Jim Harbaugh opens up on Bo Schembechler, what this championship would mean to him

Jim Harbaugh finished the 2023 season with a national championship for Michigan and it’s safe to say Bo Schembechler would be proud of his school.

The late, great coach meant a lot to Harbaugh throughout his life. Right after beating Washington, Harbaugh noted how the legendary coach would be quite proud of this achievement.

Schembechler never won a national title in his 21 seasons, but he left a lasting legacy behind. Something Harbaugh desired to finish.

“So much. I think about that, I think about Bo Schembechler in heaven, him looking down,” Harbaugh said. “I think there’s some things he’d be talking about coming off the ball with lower pad level. (Laughter). But I think he would be really pleased. Rushed the ball for, like, 300 yards. He’d really love Blake Corum. He would love him like we do. Makes you feel good.”

Harbaugh and Michigan made history this year as well. They Wolverines won their 1,000th game as a football program.

“Other things, I mean to get to a thousand wins this year, that was such a thing,” Harbaugh said. “We were just for a couple years now we’ve been counting that down. To do it this year, do it in this fashion, now have 1,004 wins – no team’s won more. It’s in the video that we – my dad Jack and I wrote back in like 2015, that James Earl Jones narrated. No team has won more. No high school team has got to a thousand wins. No pro football team, no college team.”

After capping off a 15-0 season, Harbaugh and Michigan did something no other Wolverine team did, at least with that amount of games.

“That’s something that 144 years of players, coaches, staff, we feel that – we know contributed to that, and we’re very proud of that,” Harbaugh said. “To get there first, it was a race. It was a challenge. And our guys stepped up to it with aplomb. Many things. Just happy and proud. And Go Blue. The guys did a job, and did it great.”

Now, all attention turns to Harbaugh’s future whether he’ll stay in Ann Arbor or head back to the NFL. The buzz has never been louder for the coach to return to the pros.

He’s reportedly set to meet with the Los Angeles Chargers about their opening.

Harbaugh going to the NFL continues to seem like a real possibility, Michigan isn’t giving up without a fight.

According to the report from Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero, Michigan is continuing to negotiate with Harbaugh and trying to work out a deal that would keep him in Ann Arbor. It sounds as if we will know soon if the Wolverines are indeed able to do that.