How Jay Harbaugh, Mike Hart will split Michigan head-coaching duties against UNLV: 'It's all about the team'

Michigan Wolverines football is heading into its second outing without ninth-year head coach Jim Harbaugh, who’s serving a school-imposed three-game suspension to begin the year. Harbaugh can coach every day except Saturday, when special teams coordinator and safeties coach Jay Harbaugh will handle the first half and run game coordinator and running backs coach Mike Hart will lead the second half.

Jay Harbaugh, the son of the Michigan head coach, also in his ninth season on staff, and Hart have met already this week and will continue to do so leading into Saturday’s clash with UNLV. Harbaugh will give the pregame speech, and he’ll pass the proverbial baton to Hart at halftime, when he’ll make adjustments and lead the team back out to finish things off.

“Obviously, we have a great opponent coming in. Hopefully, we take care of business, the second half is easy for me and I just don’t have to mess it up,” Hart said with a smile.

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Hart — Michigan’s all-time leading rusher who’s in his third year on staff — and Harbaugh have offices next door to each other. They’ve formed a friendship over the years.

“I’m really excited and grateful for the opportunity that Coach [Jim] Harbaugh has given myself and Mike Hart,” Harbaugh said. “I feel like Coach Harbaugh said it best, whoever is in that role is trying to be the ‘guardian of victory’ and carry the spirit that the head coach has, which is, it’s all about the team. It’s not about the offense, defense or special teams. It’s not about the coaches or any of the players. It’s about the team as a whole, and doing everything you can to put the team in the best position to win.

“Coach Hart and I are going to try to do the best we can to prove him right and carry that spirit into this game.”

“Coach Jay and I will be working together,” Hart explained. “This is a tremendous opportunity to work with Jay. Jay is a phenomenal coach. I don’t think he gets a lot of the respect that he deserves. He’s coached offense, he’s coached defense, he’s special teams coordinator. He knows football well; he’s one of the hardest workers I know. So to be able to share this opportunity with him is an honor.”

Hart and Harbaugh explained that Jim Harbaugh ‘coaches the coaches,’ which has helped prepare them for this challenge, even though they’d much rather have the head man on the sideline. Last week, Michigan was without both Jim Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore, who served a one-game suspension. Defensive coordinator Jesse Minter stepped in and led the Wolverines to a 30-3 season-opening victory over East Carolina. Moore will lead the way Sept. 16 against Bowling Green.

Jay Harbaugh said he won’t have any extra nerves Saturday, despite the added responsibility.

“I get nervous before games any way,” Harbaugh said. “I think it’s a normal part of competition. You’re preparing, you get anxious and excited for what’s in store. You have a lot of cool plays or cool schemes or, hey, how’s this guy going to do. That’s a very exciting thing; there’s a lot of build-up to that, and I think for coaches a lot of times it’s the same as the players — the ball is kicked off, and it’s like, ‘Oh, great, this is just football.’ But really, really excited about it.”

Conversations within the Michigan coaches’ headsets

While each assistant will have more on their plate Saturday, the overall operation won’t be all that different without the Michigan head coach. Both said that’s a testament to what Jim Harbaugh has built and the health of the staff. Hart shared some more insight.

“The way Coach Harbaugh sets it up and the way we do game day anyway, the way we talk about things in the headset, it’s nothing that’s abnormal,” the Michigan position coach explained. “Jay’s going to be on the headset with the offense [in the first half]. ‘Hey, are we gonna go for it, are we not gonna go for it, what are we gonna do?’ All those discussions, you have, it’s just you have to make the final call, is the difference.

“But we talk about those things all the time with Coach Harbaugh. He makes the final call. We know the situation, we know what’s going on and then Jay will make the final call. ‘Are we kicking a field goal? Are we punting? What are we doing?’ 

“Same thing last week with Coach Minter, he was on our headset — ’hey, go for it. You guys have four downs here. You have three downs here. If you get to fourth and one, you’ll go for it. If it’s 4th and 6, we’ll kick a field goal.’ You have those discussions every week. It’s just the guy that makes the final call is just different. I look forward to it and hopefully make the right decisions and don’t mess up.”

Mike Hart’s aspirations

Hart, who interviewed for Western Michigan’s head-coaching vacancy last season, said he has aspirations and “plans to” run his own program one day.

Jim Harbaugh has stated that while he’d much rather be out there with the Wolverines the first three games, he’s happy to showcase his assistants in an increased role.

“It’s just an honor,” Hart said. “For Coach Harbaugh to entrust me to be a head coach for a half, it’s just an honor. And obviously, I love Michigan, I love this place and it means a lot to be entrusted with this opportunity. Coach Harbaugh is a phenomenal coach; he’s a hall-of-fame coach. He does nothing but win. So for him to entrust me — with the coordinators — it just means a lot. I’m really appreciative of him, and him believing in me.”