Michigan Wolverines football coach Jim Harbaugh appeared on The Dan Patrick Show this morning to discuss the possibilities of a 2020 collegiate football season, while also expanding on the letter he wrote last week that proposed changes for student-athletes as they prepare for the NFL.
Patrick also asked Harbaugh what he has been doing to stay busy over the past two months, while inquiring about the idea of a Tom Brady statue at Michigan.
Here is what Harbaugh said about each topic below:
On how he has been staying occupied at home:
“Been living the dream in quarantine. It’s a lot of phone calls and a lot of ZOOM meetings, staying in touch with other head coaches in the Big Ten, our athletic department, the coaches on our staff and our players, and recruits.
"There have been a lot of conversations.”
On the possibilities of a college football season in 2020:
“'Can we play again' is the big question on everyone’s mind. We don’t know right now. If the governor allows our gyms to open up, then we should be able to get our guys back into the weight rooms and start training.
"There are a lot of smart people working on this — can we eventually play the games? I don’t think anyone knows that for sure. I could see [some schools playing in the fall and others not].
"I’d be more for that than saying ‘If all can’t play, then nobody plays.’ I’ve never been a big fan of that kind of thinking. All options are being looked at, like the length of the schedules — will it just be the conference schedule?
"Do you play the games with a certain percentage of fans or do no fans come at all? Those things are being talked about and looked at.”
On potentially having a Tom Brady statue at Michigan:
“I think that’s been earned. He’s the greatest player of all time and pretty much lapped the field. It’s being looked into [is what the chancellor, president and athletic director at U-M have said].”
On whether or not Peyton Manning nearly signed with the 49ers while Harbaugh was in San Francisco:
“We did a workout at Duke University and he [Manning] threw the ball great there. We were evaluating the situation and recruiting him. We didn’t want to get into the show of it — SUVs pulling up and flying here and there.
"We had [quarterback] Alex Smith [in San Francisco] too, who had had a great season for us in 2011. Peyton ultimately decided to go to Denver, but our hat was in the ring and we were talking.
"We had a good situation with Alex, and Peyton ultimately chose the Broncos.”
Expanding a bit on the changes he'd like to see made for football student-athletes:
“[I'd like it if] a player could submit his name to the NFL draft after any season — freshman, sophomore, junior, senior or after a fifth year. If the NFL does draft them, they’d become a pro.
"The second part is they can return to playing college football if they’re not drafted. Right now, that’s not the case. If someone submits their name to the draft, they’re gone. It creates more options.
"The third piece of it is if a player leaves college and pursues his pro career and plays pro ball, then afterward he can return to college as a student and finish his degree at the expense of the university.
"These are options that would ultimately give the player a shot at a college career, and a shot at a pro career if they’re good enough. It would also make sure the youngster gets his degree, because the numbers are still the same — only 1.5 percent of NCAA players play in the NFL, and youngsters who come out early for the draft oftentimes don't even get drafted — 30 percent go undrafted who leave after their third year.
"Then it’s over for them; there’s no coming back to college and they don’t have a degree or a pro career. Instead of that scenario, there could be a scenario where the kids and their family can have it all — the playing career, a shot at a pro career and they could get their degree.
"It just makes a lot of sense. It’s a win/win/win for the student-athletes.”
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