The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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experience, including as an offensive coordinator. There's the retained commitment of Greg Mattison, the perfect bridge between present play- ers and new staff. And of course, there's Harbaugh himself. He just wins. Anything else feels as intolerable as a Buckeye necklace on the Schembechler statue. When Harbaugh arrived at Stan- ford in 2007, the Cardinal might as well have been a dead duck. It boasted seven winning seasons among the previous 28. In the five years leading up to Harbaugh's stint in Palo Alto, Stanford stood 16-40 and was 1-11 in 2006. The change proved so abrupt, so dynamic, that even a 4-8 first season there energized the roster. And why not? Those four wins included the 24-23 victory over No. 1 USC, a game considered one of the greatest upsets in college football history. Harbaugh simply proved a game changer, insisted former Stanford of- fensive tackle Chris Marinelli, who played under Michigan's new boss in those years. "Our program has gotten to the point now where, if you don't make a BCS game, it isn't what we expect," Marinelli insisted. "It isn't our stan- dard. That was the standard he set for us. Even when we were 4-8, he had that standard in place. Eventu- ally, guys come to expect that." Harbaugh coached an Andrew Luck-led Stanford team to a 12-1 season and the Orange Bowl before moving on to the 49ers, where he also revived San Francisco's mori- bund NFL franchise. Given its new foundation, Stanford has been to two Rose Bowls and a Fiesta Bowl over the past four years. Michigan is about to celebrate a re- vival of its own, Marinelli promised. Just watch. While U-M fans are excited over the whirlwind to come, Marinelli once stood in the eye of the storm. He knows what Harbaugh produces and is as eager as anyone to see it play out. "He worked us hard," Marinelli recalled. "He was the hardest worker out of anyone. Our strength coach certainly worked us hard. It was nothing we weren't familiar with, and nothing we weren't willing to do for him and for the program. We believed in him, and that whatever he was telling us was going to lead us to success." Harbaugh also brought a fierce, proud, unyielding challenge to the biggest bully on the block at the time. It was Pete Carroll and USC back then. It's Urban Meyer and Ohio State now. Strictly speaking, Michigan's class of 2015 won't turn any heads among the stargazers. In a broader sense, it may be looked back on as spectacu- lar. "You'll be surprised where that whole program is, soon," Marinelli said. "I can't wait to watch it hap- pen." ❏ Editor John Borton has been with The Wolverine since 1991. Contact him at jborton@thewolverine.com and follow him on Twitter @JB _ Wolverine.