The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/447116
Hackett noted: "One particularly famous pro coach, who had done broadcasting for many years, told me this: 'Jim Hackett, you didn't just get a great coach. You got the best coach in football today, college or pro, in Jim Harbaugh.'" The reaction everywhere argued against that statement being hyper- bole. NFL reporters backpedaled like Charles Woodson in his prime from their "no way" stance that a coach two years removed from the Super Bowl would return to college. Michigan season-ticket holders — many standing with arms folded in skeptical reticence about renew- ing following a 5-7 season — rushed back in droves to reserve a seat for 2015. Recruits who decommitted be- gan taking a second look, and others not considering Michigan immedi- ately began doing so. Harbaugh himself rejected the "messiah" tag, tossed at him in a Dec. 30 introductory press confer- ence jammed with more media than Michigan has seen since Bo Schem- bechler announced his retirement. "I'm not comfortable with that at all," Harbaugh noted. "I'm standing on a foundation that has been built for over a hundred years. I feel like I'm standing on their shoulders. I want to do a good job. I want to be good. We want to win. After being introduced as U-M's new head football coach, Harbaugh (second from right) posed with, from left to right, former head coach Lloyd Carr, interim athletic director Jim Hackett and former head coach Gary Moeller. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN