Jim Harbaugh reveals how seeing things from a different lens made him a better coach

Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh will be back on the sidelines this weekend for the first time this season after wrapping up his three-game suspension. The head coach was asked during his Monday press conference about what he learned about his team and watching them play from a distance.

He had a lot to say on the topic.

“Really would be so much to unpack there,” Harbaugh said. “From other coaches stepping up, other staff stepping up, other players stepping up and just the amount of leadership bonds that were created. All the tremendous positives that came from that. I told you this before but Moses had 70 leaders, how many do we need? A lot. More. That really created an opportunity to do that.”

Harbaugh watched the three games in three different environments.

For the Week 1 game versus East Carolina, he watched the game at a friend’s house. For the Week 2 game versus UNLV, he watched the game at his own house. And for this past weekend versus Bowling Green, he watched the game on his computer while he was traveling.

“From my perspective, I went to a place I’ve never been, which wasn’t on the sideline as a player or coach,” Harbaugh said. “Seeing the game in a different way through a different lens, I think it’s made me a better coach and as a result gonna implement some new things that (I) haven’t done as it relates to just a few policies around here to make sure I don’t ever get sidelined again. Ramping that up to a just a gold standard.”

The former Wolverines and NFL quarterback also specifically noted how he watched the offense operate on television. He is going to bring some of that perspective into team meetings.

“Also how we watch the game as an offense,” Harbaugh said. “Watching it on TV, you can see the things…How I see it my mind is when I’m there and I’m in it and you’re doing everything in real time, you’re more telling people what to do…The perspective for them to see it, for them to watch it and then (ask) what did you do right? What did you do wrong? How did you see this? I’m just kind of excited about implementing that today.”

Another change Harbaugh might try to implement is morphing how the team looks at winning games. Harbaugh said that while watching the games, he felt like the margin of victory might have taken on too much importance.

Michigan won its games 30-3, 35-7 and 31-6, but Harbaugh says the only thing that should matter is taking home the victory.

“By one point is what we’re really after,” Harbaugh said. “I don’t know if maybe watching it from the perspective I had, maybe there’s been too much put on the players of they got to win by 40 points or 30 points or 25 points. That’s a lot. Make sure our team knows that that’s the goal is to win the game. Next is that, you pray for this and you hope for this, you come out of the game with no injuries. Then it’s where you start to get greedy. I want the defense to be the best. I want the offense to be the best. I want the special teams to be the best. And I get even more greedy. I want each position group to be the best, and then each individual player to be the best. That’s what we want. That’s where we want to go. That’s what we want to be about. So we’re gonna chase that. We’re gonna keep chasing that perfection.”