Heads turned. People whispered. The room stopped.
Everybody knew Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh was in the building.
"Right now, he's kind of that rock star, right?" said Steve Walsh, the director of football at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., a private high school with a roster loaded with more than 20 Division I prospects. "He is the new darling. Urban (Meyer) had it a couple of years ago. Now, it's Harbaugh. There is some cache there when he walks into the building."
Harbaugh went to IMG during Michigan’s bye week on a recruiting visit, and Walsh set up a room to talk about his roster. Walsh turned on a TV and switched to the NFL Network, but that didn't seem fitting because the San Francisco 49ers game was on. Walsh switched it to the Big Ten Network, which was about to show a replay of the Michigan-Michigan State game. Ouch. So Walsh turned on ESPN. He figured it was a safe choice.
"Then, the 'Not Top 10' came on," Walsh said. "And we were like, 'Oh boy!' "
The play came on. The botched punt. The return. The heartbreaker against Michigan State. And Harbaugh shook his head.
"He just kind of put his head down and made a comment," Walsh said.
Despite the loss against Michigan State, Harbaugh still carries an undeniable power and prestige on the recruiting trail. On the day Harbaugh visited IMG, there were several other coaches at the school representing Georgia, Ole Miss, West Virginia, LSU and Alabama. But Harbaugh was the one turning heads.
"That was a busy day, but they all knew he was there," Walsh said. "It made for a pretty unique environment."
At IMG, Harbaugh was looking at five-star tight end Isaac Nauta, who has visited Ann Arbor and is said to be considering Michigan, along with Georgia and Ole Miss (IMG quarterback Shea Patterson has committed to Ole Miss).
Harbaugh "is very interested in Isaac Nauta," Walsh said. "A quick story. We get out of spring football, towards the end, and we asked Nauta, 'What do you think we should be doing more with you?'
"He says, 'I think I need to have my hand in the dirt.'
"Meaning, 'I need to be an attached tight end, blocking and doing those things.' That's something that your normal rising senior doesn't say. That gives you an idea. He is mature beyond his years. That's hard to say about a lot of 17-year-olds."
But it is not Harbaugh's popularity that has Nauta interested in Michigan, according to Walsh. It's Harbaugh's track record with tight ends.
"For what Coach Harbaugh's legacy is at that position, I think that's something that intrigues Isaac," Walsh said.
That night, IMG played Paramus Catholic (N.J.) on national TV, and Harbaugh was on the sideline, watching a slew of talented players, including Paramus Catholic's five-star defensive tackle Rashan Gary, the top-ranked player in the country. Some consider Gary to be leaning toward Michigan, following his former teammate Jabrill Peppers and former coach Chris Partridge, now Michigan's football director of recruiting.
Harbaugh has not landed a five-star prospect in this year's recruiting, according to Rivals.
"I think Michigan is going to finish strong," said Mike Farrell, the National Recruiting Director for Rivals. "I think this class will probably finish top 15, maybe top 10. There is a lot to be excited about for Michigan fans. This O-line class is extremely good. It's one of the best O-line classes in the country. I just have a feeling that this guy (Harbaugh) will get more out of them than what anybody else would."
Farrell said that if there were a Mount Rushmore of the hottest college coaches -- the ones who are mentioned the most by elite recruits -- it would include Alabama coach Nick Saban, Meyer and Harbaugh.
"There is nobody hotter than Harbaugh," Farrell said. "Three years from now, he'll still be great, but he won't be as hot as he is right now."
Harbaugh inherited a roster with some highly rated players coming out of high school. "But they were playing like two-stars under Brady Hoke," Farrell said.
Harbaugh has pulled the talent out of them, turning around the program quickly, which has only enhanced his reputation with recruits.
"When Michigan gets a quarterback, it's going to be scary," Farrell said. "The only thing that is scarier is what Urban Meyer is doing at Ohio State. Urban Meyer is recruiting at the highest level the Big Ten has ever seen. He's going into SEC country and pulling kids out of there."
That has set up a fantastic battle between Ohio State and Michigan.
For the Wolverines, this season boils down to one game on Nov. 28 against Ohio State.
But off the field, the battles against the Buckeyes continue non-stop on the recruiting trail.
"I think Harbaugh is perceived as a mad scientist, a loose cannon," Farrell said. "I do know his personality is infectious. Kids love it. They love a guy who is a little bit crazy. He's very unpredictable compared to Urban Meyer, who is very calculated and very stoic. It's like, 'Which do you want? Do you want the crazy guy who is a mad scientist? Or do you want a slick, salesman guy who happens to know how to put kids into the NFL and win national championships?'"
Earlier this year, Farrell said that Michigan would never win a national championship under Harbaugh because of the NFL factor. Either Harbaugh would bolt back to the NFL, or recruits would fear that he might bolt back to the NFL.
But Farrell has changed his tune.
"He is doing this with sort of scraps right now," Farrell said. "Just wait until he gets his own guys in there. He's definitely on his way to winning a national championship. And recruiting is a big part of that."
Perception is a huge part of recruiting, and it's hard to imagine that Harbaugh could get hotter than he is right now.
Now, we will wait and see if he can use that rock star popularity to land some of the five-star players that he is chasing around the country.
