Michigan assistant Mike Hart on recruiting trail to see four-star RB commit Cole Cabana
Michigan Wolverines football running backs coach and run game coordinator Mike Hart collapsed and suffered what was reported as a seizure in last Saturday’s game at Indiana. He stayed overnight Saturday in a Bloomington area hospital, before releasing a statement Monday saying he was trending in the right direction and looking forward to rejoining the team soon.
According to Michigan co-offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore, Hart joined meetings via Zoom during the week and contributed to the Wolverines’ game plan for its Saturday afternoon showdown with Penn State.
Now, Hart has been spotted on the recruiting trail by our EJ Holland. Hart is in attendance at the Dexter (Mich.) High vs. Saline (Mich.) High game to support four-star Michigan running back commit Cole Cabana.
This week, head coach Jim Harbaugh received a waiver for analyst Fred Jackson, who was an assistant at U-M for 22 years from 1992-2014, including Hart’s running backs coach, to step in while Hart was out.
There hasn’t been official word as to whether or not Hart will be full-go for Michigan’s clash with the Nittany Lions, but this is only positive news for his chances.
Not only is it a big game for the 2022 Wolverines, but Michigan will be dedicating The Big House tunnel to Hart’s former head coach Lloyd Carr, something he wouldn’t want to miss.
Michigan game plan not hindered by Hart incident
Moore explained this week how Hart was still contributing virtually and Jackson is helping.
“Oh, man. Fred is awesome,” Moore said with a huge smile. “Really nothing has been different, we’ve had Mike Zoom in. He’s doing well, as he’s put out [in a statement]. He’s Zoomed in on meetings, so game planning has been the same. Coach Jackson always has an input in the game plan, so it’s been good and the game planning has been the same.”
After Hart went down last Saturday, Michigan players appeared rattled, and some were seen with tears in their eyes. They had to resume play, of course, and the Wolverines’ offense sputtered toward the end of the first half. The sideline energy was off until the team reset at halftime, learned Hart was OK and could process everything.
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“You watch the first drive — really good execution,” Moore said of Michigan’s 31-10 win over Indiana and the impact the incident may have had on the offense’s struggles. “You watch a couple of those drives in there and it’s just up and down.
“I do think there was an emotional factor of the kids thinking about Coach Hart. It’s not an excuse, but it’s real life. You’ve got 18- to 22-year-old kids thinking about a coach that just went down.
“It really was the execution piece, we did things that were kind of out of character. We had penalties we usually don’t get, guys not in the right spot in the passing game. In the run game, not ID’ing where we need to be. I think that was a big part of it.”
Michigan scored 3 touchdowns and racked up 263 total yards in the second half while running away with the victory.
“In the second half, we regrouped and you saw what you saw,” Moore said. “I think it was a really great job by the kids to handle that situation the way they did and play the way they did.”
