Jim Harbaugh on Michigan football team culture: 'I love where the program is at'
Almost everything went right for Michigan Wolverines football in 2021, a season that resulted in a Big Ten title and College Football Playoff appearance.
A lot of the success was due to the culture built by the staff — that head coach Jim Harbaugh made some changes to — and team leaders. Three of Michigan’s captains have graduated and moved on, and there was a bit of shuffling on the assistant coaching staff, with a trio of replacements, including a new defensive coordinator in Jesse Minter, but it appears the culture is intact.
“I love where the program is at right now, as a group — players, coaches,” Harbaugh told Lindsay Huddleston of Sports Psychology Solutions. “Everybody is pulling in the same direction. That’s so enjoyable, when you’ve got everybody pulling in the same direction. It just makes it enjoyable, makes it fun.”
That’s why, earlier this spring, Harbaugh described the state of Michigan football as “scary good.” In addition to the talent the Wolverines have returning, especially on offense, the vibe around the building is positive heading into summer.
Harbaugh had great cultures at other points during his Michigan tenure, but even fifth-year redshirt junior wide receiver Ronnie Bell — who’s seen several different team dynamics during his time in Ann Arbor — said he believes the current makeup is what Harbaugh had been aiming for in the past.
The Michigan coach said he’s the same person as he was when hired Dec. 30, 2014, but he explained how the team has gotten to this point, highlighting the group as a self-motivated bunch that feeds on camaraderie.
“That’s a really great question — how do you get people to do it?” Harbaugh said. “It comes down to what I tell myself, it’s the same thing I try to tell the players: ‘Hey, you’re valuable; you’re good. Keep doing you.’ I know that’s what I’m gonna do — I know who I am. I’m gonna keep doing me; it’s working. You keep doing you; it’s working.
“And if you want to get a little better at something, just work a little harder. I tell myself, ‘If I want to get a little better at something, I can just work a little harder at it.’ And then last but not least, just don’t fall into the trap of getting the big head.
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“Everybody here is, hey, we’re together in this. You’re good, you’re valuable. I wake up every day trying to rise up to the competence of everybody else, showing them I can contribute. That’s what motivates me to be a part of this great team.”
‘Tradition’ is a buzz word for Michigan football, with the Wolverines having won more games than any program in the sport, with 11 national titles, 43 Big Ten championships and three Heisman Trophy winners. Huddleston asked how ‘tradition’ actually translates to the Michigan program’s day-to-day operation.
“It starts with people that respect things,” Harbaugh explained. “Respect everything — respect another person, respect the game, respect the facilities, the equipment. I think people that are capable of doing that, they respect the people that are here, and they want to be part of it, they want to contribute to it.
“That’s what gets me out of bed every day. Hey, I’ve got to be good, I’ve got to bring my ‘A’ game today. I’ve gotta bring my ‘A’ game to my team, and I’ve got to bring my ‘A’ game to my team at home — my family. You can’t afford to ever do anything less than your ‘A’ game for those two vital teams — the team at work and the team at home.”
A team of individuals doing the same thing, “pulling in the same direction,” can be successful, as Michigan has shown.
