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          Harbaugh's camp tour lives up to hype ... so far

          Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh has irked some with his recent activity and satellite camps, including this one last week in Atlanta. Derek Tyson/ESPN
          • Jeremy Crabtree, RecruitingNationJun 5, 2016, 12:26 PM ET
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            • Jeremy Crabtree is a senior coordinator
            • Spent 12 years with Rivals.com/Yahoo! Sports
            • Graduated from Kansas State
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          Jim Harbaugh doesn't care what the rest of college football, especially Nick Saban, thinks about Michigan's barnstorming. All he cares about is what the recruits think.

          And after the Wolverines completed the first week of satellite camps, it is clear prospects were impressed, especially when it came time for The Satellite Camp King to hold court with them.

          It didn't take long after Thursday's Next Level Elite Football Camp in Atlanta for pictures of Harbaugh hanging with some of Georgia's best prospects to find their way to social media. Tony Gray, the nation's No. 39 player and 11th-ranked offensive tackle out of Loganville (Georgia) Grayson, posted a picture of Harbaugh with his mother and later said he visited with the coach about how to improve his game and ways he could eventually earn a Michigan offer.

          There were countless other instances like that, leading one high school coach in attendance to say, "I've never seen any coach play to the crowd as well as Jim Harbaugh did in Atlanta. It was like he was a rock star and all these players were his groupies. The line to get a picture with him was huge."

          However, as always seems to be the case with Harbaugh and satellite camps, there was some controversy following the stops in Atlanta, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Jacksonville, Florida, and Indianapolis. Harbaugh was stopped during his autograph and photo session in Tampa on Saturday and told he could not continue due to NCAA compliance rules. Autograph signing and picture taking have been as big a part of Harbaugh's camp tour as the coaching and fun jerseys, but rival recruiters took note of the extra face time he was getting with prospects and made a stink.

          Still, it was an overly positive week for The Satellite Camp King and the Wolverines.

          Michigan landed its third commitment of the 2018 class when Stone Mountain (Georgia) Stephenson offensive guard Jalil Irvin pledged Friday following the Next Level Elite Camp. Although Irvin didn't participate in the camp, he was there to soak up the atmosphere and watch how Harbaugh and Michigan offensive line coach Tim Drevno worked with the campers. Irvin came away impressed and decided he was ready to commit.

          "Michigan has always been my dream school," said Irvin, who is originally from Detroit but moved to Georgia in 2006. "Even though I didn't participate in the camp, I was able to see the energy and intensity the coaches have. You could see right away with how he was with everybody that Coach Harbaugh is a great man. I love that, and I want to play in an environment that's like that."

          Observations from around satellite camps

          In Georgia, Harbaugh made headlines hanging out with Hank Aaron and calling out Saban ... again.

          Despite all the attention on Harbaugh, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart and Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi being in attendance, there were only a handful of top-level prospects -- including two Georgia commits, Netori Johnson and Justin Shaffer -- who actually worked out. Another Georgia commit, Jaden Hunter, plus ESPN 300 defensive back A.J. Terrell and ESPN 300 offensive lineman Gray were all in attendance but did not participate and therefore were not allowed to speak with any of the coaches in attendance.

          Mercer University hosted a satellite camp Friday and Saturday that featured coaches from other schools, including Kentucky, Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt, Middle Tennessee State, Georgia State and Georgia Southern.

          While the camp might not have been loaded with ESPN 300 prospects, it gave several teams a chance to evaluate talent in Georgia.

          Five-star defensive back Richard LeCounte III showed up to the camp and wasn't planning to participate, but his competitive juices started flowing once the camp began and the 11th-ranked player in the ESPN 300 decided to jump in and run the 40-yard dash, posting times of 4.46 and 4.44 in his two attempts.

          -- Derek Tyson

          In Norco, California, at the Prime Time Polynesian Camp, some 400 athletes participated. Many coaches, including Arizona State's Todd Graham, were scheduled to be at the event but could not make it due to massive traffic delays.

          One of the most involved "coaches" at the Prime Time Polynesian event isn't actually a coach -- at least not yet. USC star right tackle Zach Banner -- he of The Elevator Rap fame -- was one of a few USC players on hand to help in volunteer coaching roles. Banner oversaw an agility station during individual workouts and displayed a loud, highly vocal coaching method the high school players took to well. Several USC players (offensive linemen Viane Talamaivao and Toa Lobendahn were also there) have longstanding relationships with the coaches who run the Prime Time Polynesian camps in Southern California because many of the players worked out with the coaches while in high school.

          -- Kyle Bonagura

          Michigan's camp in South Florida might pay some dividends on the recruiting trail.

          Miami verbal Chris Henderson turned heads in front of Michigan coaches at the St. Thomas Aquinas satellite camp. The ESPN 300 athlete ripped off a hand-timed 4.37 40-yard dash with Harbaugh watching and then looked smooth in drills and one-on-ones.

          The day after the camp, Henderson received a scholarship offer from the Wolverines.

          -- Gerry Hamilton

          Oklahoma State was among the nearly dozen coaching staffs taking part in the five-stop Mary Hardin Baylor Mega Camp series in Texas this past weekend. The Pokes' staff wasn't messing around when it signed up to work the UMHB camps in Texas.

          The Cowboys made stops in Belton, San Antonio, Houston, Tyler and Dallas -- all in the course of three days. So the Oklahoma State staff hit the road in style with its own bus.

          The opener, on UMHB's campus, featured a total of 427 campers working out inside one stadium. Oklahoma State, Missouri and Kansas State sent most of their coaches to the event.

          Coaching up 427 kids is definitely a challenge, as getting through all the testing took more than an hour. The camp was supposed to wrap up at 8 p.m., but one-on-one drills didn't even start until about 7:55. That's just the reality when you go mega: Getting all those kids the reps they deserve takes a lot of time. And it's not too easy to figure out who's who.

          As one coach said: "Excuse me, I've gotta go find the two kids I actually invited to this."

          Gary Patterson and his TCU staff took a quality-over-quantity approach to their Saturday Night Lights camp this weekend. The Frogs split up their camps into two sessions: offensive linemen, defensive linemen, running backs, linebackers and tight ends went in the afternoon, then the quarterbacks, wide receivers and defensive backs battled at night. Saturday's night camp of skill guys had 65 participants. And that's a good thing.

          Fewer campers meant a ton of reps for each kid and a more meaningful opportunity for staffers to evaluate and coach them. Recruits in the DFW area have a lot of mega camps to choose from this month. They got their money's worth if they went to TCU.

          TCU invited Alabama coaches to their campus for their Saturday camps. Crimson Tide offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin and defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt were among the coaches who made the weekend trip to Fort Worth.

          How did they kill the time during the five-hour break between camps Saturday afternoon? They did what coaches do: Pruitt said he and Patterson found time for a film session.

          The Bama staffers weren't passive observers, either. They chipped in on the coaching, too. Kiffin generally focused on watching quarterbacks, a group that featured talented 2018 passers Jalen Mayden and Tanner Mordecai.

          -- Max Olson