Want to feel like you were at Sound Mind Sound Body with the three most interesting head coaches in the Big Ten? Check out five videos, a photo gallery and 11 points about the day.
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MACOMB, Mich. -- They were trapped like coaches in an aquarium, and it looked like torture. Ohio State's Urban Meyer, Michigan State's Mark Dantonio and Michigan's Jim Harbaugh, in that order, forced into a news conference at the Sound Mind Sound Body recruiting camp Friday and awkwardly dreading every minute of it.
Fascinating.
The camp Friday was a constant display of interaction where the mere presence of the coaches was the entire point. And like everything, it changed because Harbaugh was injected into the proceedings. The camp has been around for a decade and was revitalized in 2012 when Meyer and his Ohio State staff showed up and created a world where basically every Big Ten team, not just Michigan and Michigan State, feels like it needs to be there now.
It is a necessary and questionable stop for coaches like this - with five head coaches there Friday, as Penn State's James Franklin and Minnesota's Jerry Kill also brought their staffs. And next year, it could either grow or shrink.
Imagine a world where SEC coaches, irked by Big Ten satellite camps in the south, decide to take advantage of the loophole that lets coaches interact with recruits at Sound Mind Sound Body.
Or imagine a world where the NCAA decides to change the gaps in legislation that allow satellite recruiting camps, which a lot of coaches want to happen, and no coaches can use Sound Mind Sound Body like this anymore.
So 2015 may have been the last year to see the camp like this. Here are thoughts and observations from a day of tailing Meyer, Harbaugh and Dantonio. Some may seem trivial, and the intent isn't to psychoanalyze every move the coaches made - wait, actually that is the point.
1. The shoulder slap: Meyer and five of his assistants flew to Detroit from Columbus on Friday morning, while Harbaugh and his staff flew overnight after working a camp in California on Thursday. Harbaugh said he was working on 90 minutes of sleep.
The photo of Meyer and then-Michigan coach Brady Hoke eating ribs together at this camp during Meyer's first summer of OSU recruiting in 2012 always intrigued me, so the search was on for that moment this year.
The closest thing was the shoulder slap.
Meyer was already in the conference room when Harbaugh walked in. They spoke for maybe a minute before the news conference. They each have long histories in the game, but Meyer and Harbaugh haven't been around each other much and don't know each other well. But there were a couple smiles.
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2. The Harbaugh fast walk: By the time the news conference ended, the coaches were antsy to escape and hit the field. Meyer and Dantonio, at a moderate walking pace, headed out through the parking together. Harbaugh, looking like he was in training, took a much faster pace and was 20 strides ahead on his own minutes after they left the building. You can see it in this video, with Harbaugh's khakis off in the distance.
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3. The phone screen clean: Dantonio and Harbaugh were put on the spot, with Meyer next to them, when asked how Ohio State's national championship affected the expectations for programs in the Big Ten.
Great theater.
First, Dantonio and Harbaugh look at each other like neither wants to tackle this first. Then Dantonio takes it.
Then Meyer sits and listens to his rivals as they're forced to praise Ohio State in at least some way - and he takes out a tissue and starts to wipe his cell phone screen.
And finally, Harbaugh's finish to his answer - watch how he hands the microphone over when he's done.
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4. Hello Donovan: At one point during player drills in the afternoon, one of Michigan's staffers brought Harbaugh over to an area with a purpose. The player they made a beeline for to say hello? Donovan Peoples-Jones, a 2017 five-star receiver prospect from Detroit.
Meyer was feet away as Harbaugh and Peoples-Jones talked.
Maybe two minutes later? Meyer went over and talked to Peoples-Jones, this time with Harbaugh right there.
A tug-of-war without the rope.
5. I concur: Listen, this was weird. But of course in public, the coaches said it wasn't.
"I think I speak on behalf of Jim and Mark, I shouldn't do this, but I don't even look at it that way," Meyer said when asked if hanging out at a news conference table with his rivals was awkward. "I think we're doing our jobs, and our jobs are as educators and leaders. If you have a chance to make an impact on a young guy's life, you're going to do that. So I don't look at it as odd at all. I've been around great coaches my entire life, and this is no exception."
