Jim Harbaugh wary of easing NCAA transfer restrictions

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh doesn’t want it to be too easy for collegiate athletes to transfer to another program.

While there is an acceptance that coaching changes, NCAA violations, or other extenuating circumstances could warrant an exception, Harbaugh doesn’t want the NCAA becoming soft on transfers.

“Most college students or football players, you go through at least one time where you say, ‘I’m leaving, I’m quitting, I’m going to go somewhere else, think the grass is greener on the other side of the street,'” Harbaugh said, via Angelique Chengelis of the Detroit News. “Maybe things got a little tough, maybe things got a little hard. It’s usually better to stick it out, it’s usually better to stay at the place you are and see something through. I don’t think we want to send the message in college football if it’s not working out, or if it’s getting tough or hard, go somewhere else.”

Harbaugh admitted he was speaking from experience.

“As a matter of fact there was one time where I thought, ‘I don’t think it’s going to work, I don’t think they like me,'” Harbaugh said of his time at Michigan as a student. “Told my dad, told him what I was going to do and he said, ‘Well, you can come home, but you’re walking. I’m not coming to pick you up.’ Pretty long walk to Kalamazoo, so I decided to stay.”

Harbaugh just added a quarterback via transfer, though NCAA rules violations brought that along. It’s a somewhat old-school mentality, but that’s not a surprise considering the source.