Jim Harbaugh Comments on College Football's Rules, Scrutiny Around the Sport

Michigan Wolverines head football coach Jim Harbaugh spoke about the modern-day bias against football and NCAA rules at a team satellite camp at Patterson Park in Baltimore on Monday.

"Football gets the majority of the scrutiny and the rules that are intended to hurt the student-athlete, and it makes no sense," he said, per ESPN.com's Heather Dinich. "That's why I'm pointing this out because some of these other sports aren't getting it."

Satellite camps have been a hot-button issue of late since the NCAA initially voted in April to ban them, only to reverse course later in the month.

NCAA oversight has been rampant around Harbaugh's satellite-camp tour. Per MLive.com's Nick Baumgardner, Harbaugh was told to cease taking pictures and signing autographs in Florida on Saturday.

The rules seem to be changing on a whim. As Harbaugh's son, Michigan tight ends coach Jay Harbaugh, was giving an interview, his father stopped him because he was told the staff wasn't allowed to talk to the media.

Hours later, that changed, prompting Jim Harbaugh to respond as follows, per Dinich:

"

I believe we can do interviews. That's what we've been told. You were there, you saw what's going on with the changing daily rules. It's very interesting. It's very interesting. The NCAA compliance people are here. They've been at every single one. The NCAA has sent at least one or two of their people to each of our camps and we've had one of our compliance people at each one of these camps. That notion that there's not oversight of these camps -- you've seen it with your own eyes, there absolutely is.

"

Alabama head coach Nick Saban was quoted in late April as saying satellite camps are "bad for college football," per ESPN.com's Brett McMurphy, leading to further controversy.

Harbaugh fired back on Twitter last week:

Fox Sports' Colin Cowherd responded to Saban's position and ultimately sided with Harbaugh when he gave his take on the situation:

Harbaugh cited another heavy-contact sport when explaining how the NCAA rules impact college football, per Dinich:

"

Let's take lacrosse for example, white sport, rising, affluent sport. Recruit 'em in the eighth grade, dark period for a couple days in August and it's a totally different situation. It bothers us, but if it's a test of wills, we're going to fight for the youngsters and the student-athletes and their families and for the game of football itself.

"

A relatively new leader of the Wolverines program, Harbaugh has a well-documented ultra-competitive personality. It may have rubbed his former San Francisco 49ers players the wrong way, according to comments offensive lineman Alex Boone made to Real Sports' Andrea Kremer (via Pro Football Talk), but it worked wonders in Harbaugh's first season as Michigan's coach.

Even after losing the 2015 season opener to Utah, Harbaugh guided the Wolverines to a 10-3 record—a massive improvement from their 5-7 mark from the year before. He also brought in a tremendous 2016 recruiting class, led by 247Sports' No. 1 overall prospect, defensive tackle Rashan Gary.

Harbaugh's pro-satellite-camp stance is unlikely to change based on his remarks from Monday.