Jim Harbaugh's plan to take Michigan to Florida for spring ball has been the biggest controversy of the off season yet. It has everyone talking, and the media are quick to ask SEC coaches their opinion on the matter.
Today, Harbaugh continued to make waves by tweeting out the following invitation, cordially inviting high school coaches in the state of Florida to attend their open practices at IMG.
At a recent speaking even on the road, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart was asked about the situation and noted that, even if he had the green light to take spring practices somewhere else, he'd keep everything on campus at Georgia for a variety of reasons.
"There are a lot of factors that people haven't thought about with that deal. You've got to think about recruiting rules, how they are going to handle those? Is it an advantage or a disadvantage? Are they going to let coaches go to those? Are they going to be open practices? Do we go over there and watch them and scout them? If it's open practices, why don't we go? It's a Pandora's Box of what they're going to get into."
"Obviously, I don't want to get into it because I'd like to practice right there in our facility, and I'd also like to have the prospects in state to come to our practices, and us not have to go to them."
"It's important that we get them on campus, because, ultimately, that's where they'll be spending the next four or five years on our campus, not wherever they're out practicing. So I don't know how theirs [Michigan's] will go down, but it will be interesting to see."
At that same function, Smart talked about how grateful he was to work under Nick Saban for so many years, and that one of the most important things that Saban taught him had to do with surrounding yourself with guys who are willing to put the same amount of "sweat in the bucket".
"I wouldn't be where I am today without Nick Saban. It's very easy to say that," Smart notes in the second clip. "He is very demanding, and that is great to me, because I want someone that is very demanding. I want someone next to me who is putting the same sweat in the bucket that I'm putting in."
"That has carried over to my staff, because when you start to get mixed message in there that 'this guy gets to do that, and this guy doesn't' you create a little bit of envy in the room. He makes sure there is no envy in the room and is very straightforward about what you're supposed to do, and that's the way it should be. "
(H/T Bulldawg Illustrated for the videos)