Wolverine TV: Jim Harbaugh discusses his return, Michigan win over Rutgers
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan Wolverines football head coach Jim Harbaugh met with the media following his team’s 31-7 win over Rutgers to open the Big Ten season. Watch video from his press conference in the player at the top of the screen.
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The Michigan defense allowed a 69-yard touchdown on Rutgers’ opening drive but didn’t give up any points after that in a dominant performance. Harbaugh harkened back to a Friday speech by defensive backs coach and co-defensive coordinator Steve Clinkscale.
“The thing that hit me was Friday I had coach Clink talk to the team after the Friday practice,” Harbaugh said. “He had a lot of good messages. One was don’t flinch. Repeated that a few times. As soon as that play came out, that’s one of those plays right out of the start of the game that could make the normal, the ordinary person or team flinch. That’s the first thing I thought of when I got back into the locker room after the game … they didn’t flinch Coach Clink. They did not.
“It was great. So much good in the defense. 77 yards on the ground on 23 carries. That’s a run wall. That’s big boy football. So proud of the guys.”
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Harbaugh returned to the Michigan sideline after his three-game, school-imposed suspension, like he never left, leading the Wolverines to victory.
“Just everyone kept saying welcome back; welcome back. I never really left, but I wasn’t where I was supposed to be,” Harbaugh said of the suspension and his return. “So, it was great to be back in here in the action. Where the competition is has always been the best part for me … playing football, and second best is being able to coach it. There’s nowhere I’d rather be than on the sideline coaching our team. Marv Levy used to say it all the time. It still resonates. Nowhere I’d rather be, when I’d rather be there … something like that. But I felt Marv Levy today. I was happy. I really wanted that win.
“Coach was happy, but our players, they wanted it more. You could just tell by the way they were playing and how happy they were. Coach wanted it, but the players wanted it even more. You could tell. It was great.”
Michigan takes on Nebraska in Lincoln next Saturday.
