FILE - In this Oct. 3, 2015, file photo, Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh calls for a flag in the first half of an NCAA college football game against Maryland in College Park, Md. Michigan and Florida both entered the season hoping to revive storied programs that had begun to look more pedestrian than they were accustomed to. Enter Wolverines coach Harbaugh and Gators coach Jim McElwain, who both brought their own style and approach to the sidelines in their first seasons on the job. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh has spent recent weeks defending his team's impending trip to the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., for a portion of spring practice.
On Wednesday afternoon, that included the desire to call out new Georgia coach Kirby Smart.
Smart spoke Monday night at the Macon Touchdown Club and was asked his thoughts about Michigan working out at IMG. The Wolverines are scheduled to hold their first IMG practice Monday morning and their final practice on March 4.
"They're obviously trying to gain a competitive advantage, and obviously that is their right, but I think the NCAA in due time will have to step in and keep it from getting out of hand," Smart told the gathering. "There are a lot of factors that people don't think about in that deal. We have to think about recruiting rules. How are they going to handle those? Is it an advantage or a disadvantage? Are they going to let other coaches come through? Are they going to be open practices?
"Can we all go over there and watch them and scout them? If they are open practices, why don't we go? It's a Pandora's Box of what they're going to get into."
Harbaugh recently extended an invitation via Twitter to all of Florida's high school football coaches to attend all four practices. He added that the March 4 workout would be open to "family, friends and fans."
On Wednesday, Harbaugh posted this on Twitter: "If the Georgia coach is implying any interest on our part to break rules, he is barking up the wrong tree."
There are no NCAA rules prohibiting the Wolverines from practicing at IMG Academy, which started a high school football program in 2013 and produced five of the nation's top 80 prospects in the 2016 signing class.
NCAA president Mark Emmert told The State newspaper in Columbia, S.C., that there isn't time to pass legislation to block the Wolverines from traveling this weekend to the Sunshine State. Emmert suggested that membership against schools taking similar trips in the future need to take action to prevent a repeat of this in 2017.
"There's a difference between not being prohibited and being OK," Emmert said. "We are trying to find ways to dial back the demands on student-athletes, not ramp them up."
Gales going home
Southern University receiver Devon Gales, who was partially paralyzed by a collision with Georgia kicker Marshall Morgan on Sept. 26, is set to be discharged this week from the Shepherd Spinal Center in Athens and will head home to Baton Rouge, La. Gales is scheduled to meet with the media in Athens this morning.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.