So Meyer said he didn't want to speak for Dantonio and Harbaugh, but as the microphone made its way back to the middle of the room, Harbaugh added, "I concur."
That qualifies as Ohio State-Michigan unity.
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6. Old friends in Michigan colors: Other than that first hello, there wasn't any more real interaction between Meyer and Harbaugh, at least that I caught, and I kept my eye on Meyer virtually all day until he left around 1:30.
But Meyer spent a lot of time on the field talking to two old friends in Michigan defensive line coach Greg Mattison and Michigan linebackers coach D.J. Durkin. Mattison worked with Meyer at Florida and then was hired by Brady Hoke, so those friends have been on opposite sides of this rivalry for three years already.
Durkin played at Bowling Green and served as a graduate assistant under Meyer when Meyer was the head coach of the Falcons in 2001 and 2002.
They talked for a while, with Harbaugh maybe 20 yards away.
Urban Meyer and old friends and Michigan assistants Greg Mattison (left) and D.J. Durkin (right) at Sound Mind Sound Body camp outside Detroit on Friday. Doug Lesmerises, NEOMG
7. Turning Harbaugh into the Big Ten: To a question about Harbaugh's impact on the Big Ten, Meyer didn't directly praise the Michigan coach, but turned his answer toward an overall defense of a conference he said is on the rise.
"The Big Ten for some reason has been kicked around for a while," Meyer said, repeating what he's said several times in the pat. "And there's never been more momentum in our conference right now. Whatever was the perception three or four years ago is not the perception anymore. We all have a job to continue to ride that momentum, and hiring quality coaches is a big part of that momentum. Proud to represent the Big Ten and proud to be part of this incredible momentum."
8. Twenty feet apart: Meyer and Harbaugh aren't supposed to be best friends. Obviously. So there's not much to be made of the fact that they were constantly in the same area but never talked, as least that I saw.
Still, it was something to see the coaches in their element, obviously aware of each other but each doing their own thing.
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Especially when Meyer talked and interacted with so many other people around him, including in one of his favorite ways.
9. Harbaugh's speech: Harbaugh was the final speaker of the day, starting around 4:30 p.m. Friday after all the other coaches had spoken in the morning, including Meyer's five-minute talk.
* Watch Urban Meyer's speech to players
The players were tired coming off the field, and someone had to drum up enthusiasm for the speech in the lobby outside the high school auditorium.
10. Oh, that speech: To compare Harbaugh's talk to anything the other coaches said is pointless. Meyer, Dantonio, Penn State's James Franklin and Minnesota's Jerry Kill all spoke for five minutes with general stump speeches they use at events like these.
Harbaugh? His 35 minutes was at times closer to standup comedy routine than a coaching speech.
He acted out the first tackle he made as a 9-year-old football player in a bit that might have lasted nearly 10 minutes. He laid out the floor and jumped to his feet, wearing cleats on a hardwood stage, in the manner of his young daughter leaping out of bed in the morning to meet the day. He walked into the audience, then jumped to sit on a short wall while illustrating to players the idea of accepting a scholarship in the game of musical chairs that is recruiting while the offer is there.
It was uniquely Harbaugh to say the least, the kind of speech that made you wonder a bit how he fit in the NFL when he seemed so comfortable, in his own way, in a room of high school kids.
11. What is this camp? Friday may have been a moment in time, an encapsulation of the recruiting world at this moment.
There is a social component to Sound Mind Sound Body. And that helps open the door for the access that coaches get to players. It's what makes the camp unique, but in the end, it's a showplace.
Players pay to come, lured in part by the coaches who will be there.
Coaches show up to make connections because the access at a camp like this is rare. But there are so many players on hand, evaluation is difficult, especially compared to the camps schools run on their own campuses.
But as long as the loophole exists, teams will try to take advantage of the exposure and the chance to see and be seen. And once one school does it, every school in the area has to do it, or their absence may be noted.
* Why Ohio State hits this camp so hard
It's nearly a Big Ten high school combine, but it's not run by the schools. The college coaches have access, but no control.
Friday, it made for a heck of a fish bowl. There may be a time when it's not like this anymore. With that, here's a final video of the best of Friday.
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