Wolverine TV podcast: Nick Baumgardner discusses 'Mountaintop' book
Much of the attention is currently on the Michigan Wolverines of the present, but the 1997 squad still serves as the gold standard as the program’s most recent national champion. Under head coach Lloyd Carr, the Wolverines went undefeated and claimed a victory over Washington State in the Rose Bowl.
The Athletic’s Nick Baumgardner helped author “Mountaintop: The Inside Story of Michigan’s 1997 Title Climb” and joined John Borton and Tom Crawford on Tuesday to discuss the book and more.
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Here is the rundown on Baumgardner and Mark Snyder’s book, which can be purchased via Amazon and The M Den:
When the 1997 college football season began, the once-mighty Michigan Wolverines were dismissed nationally as a relic of a bygone era. Michigan had posted four straight four-loss seasons and started out No. 14 in the polls for the third straight year, its worst preseason rankings since 1985. Michigan was led by an accidental third-year coach, Lloyd Carr, who had suffered through back-to-back four-loss seasons after taking the job in the middle of a proverbial tornado. The starting quarterback was a fifth-year, former walk-on who nearly quit the sport. The offensive and defensive coordinators were brand new, the schedule was the toughest in the country, and Michigan’s status as a football powerhouse teetered on a razor’s edge. Right before the opener, Carr’s team heard a survivor from a Mount Everest tragedy describe what it took to do the impossible, when everything around you was falling apart. Climb the mountain became the team’s mantra.
Four months later, the Wolverines stood on college football’s summit as the 1997 national champion, a perfect 12-0. A team with several future Pro (and College) Football Hall of Famers, the first-ever defensive Heisman Trophy winner (Charles Woodson), the greatest QB in football history (Tom Brady) and the last QB to ever beat him for an open job (Brian Griese), the 1997 Wolverines reset the standard for greatness at the school with the most victories in the sport’s history. This is the story of climbing the mountain, individually and as a brotherhood, during Michigan’s most fabled season ― one ending with its first national championship in a half-century and lone title in the last 75 years. “Mountaintop” is the journey from the inside, from the players, coaches, and staff members who lived the experience.
Watch using the player above or listen wherever podcasts are available.
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