The issue of satellite camps already prompted Jim Harbaugh to take a shot at one SEC head coach, Mississippi's Hugh Freeze. Now the Michigan coach has gone after the biggest fish in the pond: Alabama's Nick Saban.
At Tuesday's SEC meetings, Saban went on a long diatribe against the camps, of which Harbaugh made great use last year and which were banned this spring by the NCAA before the body reversed that decision. Among Saban's many comments Tuesday was this one: "What's amazing to me is somebody didn't stand up and say here's going to be the unintended consequences of what you all are doing (with the camps)."
That provoked Harbaugh to post on Twitter, "'Amazing' to me- Alabama broke NCAA rules & now their HC is lecturing us on the possibility of rules being broken at camps. Truly 'amazing.'"
With the comment about Alabama breaking "NCAA rules," Harbaugh may have been referring to the April resignation of Crimson Tide assistant coach Bo Davis, who stepped down amid allegations of recruiting violations. "We appreciate all the contributions (Davis) made to the program and wish him and his family the very best in the future," Saban said in a statement at the time.
Harbaugh and others have contended that the so-called satellite camps, either conducted or attended by college coaches far from where their schools are located, are beneficial to prospects, especially those from impoverished backgrounds, who can display their skills in front of multiple recruiters at once and don't have to make costly campus visits. In April, Harbaugh told Sports Illustrated, "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."In the SI story, Harbaugh took particular aim at Freeze, who had said, "I'm away from my family enough, and I just did not want to go (to the camps)." The Michigan coach, now in his second season in Ann Arbor, responded thusly: "You've got a guy sitting in a big house, making $5 million a year, saying he does not want to sacrifice his time. That is not a kindred spirit to me. What most of these coaches are saying is they don't want to work harder."
In March, Harbaugh also dinged another SEC head coach, Tennessee's Butch Jones, who appeared to jokingly suggest he met up with Michigan State's Mark Dantonio and Arkansas' Bret Bielema for "lunch" at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., where Michigan was conducting a practice. "Suggestion to my Rocky Top colleague, rather than lunch in Florida you might spend your time and focus attending to your present team," Harbaugh tweeted out.
When asked about how much going to a satellite camp benefits a major program such as the one at Alabama, Saban said, "I don't know how much it benefits anybody because all the people that say this is creating opportunities for kids, this is all about recruiting." That led to his "amazing" comment, but Saban was far from done.
"All you're doing is allowing all these other people that we spend all of our time at the NCAA saying, 'You can't recruit through a third party. You can't be involved with third-party people,'" Saban said, hitting the podium for emphasis, "and that's exactly what you're doing: creating all these third parties that are going to get involved with the prospects and all that."
Saban, who was the head coach at Michigan State from 1995 to 1999, was then asked if he would hold the same position on satellite camps were he still in the Big Ten. "Do you blame Jim Harbaugh for wanting to get outside (of the Big Ten's natural recruiting territory)?" a reported asked.
"I'm not blaming Jim Harbaugh. I'm not saying anything about him," Saban said. "I'm just saying it's bad for college football. Jim Harbaugh can do whatever he wants to do. I'm not saying anything bad about him, if he thinks that's what's best. There needs to be somebody that looks out for what's best for the game, not what's best for the Big Ten or not what's best for the SEC, or not what's best for Jim Harbaugh, but what's best for the game of college football - the integrity of the game, the coaches, the players and the people that play it. That's bigger than all of this."