SEC’s Attempt To Ban Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan Spring Practice Is Foolish

Jim Harbaugh is stirring up the pot again and angering the SEC world. If nothing else, he’s never, ever boring.

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Sorry if this column sucks, it’s not my fault …

I’m busy trying to figure out how to make everyone who matters understand why I have to go cover Michigan spring practice in Florida.

Mommmmmmmm!!! Jim Harbaugh is bothering us again!!!

Jim Harbaugh is in the SEC’s kitchen, and he’s making biscuits.

According to a story by CBSSports.com’s Dennis Dodd, the SEC – already ticked over the satellite camps Harbaugh is running in SEC country, more on what that is in a moment – is trying to get the NCAA to ban Michigan from holding part of its spring practice down in Florida over Spring Break.

To cut through all the sanctimonious bullspit and get right to the point, the SEC is grouchy that that 1) someone else is coming for its recruits, 2) it didn’t think of it first, and 3) it can’t really do this, because going on Spring Break outside of Florida sort of stinks.

To back this up a bit, the ACC and SEC got into a tizzy because Harbaugh was holding offseason talent camps in SEC recruiting country. It’s the norm for coaching staffs to have camps at their schools – it’s an easy way to make some extra money and to see future prospects – but it’s not done outside of the general area of the school.

Harbaugh did this to get into the fertile SEC recruiting grounds to be able to take a look and evaluate top prospects, while getting facetime to sell those top prospects on going to That School Up North. Of course, ACC and SEC teams – sorry, schools – don’t like this because they want to keep all the good players – sorry, student-athletes – for themselves.

All the top SEC programs have a general understanding among themselves when it comes to how this whole recruiting thing works. Everyone goes after the same top guys – with Florida State and Clemson in the mix, too – and everyone gets a few they want. Maybe Alabama gets more on a consistent basis, and maybe there’s a year when Ole Miss rolls up the talent, and maybe it’s LSU the next, but the one thing these SEC coaches don’t want is to then have to fight a Michigan or Ohio State or USC harder than they have to, because there’s no real upside.

There’s talent in California, Ohio and Michigan, but most of the top targets are in SEC country and Texas. The last thing the SEC coaches want to do is work even harder than they already have to in the recruiting world, and while they’ll always go after the cream of the crop nationally, it’s a whole other ballgame if an Auburn or LSU has to start going national.

But this is what Harbaugh has been groomed to do.

This is where the Stanford experience pays off. Look at the Cardinal roster, and it’s full of as many super-smart guys as the program can get from across the country. All he’s doing is taking that attitude now to Michigan, with a school and football program that really can pluck the Leaders and Best from across the nation.

Time spent doing a satellite camp or a spring practice in Big Ten country is time away from running a camp in the SEC world – and every single second is necessary to work on the players close to home. Basically, it’s not a fair trade for the SEC.

So why would the SEC get its panties in a bunch over Michigan holding practice on Spring Break in Florida?

Commissioner Greg Sankey will say it’s about the kids having time off – or, the best crock of hooey quote in Dodd’s piece, “some athletes choose to spend their time doing mission trips to other countries” – but this has nothing to do with the players getting time to go to Daytona for funnel chugs, and it has nothing to do with the educational aspect college life in any way.

This has everything to do with the SEC having it really, really good by being in the sweetest area in the country for college football talent, and it doesn’t want to lose anyone.

Now, in terms of the slippery-slope aspect and the net effect on what a Michigan practice in Florida will do to the recruiting world, the SEC complaining about this is a bit like the NRA arguing for Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel’s right own a nuclear weapon, but why take the chance that this might work?

It’s all probably going to be banned in the near future – the NCAA will find some reason to stop the satellite camps, and holding practice during Spring Break really isn’t kosher – but give Harbaugh credit. He’s not breaking any rules; he’s bending them as far as they can go.

It ain’t cheatin’ if you don’t get caught, and for now, for Harbaugh, it ain’t cheatin’ if you ain’t cheatin’.