Football Recruiting Pt 2 - Fun with Harbaugh and Don Brown

Mates,

Like mgoblogger 'we are back' posted just below this, there was a massive college football recruiting camp today at GVSU.  The weather was picture perfect and there were literally 1,000 college-hopeful players in attendance.  I had posted a diary about the last camp we went to some weeks ago, but this one today was infused with Michigan coaches so maybe the board will enjoy another look into the recruiting world.

1.  Teams in Attendance - Michigan was well represented at the camp with Harbaugh, Don Brown, Zordich and Jay Harbaugh in attendance, along with some GA's.  Other B10 schools there included Purdue, IU, PSU, Iowa and osu.  Other schools included Syracuse, USAF, Iowa St  and most of the MAC schools.  There were a host of smaller schools, for instance the Hope head coach spoke (very cool guy) as did most of the directional Michigan coaches.  

2.  General Camp Organization - The camp started with an hour and a half of talks to the whole group about recruiting issues.  A number of coaches spoke, the last and best of course being Harbaugh.   Then half the camp went and did 2 1/2 hours of drills (linemen, LB's, RB's, young QB's) while the other half cooled their heels.  That group got done, and the second group then did the rest of their camp.   There were more drills than I have ever seen and about a 7 minute limit to then rotate to the next drill.  Close to 2 dozen different stations.  Less instruction than last time but still that was present.  Some really outstanding talent.  The last 1/2 hour of the session was 1-on-1 drills that everyone was waiting for and that did not disappoint.  Some of those got pretty intense, but it was all good. 

3.   Harbaugh - JH was the last speaker.  He emphasized a few things for the kids that don't end up having a good experience in college:  they get a big head, drugs and alcohol ('they are poison to an athlete'), and they don't take school seriously.  He also said that every act can be one of improvement and encouraged the kids to look at things that way.  As an aside, when he got done I went and said hello and chatted him up for a couple of minutes, getting re-acquainted since it had been 35 yrs since the last time I talked with him.  He was pretty funny and of course, very gracious. 

4.  Don Brown - You could hear Don Brown from 2 fields over, even with 1,000 players and various coaches and family members milling around.   He was enthusiastic, to put it mildly, and you would've thought he was coaching the super bowl.  I have two new favorite Coach Brown sayings to go along with solving problems with aggression, both of which he uttered while coaching up kids on agility drills, the kind where you are high-stepping over pads/bumpers, moving laterally and keeping your head up.

         a.  "If you get stuck in there, I'm going to punch you right in the mouth!'

         b.   "Don't look at the ground, somebody is going to knock the paint off your helmet!'

I introduced myself to Coach Brown between sessions and he was very pleasant to talk with.  

Anyway, that's the news that's fit to print. 

XM