The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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26 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2015 FOOTBALL PREVIEW BY JOHN BORTON he coach didn't sit calmly, dispassionately making his recruiting pitch. Oh no, not this coach. He brought a combination of Tasmanian devil and Southern gospel preacher to a prospect's living room. He'd jump to his feet, fully engaged in the message. He'd gesticulate wildly, demon- strating how the prospect would fit into the scheme at his position. He'd implore with such passion, it was as if he were readying for battle, rather than trying to expand a roster. Meanwhile, Western Kentucky's actual head coach looked on, taking it all in. Jack Harbaugh knew better than to say too much when his youngest son was on a roll. "I would marvel at this guy," the elder Harbaugh offered. "He was playing for the Chicago Bears at the time, and they all knew him as the quarterback for the Bears. Here he is, passionately talking about Western Kentucky University and how these young- sters were going to fit into the program. "Sometimes I would say something and he'd go, 'Uh, that's a good point. We'll come back to that in a minute,' because he was on a point, and he didn't need to be interrupted by anyone." Few have ever deterred Jim Harbaugh when he's making his point. They didn't when he quarterbacked the Wolverines for Bo Schembechler some three decades ago. They didn't when he went on to a lengthy NFL career for the Bears, Indianapolis Colts, Baltimore Ravens and San Diego Chargers. They didn't move him off point when, still in the NFL, he jumped in to help save the Western Kentucky program that had been targeted for extinction. They didn't while he took the coaching profession by storm, from the University of San Diego, to Stanford, to the NFL's San Francisco 49ers. Now that he's back in Ann Arbor, Harbaugh certainly isn't slowing down, to the notice not only of his Big Ten counterparts but to those across the nation. From bringing in fifth-year grad transfers, to expanding Michigan football's support staff, to ruffling feathers with appearances at satellite football camps, Harbaugh remains at hurricane strength, living up to his self- proclaimed relentlessness. "I don't take vacations. I don't get sick. I don't observe major holidays. I'm a jack- hammer," Harbaugh once notably declared. He's hammering away for Michigan now, and U-M football fans remain in a bit of a pinch-me mode. Somehow it all fell together for The Big House and an established NFL coach to meet again. Following six of seven seasons of Michi- gan football that would have felt cringe- worthy in the decades that preceded them, Wolverine diehards are both relieved and giddy with anticipation. A Manic Moses Arrives "I'm not comfortable with that at all," Harbaugh noted, when the 'savior' tag got tossed at him immediately after his homecoming to Ann Arbor. "I want to do a good job," he simply stated. "We want to be good. We want to win on the practice field, we want to win in the classroom, we want to win in the community and we want to win on fall after- noons. We'll have great expectations for that, and I can't wait." Neither can Michigan fans. Other than the 11-2 record Brady Hoke's first crew of Wol- verines produced, the tally since Lloyd Carr's final season as Michigan head coach reads as follows: 3-9, 5-7, 7-6, 8-5, 7-6, and 5-7. Nearly all those records feature as many or more losses than in any Michigan football fall since 1984, when Schembechler's least successful squad went 6-6. That's the year when Michigan's quarter- back — Harbaugh, of course — broke his arm in the Michigan State game. "It's an indication of how important he was," former U-M player and assistant coach 26 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2015 FOOTBALL PREVIEW Baltimore Ravens and San Diego Chargers. They didn't move him off point when, still in the NFL, he jumped in to help save the Western Kentucky program that had been targeted for extinction. They didn't while he took the coaching profession by storm, from the University of San Diego, to Stanford, to the NFL's San Francisco 49ers. Now that he's back in Ann Arbor, Harbaugh certainly isn't slowing worthy in the decades that preceded them, Wolverine diehards are both relieved and giddy with anticipation. A Manic Moses Arrives "I'm not comfortable with that at all," Harbaugh noted, when the 'savior' tag got tossed at him immediately job," he simply stated. "We want to be good. We want to win on the practice field, we want to win in the classroom, we want to win in the community and we want to win on fall after- noons. We'll have great expectations for that, and I can't wait." Neither can Michigan fans. Other than the 11-2 record Brady Hoke's first crew of Wol- verines produced, the tally since Lloyd Carr's final season as Michigan head coach reads as follows: 3-9, 5-7, 7-6, 8-5, 7-6, and 5-7. Nearly all those records feature as many or more losses than in any Michigan football fall since 1984, when Schembechler's least successful squad went 6-6. That's the year when Michigan's quarter- back — Harbaugh, of course — broke his arm in the Michigan State game. "It's an indication of how important he was," former U-M player and assistant coach Since being hired at U-M, Harbaugh has remained in the headlines, pulling crash victims from a rolled-over vehicle off I-94 and securing spots for his coaching staff in satellite football camps across the country, PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN The ill To in Jim Harbaugh Brings A Competitive Passion To Coaching And Life The ill To