Jim Harbaugh’s ire toward the satellite camp ban is palpable and he’s not relenting.
On Tuesday, in an interview with Sports Illustrated’s Campus Rush, Harbaugh vented his frustrations with last week's 10-5 vote that banned FBS coaches from participating in satellite camps.
"I mean, what's it based on? A survey? There wasn't a lot of discussion or study,” Harbaugh told Sports Illustrated. “What are the facts? What are the perils and merits of making that decision? It just seemed lacking in that regard.
“(It was) "knee-jerk ... like somebody was shaving in the morning, cut themselves when they were shaving and said, 'Let's just ban satellite camps.'”
Harbaugh is one of the many coaches who have chimed in about this subject, but his take on it might be the strongest because many believe he was the reason for it.
Michigan’s Summer Swarm satellite camp tour last summer — a Harbaugh brain child — infringed upon the fertile recruiting ground of the SEC and the coaches in that league didn’t like it. So the SEC, along with the ACC, and some mind-boggling agreement with the Big 12, Pac-12, Mountain West and Sun Belt, gathered enough votes to squash satellite camps permanently. However, the backlash has probably been more than anyone anticipated and the potential pitfalls were either ignored or unforeseen.
"It seems to be outrage by the SEC and ACC," Harbaugh said. "They power-brokered that out ... the image that comes to my mind is guys in a back room smoking cigars, doing what they perceive is best for them. It certainly isn't the best thing for the youngsters. It's not the best thing for the student-athletes."
Harbaugh also took a shot at Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze, who said not going to satellite camps meant more time with his family. He also stated in a later interview that he didn’t realize it would damage the camp relationship between Power Five and Group of Five programs.
"You've got a guy sitting in a big house, making $5 million a year, saying he does not want to sacrifice his time,” Harbaugh said of Freeze. “That is not a kindred spirit to me. What most of these coaches are saying is they don't want to work harder."
And here’s the irony. While Harbaugh might have started the to-do about satellite camps, his program didn’t really benefit from them during the past recruiting cycle.
According to Rivals recruiting guru Mike Farrell, only four pledges came out of those camps and only three — RB Kingston Davis, DE Michael Dwumfour, ATH Chris Evans — actually signed. LB Dytarious Johnson did not sign because of academic issues. And none of those recruits was rated higher than a three-star by Rivals.
“I honestly think (satellite camps were) a bit overrated and a lot was made out of them for no reason,” Farrell told Yahoo Sports prior to signing day. “Yes it helps some schools get eyeballs on them from kids in different regions, but the camps themselves aren't loaded with talent, there are some elite guys and a bunch of players on that second level. Michigan is obviously the program that promoted them the most and Jim Harbaugh became the target of many, but I don't think it impacted their class that much.”
While the multiple levels of outrage have brought more attention to one of the good things the NCAA did for student-athletes, it’s unclear whether the anger will have an actual impact on the future of the rule.
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