Jim Harbaugh continues to keep the college football world on its heels, along with attention on his Michigan program that is on the rise. The Wolverines were in Big Ten title contention for much of the 2015 college football season, and since put together a great recruiting class.
Michigan is currently holding its spring practice at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. Of course, that’s an attractive destination during the spring (and IMG Academy is loaded with prep talent) , and opposing coaches joked about going to attend the practice on Wednesday.
Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema, who is not shy when it comes to smack talk, got things started Wednesday afternoon:
After early meetings & lift tomorrow with our players. Thinking about heading to watch an open practice tomorrow at IMG with the staff. #WPS
— Bret Bielema (@BretBielema) March 2, 2016
Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio, the Wolverines’ in-state rival, also got involved, saying that he was willing to meet up with Bielema for lunch:
Want to do lunch? #V4MSU https://t.co/5Us82hFySk
— Mark Dantonio (@DantonioMark) March 2, 2016
Tennessee’s Butch Jones, who’s already offered scholarships to 20 IMG Academy players, asked to join in the fun as well:
https://twitter.com/UTCoachJones/status/705177707131379712?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Just as it seemed as the playful tweets were over, Bielema couldn’t help but take one last shot at Harbaugh and his Wolverines Thursday morning:
Just found out from NCAA office we can't go to IMG open practice because in NCAA football it's a quiet period
Maybe next year #Jamaica
— Bret Bielema (@BretBielema) March 3, 2016
Sure, the coaches are having some fun with Harbaugh and his team practicing in Florida. But Harbaugh has really been shaking up the college football world with his innovation and attempts to gain advantages when it comes to recruiting. He was also too busy having fun being the first base coach for the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday to worry about some tweets.
Michigan ranked fifth in the 247Sports composite rankings, above all of the aforementioned coaches’ teams. The Harbaugh turnaround in Ann Arbor was expected to be quick, but he may even have it accelerating faster than anybody could have imagined.
UPDATE: Harbaugh had a response for Jones, who’s had some recent issues to deal with at Tennessee.
Suggestion to my Rocky Top colleague, rather than lunch in Florida you might spend your time and focus attending to your present team.
— Coach Harbaugh (@CoachJim4UM) March 3, 2016