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By far one of the most intriguing and entertaining storylines of the 2015 College Football pre-season is simply: Harbaugh. That’s the story.

Jim Harbaugh to be specific (there are many Harbaughs to choose from when we talk about coaching). But that is about as specific as is needed to be. Part drill sergeant, part evil scientist, and with a genuine passion for all things football, Jim has been making some noise in B1G Ten territory and rattling some cages down in SEC country since his official arrival back “home”. I do not mean home in the sense of spending a couple of days there kicking his feet up in the summer in between National Signing Day and the annual spring game. Although he was born in Toledo, Ohio (same hospital as Urban Meyer), Harbaugh went to high school in Ann Arbor where his father Jack worked as an assistant coach for the Maize and Blue. He even played starting quarterback there under the program’s legendary coach Bo Schembechler. That being said, the timing couldn’t have been better for him as the school looked to wipe the slate clean after a decade of mediocrity and being dominated by rival The Ohio State University.

Jim’s mere mention has brought a shot of adrenaline in the arm of a fan base hungry to return to prominence. He hit the ground running after accepting the head coaching position in late December 2014 by quickly assembling a staff around the concept of preparing players for not only college football, but football at the professional level as well. His assistants come with years of experience from the NFL playing field and the sideline (Tyrone Wheatley, Jedd Fisch, Mike Zordich etc.). After getting a late start on their 2015 recruiting class, Harbaugh and crew feverishly attempted to flip commits from anywhere they could get them. The 2016 class is shaping up to be much stronger as the Wolverines staff is able to get out on the road and spend time knocking on doors and getting the word out about this new Ann Arbor regime (although that hasn’t come without it’s miscues, like a crash and burn interview with Colin Cowherd just today).

Getting the word out is just what Harbaugh has attempted to do with his controversial “Satellite Camps”. After head coach James Franklin (Penn State) held camps last year in Florida and Georgia by finding a loophole in NCAA/Big Ten recruiting regulation, there were murmurs of concern within the SEC (currently their coaches are prohibited from hosting camps outside of their home state). The Wolverines took things a step further— they kicked the door off the hinges of the satellite camp debate by having their “Summer Swarm Tour”, a nine city tour de force to promote the team and get face to face with prospects in football hotbeds — like Alabama, Florida, Texas, and California — that may not have previously considered or had the means to get to Ann Arbor on their own. Several coaches have publicly voiced their displeasure in the Wolverine’s tactics, most notably Alabama head coach Nick Saban.

Nothing attracts recruits like winning, and though many of the flashier names in recruiting are slower to warm up to an unproven staff, Michigan has already made significant headway locally in securing great talent from Detroit, as well as across the state. The reemergence of “Go Blue” has certainly escalated regional recruiting wars, as Mark Dantonio’s Michigan State Spartans and Meyer’s Buckeyes have benefited greatly in recent years from the inconsistency of previous coaches Brady Hoke and Rich Rodriguez. As always, Harbaugh is doing whatever it takes to engage this young demographic. Whether making signs to “court” young players or jumping on twitter to show madd love to his homeboy Weezy, Jim is doing everything in his power to make the UM brand stand out.

Time will tell the long term benefits of the camps for Harbaugh and crew. But as the 4-Star and 5-Star recruits start trickling in, the Wolverine’s have been strategically scooping up the specific 2 and 3-Star recruits that they want; scrappy players who have the upside and willingness to buy into the greater vision. Don’t think that The Khaki Commando is just settling for B1G Ten table scraps though. He raised eyebrows by hiring Stanford transfer defensive back Wayne Lyons’ mom Gwendolyn Bush as “Director of Player Development” before cementing his transfer this spring. They already landed Ben Bredeson (Heartland, WI) one of the top offensive tackles in the nation last week and are in heavy consideration for many of the premier high school talents in the country. They are still in the running to bring the 2016 #1 overall prospect defensive tackle Rashan Gary (Paramus, NJ) (Harbaugh has also hired Gary’s high school coach onto his staff) and the 5-Star outside linebacker Caleb Kelly (Fresno, CA) to “The Big House”, among others.

Though things seem to be trending upward, there are still many issues that have to be addressed before this team can return to prominence. Harbaugh’s influx of quarterback talent has left returning QB Shane Morris unclear on his future. The running game implemented by Tyrone Wheatley will need to make great strides to rectify the virtually non existent ground attack of 2014 (top RB De’veon Smith totaled just 519 yards). The ineffective offense left the Wolverine’s defense to fend for itself too many times in 2014, causing fatigue, injury and low morale amongst the team. In fact, this is a team only returning two players who got in the end zone more than once last season. Despite the uncertainty, Harbaugh knows that nobody will take it easy on him in his first year. Between an opening road game at Utah, a non-conference tilt against BYU and the conference matchups, this team will have to learn fast if they want to be formidable this upcoming season.

Some people take the Harbaugh theatrics as a joke, but anyone familiar with his track record of success knows that few coaches have his pedigree when it comes to turning around a program. He is crazy like a fox wolverine. That being said, there is no telling what lengths he will go to in order to return this program to its glory days. Don’t think the Maize and Blue’s progress is going unnoticed. “I think our staff is certainly aware of Coach Harbaugh’s history”, Urban Meyer said in a story in The Columbus Dispatch. “Any time the adversary has quality people in there, you’re aware of everything they are doing and their work.”