want to play.

It is a near perfect solution to a problem which has lots of potential potholes because it makes the "waiver'' process less complicated.

Yes, there is the potential for chaos when coaching changes are made, and yes, there will be abuses of the rule.

And there will be predatory schools who will "raid'' opposing schools for talent, but that can be fixed with clauses such as no non-penalty transfers within the same conference.

You could also implement the rule in stages, perhaps starting with only freshmen allowed to transfer without penalty and then gradually expand it.

But the big picture is that college football will adjust and live with it.

We now live in a world where the rights of "student' athletes'' are being examined and changed as we speak.

Allowing 18-21 year old football players to change their minds ONE time about what has the potential to be a life-altering decision is not too much to ask.

It's also the right thing to do and the right time to do it.