The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/629217
There were a few disappointments, but the way we lost to Michigan State should be further proof that we're not going to get pushed around in that ri- valry anymore, while with Ohio State, it's a barometer for us. We know what we have to do talent-wise to compete with Ohio State. Copenhaver: Going into this season, the over/under for Michigan was around seven wins. I think if you told anyone before the season that this team, with the roster it had and based off last year 's performance, would have a nine- or 10-win season, they would have taken it. I think it was successful based off the performance of the defense, the evolu- tion of the quarterback play and the evolution of the defense when we had so many injuries to a key position like the defensive line. Ray: Any time a team can double its win total from five to 10 and win their bowl game, it's a huge success. Winning cures all and Jim Harbaugh changed the culture and mentality of Michigan football from "hoping" to win to "expecting" to win. The Wolverine: What impressed you about first-year head coach Jim Har- baugh? Skene: Coach Harbaugh appeared to strip any entitlement culture that existed and built a team that thrived on competition. The "Legends Jer- sey" charade was taken away, and he brought back all the great things about Michigan football that he experienced during the Bo Schembechler years: open competition at all spots, try hard or leave the program, helmet stickers, no dancing players on the field draw- ing attention to themselves, etc. In short, he hit the reset button and put the program back on the footing it was built on. Simpkins: With the hype that was surrounding this guy all summer and before the season, I didn't know how he would respond to having that much attention on him, but all the way through the year and in the bowl game … he lived up to the hype and even exceeded it. A lot of first-year coaches come in with high expectations and then they fall a little flat their first year, but he was better than we even imagined. Copenhaver: His ability to get the best out of players and develop players. That was a catchphrase the last few years with an inability of the previous staff to develop players. With the exception of the lineback- ers, I thought every single position group on this entire football team got better every week, and that's some- thing we were told to expect to see from a Harbaugh-coached team, and he lived up to that. Van Bergen: I would have to say his demeanor. It seemed like the team took on his personality. Everyone can preach blue collar and work ethic, but there is pressure to con- form to a lot of opinions, especially at a place like Michigan, on how to conduct yourself and run a program — Harbaugh does things his way and the team embraced him instead of resist- ing change, and that's why they were successful. There is a lot to be said for how he sticks with his own personal game