Fade at finish in ’16 a motivating factor for Michigan
For all the hype and headlines around Jim Harbaugh, for all the praise he has received as Michigan’s football coach, he has not beaten Ohio State since arriving in December 2014, losing two in a row to the Buckeyes.
And the Wolverines entered this past offseason on a disastrous note after losing three of their last four games after starting 9-0.
Those things matter, even moving forward. They are motivating Harbaugh and motivating this team.
“I hope a lot,” Harbaugh said Tuesday at the Big Ten media days. “I know it has (motivated) a lot of us, myself included. Lost three out of the last four games. OK, good. Maybe that will motivate us to put more into it. Coach better. Play better. Train harder. Put more of our heart into each and every one of those ballgames.”
After leaving the podium, Harbaugh walked into a hallway, where he again was surrounded by reporters.
“Jim, have you had any fun while you are back in Chicago?” a reporter asked the former Chicago Bears quarterback. “Have you done anything non-football related?”
Harbaugh wanted no part of that question, as the reminder of losing was stuck in his head.
“No, no,” Harbaugh said. “I’m avoiding all fun stuff. I’m concentrating on preparing ourselves for the season. I’m avoiding all fun things. We lost three of our last four games last year. Two by one point and one by three points in overtime. I didn’t like that feeling. That’s motivated us to pour more time into the football team and our jobs and give more effort and pour more of heart and soul into it and avoid fun stuff.”
Now, he was speaking tongue- in-cheek — to a point.
“What about players? Are they avoiding fun stuff ?” another reporter asked.
“I hope they have the same feeling,” Harbaugh said. “I hope they didn’t like losing those ballgames because they won a lot of ballgames, too. They won like nine straight games. There is nothing better than the high-five after a ballgame. Nothing better than the high-five. That feeling compared to the one where you are losing a game by one point or in overtime, much better to get the high-five. I think a lot of guys on our team have learned it. I think it’s made things hotter, more competitive in spring practice and during summer conditioning. We’ll find out where their mindset is next Monday, when we start practice.”
Granted, the losses last season were close games.
A one-point loss to Florida State. A one-point loss to Iowa. And a double-overtime loss to Ohio State.
What does he regret about the game against the Buckeyes?
“I think the biggest one for me was throwing the ball off of our goal line,” Harbaugh said. “I kick myself. I think about them all the time. I try not to repeat those mistakes. I try not to be an error repeater.”
Clearly, those three losses still sting. Tuesday, they were hanging right on the surface. The truth is, they always are.
Harbaugh knows how to fix it. Work harder. Give more.
“We are gonna use that as coming to an understanding that we have to put more into this,” Harbaugh said. “We gotta put more of our talent, more of our effort, more of our heart into coaching these guys, and the guys that are playing have to do the same thing.”
The Wolverines enter this season in a strange place.
Michigan returns only five starters, the fewest in college football, according to longtime expert Phil Steele.
And one of those starters, quarterback Wilton Speight, has not locked up his starting job. Harbaugh said Speight is tied “for first” for the starting job with redshirt freshman Brandon Peters and senior John O’Korn.
As if to underscore the point, Harbaugh did not bring Speight to this media day.
“They are all in a really good position,” Harbaugh said. “They are going to have at it.”
So Michigan is young — with only one returning starter on defense — but has talent.
There are opportunities across the field. Opportunities to succeed. Opportunities to fail.
“It comes with ifs and conditions,” Harbaugh said. “If this (happens), we’ll be good. If we don’t do that, then we won’t. I know this: Getting ourselves to be better, to give more of ourselves, more of our heart, more of our talent, it’s going to take that to be better this year.”
Throughout the day, in several media sessions, Harbaugh praised defensive lineman Rashan Gary, who is part of a large, talented group of sophomores.
That brings us one of Harbaugh’s theories. “Historically, I’ve learned, the biggest jump you can make as a player in college is going from that freshman year to that sophomore year,” Harbaugh said. “That’s exciting. That was a big class. That was a talented class. I’m going to pour a lot of coaching into those youngsters. They are all ears. They are listening. They want to be good.”
Those sophomores experienced something important last season. Something that will carry over into training camp.
Losing three of their last four games.
“Lost three out of the last four games. OK, good. Maybe that will motivate us to put more into it. Coach better. Play better. Train harder.” Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh