Mark Snyder

Detroit Free Press

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh has another unique idea.

U-M is attempting to hold a portion of its spring football practice in Florida at the IMG Academy, according to a person with knowledge of the plans but is not authorized to speak publicly.

The news was first reported by TheWolverine.com.

While a Michigan official was unable to comment at this time, the plan makes sense.

IMG Academy is located in Bradenton, Fla. and has dorm-style rooms and small apartments available plus multiple football fields on its campus. There is also a common dining hall area for the team to eat if necessary.

Harbaugh has made multiple trips to visit the campus during recruiting since coming to Michigan, including a trip during Michigan's football bye week last October.

Michigan is in the enviable position of having a large football budget (over $64 million surplus for the 2013-14 fiscal year) so the resources would not be a problem.

The issues would be the location and the amount of practice time. The NCAA spring practice rules (bylaw 17.10.6.4) govern how often a team can practice (15 times) and the span (34 calendar days not counting schools vacations) and how much contact there can be (only in 12 of the 15 practices). There is nothing noted about the location.

Often northern coaches have to schedule their spring practices around the school's spring break. Either they will start spring practice after the break or they will do what Brady Hoke did two years ago at U-M and Harbaugh did last year, have a few practices before the break, then stop for the 10 days and then resume after the break.

It's unclear whether U-M could use this year's break -- Feb. 27-March 6, avoiding a potential conflict with classes -- as a time for this possible trip and practice through the break.

The rules state it still would have to mirror the in-school rules: "Any such practice sessions held during vacation days may not be of longer duration than those normally held when academic classes are in session."

One potential complication, if the Big Ten or NCAA nix the idea. Despite no apparent roadblocks in the bylaws, the conference and national organization likely would have to clear it before the Wolverines followed through.

Yet in unusual or unconventional situations, schools usually have the idea vetted for through their own compliance department and cleared by the conference and/or NCAA before proceeding. That is the procedure Michigan State followed when its basketball team attended the Cotton Bowl on Dec. 31.

While that break is a quiet period in recruiting, where there can be limited contact with a prospect, it would be an obviously appealing idea to appeal to warm weather kids about taking that trip each spring.

Harbaugh has been an innovator as much as he can within the rules, having his players practice the entire four hours available last spring -- most teams practice a few hours then meet in classrooms the rest of the time -- and last summer when he took his coaches to "assist" in high school camps at various parts of the country.

The "Summer Swarm," as Michigan called it, had the U-M coaches in 10 different locations in seven different states from June 4-12. As much as it disturbed coaches in those states -- especially in the SEC and ACC who were not allowed to have their own "satellite camps" -- it was within the NCAA rules.

Contact Mark Snyder atmsnyder@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @mark__snyder. Download our new Wolverines Xtra appon iTunesandAndroid!