Desmond Howard On Harbaugh: 'The Perfect Piece To This Football Puzzle'
By Ashley Scoby
@AshleyScoby
Comedian Randy Sklar stepped to the stage of Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor, and declared he was in cold Michigan instead of sunny California.
He was supposed to host a National Signing Day event at the University of Southern California. But, "Coach (Jim) Harbaugh slept over at my house, climbed a tree, took off his shirt, started throwing baseballs at my neighbor and he flipped me," Sklar said.
It's been a recruiting season to remember in Ann Arbor, with random Harbaugh exploits making the news seemingly every day.
And that season came to a flashy conclusion Wednesday, with Michigan's "Signing Of The Stars" event.
"I think people will do something similar, or they'll criticize it," Harbaugh said. "I probably won't think much of it. It worked for us. It was wonderful. And why not? We'll get back to work at 2:30, but why not have some fun? Why not celebrate all wins?"
Those wins came rolling Wednesday, as Michigan unleashed its full National Signing Day event, full of professional lights, high-profile recruits and a long line of "celebrities" to announce their presence. Proceeds from ticket sales went to benefit the Chad Tough Foundation, in honor of former head coach Lloyd Carr's grandson, who passed away from cancer last year.
The extravaganza of Signing Day has changed just a tad since Tom Brady signed with Michigan years ago.
Brady was just one headliner of many on Wednesday that Harbaugh invited back to campus Wednesday to help
"I don't remember that," Brady laughed when asked about his own Signing Day. "I hope these young men understand it's not always like this."
It would be difficult to recreate the bonanza at Hill Auditorium for any other day, much less a guy's entire college career. Highlight videos of each player was displayed on a giant video board as various "celebrities" with Michigan ties –Brady, wrestler Ric Flair, Heisman Trophy winner Desmond Howard – announced their names. To the side, Lou Holtz, Mike Shanahan and Todd McShay evaluated all the prospects and talked about what they would bring to Michigan. It was no accident that two of those guys make their money evaluating NFL football - a way for Harbaugh to tell his recruits, 'Want to go pro? Here's how connected I am to the league.'
It was "a day of excitement, a day of joy, a day of fun," Harbaugh declared, before asking his signature question that could easily be a stab at his rivals: "Who could possibly have it better than us?"
Better is a subjective term, but it would be hard to argue that anyone had it any flashier than Michigan on Wednesday. Professional lighting, videos, cardboard cutouts of each player – it was a high-level production never seen before on Signing Day.
And Harbaugh hopes to make that a trend.
"You knew this started as just a nugget of an idea in Harbaugh's brain," said comedian Randy Sklar, who was the host of the event. "I was talking to him last night at the basketball game and he was like, 'Why can't this be like Midnight Madness?' … I remember when Midnight Madness wasn't that big a deal and now it is. It's just a fun thing for these kids."
"He's brought excitement back to the university and the program," former Yankee Derek Jeter said before introducing a group of new signees.
That excitement exploded Wednesday into something previously unrecognizable within college football.
And Michigan had its tree-climbing, sleeping-over, shirt-removing head coach, Harbaugh, to thank for that.
"You're getting the perfect pieces to the puzzle in my opinion," Howard said. "And Jim Harbaugh is just the perfect piece to this football puzzle."
