Michigan, Harbaugh rejoin elites
INDIANAPOLIS – There was an old joke about Michigan football and Jim Harbaugh that no longer can be told.
Back when the program stagnated, rival fans indulging in schadenfreude used to snicker and say the Wolverines needed a GPS to find Indianapolis, site of the Big Ten title game.
The wisecrack was one of many slights absorbed in the past 12 months as they rebounded from the worst season of Harbaugh’s tenure. Each one was catalogued in Schembechler Hall, providing extra motivation for a turnaround no one anticipated.
“Sometimes just some of the stuff that’s out there, you just take it and ride with it and add fuel to the fire,” center Andrew Vastardis said with a wide smile.
Then on Saturday, Vastardis, U-M and its revived head coach had the last laugh, conquering the conference for the first time since 2004 and planting their flag in a city their loudest detractors said they’d never reach. The 42-3 victory over Iowa was an emphatic statement and the preamble to its invitation to the College Football Playoff berth, where the No. 2 Wolverines will face No. 3 Georgia in the Orange Bowl semifinal.
“How much more can we pile into one game?” Harbaugh wondered before his Wolverines dominated the Hawkeyes. “It’s a lot. The championship, chance to go to the playoffs. To walk past the sign we all walk by, ‘Those who will stay will be champions.’ To make that valid and true.”
The weight of history had been almost too much to bear for Harbaugh during the first six years of his regime. Upon returning to Ann Arbor, he was greeted as a savior by the legions of fans who wanted the Wolverines to return to their station among the sport’s elite. Ever since the turn of this century, the all-time winningest program resided in a tier below the best teams and dipped far below that plateau in its darkest periods.
A year ago, Michigan found itself at
one of those low points. The life had been sucked out of the Wolverines, as they went 2-4 while playing in front of empty stadiums during a global pandemic. Michigan’s fighting spirit had disappeared, and the program had lost its way. The defense couldn’t stop anyone, surrendering 34.5 points per game. The running game had been abandoned, averaging fewer rushing attempts than 12 other Big Ten teams.
As the Wolverines careened off track, Harbaugh’s enthusiasm ebbed, and some began to wonder whether he’d want to stick around to rebuild a team
that fell apart on his watch. That doubt intensified during a protracted contract standoff with the university, which ended in January when Harbaugh signed an unusual extension slashing his salary in half.
At his most vulnerable position, Harbaugh resolved to tear down the infrastructure and start anew. He hired six assistants – almost all of whom were 30-somethings. He reorganized the recruiting department. He fostered a more collaborative environment with the players, who were determined to chart a different course.
“Everyone bought in,” running back Blake Corum said. “Everyone saw a goal. Everyone realized how many people were doubting us. … But we believed in each other at the end of the day.”
Camaraderie and fellowship can be powerful forces, providing the intangible glue that bonds a team and sparks a rebound of the magnitude Michigan experienced. But the rise of the Wolverines can’t be explained by just one factor. There were so many to consider.
There was the rise of Cade Mcnamara, who willed his way into a starting role by outperforming Joe Milton at the end of 2020. There was Aidan Hutchinson returning to full health after fracturing his ankle last fall. There was the hiring of Mike Macdonald, the 34-year-old coordinator who installed a versatile scheme that galvanized the players.
And there was Harbaugh, a coach who rediscovered the essence of what made him a star in his profession.
Before the Wolverines defied prognosticators and launched their run to the College Football Playoff, Harbaugh made Michigan into the lean, mean, fighting machine that resembled the Wolverines who once powered to the top echelon of the sport. The offense would mow through opponents with a relentless ground attack. The defense would hold the line. To get where they wanted to go, they would earn every bit of it.
“Nobody’s owed anything,” Harbaugh said. “Nobody’s entitled to anything. But, as I said, when you’re around a group of guys that attack everything the way they attack their school work, their practice, and they want to give it their very best, you got a good feeling it’s going to happen.”
It did, as Michigan found its way. To 12 wins. To the top of the Big Ten in both rushing and scoring defense. To Indianapolis. To the College Football Playoff. And onto the biggest stage in the sport, where Michigan will now compete for a national championship.
“Nobody thought we could ever do this,” Hutchinson said. “Especially not this season.”
But here they are, back among the sport’s elite and looking down on those who said they’d never get there.