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On Thursday, Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh sent out an open letter to everyone involved in football with a radical proposition putting more control in a student-athlete’s hands as far as their career from the college-level to the pro-level.
Harbaugh suggests that the NFL curtail its rule that says that a player must be out of high school for three-years before they can be drafted, that they can enter the draft at any point, and that if they aren’t selected in the top 224 of 255 picks that they can return to play for their college football team. And if they do turn professional, they can return to school at a time of their choosing to finish their college degree at the college’s expense.
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He appeared on the In the Trenches podcast with Jon Jansen to discuss why he came up with his proposal, noting that it’s about putting control into the hands of those who are in the situation rather than the powers that be at either the college or NFL-level. Because right now, if a player leaves early and doesn’t get picked in the NFL draft, their college and academic career are done, and their shot at playing professionally are all but over.
“Many young men and their families perceive college football as preventing them from earning a living as a professional football player,” Harbaugh said. “And that’s not unreasonable. That’s not an unreasonable perception given the rules that are currently in place. So I wanted to – the idea was to write it from the perspective of student-athletes and their families and what’s best for them. What’s best for them is to make decisions for themselves, but also to put them in a position where there’s discussion where it could be a win-win-win for student-athletes and their families. The party or parties that are most affected in football.
“I kind of think of it this way, Jon: When rules are made, whenever rules are made – and there’s a lot of rules in football, as you know – and when those rules get made, it seems like the ones making the rules are the ones getting to have their cake and eat it, too. I see, I’ve been in college football, pro football, and the way the rules are set up for the NFL, the rules are set that they get to have their cake and eat it, too. Pay-for colleges, they get to have their cake and eat it, too. I wanted to put a proposal together that lets the student-athletes and their families be the ones that have their cake and eat it, too.”
“Just to have a discussion – just to have a discussion about it,” Harbaugh said. “There’s a lot of smart people (and) with the COVID-19 and what’s going on right now, there’s people with the time to think about these and plan long-term. So that’s what I’m excited about. I hope that it generates discussion and welcome that. Want this to be talked about. Let all concerned parties weigh in on it, get their opinion. For people who care about football, that care about intercollegiate football, like we do here in this conversation, those that care about student-athletes, their families, who love and care about (them), let’s have a discussion and talk about it. We’ve got the time to do it right now.”
Harbaugh not only attended Michigan for five years and had a 15-year professional career, but he also started coaching as an assistant at the pro-level in 2002 before taking over as the head coach collegiately at San Diego in 2004.
From there, he coached at Stanford and Michigan at the college-level with a successful stint with the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers in-between. So he’s had experience across the board, as a student-athlete, a professional player as well as leading the charge in the amateur ranks as well as at the highest level in the pros.
He notes that it certainly had an impact in his thinking and is hoping this will not only spark a debate, but also some positive change that can truly impact players’ lives.
“I’m sure it’s shaped it,” Harbaugh said. “I had the experience of both playing and coaching and coaching both in college and pro, but understand, too, I’m not the only one. This is an opinion. I’m fired up to hear from others. To hear from others that coach at the collegiate level, that coach at the pro level. Have other guys who have played, like yourself, Desmond Howard, so many that really can have an opinion on this. Coaches, commissioners, athletic directors. I know you had Warde on yesterday. But all those voices. All those voices that know good stuff and care about the futures of youngsters, like my dad who’s here on the podcast as well.
“You want to see them have their shot at a career, a college career and also get their education. Get that degree in the back pocket. That’s what you want to see. I was watching Isiah Thomas, he talked about going after his pro career, he went back to college, got his degree and he got his masters. That’s as good as it gets. It doesn’t get any better than that. And you want to see that opportunity for everybody. Get your degree, and if it comes, like it did for me – five years in college and then a pro career – that’s fine. But that timeline might not be good for — it might be better for someone else to start college, have their pro career and then come back and get their degree. Just having those options and putting somebody’s career and education and their fate in their own hands and not dictated timelines by rules.”
As Harbaugh notes, 30% of third-year players do not get drafted and thus don’t earn their college degree. While both of Michigan’s early entrants were drafted this year, a trio of players had to wait until after the 2020 NFL Draft to sign with their teams.
However, not all are so fortunate.
Take local product Cody White, the former Walled Lake (MI) Western star who went on to play for three years at rival Michigan State. He left after his junior campaign, believing he could very well find himself picked as one of the many wide receivers in a deep draft for that skill position. However, he went unselected, and signed as an undrafted free agent with the Kansas City Chiefs. But it’s an uphill battle to make a 53-man NFL roster in his case. It can be done, of course, but when you’re a fourth-round pick or higher, the chances are much better that you’ll make the team come the season opener.
With Harbaugh’s proposal, White would have been allowed to return to East Lansing and get another season out of it, to showcase his abilities for NFL squads. Or, he could do as he’s doing: sign, and return to school to get his degree should he not make the roster or if his career is short.
All of this works to the benefit of the player himself — rather than to the organizations who oversee his career at either level.
“This is who this proposal has been written for: the student-athletes and their families,” Harbaugh said. “You’re a parent and your son is good enough and smart enough to be offered a scholarship to college, now he’s going off to college, and you know he’s gonna get that degree. And also get a chance to get a masters and get more education after the degree. Because you know that’s gonna happen. The way this proposal is set up, that’s gonna happen.
“And then, if they’re good enough to be a professional football player in the NFL, then they will be drafted. And if they’re not drafted in the first 224 picks, then they have the option to come back and play college football until they are good enough to be drafted. And if they did get drafted, then they can play their pro career and they can come back and get their degree at the expense of the university. It’s more fact driven. It’s more fact driven than the way it is right now, because right now, rules are that if a young man declares for the draft, his eligibility is done – he cannot play anymore. And then he goes to the draft and he’s not drafted or his career is very short or there’s no career at all and he’s not able to come back to college football and play. A lot of universities aren’t picking up the expense of continuing education, so you have to make a decision and you didn’t know how it was gonna work out. This makes it more fact-driven. If you’re drafted, you’re drafted. You start your professional career and know that you’ll finish your education when your pro career is over.
“So that’s how it helps. There’s more peace of mind there. It’s fact driven. And like I said at the beginning of the show, this gives student-athletes and their families the high ground. They get to have their cake and eat it, too. They get their opportunity at a college football career, they get their opportunity at a professional football career and they’re also gonna be able to get their education and have it paid for. So that’s what I meant when they get to have their cake and eat it, too.”
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