Jim Harbaugh is predictably upset about the NCAA’s recent decision to shut down satellite camps, and he came out firing in a recent interview with Michael Rosenberg of SI.com.
As you may have heard, Harbaugh made some waves setting up satellite camps in SEC territory and across the nation last year. He also had quite the lineup set for this year, but now he and his staff are banned from setting up football camps for prospects anywhere other than on Michigan’s campus.
“The incompetence of the NCAA has reared its ugly head yet again,” Harbaugh told SI.com. He also said the decision was “knee-jerk … like somebody was shaving in the morning, cut themselves when they were shaving and said, ‘Let’s just ban satellite camps.’
“I mean, what’s it based on? A survey? There wasn’t a lot of discussion or study. What are the facts? What are the perils and merits of making that decision? It just seemed lacking in that regard.”
Tell us how you really feel, Jim.
It is rather interesting that the only legitimate complaints we’ve heard about come from opposing coaches and NCAA big wigs. Harbaugh made it clear he’s not just upset for his program but also the student-athletes who can’t attend camps they were eagerly awaiting.
“This is going to affect thousands and thousands of people,” he said.
He also suggests the NCAA drop the term “student-athlete” because of the hypocrisy he sees:
“During the NCAA basketball tournament we discuss the term ‘student-athlete’ ad nauseam in promoting our governing institution and our member institutions. Then, when we have an opportunity to truly promote the ‘student-athlete’ with a concept shared by educators and football men from all backgrounds, our leadership goes into hiding.
“I suggest we drop the term ‘student-athlete’ for consistency.”
Harbaugh also took aim at the SEC and ACC for raising a big fuss about the camps and for doing what is best for them, rather than the thousands of kids who are now being neglected because of the ban.
Indeed, while it isn’t exactly a selfless activity for Harbaugh and his program at Michigan to do these camps, they do seem to be harmless. Not only that, but they probably did more good for many “student athletes” in poor areas of the nation than anything else the NCAA has going at this time.
Harbaugh and his coaching staff gave many young men the chance to get the kind of pro-style training and one-on-one time they would have never had the chance to otherwise receive.
Now, mostly because some men in powerful positions objected to an idea they wish they had thought about first, those kids are missing out. This is just one more mistake to throw into the massive pile of them the NCAA has made over the years. It’s clearly an institution more dedicated to serving its own interests than the interests of the young men and women who participate in the sports that rake in the cash.
Love him or hate him, Harbaugh’s not wrong on this topic.