College football is on the edge of entering its very own imperial era, and the state of Michigan is leading the charge.
Not to be outdone by in-state rival Jim Harbaugh and Michigan, Michigan State Head Coach Mark Dantonio said he is considering holding spring practices down south.
Dantonio told mlive.com as long as those kinds of practices are legal under NCAA rules, he will look at moving Spartan practices to the heart of SEC country.
“I think it’s creative, there’s no question about that,” Dantonio said, asked what he thought of Michigan holding four practices at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. “From our standpoint, we’ve never thought to do that, but we’re thinking about it nowadays.”
“If we want to go to Florida or someplace else in Texas or something like that, it would be our option to do that, and I guess that’s allowed right now,” Dantonio said. “I do think it’s important to have a level playing field.”
It is no secret the SEC is college football’s most dominant conference, and the strong recruiting base for those programs is a big reason why. States like Texas, Florida, Georgia, Alabama and Louisiana are football hotbeds, and all that high school talent primarily feeds into schools in the closest geographic proximity.
Michigan State might recruit very well in state and in surrounding areas, but cleaning up in the Midwest still puts them well behind their southern peers. Placing as high as No.22 in the composite recruiting rankings may not seem like a major disadvantage, but coaching and hard work can only do so much to make up for the gap in talent — just look what happened on New Year’s Eve.
The fact of the matter is this: If your team did not have a top-six recruiting class in the past three seasons, they are not winning the national championship.
The SEC is not exactly pleased with these latest territorial encroachments, but league commissioner Greg Sankey is not backing away from the challenge.
Of course, I'd pay to see a verbal altercation between @GregSankey and @CoachJim4UM. https://t.co/MMo882Lgqc pic.twitter.com/KPAo4rzvEv
— Andy Staples (@Andy_Staples) February 10, 2016
Still, there are concerns these satellite camps could interfere with player’s vacation time. Michigan’s practices are scheduled during the school’s spring break.
I talked to Pat Narduzzi. Asked him about Michigan’s spring break Florida practice. He doesn’t like it. https://t.co/Fz6CmoxMJR
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) February 11, 2016
Others have also raised the point these camps may be counterproductive. After all, if Michigan is trying to escape the cold by heading south, then it makes little sense for recruits to leave in the first place.
@finebaum Can't blame Harbaugh for wanting to hold Spring practice down South. Cold Michigan sux! It's just Harbaugh underlining that fact.
— metnet (@metnet) February 10, 2016
In any event, Dantonio’s words do reinforce one undeniable point. College football is a whole lot more exciting with Jim Harbaugh in it.
