The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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OCTOBER 2017 THE WOLVERINE 43 than a million followers on Twitter — to take less-than-subtle digs at rival coaches. Though not referring to them by name, his points were always clear and stinging. Coaches were clearly divided on the satellite camp front. Many said their time is already consumed by football, and spending more time away from home just didn't work. Others, think- ing along the lines of Harbaugh, un- derstood its value as a recruiting tool and a way to expose high school play- ers to a number of different schools. Other programs had taken part in those types of camps over the years, but the expanded reach of Michigan's efforts was unequalled. Michigan defensive line coach Greg Mattison could see why competing coaches didn't like this Harbaugh move. Coaches have so little time off these days, and working that amount of camps would erase their dwindling free time. But in part what the camps do is put Michigan in front of players that maybe Michigan would never see or otherwise have a chance to woo. Conversely, many players who hadn't thought about Michigan would get a chance to at least con- sider the Wolverines. And, really, the majority attending the camp might have Division I aspirations but not be destined for, say, Michigan. They might get on the radar of other staffs working the camps, so in Harbaugh's mind, this was a win-win. Considering his belief — shared by his father and brother — that the game is under attack, Harbaugh would call it the most fun he had, spreading the Gospel of Football. There, he could be out in the sweltering heat, wear- ing khakis, his blue sweatshirt, and a jersey of someone famous from the area while coaching young boys how to play — and love — football. "They are tremendous," Mattison said of the camps. "You may not get a player out of them, you may get one or two, you may get a whole bunch, but what better thing is there for foot- ball than to take the Michigan football staff to a part of the country, coach young men — it's not expensive — let them get better at football, they get to know what we are, and then get in Detroit News beat writer Angelique Chengelis has been covering Michigan football since the early 1990s, and she knows plenty about the program. Though she wasn't con- vinced Jim Harbaugh would be U-M's next head coach following Brady Hoke's firing, she came around. She did plenty of research on the subject for her book Michigan Man: Jim Harbaugh and the Rebirth of Wolverines Football. "It's a team I've covered for a little while," she said. "Of the five coaches I've covered, Jim Harbaugh is awfully unique, and has regenerated and rejuvenated this pro- gram. It might be a little early for a book like this, but as a lot of coaches would say, 'Why not us?' Well, why not me?" One thing she discovered — former Michigan assistant Jack Harbaugh, Jim's dad, was critical in his son coming home and spoke with interim director of athlet- ics Jim Hackett frequently. "He talked a lot about that, being kind of the conduit between Jim Hackett and Jim Harbaugh," Chengelis said. "I think a lot of people had their hands in it, but Jack Harbaugh had a major role in it. He knew Jim Hackett, obviously, when [Hackett] was a player at Michigan. That was the way to broker the deal, essentially. "Jim Hackett, I don't think, felt comfortable going directly to Jim, and Jim was coaching [the NFL's San Francisco 49ers]. He didn't like that setup, either, so they had Jack Harbaugh in the middle … he sensed that Jim was ready to do that. He was able to tell Jim Hackett that, and from there they worked on making this happen." So, they did. Harbaugh was named head coach shortly after his San Francisco team finished its season, and those close to him say he couldn't be happier in Ann Arbor. Chengelis' sense after speaking with him was that he's here for the long haul. "I haven't had any in-depth conversa- tions with him, but the times I have talked to him privately … he's got plans," she said. "He's not thinking, 'Okay, what am I go- ing to do this year?' He's thinking a couple years ahead. To me, that doesn't sound like a guy who is going to just take off and leave for the NFL. "I think his family is very happy here, and his kids seem very well adjusted. His wife, Sarah, laughs that people thought during that time — mostly the NFL people — that, 'No way is he going to leave. Sarah's a California girl, and she loves it out here.' "She never felt that way. She said, 'I'm from Kansas City, Kansas. I'm not a California girl.' I think she likes it here. "The one thing that she said surprised her was she knew how big Michigan was, knew Jim was a big name and a big force, but she didn't realize how much Michigan affects so many people. There are so many alums, and she encounters it all the time. I think they're all enjoying this whole experi- ence, Jim in particular." New Book Sheds Light On The Harbaugh Coaching Search Defensive line coach Greg Mattison on the satellite camps "They are tremendous. You may not get a player out of them, you may get one or two, you may get a whole bunch, but what better thing is there for football than to take the Michigan foot- ball staff to a part of the country, coach young men — it's not expensive — let them get better at football, they get to know what we are, and then get in a plane or get in a car and get to the next place? Isn't that what coaches are supposed to do, try to help guys get better? That's what Jim's doing."