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."
Despite a 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.
"When Michigan gets a quarterback, it's going to be scary," said Mike Farrell, the national recruiting director for Rivals. "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.
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.
Sports on 11/02/2015