What a gutless organization the NCAA is. Of course the satellite ban was a farce; equally self-serving as it was transparent in the south’s attempt to tighten their grasp on their talent base. I’m still not sure how much credit Harbaugh deserves for his role in yesterday’s overturn though. Of all the words you can use to describe Harbaugh (persistent, emotional, blunt, raw, tireless, stubborn, determined, focused, etc.)…those traits tend to lead to other, less desirable ones. Such as being a sort of loose cannon...loud...over reaching...unpredictable; but honestly, Harbaugh's proven to be anything but those things. In fact, I believe the best single word to describe Jim Harbaugh is calculated.
When the ban was enacted, he didn’t overreact by trying to mobilize a grass roots effort to counter the ban. He did next to nothing and instead just waited for idiots to line up (looking at you Hugh Freeze, Pat Narduzzi, Butch Jones) to defend the ban and not actually come up with a single rational or logical reason for why the ban made sense. You want to spend more time with your family Freeze? Go for it. You want to spend more time on campus in the summer Narduzzi? Fine. I’m not sure how Jim Harbaugh hosting satellite camps throughout the country threatens either of those two things. Put a microphone in front of enough people and ask them to defend a ridiculous piece of narcissistic legislation and the fools will likely expose themselves. Jim Harbaugh didn’t have to call out the SEC or ACC for their true intentions; coaches from those conferences willingly lifted the shroud for him.
It also didn’t hurt that guys like Kyle Whittingham and Mike Leach were able to do Harbaugh’s heavy lifting for him. I’d like to think Harbaugh knew that the ban would hurt other Power 5 conference teams more than UM and that there had to be at least a few bombastic and flamboyant coaches out there that weren’t going to take this lying down: enter Mike Leach. Leach admittedly isn’t for everyone, but he might as well have been a puppet sitting on Harbaugh’s lap when he ripped the legislation and exposed the sham that made up the voting process. A masterful stroke which at the very least diluted the target that has developed on Harbaugh’s back.
In order to have this overturned, the rule basically needed two things: overwhelming support to lift the ban from the media and general public, and a flimsy, image conscious governing body. The SEC and ACC did a great job of turning the media against them (hell, even a guy as white bread as Mike Greenberg called them out…harshly), but I don’t know if they could’ve pulled it off without a major assist from UCLA AD Dan Guerrero. His explanation for why he voted for the ban even though the 11 other Pac 12 schools opposed it was absolutely priceless. If you didn’t know better you’d think his quotes came straight from The Onion. Guys like Whittingham and Leach only fanned the flames, and when you have an organization as easy to manipulate as the NCAA, you had to know it was over.
Bear with me for a moment, but do you remember the whole Martha Burke/Hootie Johnson confrontation at the Masters years ago? Well, Martha Burke was head of the National Council of Women’s Organizations and she felt it was unfair that the Augusta National did not allow women members. She organized protests and did her best to apply as much pressure on Augusta National as possible. Hootie Johnson, the chairman of the club, pushed back and stated that there would come a time when Augusta National, as a private club, would discuss allowing women as members, but it wouldn’t be by the point of a bayonet. To protect his sponsors, Johnson presented the Masters commercial free that year.
Regardless of your opinion on Martha Burke or Hootie Johnson or the rights of private clubs, I always admired the way that Johnson navigated his way through that ordeal. He was steadfast in his opinion and refused to bow to public pressure. He rejected the notion that it was a gender issue and consistently re-centered the conversation around the rights of private clubs. He shielded those with potential financial exposure. Essentially, when his organization was in crisis, he was front and center absorbing the blows and was ready to land as many haymakers of his own as necessary. He was the leader of the organization and he emerged as its backbone when the times required it. Regardless of whether or not you think Augusta National should admit women members or not, that’s what a leader does.
The NCAA and Mark Emmert are the complete antithesis of that. They’re wet pasta; so conscious of their own perception that they can’t effectively lead because they’ve lost their compass. Rather than lead the National Collegiate Athletic Association they’ve allowed the member institutions to wrestle complete control from them. The oversight committee has become the servant in the relationship. It’s become a soulless, directionless cesspool that is both unable and unwilling to serve the purpose they were established to enforce.
