Michigan RB Blake Corum talks 'amazing' fall camp, goals for the season and 'process over prize'
Michigan Wolverines football senior running back Blake Corum was 98 percent healthy entering fall camp, and now he says he’s up to 99, coming off a knee injury he suffered last November. The 2022 unanimous All-American rushed for 1,463 yards and 18 touchdowns a year ago and surprised by returning for one more season in Ann Arbor. Corum has been practicing with Michigan in preparation for the 2023 campaign.
“I’m like 99 percent now,” Corum said on The 33rd Team’s ‘Road To Recovery.’ “I’ve got that one percent to get, and that’s going to come over these next two, three weeks. But by September 2nd, I’ll be ready to shine against East Carolina. My knee is good, my spirits are good, my mentals are good. I’m excited to be back out there with the boys and give y’all a show in The Big house come September 2nd.
“I’ve been participating in fall camp going on two weeks now. My cutting ability is great. But there are some minor things I want to tweak to it, just to be better than I was last year. Right now, I’m already as good as I was last year, but I want to be even better, so that’s where that last one percent comes in — and it’s coming. Now, it’s just a lot of reps, just being where my feet are day in and day out. By September 2nd, I’ll be 100 percent.”
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Corum finished seventh in Heisman Trophy voting and was named the best player in the Big Ten by the league’s coaches. Personal awards have never satisfied him, even though he’s embraced them, and he’s more focused on team success in 2023 than anything else. The Wolverines have won the Big Ten and appeared in the College Football Playoff each of the last two seasons, but they’re motivated to make it even further this fall.
“My goals are really simple. That’s to go undefeated,” the Michigan star said. “Personal goals, I don’t really have too many. My only personal goal is that I’ll do what I did last year, and if that comes with awards, cool. If it doesn’t, cool. My main thing is really just bringing the bigger picture back to Ann Arbor, and we all know what that bigger picture is. That’s my mindset.
“I talk about being where my feet are, because that’s the key. We’re at Game 1, Game 2, Game 3, Game 4. We have to beat Michigan State and we have to go there. We have to beat Penn State, and we have to go to Beaver Stadium. We have to beat Ohio State, and then we gotta win the Big Ten championship. It’s a process. That’s something we’re saying — ’process over prize.’ When I talk about goals, it’s really just winning each day, each week, each month until we get to that bigger goal.”
Blake Corum on relationship with Jim Harbaugh: ‘We’re kinda the same person’
Corum discussed his connection with Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh. The head man told Corum he wouldn’t have been upset if he went to the NFL after last season, but the running back decided to stay nonetheless, which made Harbaugh’s offseason, he said.
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“Coach Harbaugh is one of the most consistent people I’ve ever been around,” Corum said. “You know what you’re going to get; you know what you’re going to expect. It’s great.
“Our relationship is definitely one of a kind, because we both are passionate about football, we both love football, we both love helping the community. We’re kinda the same person.
“It’s great playing for a coach like that, because he has your best interests [in mind], and you want to make him look the best, and that’s what we do here at Schem. We try to make Coach Harbaugh look like the best coach, which he is.
“Our relationship is great. I’m fortunate enough to play with Coach Harbaugh. I bet you a lot of people would die to play for him. He’s a legend. It’s something special; it’s something that I really cherish. I would do anything for Coach Harbaugh. He’s such a great coach, and he loves his guys and he loves the game.”
