'We are Coach': Michigan and Rutgers embody head coaches Jim Harbaugh, Greg Schiano

Michigan Wolverines football is tough, hard-nosed, physical and talented — staples of Jim Harbaugh-coached teams wherever he’s been, from San Diego and Stanford to the San Francisco 49ers and U-M.

Michigan had all of those classic Harbaugh qualities in the first three games, even though the head coach was sidelined with a three-game suspension. With Harbaugh back this weekend against Rutgers and the Big Ten season, there’s more “juice” in the building, per senior EDGE Jaylen Harrell, and the excitement among the players and staff is palpable.

“I’m excited. Excited, man,” Michigan wide receivers coach Ron Bellamy said Wednesday. “It’s always great to have Coach around. Saturday seeing him on that sideline, it’s going to be awesome for us.”

The Wolverines have been built in Harbaugh’s image and likeness.

“We are Coach. We are a product of him,” Bellamy continued. “The way he exemplifies himself, everything he does, these past three games, we tried to emulate everything he’s put this program in. To finally get him on the sideline on Saturday, it’s going to be awesome.”

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Michigan is set to take on an opponent in Rutgers that also embodies its head coach. Greg Schiano was a linebacker at Bucknell, before working his way up the coaching ranks from high school to college and the NFL. Schiano is gritty and old school, and so are his teams, particularly on defense. He’s yet to put together a prolific offense in year four of his second stop in Piscataway, but his defenses have been formidable.

“Coach Schiano, man. I mentioned it with Coach Harbaugh, how we exemplify a lot of things that he believes in, and things he does, we like to emulate that. Those guys are the same way with Coach Schiano,” Bellamy noted. “Those guys are tough, disciplined, and well-coached. Those guys play hard. This is a good Rutgers football team.”

Rutgers has been especially good against the run this season, holding Northwestern (12 yards) and Temple (68) to under 70 yards on the ground. The Scarlet Knights have allowed just 30 total points, 10 per game, ranking tied seventh in the country.

The Scarlet Knights are gritty and they don’t back down — and Michigan knows it. They took the Wolverines to triple-overtime in 2020, gave them a scare in 2021, losing 20-13, and led 17-14 at halftime before being blown out in the second half last November.

Michigan played three Group of Five teams in non-conference play — East Carolina (31-3), UNLV (35-7) and Bowling Green (31-6) — winning comfortably even in the last contest in which the Wolverines turned the ball over 4 times. Rutgers, meanwhile, beat Northwestern (24-7), Temple (36-7) and Virginia Tech (35-16) — not a murderer’s row, but potentially better than U-M’s slate to this point.

“You just look at the teams they’ve played. They’ve played two Power Five schools and pretty much dominated,” Bellamy said. “Those guys are not to be taken lightly. They have our ultimate attention, our focus, and we know it’s going to be a battle Saturday. Everything we do, we want to make sure we’re detailed in everything we do, just to make sure we put ourselves in the best position to be successful.”

Michigan freshman wide receivers earn early playing time

Harbaugh and Bellamy weren’t messing around when mentioning a trio of freshman wide receivers as impressing during fall camp. Fredrick Moore, Karmello English and Semaj Morgan have all played, with Moore and English having done so early on in games. Moore has 2 catches for 18 grabs, and Morgan had 1 catch for 35 on a free play late against UNLV. Moore (36), English (33) and Morgan (17) have combined to play 86 offensive snaps.

“They’re doing well,” the Michigan assistant coach said. “You can’t treat ‘em like freshmen. I tell them all the time, whoever we play, they’re not going to look across and go, ‘Oh, this is an 18-year-old freshman here. Take it easy on ‘em.’ No, they’re going to be attacking them like they would any other player. That has to be the mindset — we don’t treat them like freshmen.

“Those guys are diligent about their craft. That’s the thing I like about them, and that’s why they’re getting opportunities. Those guys constantly want to learn and make sure they’re dialed in and detailed in everything that they do.”