Michigan Football Announces Trip to Rome for Education, Spring Drills

Michigan Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh found another way to take his team on the road during the offseason.

The Wolverines announced Monday that they will travel to Rome in April for three of their 15 spring football practices.

In the news release, Harbaugh said:

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We were looking to provide our student-athletes with a great educational, cultural and international football experience. I am excited that our student-athletes will be able to take advantage of this amazing educational opportunity, be exposed to another culture, and be ambassadors for the United States and the University of Michigan during our visit to Rome.

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The move came after the Power Five conferences voted Friday to ban off-campus practices during a vacation period. Last spring, Harbaugh ventured into SEC territory and held a handful of practices at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.

"The rule didn't get proposed until after we took the football team down to Florida for spring break," Michigan athletics director Warde Manuel said Friday, per ESPN.com's Mitch Sherman. "So I think you can read into that as you will."

The Detroit Free Press' Mark Snyder wrote that Michigan's practices in Rome would skirt the new rules since the trip would occur after winter exams, which end April 27.

The Ringer's Rodger Sherman tweeted that Harbaugh will never stop looking for ways to work around NCAA bylaws:

ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg is already excited about Harbaugh's trip abroad:

Fox Sports' Bruce Feldman thinks the Wolverines will gain benefits they otherwise wouldn't have:

Overseas trips are more common in college basketball. The Michigan men's team traveled to Europe ahead of the 2014-15 campaign, and the women's team did so in August 2013.

Since Harbaugh took over coaching duties in December 2014, he has pushed the boundaries of traditional recruiting.

He orchestrated satellite camps throughout the country during the offseason that were banned by the NCAA for a short time before they got the stamp of approval.

For Michigan's 2016 signing day, the Wolverines partnered with The Players' Tribune to live-stream the event. Former New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady were among those in attendance.

Michigan's Rome practices will bring additional scrutiny to Harbaugh's tactics, and based on recent history, it could be only a matter of time before the NCAA or Power Five rewrites recruiting rules in response.