Harbaugh On Satellite Camps: 'In My America, You're Allowed To Cross The State Borders'
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
CBS DETROIT - New Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh continues to draw disgruntled comments from other college football programs, particularly those in the SEC, and he continues to be unapologetic.
After Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen criticized Harbaugh for holding satellite camps in other parts of the country, Harbaugh turned in a cheeky response.
"In my America, you're allowed to cross the state borders," Harbaugh told USA Today. "That's the America I know."
Satellite camps are allowed by the NCAA, but the SEC has a rule that prohibits its coaches from attending camps more than 50 miles from campus. Needless to say, SEC coaches are less than thrilled that Harbaugh can come recruit in their backyards while they cannot return the favor.
In comments made to a Mississippi radio station, Mullen questioned why Harbaugh held camps outside the state.
"I imagine, if Jim Harbaugh was going to have a camp, he would want to coach the kids in Michigan, the young kids in Michigan, maybe how to be better football players," Mullen said, per USA Today. "So why do they need one all over the place? The only purpose for it is recruiting. I don't think it's the right purpose for camps."
Of course, if the SEC coaches were allowed to do the same, maybe they would not be quite so judgmental. That conference has proposed the NCAA ban satellite camps for everyone, but if the SEC ends up changing its rule instead, the coaches there will no doubt try to take advantage.
One coach told Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports that if the SEC lifts its ban on satellite camps, "there will be 14 jets in the air" immediately.
