College Football

Michigan plans Rome trip for practices, tour sites in April

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 9:15 p.m. ET

Sports Illustrated, SI Wire/Sports Illustrated

Michigan football head coach Jim Harbaugh will take his team to the Rome at the end of the winter semester in April, the university announced.

Players and coaches will visit historic landmarks, spend time with youth at orphanages and visit U.S. military members deployed abroad. The team will play a scrimmage that will be open to the Italian public. Three of the allotted 15 spring football practices will take place at the training center of AS Roma.

“We were looking to provide our student-athletes with a great educational, cultural and international football experience,” Harbaugh said in a statement. “I am excited that our student-athletes will be able to take advantage of this amazing educational opportunity, be exposed to another culture, and be ambassadors for the United States and the University of Michigan during our visit to Rome.”

Last year, Harbaugh and the Wolverines headed to IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida to hold four spring practices over spring break. The NCAA's Power Five conferences later approved a proposal that prohibits off-campus practice during a vacation period. The ban goes into effect in August.

The NCAA allows a team to take a foreign trip every four years, which many basketball programs frequently make.