ROME _ Everything about Michigan's first football practice in Italy felt a little strange
The acting long snapper, coach Jim Harbaugh, was wearing cleats and khakis with a baseball cap that was splattered with paint from a paintball competition earlier in the week.
He lined up with the offensive line. Crouched over. Snapped the ball. And stepped out to block.
What was his self-assessment?
"I thought he did a very good job," said Harbaugh, smiling like a man who had met the Pope one day earlier. "At first, I was trying not to screw it up. Then, 'OK, I got this.' Then, I started to really snap them off there. I was getting into the groove, didn't want to stop."
The Wolverines practiced at Giulio Onesti Training Center on Thursday, a massive sports complex built to support Italian Olympic athletes. While the Wolverines practiced on one field, rugby players were practicing on the next field over. It was among the oddities for the workout, the first of three for the team while in Rome.
"This couldn't be better," Harbaugh said. "This is as good as you could have field-wise. They did a tremendous job lining the field. All the accommodations. Showers. Cafeteria. This looks like it would look like in the United States."
The field the Wolverines were practicing on was a rugby pitch dressed to look like an American football field. They made it work, even though there's less distance between the rugby goalposts than the ones used in college football.
Then there was the Italian media.
One writer pulled out an Italian newspaper and showed Harbaugh the story he had written about Harbaugh meeting the Pope. Then, the writer asked Harbaugh to sign the newspaper.
That would be a cardinal sin for a journalist, back in the States.
But Harbaugh obliged and gave the writer an autograph. Can't say I've ever seen that before.
Finally, the fans. Specifically, the fans who looked incredibly out of place, wearing Ohio State attire.
"I've still got my eyes on those guys," Harbaugh joked.
Fearing the Wolverines would be exhausted from jet lag, travel and an endless series of tourist visits, Harbaugh made the schedule so the players practiced in shorts and helmets.
"This was our third helmet practice; you have to have three in the spring," Harbaugh said. "We anticipated this would be a good day to have that."
Obviously, without any pads, there was no hitting. But the players did plenty of drills and team work. More than anything, it was a chance to get out of tourist mode and get back to football.
So in that sense, it was productive.
The Wolverines will hold a total of two more practices on Friday and Saturday, with a stop at the opera wedged in between on Thursday night wedged.
"We just brought the tempo down to about 85 percent, because of the walking around they have been doing and the traveling," Harbaugh said. "Some guys had just gotten off planes a couple of hours ago. That was a consideration,"
A group of 27 football fans from a U.S. Navy base in Naples, Italy, attended the practice _ troops and their families.
"Oh, it was wonderful," Harbaugh said. "I've met people from Naples, Fla., but I don't think I've ever met anybody from Naples, Italy, until today. They were huge football fans and wanted to watch us practice. I was so honored, so honored to meet them. From all different branches of the military. There was Army. There was Marines. There was Navy. And their kids. That's what we were hoping for today, to connect with as many people as possible."
After the practice, Harbaugh met with the group from the Navy base.
They circled around him and one of the kids asked Harbaugh about the NFL draft.
"We are hoping to set a record," Harbaugh said. "The (modern) record is 14 players drafted in a single draft class. ... We want to be the best. We want to hold the record of most players drafted."
Then, another fan asked how the Wolverines would do this year.
"We are striving to be the best," Harbaugh said.
