Posted by: Pete Roussel on July 30, 2012

- We're about to get rolling with an abundance of articles as practice begins for many programs near the end of the week.  If you're not follow @CoachingSearch on twitter, now is the time to do so.

- Jim Harbaugh, a self-proclaimed jackhammer, lives for the moments when he can stand up for his players.  Harbaugh did so repeatedly at Stanford, but his all-time best may have come on Sunday in San Francisco with his opening statement to reporters.

Harbaugh set the tone by stating, "A.J. Jenkins was an outstanding football player when he got here. His progress has been very, very good and exceeded expectations. For those scribes, pundits, so called experts, who have gone as far to say that he is going to be a bust, should just stop. I recommend that because they are making themselves look more clueless than they've already did. To go on record, A.J.'s going to be an outstanding football player."

That's awesome.

- While I'm not an avid follower of recruiting news, I could help but notice some outstanding comments from 247Sports CEO Shannon Terry via twitter on Sunday afternoon.

Shannon Terry, who you can follow @SBTerry247,  said he met with a broadcast production executive two weeks ago who believes prospects announcing their college intentions on TV is 'bad TV and willsoon come to an end.'

Terry agrees and says it's time for the recruiting industry to quit pretending when we know where a kid is going.  An unoriginal TV moment isn't what it's about. Rather, it's about signing with an institution or your dreams, getting a great education, and chance to compete and better your life.

Terry says that just because ESPN is creating a platform that allows recruits to take center stage, it doesn't make it right.  It doesn't even make it good or entertaining.

His advice to recruits: When you know, just announce and move on.  No need for games.  Your education and skill development is too important to your future to be messing around and taking 100 visits.  Quit playing around with college.  Waiting for ESPN to setup a broadcast isn't the right way to announce your decision.  When you know, do yourself, your family, and coaches a favor and let them know your intentions.

I couldn't agree more.  Shannon Terry is on point.

If I could say one sentence to all of the recruits throughout the country, I would say, "Watch, learn, and conduct  yourself like Peyton Manning did during his transition from Indy to Denver."

- Speaking of Peyton Manning, ESPN's on site coverage from Broncos' training camp with Neil Everett and Tom Jackson has been fantastic.  Everett offered the best quote of the weekend when he state on Friday evening, "Do you know when you've arrived?  When you're LIVE on NFL LIVE."  I also liked about Tom Jackson simply referred to Manning most of the weekend as, "18."

- Kirk Ferentz uniquely described what it's like to hire a coach. This off-season, Ferentz promoted Phil Parker to defensive coordinator.  Offensively, with the departureof Ken O'Keefe to the Miami Dolphins, Ferentz went out and hired former Texas offensive coordinator Greg Davis.

Ferentz said, "Offensively, we went a different route and hired Greg Davis. I thought we knew what we were getting. We hoped we knew what we were getting,but it's a little bit like marriage; until you get into the relationship, you're never sure what's going to happen. And Greg has just been a fantastic addition."

- Earlier this summer, Mack Brown stated that he didn't like the limited contact college coaches can have with their players during the summer.  Brown even stated he'd like a rule reversal.

Now, Bob Stoops is saying the same thing.  Stoops told The Oklahoman, "You've got room, board and tuition for them. Why wouldn't it be just like the winter conditioning, or to some degree have the opportunity to, 'How are you doing? What's your participation?' We're held responsible for them if they go out and have misconduct somewhere. It's our fault."

- Check out Illinois head coach Tim Beckman as he sings, "Take me out to the ballgame."

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Pete Roussel is a valuable resource for coaches, athletic directors, NFL front-office personnel, and college football enthusiasts. A former college football coach, Roussel shares insight on coaches 365 days a year and is recognized as the most trusted expert on coaching transactions. Follow @CoachingSearch on twitter and send your feedback to pete@coachingsearch.com