Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh watches students compete during the Sound Mind Sound Body football camp held at Wayne State on Friday, June 10, 2016
Anthony Broome is a writer at the Wolverines blog Maize-n-Brew. His opinions do not necessarily reflect those of the Detroit Free Press nor its writers. Read his column every week here and contact him anytime at abroome1110@gmail.com.
As recent as a few months ago, the NCAA ruled college coaches were no longer allowed to attend camps that were not held on their respective campuses.
The ruling, which included the much-discussed satellite camps, was met with controversy and uproar, but was overturned not long after.
The Sound Mind Sound Body camp held in Detroit on the campus of Wayne State this past weekend was a perfect example of why the uproar over these camps has been overblown.
Coaches from Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Notre Dame, and yes, even Alabama were in attendance not only to watch some of the assembled high school talent perform and compete, but also to coach them up both on and off the field.
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Despite what some pundits and detractors may think about these camps, the ones that benefit the most from them are the players in attendance. Much of SMSB is spent in an auditorium listening to advice from coaches and learning lessons from former NFL players such as former Pittsburgh Steeler and Michigan Wolverine Larry Foote.
Many of the lessons revolve around what it takes to make it, not just as a football player, but as a successful human being. Leadership, consistency and will power were among the ideas preached to the young men at the camp.
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, who has been spanning the country on a camp tour of his own this month, was one of the coaches that spoke to the hundreds of players in attendance.
“What I’ve found out there personally as a football coach, and have been inspired by, is guys your age love football,” he said during the morning session Friday. “They cannot wait to chase their dream and get out on a football field and show what they can do.
Some players in attendance are nationally recruited prospects, while others are searching for that first scholarship offer that may never come. Harbaugh’s biggest advice to the assembled crowd was to dream big.
“Make your dream so big that somebody makes fun of you,” he said. “If they’re not making fun of you for what you’re trying to accomplish, your dream’s not big enough. Make them so big that they’ve got to make fun of you. Make it so big that you may be the only one that believes it. And if it’s not, then it’s not and your dream’s not big enough.”
And that is what makes camps like these so important. One could probably count the future All-Americans in the room on one hand. That is not to say that the most talented do not reap the benefits either, but they serve as a means to inspire young boys into becoming men.
Allen Stritzinger, a class of 2017 athlete from Warren De LaSalle and one of the state’s top players, agrees SMSB does more for players than simply showcasing their athletic skills. “It’s a great deal for everybody,” he said. “I got more today from the life skills standpoint. They were teaching me a lot of different things. I always get great teaching when it comes to football, but the life skills (lessons) had a big impact on me.
“I’ve been at Sound Mind Sound Body for a long time and every year it always helps me go into the summer when you’ve got those life decisions that are going to hit you and I’m already prepared to get after that.”
At the end of the day, the notion that camps like this held across the country are done solely for recruiting benefits is silly. Those that were on the field Friday were there because they wanted to be and because they love football.
College football coaches know who they are recruiting and the players they are realistically in on. Diamonds in the rough are discovered on occasion, but coaches would not decide to go to these camps if they did not want to.
Regulation for satellite camps is coming soon. It is a far better alternative than no camps at all, but perhaps the detractors should attend one before making snap judgments.
The lessons taught off the field may apply to more than just the teenagers in the room.
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