The Univ. of Michigan football team's "Signing of the Stars" event yesterday that tied into National Signing Day featured a "roster of random celebrities," including Patriots QB Tom Brady, Derek Jeter, former pro wrestler Ric Flair and former Tigers manager Jim Leyland, according to Tony Paul of the DETROIT NEWS. Each celebrity was there to "introduce one commitment." Former ESPN analyst Lou Holtz, former NFL coach Mike Shanahan and ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay then "took the stage ... providing analysis of each commitment." Comedian Randy Sklar was "emceeing the event," as a crowd of thousands "lined up around the block at Hill Auditorium, more than an hour before it started." Paul notes there "wasn’t a ticket to be had" (DETROIT NEWS, 2/4). In Detroit, Drew Sharp writes UM "won the moment, inflating the big top a little higher in what’s already become a huge circus." The show "helped further raise awareness and dollars for pediatric cancer research." But the true marketing genius was "creating an aura to future recruits that Michigan was having a private party, mingling with superstars" like Brady, Jeter and Flair (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 2/4). ESPN.com's Dan Murphy noted Michigan ended up with an "unprecedented headline-grabbing bonanza that ostensibly served to introduce Michigan's highest-rated signing class ... in more than a decade." Harbaugh said of the event, which was streamed on The Players' Tribune, "We wanted to do something different. We wanted to do something awesome. I think today did that. It was awesome with a capital A" (ESPN.com, 2/3).
PEP IN YOUR STEP: In Detroit, Bob Wojnowski in a front-page piece writes the event "was audacious and entertaining and slightly bizarre, a spectacle that bounced from flair to Ric Flair." It was "unlike anything anyone had ever seen, not just at Michigan, but in college football." The event "was a success, no matter what you think of the excess" (DETROIT NEWS, 2/4). BTN.com's Tom Dienhart wrote the event "was a pep rally on steroids," and has "set a new standard in over-the-top hype in a recruiting system that already is overloaded on hype" (BTN.com, 2/3). In Detroit, Jeff Seidel writes under the header, "Harbaugh Turns Signing Day Into A Circus." Seidel: "It was unique and mostly entertaining, the cross section of sports, celebrity, rap music, commerce, branding, innovation and creativity, pushing the boundaries, forgetting convention, blowing away what was done in the past and sneaking right up to the edge of the absurd" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 2/4). ESPN's Skip Bayless said while UM did not have the best recruiting class, they "won the day because they won the news cycle." Bayless: "Kids everywhere are starting to say, ‘I want to be part of that thing. I want to go there’” ("First Take," ESPN2, 2/4). espnW's Kate Fagan said, "They've just evolved what National Signing Day will be. ... They just turned it into who can throw the best party." ESPN's Jackie MacMullen said, "Harbaugh's taken this to a whole other level." ESPN.com's J.A. Adande: "It shows that we are in the era of celebrity coaching. That matters more than the school. ... The school brand alone is not enough to attract these recruits, so you do have to have this celebrity" ("Around The Horn," ESPN, 2/3). Fox' Joel Klatt said, "Was it too much? Probably. Is it what's needed? Probably" ("Fox Sports Live," FS1, 2/4).
DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD: In Chicago, Teddy Greenstein writes, "If you took a political rally, moved it to a church, made it like the Oscars and doused it with Jim Harbaugh's favorite cologne, you would end up with what transpired." The event "was so over-the-top, Mount Everest wants royalties" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 2/4). In Michigan, Brendan Quinn added "Signing of the Stars" was equal parts "exciting and extravagant, valiant and vain, great and gross." It was "brilliantly preposterous and preposterously brilliant." Quinn: "What it was rests in the eye of every Michigan fan, student and alum. And whatever those conclusions may be, they don't matter because this is Michigan football now and there's no turning back" (MLIVE.com, 2/3).
SIGN OF THE TIMES: In N.Y., Marc Tracy notes college football's National Signing Day in recent years "has evolved into a sports carnival," as programs "seek to rev up their fans and make one last pitch to on-the-fence prospects." UM's event "was the most orchestrated bit of pageantry, with perhaps the exception" of S Deontay Anderson from Marvel, Texas, as he "announced for Ole Miss in a sky diving video" (N.Y. TIMES, 2/4). ESPN Radio’s Mike Golic: "It’s gotten over the top. Everybody is obviously involved in it, from the colleges to what they’re doing for the players and the players for what they’re doing to announce their signings. … This is where the game has gone" ("Mike & Mike," ESPN Radio, 2/4).
