Orange Bowl won't mark first time Smart and Harbaugh have done battle

ATLANTA - Just because Georgia and Michigan haven’t met on the football field in over a half a century, doesn’t mean they haven’t battled each other off the field in recent years.

These two head coaches aren’t playing in the Orange Bowl merely because they know the Xs and Os. They’re here because of the talent they’ve brought to their respective schools.

It all started back in March 2016, when Jim Harbaugh decided to bring his Wolverines south to Florida to hold spring workouts at IMG Academy. Many of the nation's best high school recruits were within driving distance of Michigan's camp, smack in the middle of SEC country.

When asked what the recruiting advantage was to practicing in Florida Harbaugh appeared nonplused. "I don't know that there is one," said the coach. 

Later, when pushed to answer whether he could see why other coaches might be "jumpy" with the thought of a BIG 10 coach taking his team on the road deep into southern soil Harbaugh stated, "No I can't really see that."

But some of the south’s top college coaches weren’t thrilled with his choice to set up camp in enemy territory. Including Georgia’s Kirby Smart, who when asked about Harbaugh’s plans to hold the camp remarked, "They're trying to gain a competitive advantage and that's their right," but he went on to say, "the NCAA in due time will have to step in."

That comment prompted a testy tweet from Harbaugh.

Three months later Harbaugh returned to the South, this time to Dekalb County wearing an Atlanta Braves jersey while chatting up some top talent at a local satellite camp.

Enter Kirby Smart---in a helicopter. Georgia’s coach wasn’t going to take this lying down. Smart and Harbaugh shook hands and spoke briefly, before both offered a light on-field coaching session with many of the athletes on hand at Cedar Grove High School.

Smart declined to comment before heading back to Athens. Harbaugh on the other hand, took reporters questions and quipped, "It was a joy to coach them, I was like a pig in slop." 

In 2018 Harbaugh’s recruitment in Georgia started to pay dividends for the Wolverines. 4-star defensive back Jalen Perry of Dacula, who had committed to UGA in October, flipped his commitment to Michigan in December. That same month, Michigan snagged one of Georgia’s top defensive linemen---GAC’s Chris Hinton.

Hinton has 29 tackles and a sack in 2021 for the Wolverines and is a key piece of a strong defensive line led by Heisman finalist Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo. And while Perry plays sparingly, mostly on special teams, he's appeared in eight games this season and was named Academic All-Big 10 in 2020. Another player Harbaugh plucked from Georgia is former North Gwinnett and IMG Academy defensive back DJ Turner who has two interceptions and 29 tackles so far in 2021.

Thankfully for Kirby Smart, he's managed to keep the lion's share of in-state talent. The home-grown Georgia athlete is part of the reason Smart has a 64-15 overall record in six years at UGA.

The next time these two men shake hands, one will be advancing to the National Championship Game- and the other will fly home to start the recruiting process all over again.