NCAA Disallows U-M Coach Harbaugh's 7-State 'Swarm Tour'

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ANN ARBOR, MI – The NCAA gave University of Michigan Wolverines Coach Jim Harbaugh a beat-down Friday, saying at its Division I council meeting that he can’t hold satellite camps like last summer’s seven-state “Swarm Tour” to recruit high school players who are unable to afford a visit to Ann Arbor.

In a statement, the NCAA said schools in Football Bowl Subdivision must “conduct camps and clinics at their school’s facilities or at facilities used for practice and competition.”

Coaches at schools in the ACC and SEC, irritated by Harbaugh’s recruiting blitz, proposed the rule change.

Coaches for teams in both conferences have said said that if Harbaugh’s satellite camps were allowed, they would would seek conference rule changes to even the recruiting field.

“I know there are a number of SEC programs that are set and ready to go if it happens,” Texas A&M Coach Kevin Sumlin told ESPN. “We will have satellite camps outside of the state. We’re ready to go. They’re already on the calendar. We’ve got some tentative dates and locations set so that if things go a certain way, we can be prepared to go. We’re not the only SEC team that’s doing that, too.”

Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema told ESPN that if Harbaugh’s satellite camps were allowed to continue, “we’re going to do an exclusive camp right there with the Cowboys unique to us that no one else is the SEC will be able to do.”

“That’s going to be a huge advantage,” Bielema said.

Harbaugh had planned camps for Georgia, Florida, Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas this summer, though he told the Detroit Free Press he wasn’t ruling out the possibility of a “dumb rule” that could derail his plans.

“Additionally, FBS coaches and noncoaching staff members with responsibilities specific to football may be employed only at their schools camps or clinics,” the NCAA said. “This rule is effective immediately.”

“It makes (Michigan) more accessible to kids who can’t afford to go all the way up there from Alabama,” Chad Anderson, a coach in Prattville, AL, told The Detroit News. “They’re coming to your neighborhood. There’s an excitement to having big-name coaches working with you.

“We also had several local college coaches come along (last summer), and this gave them exposure to Coach Harbaugh and gave them an opportunity to work with Coach Harbaugh.”

Image credit: University of Michigan