Georgia Bulldogs: Harbaugh steals show at Atlanta satellite camp
On Thursday, June 2, the Georgia Bulldogs attended a satellite camp at Maynard Jackson High School in Atlanta. Coaches from Georgia, Georgia Tech, Michigan, Kennesaw State, and others were in attendance, but it was ultimately Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh who stole the show.
Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh made quite the appearance at Georgia’s first ever satellite football camp in his Hank Aaron jersey. Hank Aaron himself even spoke at the camp.
Not to worry, Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart made quite an entrance of his own. Smart arrived in a yellow helicopter, though he only stayed for just over an hour and a half.
VIA Jeff Sentell of DawgNation
"The Big Ten coach stole the show with a commanding presence. He’s a football coach who likes to coach. You can’t fake that for three hours under the blazing sun. Harbaugh was coaching those khakis off the entire time.First-year UGA coach Kirby Smart was there, too. He arrived in a yellow helicopter to spend 107 minutes at the camp. It might not be Smart’s style to play to a crowd, but he wasn’t as animated as Harbaugh. UGA commit Netori Johnson was amazed.“I like my future head coach now (Smart) but you can’t help but notice how Harbaugh comes to work,” he said. “That man comes out on the field and takes it over with some real force. You know who he is and where he is. I liked that about him.”The Michigan man brought about 20 other Wolverine coaches with him and if one stood in the middle of the so-called circus there were at least 10 visible stations of campers working out."
Though this historic satellite camp may have been held in Georgia Bulldogs territory, it was clearly Michigan and Harbaugh’s camp. It was truly a Harbaugh invasion.
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However, Harbaugh’s fun didn’t stop at the Georgia Bulldogs back yard of Atlanta. Less than four hours later, Harbaugh and company were in south Georgia surrounded by almost 250 high school football players.
Harbaugh changed jerseys when he went south as well.
"But when Harbaugh got to Leesburg, he swapped the Aaron threads for one more suitable for the Leesburg audience, a Buster Posey jersey. Harbaugh says it was a show of respect for the former Trojan star.“I got to know Buster a little bit personally when I was living in San Francisco,” the former 49ers head coach says. “But more, just the way he handles himself. He is a class act, a winner, a champion all the way. I have tremendous respect for him, so I was proud to wear the jersey.”"
In the end, were baseball jerseys and helicopters really effective recruiting tactics for these coaches?
This is also the second time Coach Smart has made a helicopter entrance, with the first being when he arrived in one to recruit Georgia’s No. 1 prospect Jacob Eason.
Next: Georgia Bulldogs: Who will be the next left tackle?
As recruiting in college football continues to get more competitive, more antics from both coaches – and others – can probably be expected going forward.