Jim Harbaugh's National Recruiting Strategy for Michigan

Earlier this week, Jim Harbaugh made waves when he said that even though he doesn't believe he's worth $5 million, he's willing to work for it.

On Tuesday, he showed how.

The new Michigan head coach's recruiting philosophy has yet to be fully revealed since he arrived in Ann Arbor at the end of 2014, but clues about Harbaugh's approach have been left here and there. The hiring of Lakewood (Ohio) St. Edward's head coach Rick Finotti as director of operations showed a commitment to recruiting Northeast Ohio, while the makeup of his coaching staff gives him ties to California and Florida.

And if his latest move is any indication, the Wolverines will continue to take a national approach to recruiting moving forward.

Like his new Big Ten rival James Franklin did at Penn State a year ago, Harbaugh made waves on Tuesday when it was revealed that the Michigan staff will be hosting a satellite camp in Alabama on June 5, per Mark Snyder of the Detroit Free Press. While SEC schools aren't permitted to host camps more than 50 miles away from their respective campuses, the Big Ten does not impose any similar restriction on its programs, as evidenced by the Nittany Lions' camps at Georgia State and Stetson a year ago.

But while Penn State's polarizing camps were held on college campuses, Harbaugh's will take place at Prattville High School, giving the Wolverines' first satellite camp more of a grassroots feel. Michigan also has a preexisting relationship with Prattville, with Harbaugh having signed 2015 3-star athlete Keith Washington this past national signing day.

Prattville also happens to be the home of 2016 3-star running back Kingston Davis, who holds an offer from Michigan, as well as offers from Louisville, Ole Miss and Mississippi State. More than players at that particular high school, the Wolverines' satellite camp—which will cost $25 to attend—will provide an affordable option for players in the southern region that Michigan may not have had access to otherwise.

That was the plan for Penn State as well, which, despite not signing any players from their two satellite camps, was pleased with the process and will continue to hold additional camps away from Pennsylvania moving forward. On national signing day, Nittany Lions offensive recruiting coordinator and receivers coach Josh Gattis explained the thinking behind holding such camps.

"The satellite camps were big as far as branding, and getting the national brand of Penn State out," Gattis said, via Greg Pickel of PennLive.com. "We were able to go down and obviously recruit some really talented players down in the south.

"It's probably at a point right now where we have yet to gain the benefit of those trips, and a lot of recruiting to be done in the future, but it was more about spreading the brand of Penn State football."

Recent history would suggest Harbaugh is targeting the right areas as well.

According to data compiled by SaturdayDownSouth.com, the South has had an overwhelming advantage when it's come to producing FBS talent. The three states responsible for the highest number of FBS signees per capita in the 2015 class (Florida, Georgia and Louisiana) are each located in the South, while Alabama measured in at sixth in the nation, producing 89 FBS prospects (1 in every 257 possible prospects).

Comparatively, Ohio ranked ninth (1 in 329) and Michigan measured in at 23rd (1 in 519). California, a region Harbaugh is expected to target heavily due to his West Coast connections, ranked 11th (1 in 359).

Add it all up, and it's not hard to see why the new Wolverines head coach is looking for non-traditional approaches when it comes to recruiting his alma mater. With Urban Meyer having a stronghold on Ohio's top talent and other talent in the Midwest not as readily available, Harbaugh is going to have to think outside the box when it comes to attracting talent to Ann Arbor.

The South is certainly one of the best places to start in that process and has almost become a necessity in today's college football. Even Meyer, who has routinely taken Ohio's—and some of Michigan's—top players since arriving at Ohio State, has recruited Florida and Georgia relentlessly, nabbing Vonn Bell in 2013 and Raekwon McMillan in 2014.

Harbaugh appears to be taking a similar approach, although his recruiting strategy is admittedly still a work in progress. Having been away from the college game for four years, the former 49ers head coach admitted that he's noticed changes in the recruiting process since he last coached at Stanford in 2010.

"We'll make some improvements in all areas of our organization. I look at it that way, and always be striving to get a percent better, a mile an hour faster, better today than we were yesterday, better tomorrow than we were today in all areas, in everything that we do," Harbaugh said on signing day. "We'll take a look at how we're doing it, start with why and attack—even a .01 percent improvement if we can find it."

Holding a satellite camp in the South seems to fit that criteria as Harbaugh looks for every edge he can get. If he's truly intent on earning his $5 million salary, he knows there's only one way to do it, and winning starts on the recruiting trail.

Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Big Ten Lead Writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes were obtained firsthand. All statistics courtesy of CFBStats.com. Recruiting rankings courtesy of 247Sports.