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Wolverine TV: Jim Harbaugh discusses Ohio State win, 'one of the happiest moments of my life,' previews Big Ten championship

clayton-sayfieby:Clayton Sayfie•11/26/23•

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Jim Harbaugh
(Photo by Big Ten)

Michigan Wolverines football head coach Jim Harbaugh met with the media Sunday afternoon for the first time since his team beat Ohio State, 30-24, Saturday in Ann Arbor. Harbaugh was suspended for the game but will be back on the sideline for the Wolverines’ Big Ten championship tilt against Iowa.

Watch video of his Zoom press conference in the player at the top of the screen or on our YouTube channel.

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Michigan lost senior right guard Zak Zinter to a gruesome injury against Ohio State, and Harbaugh went to visit him at the hospital just after the game. He spoke about the emotions of seeing the captain go down with the ailment and also mentioned how it made him think about his stance on players deserving to be compensated.

“The emotions were with Zak and with him with his family,” Harbaugh said . “I was hoping for the best, but you start preparing for the worst. He’s just so tough, so strong. He ended up with a broken fibula and tibia. You really feel that.

“The other thought was, who could be against the players being compensated for what they do? At least even minimum wage. Who could argue against that? Whether there’s injury or not. I mean, the emotional buildup watching it on TV, There wasn’t a commercial that went by, a sporting event that was played all week that you didn’t see those two teams and the buildup and the hype and the talk about players’ legacies and everything that could possibly be rolled into one game on the line.

“And then you see the amount of people that are benefiting financially from those players’ efforts out there. I wonder who could be against that. I ask other coaches to get on board, to use their platform and their voice for the student athletes, not just football players, all student athletes, to be sharing in this ever-increasing revenue. That was another thought that I had, and I just don’t know who could be against that.”

Harbaugh will be back coaching Michigan this weekend against Iowa, but he said he “never left.” That’s true because he coached the team during the week the last three, even though he was forced by the Big Ten to miss the game.

“My focus has been on the team the entire time,” Harbaugh said. “It’s been a tremendous season. We’re right in the exact position that we hoped for and that we worked so hard to be in and now it’s onward. We’ve accomplished many of our goals, but not all of them yet.

“Some still are out there. Beating Michigan State, beating Penn State, beating Ohio State, winning the Big Ten East. Now the next is winning the conference championship, and that’s where our focus is.

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