VOD Not Available
This video is not available.
D.J. Durkin On Jim Harbaugh’s Florida Trip: ‘Hell Of An Idea’
D.J. Durkin discussed Jim Harbaugh taking his team to Florida for spring practice. He thinks it's a "hell of an idea."
February 26, 2016
D.J. Durkin discussed Jim Harbaugh taking his team to Florida for spring practice.
At which point do the citizens of Ann Arbor, Mich. start to recognize their beloved Michigan head football coach more by a seemingly inevitable “Haters gon’ hate” bumper sticker than by actually being the head coach?
That probably won’t happen, but we should never say never when it comes to Jim Harbaugh.
Those people are the same ones condemning him the recruiting sleepovers and tree climbing. They are totally, completely, 100-percent fair in doing so. Opinions are like — well, you know — everybody has one.
But Harbaugh doesn’t care what anyone thinks. He’s about recruiting players to Michigan and winning football games.
He doesn’t care if his antics anger you, your dad or even Southeastern Conference Commissioner Greg Sankey.
Harbaugh is still planning on taking his Wolverines down to the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. for spring practice, which will allow recruits in the Sunshine State to get an up-close look at the Michigan program and brand.
New Maryland head coach, and former Michigan defensive coordinator, D.J. Durkin believes Harbaugh is more of an innovator than a pariah.
“It was a hell of an idea on his part,” Durkin said. “I’m with my staff saying, ‘Let’s think of stuff like that.’ Are they going to have an advantage? Absolutely. Am I going to stay awake at night? No. We have to make up ground because he’s going to spend a week there with them. It was a hell of an idea. Just call it like it is.”
Durkin believes the event will have a big impact on recruiting, but he also thinks no one will ever have a chance to duplicate exactly what Harbaugh is trying to accomplish.
“They’ll be recruiting, I know that,” Durkin said. “If I had been here six months ago, we may be doing the same thing. All these guys get caught up in it and get all mad. My guess is this is the last time anybody is ever able to do that. He did a nice job getting in on the front end before it gets outlawed.
It’s quite amazing Durkin didn’t show his hand with more jealousy considering he’s going to be fighting the cold weather in College Park, Md. while Harbaugh is lathering up in suntan lotion for spring break.
