The most ridiculous moments from Michigan’s signing day event
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh has been all about the flair this recruiting season, so it was no surprise that the university decided to host a National Signing Day extravaganza on Wednesday to not only announce its recruiting class, but also to draw attention to the program through the use of celebrities, sports personalities and sponsors.
The Players’ Tribune, a media site founded by former New York Yankee Derek Jeter, live-streamed the event on its webpage and on YouTube. Jeter also appeared on stage to announce recruits along with Tom Brady, pro wrestler Ric Flair and sports analysts Dana Jacobsen and Adam Schefter, among others. After each player was announced, Mike Shanahan, Lou Holtz and Todd McShay broke down the game film and gave glowing comments about the future of Michigan football.
It was the most unique and over-the-top National Signing Day event ever. And that’s not hyperbole. The event reached nearly 35,000 viewers on YouTube and had a packed house at Hill auditorium. Students waited in line two hours before the doors opened just to get a spot.
Here are some of the more ridiculous highlights from Michigan’s event:
• Tom Brady’s hair. Yes, there’s probably a very stylish reason the New England Patriots’ QB has his hair cut the way it is, but we’re not sure what the reason is. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think the surefire hall-of-famer was closer to being a kid signing on Wednesday than one of the most successful NFL quarterbacks of all time.
• The presence of Lou Holtz. The former Notre Dame coach served as an “analyst” during the event with former NFL coach Mike Shanahan and ESPN’s Todd McShay. Of course, Holtz wasn’t going to say anything remotely critical about the 25 recruits signing with Michigan while on the school’s dime.
Sure, Notre Dame and Michigan have foregone their yearly matchup, but it was still weird to see a former coach from one of Michigan’s top rivals to serve as a cheerleader for the university. And it was really weird to see Holtz do the dab with Harbaugh. When he asked Harbaugh what a dab is, Harbaugh told him it’s like sneezing into your arm.
• Lou Holtz wasn’t the only old white guy to do the dab. Two members from hip-hop group Migos were in the house as special guests of Harbaugh. And when the guys from Migos came out to introduce a recruit, longtime MLB manager Jim Leyland joined them.
Migos is one of the groups to make the dab popular, so, of course, they taught the 71-year-old Leyland how to dab. It went about as expected.
• Probably the most exciting part of the event — at least for Harbaugh — was when former pro wrestler Ric Flair offered a trademark “Woo” for Michigan football.
“Officially today the Nature Boy is a limousine ridin’, jet flyin’, kiss stealin’, lovin’ old blue and Michigan son of a gun. Woo! That’s havin’ a hard time keepin’ his alligators down. Wooooo! And remember, from now on Michigan, to be the man you’ve got to beat the man, and right now, the University of Michigan, you are the man.”
• In addition to those in attendance at Hill Auditorium, Michigan had celebrities send in videos to welcome the team’s signing class. Among the prestigious list of celebrities were Big Sean, Owen Wilson, Tony La Russa, Rich Eisen, Dick Enberg, Jalen Rose and none other than Verne Troyer. Why not?
• A lot was made of Jim Harbaugh spending the night at the home of three-star kicker Quinn Nordin. Nordin was verbally committed to Penn State at the time, but signed with the Wolverines on Wednesday.
Nordin and his family were introduced to the crowd via video chat and Harbaugh sheepishly remarked that he slept in Nordin’s sister’s room. He then clarified that Nordin’s sister wasn’t there. Thanks, Jim.
Also, in Harbaugh’s opinion, Mr. Nordin “makes a mean waffle,” in case you were wondering.
• While all of this was entertaining, probably the best part of Michigan’s National Signing Day Extravaganza came and went with no mention or fanfare. That was the signing of No. 1 overall recruit Rashan Gary, who became the first-ever overal No. 1 recruit to sign with the Wolverines. Harbaugh wasn’t allowed to talk about Gary because he had not filed his National Letter of Intent and because he didn’t find out about the pledge until near the end of the event.
When the event was over, Harbaugh had nothing but glowing things to say about it and he thought it showcased what Michigan had to offer in terms of notoriety and support.
“Fun, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful,” Harbaugh said of the event. “A great celebration.”
