University of Michigan head football coach Jim Harbaugh is known for his unorthodox recruiting methods. Having recently made the jump back to college football from the NFL, Harbaugh has amassed four secondary violations of his recruiting for the Wolverines’ football program.
Now, Harbaugh and his Michigan football staff may be using virtual reality as a recruiting tool—a positive for them, since they cannot get a violation for it.
This news started with a teasing tweet and accompanying video sent out by the Michigan Athletics Twitter account, stating that virtual reality will be used in recruiting, in what Michigan is dubbing as the “The Michigan VR Experience.”
An immersive experience is coming. #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/stKljoCRkv
— Michigan Athletics (@UMichAthletics) August 4, 2015
It is clear from the video that the Wolverines are pairing with Oculus, a company that has set the standard for the virtual reality headset with their Oculus Rift.
Sports business analyst for ESPN Darren Rovell tweeted out quickly after Michigan’s tweet on whether schools sign exclusives with virtual reality companies so that other schools cannot use the technology.
In the majority of scenarios, Michigan most likely will not have this virtual reality technology to themselves, but it is still unclear what company they are using for the software. Knowing Harbaugh’s former coaching stint at Stanford, it would not be a leap to suggest that Michigan will be pairing with the exponentially growing STRIVR Labs, founded by Stanford graduate assistant coach Derek Belch.
STRIVR is being used by a number of other college and NFL teams for on-field virtual reality practice. It is most helpful for the quarterback position, but any position can use the technology to run through plays outside of practice.
High school football recruits can only visit prospective colleges in their senior year, and only for a limited number of trips. The virtual reality experience will allow those recruits to see what a practice is like at Michigan without making the journey, since STRIVR uses film as the main crux of their virtual reality. Who knows, maybe Michigan will include a tour of Michigan Stadium, in addition to all of the strictly football virtual reality.
Additionally, coaches might be able to test out a player’s decision making ability and knowledge of the game, so it should be decently helpful on both sides of recruiting.