The Michigan coaching staff was on hand yesterday at Grand Valley State's Best of the Midwest camp, and head man Jim Harbaugh served as the event's primary speaker when he lectured the youngsters before the festivities got underway.
He gave them all plenty of life advice, and warned them of specific obstacles that could stand in their way of someday becoming elite football players.
Harbaugh began, however, on a positive note.
“Have you heard that today’s younger generation is bringing things down, in that there’s something wrong this them?" he asked. "I heard the same things in my generation, and experts who study this have documented that this idea dates back to ancient Greece.
"There are writings from every civilization dating back at least 1,500 years that the new generation coming up is supposedly bringing things down and ruining things. The fact is, however, that we are the most technically advanced society of all time, and people are living longer than they’ve ever lived in the history of mankind.
"Older people often talk about how youngsters are on their phones too much, while violent movies was what was ‘ruining’ society while I was growing up."
Harbaugh next shifted his focus to the aforementioned aspects that can potentially ruin a football player's career, and why it's so important to avoid each of them.
"There are three things I continue to see as obstacles to a football player's success, all of which were present in my generation as well," he explained. "The first thing I think of is the big head syndrome, where guys think they’ve arrived and that they’re better than they are.
"They feel it’ll be easy to make the pros, but in reality there are millions of people competing for the same job. They don’t work as hard as a result, and they think ‘Oh, I’ve got this.’
"The second thing that gets in the way of people’s football success are grades and academics. There’s a standard you have to meet to keep moving on in both high school and college.
"Some think they don’t need it and that school isn’t important, and that their teacher stinks so they blame their academic shortcomings on them. There is no surer way to be successful in life than through education — it’s the closest thing you have to a guarantee.
"Your main goal right now should be education after high school in some form, whether it be a four-year college, trade school or military.
"The third thing that trips up young football players are alcohol and drugs. There are a lot of new things going around nowadays, like vaping and chemicals people can smoke, and things you can put in drinks that drive people crazy.
"I’m sure they’re easy to get too, especially if you’re looking for them — it was no different in my day. That is a horrible habit when it comes to football, and has no place in an athlete’s system — they’re poison to the body.
"If you want to be an elite athlete, you have to say no to it. We just keep seeing it trip guys up, and so many people kiss their opportunity away by using those things or by not taking school seriously.
"Doesn’t tomorrow and the future begin now?! Every act can be an act of improvement. If you got better today than you were yesterday, then you’ve improved in football. When your head hits the pillow at night, are you sore and tired?
"Did you sweat during the day? If your head hits the pillow and you’re tired, sore and you sweated, then you got better at football.”
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