Michigan Football: Jim Harbaugh calls out SEC teams as cheaters

Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh called out SEC teams and how they recruit in a new book and it’s certain to ruffle some feathers.

Jim Harbaugh is never on that is afraid to say what’s on his mind and for the Michigan football coach, that becomes clear again in the latest book by famed author John Bacon.

Bacon is a Michigan graduate and an expert on the Wolverines. He reported earlier this month on the Michigan Insider radio show that Rashan Gary was offered $300K to play elsewhere.

His latest project was working on a book about Michigan football with Harbaugh, titled “Overtime: Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan Wolverines at the Crossroads of College Football.”

The book isn’t out quite yet but it was reviewed by Jeff Arnold by Forbes and he revealed from very interesting comments from Harbaugh about the SEC and how it handles recruiting.

According to Arnold, in the book, Harbaugh says about the SEC: “It’s hard to beat the cheaters.”

That will certainly play well down south, a place where Harbaugh is already disliked over the satellite camp issue that first came to light when he took over Michigan and held a number of camps in SEC country.

The SEC teams said it was giving the Wolverines an unfair advantage and it seems as though Harbaugh believes the SEC is also doing things that aren’t on the up-and-up.

One of the best points in the book though seemed to be made by the director of recruiting Matt Dudek, who had this to say according to Arnold:

"“Name another school that competes with the bluebloods athletically – we’re talking Ohio State, Alabama, Clemson – while competing with the bluebloods academically: Stanford, Northwestern, Princeton. Most of the players we recruit are good enough to play for Alabama or Clemson and smart enough to play for Ivy League schools. If you don’t win in the classroom on Monday, you won’t be here for many Saturdays.”"

Dudek does make a great point about Michigan being different than other elite programs. The Wolverines also invest quite heavily in recruiting, spending the sixth-most of any team in college football last year and more than anyone else in the Big Ten.

Harbaugh also talked about finding the right guys to fit at Michigan and it has to do with more than just winning football games.

“If you want to make Michigan great, and make yourself great, this is a great place to be,” Harbaugh says in the book. “The ones you have to oversell what we have to offer, you know it’s not going to work. If you don’t get the appeal of the program, of a Michigan education, of the kind of camaraderie you get working with like-minded people – well, I don’t know what to tell you. You’ll probably be happier somewhere else – and maybe we will be, too!”

As you’d expect, Harbaugh has already received criticism over the comments, even though the book hasn’t even been released yet.

But once again, if people are going to be bothered by the truth, then let them. We all know there is cheating going on in college football recruiting, just like with college hoops. In some places, it’s rampant and just because Harbaugh refuses to turn a blind eye doesn’t mean he’s wrong.

He was right in what he said about Urban Meyer, who looks like even more of a sleazeball after the Ohio State document dump. He was proven right in the James Hudson episode and if people think he’s not right about other teams cheating and Michigan not, well he will be proven right again.