Jim Harbaugh reveals message in Michigan team meeting as he returns to sideline
The Maize and Blue are 3-0, ranked No. 2 in the country and the favorite to win a third straight Big Ten championship, but the Michigan Wolverines football sideline has been missing something over the last three weeks: the program’s leader. Head coach Jim Harbaugh just wrapped up serving a three-game, school-imposed suspension due to an alleged NCAA violation, and will be back Saturday against Rutgers at The Big House.
The Wolverines vowed to make Harbaugh proud while he was out, and by all accounts they’ve done that. The Michigan coach has gone into full detail on how pleased he’s been with their play. Now, the players are excited to have their leader back as the battles get tougher with Big Ten play on tap.
“Most definitely excited, and even more excited we got Coach Harbaugh back, too — our proud leader around here,” junior running back Donovan Edwards said on the ‘Inside Michigan Football’ radio show, joining the program with Harbaugh last second after being invited on by host Jon Jansen mid-show.
“It’s gonna be how it normally is. The person that’s in charge of the whole team, who we’re looking to like, ‘What are we gonna do?’ Coach Harbaugh has all the answers. He’s always preparing us from training camp, we’re always intact, we’re always knowing what we’re going to do in any situation. Like how we have meetings on what to do or what not to do in critical situations. It’s great to have him, because he knows exactly what to do.”
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Michigan had four assistant coaches fill in as interim head coach for the three games Harbaugh missed. Harbaugh, the 2022 Big Ten Coach of the Year and widely viewed as one of the nation’s best, insisted that he won’t bring anything more than what the others did in his place.
“And I won’t be doing any better than any of the coaches have done,” Harbaugh said. “They have done everything right, everything good. I can’t do anything better than what Jesse Minter did, what Jay Harbaugh, Mike Hart, Sherrone Moore … they did everything that could be done. We won, we came out healthy. They put our guys in any position where we didn’t have any injuries or any long-term injuries. They did a spectacular job.”
On that note, Harbaugh shared what he told the team during a meeting on Monday.
“I want to remind Donovan what I told the players today in the meeting which is, ‘Get ahead, let’s stay ahead and get so far ahead that I can’t screw it up.’ That’s what I’m hoping for,” the Michigan coach said.
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“Keep those expectations low. I cannot do any better than what the coaches have done. I’ll contribute where I can, but it’s going to be the same. Get ahead, stay ahead and hopefully get so far ahead that I can’t screw it up.”
Jim Harbaugh on a Michigan defense ‘ignitor’
The Michigan defense has been dominant through three weeks, leading the nation with 5.3 points allowed per game. The starters have only allowed 6 points on a pair of field goals by Bowling Green.
One of the top stars has been senior EDGE Jaylen Harrell, who appears to have taken his game to another level. He leads the team and ranks tied second in the Big Ten with 2.5 sacks, 1 of which came in the Bowling Green game. That same night, he pressured the quarterback to help cause senior defensive tackle Kris Jenkins‘ interception. On the next drive, he poked the ball free and Michigan recovered the fumble. The game changed in that important third quarter, after the Wolverines led only 14-6 coming out of halftime.
“He did it last week on the field. Ignitor, tone-setter, difference-maker,” Harbaugh said. “Difference-maker on the field, it’s like somebody that makes the magic happen when you need it to happen. He’s the guy; he’s been doing that. The sack, the caused fumble, the forced interception to Kris. There are all kinds of ways he’s doing it, and doing it with consistency.”
