As the offseason window narrows and preparations for the upcoming football season near, there is a buoyancy in Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh’s outlook.
That’s what happens coming off back-to-back successful seasons that have produced a combined 25-3 record, two Big Ten titles and College Football Playoff appearances. The program has enjoyed a resurgence since the dismal 2-4 COVID-shortened 2020 season, and while it’s impossible to single out one thing that positively shifted the culture, it certainly seems like the momentum has snowballed in multiple ways, as evidenced by the return of several starters who could instead be preparing for their first NFL season and also with recruiting.
Aidan Hutchinson, who became the No. 2 overall pick of the 2022 NFL draft, is credited with having a significant role in the Michigan turnaround during his final season in 2021. Before the first game that year, Hutchinson told reporters that while nothing was wrong with the Michigan culture there were, “just things that needed to be improved.”
He never illuminated the specifics of what was improved, but clearly something changed. Today, Harbaugh has seen bars reached, like beating Ohio State which had dominated the last two decades of the rivalry, but knows there are higher ones still to achieve.
“I was really surprised after the ‘21 season, you felt like, OK, this is as good as it can get with everybody, players, coaches, staff going in the same direction,” Harbaugh said earlier this month during a break in the Sound Mind Sound Body camp at Wayne State. “In ’22, there was that cultural momentum that seemed even better.
“Now, I'm kind of saying it to myself, ‘It's gotta be as good as it can get.’ Seeing our players, our staff, our coaches, seems like there's even more cultural momentum. It's been fun to be around.”
The beginning of a football season really kicks off in June when the freshmen who didn’t enroll early and the transfer portal players who weren’t available for spring practice arrive on campus and the players work out and train on their own. There also was a spring trip that took the team to New York and Washington D.C. among other stops.
“Everybody seems to be in a good place,” Harbaugh said. “They seem regrouped and refreshed. I think the time off was good for them.”
Harbaugh's glow while discussing the upcoming season has been constant despite several offseason issues that have been anything but upbeat. In January, Michigan received a draft of an NCAA Notice of Allegations for alleged violations including a Level I — the NCAA’s most severe — against Harbaugh for allegedly misleading investigators looking into violations during a COVID-19 recruiting dead period. Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel said last week there is no update on the status of the NCAA investigation. Then, later in January, Matt Weiss, who had been co-offensive coordinator and quarterback coach, was fired after the UM Police Department opened an investigation into alleged computer crimes at Schembechler Hall, the football building. The investigation remains ongoing.
And last month, Glenn “Shemy” Schembechler, the son of the late former Michigan football coach Bo Schembechler, resigned three days after he announced on social media he had been hired as assistant director of Michigan football recruiting. This came after Schembechler’s Twitter timeline was found to have a number of posts and “likes” of multiple offensive and insensitive posts, including several suggesting slavery and Jim Crow were a positive to strengthen Black individuals and families. Harbaugh described Schembechler's timeline as "offensive" and "disappointing"
Despite the offseason challenges and an unsettled issue with the NCAA, Harbaugh has carried on. He has a coaching staff that seems to have hit the right note. Kirk Campbell moved from analyst to quarterbacks coach in the offseason replacing Weiss and Chris Partridge has returned and is coaching linebackers after spending the last three seasons as co-defensive coordinator at Ole Miss. Harbaugh has four former players on staff, Mike Hart, Mike Elston, Grant Newsome and Ron Bellamy, and Jesse Minter returns for a second season as defensive coordinator, Steve Clinkscale is back as co-defensive coordinator in charge of the defensive backs and Jay Harbaugh is coordinating special teams and coaching safeties. Moore has spent the last two seasons as co-offensive coordinator in charge of the offensive line but this year he is solo as coordinator.
“If someone says that idea stinks, you know they mean it stinks, not you stink,” Jay Harbaugh said of the chemistry among the assistants. “We have a really good staff in that way.”
Jim Harbaugh is always quick to include strength coach Ben Herbert, whose salary was bumped this year to $1 million, as an important piece of the puzzle. He described the energy in the weight room and described it as the "center of player development." The players, he said, have responded to conditioning demands and want more on their plate in the weight room and on the field.
"It's never where I get, 'Oh, Coach, why do we have to do this? Why are we doing this again? What is this, coach?'" Harbaugh said. "Guys are on the balls of their feet, just ready to attack with tremendous enthusiasm. Fun place to be. I enjoy the heck out of it every day."
Initially, it was about building a winning culture, but now, entering Harbaugh's ninth season as Michigan head coach, it’s about sustaining and adding to it. After all, the Wolverines have not achieved their ultimate goal of winning a national championship and have seen their seasons end in the national semifinals each of the last two years.
There are a number of things that make the Wolverines a Big Ten favorite this season. Having quarterback J.J. McCarthy, the full-time starter last season as a sophomore, back is enormous but it was the return of players like running back Blake Corum, in the Heisman Trophy running until he suffered a knee injury in the 11th game of the regular season, and offensive line starters Zak Zinter and Trevor Keegan, that has been impactful in terms of what Harbaugh referred to as cultural momentum.
“They came back because they love Michigan,” Michigan offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore said during a break in the camp. “They’ve got a goal as a team to be great.”
While the coaches will begin to iron out the details of the team and personnel when camp opens Aug. 1, Harbaugh’s overall breakdown is this — he likes this team. A lot.
“It's truly amazing — we don't have any bad guys,” Harbaugh said. “There's no bad person (among the) players, coaches or staff, especially the players. There's good guys, there's elite, great guys, there's guys that are good guys that are learning from the other guys. You've got the Heisman-habits guys, the great guys. No bad guys.
“Either that or they're impeccable with their timing, because every time I look at them, they're doing right. Every time I check the class attendance, they're do-right guys. Our guys have watched the Hassan Haskins come through, Aidan Hutchinson, evaluated them, emulated them and try to go make them proud. See that with Blake Corum. Just get in Blake Corum's pocket, do what he does. So many guys like that. There's momentum there. There's a real cultural momentum taking place.”
