Jim Harbaugh describes the feeling of being on stage to get Big Ten trophy

After a season of triumphs amid various distractions, Michigan football’s biggest achievement to date was winning the Big Ten Championship to secure a spot in the College Football Playoff for the third consecutive year.

Following that victory, head coach Jim Harbaugh accepted the trophy and spoke on the accomplishment. He took a step back to soak in the feeling of winning the league title, even if it’s an accomplishment he and the program are now accustomed to.

“Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful feeling of winning. Great thrill of victory,” Harbaugh said of the moment. “It’s where we wanted to be. It’s what we hoped for, what we worked so hard for, and then it happened. It’s the, like, kind of pinch yourself, but yeah.”

He then moved on to credit his team for putting together a complete performance in all three phases in the Big Ten title game vs. Iowa, which Michigan won 26-0.

“The way our defense was playing, the gutty performance. Another gritty one by our offense. And then the special teams: James Turner kicking the four field goals, Semaj Morgan with the big punt return. Just so good.”

Harbaugh then pivoted back to discuss the meaning on another championship and why he loves basking in his players’ individual enjoyment of the victory.

“It’s the most special. I’ve gotten to the point in my life where — I don’t know when this happened, it was a while ago, probably a couple of decades ago — where it’s not about me. I had plenty of success, but that your players know what it’s like to be a champion, that their families can know what it’s like to be a champion.”

Personally, Jim Harbaugh enjoys the pride his own family gets out of him achieving victory in the Big Ten.

“For my wife, my kids to have their dad be a champion. For my parents to have their son be a champion. That’s the great thrill. Friends and most especially my kids. They know what it’s like that their dad is a champion, and mostly the players, that they get to feel what it’s like to be a champion. That’s a beautiful, wonderful thing.”

Clearly, this Big Ten championship means just as much to Michigan and Jim Harbaugh as all the others — just maybe for different reasons. Now, the Wolverines will face No. 4 overall seed Alabama in the CFP semifinal matchup coming up in a few weeks.