Tony Barnhart has some advice for Jim Harbaugh, and it’s exactly what you’d expect to hear.
Harbaugh is pushing the envelope of the recruiting rules and he knows it. He is well within his rights to do it. But it remains that he’s doing it at a time when every other college football player is on break. Those who point that out, like the above-mentioned adults, are portrayed by Harbaugh as “whiners” or “comical.”
Let’s put aside the fact that it is inappropriate for a coach at any school to call out the commissioner of another conference. I know Harbaugh enjoys the WWE; he appeared at Monday night’s WWE event. But, coach, this ain’t the WWE.
If you want to change the rules and make spring break part of the recruiting calendar, then by all means jump in and make your case.
The incoherence in a mere three paragraphs is spectacular to behold. On the one hand Harbaugh is accused of “pushing the envelope” of the existing rules – something Nick Saban’s made a career out of, by the way – but on the other, Barnhart advises Harbaugh that he needs to make a case for changing the rules. Er, Tony, it’s your guy, the SEC Commissioner with the purely noble motives, who wants to change the rules.
Speaking of Sankey, are we to presume (as a matter of fact!) that while it’s inappropriate for a coach to call out a conference commissioner, that it’s okay for the SEC commissioner to lecture a coach from another conference about how said coach manages his players’ time? Or should we simply skip the commentary and presume that, just like death and taxes, Barnhart having the SEC’s back is one of life’s givens? Yeah, me, too.
Get The Picture 
Good God. He’s a damned idiot.
And if there’s ever been a case of someone metaphorically bringing a knife to a gunfight where wits and cunning are involved, its Barnhardt vs. Harbaugh.
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Harbaugh is a hoot. You would think that he could sell Michigan on its merits without all the wackiness. It’s almost like he thinks they can’t recruit without being a little nuts. I am enjoying seeing where all this leads. I do think the expectations for him are growing exponentially. He gets hammered a few straight years by Corch and his schtick won’t be so amusing
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A little of Les Miles , but again somewhat different.
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I’ve always had a high regard for Mr. CW (or, if one prefers in a more universal sense, Mr. CFB). His innate grasp of the obvious is one of his strengths, and his access to the movers and shakers in the SEC is evidence of his stature. If you want hard news that takes a position quite often flowing against the grain, that informs and challenges, and that bites like a red-hot salsa, then Tony’s the guy.
Yeah right.
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He is the Peter King of college football.
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The wonderfully ironic thing about all of this is that the more Barnhardt and Sankey write and complain about this, the more it helps Harbaugh. It’s unbelievable how much publicity UM football has gotten out of this “controversy.” Recruits who didn’t even have Michigan on their radars now know all about raucous, fun-loving, break the rules Jim. Who wouldn’t rather play for him than the SEC stuffed shirt whiners?
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I don’t want to spoil all the fun, but isn’t it gonna be kinda hard to get those players back on a plane heading north? That’s assuming the airports aren’t closed back home due to snow storms.
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We’re gonna build a wall to keep those yankees from coming south, and we’re gonna make the BigX pay for it! It will be a big, beautiful wall and great doors to let those teams in we want to come play by the rules, but we ain’t letting the rapers (Penn St.), gun runners (tOSU) and thieves (UM) come in. It’s simple and it’ll work.
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