This is news that will surely be received well by coaches from the ACC and SEC.
Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh announced Wednesday the Wolverines will be spending the first week of spring practices in Florida.
“Our plans for spring football are to go to Florida our first week while the university here is on spring break,” Harbaugh said, per MLive.com. “We’ll go to Florida and have four practices down there. We’re going to work hard but we’ll have fun doing it.”
The plan is for Michigan to travel over spring break to Bradenton, Florida for practices at IMG Academy. Not only does this ensure all members of the Michigan program are under Harbaugh’s watch while on spring break, but the Wolverines gain exclusive access to IMG Academy. This will come during a quiet time on the recruiting calendar, but the mere presence of the Wolverines and their equipment truck alone will be more than enough to plant a flag at one of the top high school programs in the country.
This is a brilliant, yet costly move by Harbaugh and Michigan. You might say the Wolverines are sparing no expense in attempting to generate buzz around the program, and they are certainly getting their money’s worth. Harbaugh previously caught the ire of ACC and SEC coaches and representatives by taking his coaching staff on a national tour, including stops throughout the southeast (other coaches did this as well, including Brian Kelly of Notre Dame, Mike Riley of Nebraska, James Franklin of Penn State and even Urban Meyer of Ohio State). But now Harbaugh is bringing his whole pack of Wolverines with him for a unique spring break. It won’t be long until this news catches the wind of coaches down.
Harbaugh also said this will be good because now every player on the roster is guaranteed to get some sort of spring break trip out of it without having to worry about the cost. Michigan will be covering the expenses.
“I’ve already got some good plans. We’ll have swim meets, putt-putt golf. We’re going to have football meetings, practice. I think it gives a chance to win on a lot of different levels.”
You know why else this is a bold and smart move by Harbaugh? It’s cold in Michigan for the first week of spring practices. Who would not want to take an opportunity to go to Florida for a week when the other option is staying in Michigan that time of year?
So to recap, this is a great move by Harbaugh because:
- Free spring break trip for Michigan players
- All players under Harbaugh’s watch on spring break
- Plants flag at IMG Academy, potentially setting up pipeline to Ann Arbor
- Gets out of the Michigan cold for a week
- Gives southern coaches one more thing to whine about (and more for college football bloggers to write about)
- Harbaugh can work on his tan