Jim Harbaugh has been the head coach at Michigan for 37 days, but that was all it took to turn a rotten six-player recruiting class into a rock-solid group of 14. On national signing day alone, the Wolverines climbed 33 spots on the 247Sports team rankings, finishing No. 36 in the country.
Like all partial classes, Harbaugh's first effort at Michigan looks underwhelming on paper. It does not suggest his ceiling on the recruiting trail. What it does do, however, is strike the fear of God into the rest of the conference—Ohio State included.
This was Harbaugh in 37 days. Imagine him in 365.
Harbaugh didn't make the big splash some fans hoped for. He didn't lure Iman Marshall or Keisean Lucier-South out of Los Angeles. He didn't convince Chris Clark not to travel to Los Angeles. He couldn't sell the Ann Arbor winter over 72 degrees in February.
But for all the near-misses Harbaugh accumulated, there was always a direct hit for balance. And he made those moves despite a limited pool of "availability." Because he joined so late in the cycle, six of the eight players Harbaugh added were flips from another school.
The most important of those flips was quarterback Zach Gentry, the No. 175 overall player in the class who had long been committed to Texas. Gentry is a 6'7" freak whose high school coach claims he ran a 4.6 40-yard dash, per Angelique S. Chengelis of The Detroit News.
"He kind of molded Andrew Luck into what he is today," Gentry told Mark Snyder of the Detroit Free Press. "When Jim Harbaugh is calling you, you're excited."
Harbaugh created a brand for himself at Stanford and with the San Francisco 49ers. More than that, he created a national brand—one that extends outside of any specific region.
His primary home has been the West Coast, but Harbaugh landed Gentry out of Albuquerque, New Mexico. And three of his other big additions (defensive end Shelton Johnson, running back Karan Higdon and defensive end Reuben Jones) hail from Florida.
How did Brady Hoke fare in the Sunshine State?
Harbaugh stacked his coaching staff with former NFL assistants. The pay cut he took allowed the Wolverines to hire Tim Drevno, Tyrone Wheatley, Greg Jackson and Jedd Fisch. According to Phil Callihan of Bleacher Report, he did this with an eye on recruiting.
"Many coaches can say they have helped develop NFL draft picks, but Harbaugh and his staff have experience on both sides of the NFL pipeline," wrote Callihan. "They can speak firsthand about how NFL coaches evaluate talent."
Ever notice how many prospects commit "for the next three years" instead of four? If you haven't, take my word: It's a lot. The biggest fish on national signing day, 5-star defensive end Byron Cowart, said he was recruited with a "three-year plan" by Auburn.
Harbaugh doesn't have to sell kids on his NFL track record because it's sitting right in front of them. And despite the lack of splashy moves on signing day, it's already paying dividends. He only inked 14 players, but those players' average composite grade (87.82) was No. 20 in the country.
If he wanted to, Harbaugh could have filled this class with lesser recruits. Doing so would have made the numbers look better—would have pushed Michigan near the Top 25—but it also would have cost future scholarships. In short, it would have been myopic.
Harbaugh didn't waste scholarships on players he knows, down the road, will not satisfy Michigan's recruiting standards. If there's one word to describe his first class, it's "confident." It's a confident group of 14 that says: "Just wait and see the village we sign next cycle."
The Wolverines have eyes for some of the top 2016 recruits, most of whom are co-Big Ten targets. Players who might have otherwise committed elsewhere will look hard at playing in Ann Arbor. This brief sampling comes from the top 100 players alone:
- DT Rashan Gary (B1G Suitors: MICH, OSU, PSU)
- OT Ben Bredeson (B1G Suitors: MICH, WIS, IOWA, OSU)
- DE Josh King (B1G Suitors: MICH, OSU, MSU, IOWA)
- WR Justin Layne (B1G Suitors: MICH, OSU, MSU)
Harbaugh is calling, and these kids are excited.
Note: All recruiting info refers to the 247Sports composite rankings.
Follow Brian Leigh on Twitter: @BLeigh35
Read more Big Ten Football news on BleacherReport.com