Maybe I give Harbaugh too much credit. Maybe he wasn’t influencing chess pieces all over the board. Maybe it had as much to do with luck and a perfect storm than any master plan. But he sure seems to be a step ahead of the SEC, ACC and the entire NCAA. Even if this was nothing more than an accident Harbaugh sure made it look easy. It is said that a single man can’t take on an entire city, but I think Harbaugh proved that you’ve just got to pick the right city. Perhaps this is the first battle in what will amount to a long war, but judging on past actions and how we got to this point, to quote Brady Hoke ‘I like my guy'.
When the ban was enacted, he didn’t overreact by trying to mobilize a grass roots effort to counter the ban. He did next to nothing and instead just waited for idiots to line up (looking at you Hugh Freeze, Pat Narduzzi, Butch Jones) to defend the ban and not actually come up with a single rational or logical reason for why the ban made sense. You want to spend more time with your family Freeze? Go for it. You want to spend more time on campus in the summer Narduzzi? Fine. I’m not sure how Jim Harbaugh hosting satellite camps throughout the country threatens either of those two things. Put a microphone in front of enough people and ask them to defend a ridiculous piece of narcissistic legislation and the fools will likely expose themselves. Jim Harbaugh didn’t have to call out the SEC or ACC for their true intentions; coaches from those conferences willingly lifted the shroud for him.
It also didn’t hurt that guys like Kyle Whittingham and Mike Leach were able to do Harbaugh’s heavy lifting for him. I’d like to think Harbaugh knew that the ban would hurt other Power 5 conference teams more than UM and that there had to be at least a few bombastic and flamboyant coaches out there that weren’t going to take this lying down: enter Mike Leach. Leach admittedly isn’t for everyone, but he might as well have been a puppet sitting on Harbaugh’s lap when he ripped the legislation and exposed the sham that made up the voting process. A masterful stroke which at the very least diluted the target that has developed on Harbaugh’s back.
In order to have this overturned, the rule basically needed two things: overwhelming support to lift the ban from the media and general public, and a flimsy, image conscious governing body. The SEC and ACC did a great job of turning the media against them (hell, even a guy as white bread as Mike Greenberg called them out…harshly), but I don’t know if they could’ve pulled it off without a major assist from UCLA AD Dan Guerrero. His explanation for why he voted for the ban even though the 11 other Pac 12 schools opposed it was absolutely priceless. If you didn’t know better you’d think his quotes came straight from The Onion. Guys like Whittingham and Leach only fanned the flames, and when you have an organization as easy to manipulate as the NCAA, you had to know it was over.
Bear with me for a moment, but do you remember the whole Martha Burke/Hootie Johnson confrontation at the Masters years ago? Well, Martha Burke was head of the National Council of Women’s Organizations and she felt it was unfair that the Augusta National did not allow women members. She organized protests and did her best to apply as much pressure on Augusta National as possible. Hootie Johnson, the chairman of the club, pushed back and stated that there would come a time when Augusta National, as a private club, would discuss allowing women as members, but it wouldn’t be by the point of a bayonet. To protect his sponsors, Johnson presented the Masters commercial free that year.
Regardless of your opinion on Martha Burke or Hootie Johnson or the rights of private clubs, I always admired the way that Johnson navigated his way through that ordeal. He was steadfast in his opinion and refused to bow to public pressure. He rejected the notion that it was a gender issue and consistently re-centered the conversation around the rights of private clubs. He shielded those with potential financial exposure. Essentially, when his organization was in crisis, he was front and center absorbing the blows and was ready to land as many haymakers of his own as necessary. He was the leader of the organization and he emerged as its backbone when the times required it. Regardless of whether or not you think Augusta National should admit women members or not, that’s what a leader does.
The NCAA and Mark Emmert are the complete antithesis of that. They’re wet pasta; so conscious of their own perception that they can’t effectively lead because they’ve lost their compass. Rather than lead the National Collegiate Athletic Association they’ve allowed the member institutions to wrestle complete control from them. The oversight committee has become the servant in the relationship. It’s become a soulless, directionless cesspool that is both unable and unwilling to serve the purpose they were established to enforce.
Maybe I give Harbaugh too much credit. Maybe he wasn’t influencing chess pieces all over the board. Maybe it had as much to do with luck and a perfect storm than any master plan. But he sure seems to be a step ahead of the SEC, ACC and the entire NCAA. Even if this was nothing more than an accident Harbaugh sure made it look easy. It is said that a single man can’t take on an entire city, but I think Harbaugh proved that you’ve just got to pick the right city. Perhaps this is the first battle in what will amount to a long war, but judging on past actions and how we got to this point, to quote Brady Hoke ‘I like my guy'.
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