Jim Harbaugh reveals message to team ahead of spring game, singles out freshmen receivers

Jim Harbaugh is looking forward to seeing how Michigan performs during Saturday’s spring game, and with big expectations looming in 2023 — he’s hoping his guys take it slow, make the right reads, play comfortably and have fun.

“Number one — I’m rooting for no injuries. I want to come out of this as a healthy team,” Harbaugh said during the first quarter. “Just the hard work they put in to see that realized in a game-like experience will be invaluable. I want to see them play as hard as they can, as fast as they and as long as they can. I want them to play ball and have fun doing it.”

Harbaugh raved about his mid-year freshmen and transfer portal additions, saying he has high expectations for most of them right off the bat. He singled out transfers Josiah Stewart (EDGE), AJ Barner (TE) and freshmen wide receivers Fredrick Moore, Samaj Morgan.

Moore and Morgan come into the Michigan football program as three-star recruits, per the On3 Industry Rankings, which is a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services. They were the 552nd and 519th overall recruits in the 2023 class, respectively.

Barner has already had an impressive catch in the first quarter of Saturday’s spring showcase, and Stewart has been described as a “Tasmanian devil coming off the edge.” They are two players that are expected to come in and compete right away in Michigan’s system.

These portal additions mixed with the talent Harbaugh has already put together in Ann Arbor only add to the already-massive expectations weighing on Harbuagh’s shoulders. Still, all that has done is breed confidence in himself and his program.

“This is the best version of football that I have seen since I’ve been here in the last eight years,” Harbaugh said.

Harbuagh’s high probably stems from the fact that he earned a commitment from 2024 four-star Jadyn Davis on Friday afternoon. Davis, the No. 26 overall player in the cycle, is the fourth-ranked QB in the country, according to the On3 Industry Rankings. He is the highest-rated QB to commit to Michigan under Harbaugh.

It will be a while before Davis gets to campus, however, and current QB1 JJ McCarthy is poised to lead the Wolverines to their third-straight College Football Playoff.

You can catch the rest of the Michigan spring game live on the Big 10 Network.