Why Jim Harbaugh says Michigan football has 'awesome vibe' ahead of 2022 season

Michigan Wolverines football is looking to repeat as Big Ten champions, one year after winning its first league title since 2004. The Maize and Blue lost key pieces from last year’s team, and now they’ll have an even bigger target on their back, but head coach Jim Harbaugh is confident the players on the squad understand what it’s going to take to get back to the top.

Michigan has a clean slate, Harbaugh said on the Jed Hughes podcast, meaning last year is in the past, though opponents may be even more motivated to knock the Wolverines off their perch.

“You gotta re-win all those games again, right?” the Michigan coach said. “They’re not going to win themselves. We’re going to have to re-win them, and get prepared to do that. You’ve gotta figure that teams like Ohio State, Iowa is on the schedule again, they’re going to be very motivated to return the favor.”

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The Wolverines are motivated, too, Harbaugh said. He likes what he’s seen so far this offseason from his players who have the championship experience under their belts.

“We feel like we have a really good template from last season’s team — just a gritty bunch of guys who are the backbone of our team, guys that stayed the course, that didn’t flinch, they didn’t quit or fold at the slightest sign of adversity, and they produced at a very high level,” Harbaugh said. “Our team is seeing what the results are from when everybody buys in and everybody is pulling in the same direction, everybody is bleeding blue — just how good it can be.

“I would describe the word as the ‘vibe’ that is on our team, guys are looking for opportunity everywhere they can find it, trying to get better today than they were yesterday, trying to be better tomorrow than they were today. It’s really awesome.”

“I’ll tell you another thing along those lines, there are some really great players, great leaders, that have moved on to the NFL — Aidan Hutchinson, Hassan Haskins, some amazing players like Brad Hawkins and Andrew Stueber, Josh Ross, Andrew Vastardis, real leaders, captains on our team. Our younger guys were able to see how they went about their business, how much they cared about the team.”

Harbaugh especially believes Hutchinson, Michigan’s MVP and the Heisman Trophy runner-up last season, had a huge impact.

“Aidan Hutchinson is the perfect example of a guy … you would not fault him a bit if he had a big ego or if he was cocky or if he had a big head,” Harbaugh continued. “He’s got every right to, he checks every box, he does everything right. And the fact that he doesn’t is just awesome, the fact that he has humility, checks his ego at the door, no big ego, no big head, always feels there is room for improvement. Our guys can see, ‘That’s awesome. That’s even more awesome.’

“Some really good examples, as we try to replace some phenomenal players — Dax Hill, David Ojabo, etc. I just see the younger class — the guys who were junior last year, now becoming seniors, freshmen becoming sophomores, sophomores becoming juniors — that they’re poised and ready and not insecure about filling in those roles.”

Michigan seniors have ‘the most invested’

Hughes asked if Harbaugh is following the mold of how former Michigan head coach Bo Schembechler relied on his seniors to set the tone. To that, the U-M head man said it’s very similar now to what it was back then.

“There’s no question they’re the ones that have the most invested,” Harbaugh said.
They’ve been here the longest, they’re the ones that stayed through adversity, through some really good times as well.

“Without them, none of it is possible. They’re the kind of guys that set the tone for it all, literally put the train on their back, and they start pushing, and the rest of us jump on and start pushing and joining in.

“Those are the ones who have gone through the most training cycles, the most practices, the most games. They’ve invested so much. So they’re the ones — good or bad — that the younger players, the other players, are going to follow.”