Michigan Football Heading Overseas For Spring PracticeLast season, Jim Harbaugh took his team out of the State of Michigan for Spring Practice to Bradenton, Florida but he has a different idea this year.
The NCAA met last week and among the new rules they set, one included banning trips out of State for Practice. Michigan Head Coach Jim Harbaugh has not always gotten along well with the NCAA or their ‘rules’. The Michigan Head Coach is taking the saying ‘When in Rome’ – to the next level.
As most schools prepare on campus for Spring Drills, Oregon Football included -Harbaugh has decided to take a trip with his team….to Rome. Not Rome, Georgia, but Rome, Italy.
The team will hold three practices of their fifteen in Italy at the practice facility for AS Roma. The NCAA Ban on Practices Out Of State is for when school is not in session and will begin in August, but I’m sure this will ruffle some feathers.
On Twitter, the Michigan Football Twitter Handle said it was for ‘education and spring drills’
We are headed to Rome for a week of education and spring drills.
— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) January 23, 2017
RELEASE » https://t.co/o9IFUSR6pk#GoBlue pic.twitter.com/HNtSPb5JhG
Every four years, College Basketball programs have the option of travelling overseas for the experience of playing a different team rather than just practicing with their own. This happened this year with both the Oregon Men’s and Women’s teams respectively. This is a different circumstance than taking your team to Rome to face no opponent other than themselves.
In those trips over the Summer, Chemistry started to build and the start of the roughly six month Basketball season started in earnest. The Men had a chance to get some looks without Star Dillon Brooks in the lineup, the Women were able to see what they had with new Freshman Sabrina Ionescu and Ruthy Hebard.
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Harbaugh is taking this to the extreme and I personally am not a fan. If you are going to go overseas, at least scrimmage with another team or wait until the season and play a regular season game abroad. Seems like a waste of resources to me. Feel free to share your thoughts below.
Oregon Football will hold Spring Practice where they always do, at Autzen Stadium and on the Practice Fields of the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex in Eugene, Oregon.