The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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FEBRUARY 2022 THE WOLVERINE 25 Hutchinson and Michigan's other de- parting leaders. "This is the bigger unknown," Skene said. "The guys that are going to come back next year, I hope they were paying attention. I hope they've taken notes. "The next class has to step up and be the new guy that plays a position that no one knows about, that turns out to be a heck of a player, like Andrew Vastardis was this year for Michigan. The next guy who wants to ascend to the top of the col- lege football game and be the best player he can possibly be before he leaves Ann Arbor needs to follow Aidan Hutchin- son's leadership. "The next guy that needs to be the linebacker behind Ross, and play with a sore neck and through all the injuries you go through as the season goes on … this will be heavily dependent on the charac- ter of the young men that will be return- ing to Michigan." That roster makeup, Skene assured, falls on the Michigan staff. The Wolver- ines annually draw highly ranked recruit- ing classes, but the class within the class makes all the difference. Skene recalls the process, very well. He lived it, going from the Bo Schem- bechler teams of the late 1980s to the Gary Moeller crews of the early '90s. Bring in the right people. Teach them well. Work like crazy. Formulate the win- ning attitudes. And build on success — something the returning Wolverines get to do with their own conference champi- onship ring for the first time since 2004. Skene will be watching closely to see it all play out, to see if the Wolverines truly absorbed all the lessons available through their rise back to the top of the Big Ten. "It's Jim Harbaugh and his staff, re- cruiting the right guys that love football and love to play for Michigan," Skene in- sisted. "The program will be at a new be- ginning, as Harbaugh says. It will be, be- cause guys will see, this is what it takes. It starts in January, and it goes all the way through November and into December. This is what it looks like. "This is this team's gift to future Michi- gan teams. An actual example, in real life, what it looks like. There isn't a guy on that team that can even remember. How old were they in 2004, when Michigan shared a title? They were little kids! "They've never seen it up close and personal, but now they have. They've experienced it. As they recruit kids out of high school, you're looking for the same indicators. We play together, we celebrate together, we care about each other, and we're going to have each oth- ers' backs. "And then we're going to stomp on people and hoist a trophy at the end of the season. And then we're going to go on and play NFL football, if we're good enough. Or we're going to go on and do whatever we're going to do, but while we're HERE, we're going to do this together. "That is the special sauce that every championship team that Michigan has ever had demonstrated as the common denominator. You can go to the reunions and you can talk to the players, and they'll tell you the same things. "It doesn't matter what era, what de- cade or what season it was — they all say the same things." MORE ELEMENTS FOR THE WINNING FORMULA Michigan's November featured a pair of victories that won't soon be forgotten. The Wolverines toughed out a 21-17 win over Penn State in front of a hostile crowd in Happy Valley, including rallying from behind in the final moments. They also slew the dragon, in the snow, in front of wildly appreciative, nearly disbelieving fans. The 42-27 win over Ohio State underscored a key ingredient Karsch has long maintained as an MIA for Michigan teams in recent years. "The key to this team's success was, their best players stepped up in their biggest games," he pointed out. "When they got to November, especially, Aidan Hutchinson was a force. The offensive line was a force. Hassan Haskins was un- stoppable. "[Sophomore tight end] Erick All made plays, the quarterbacks made plays. Peo- ple used to make fun of Michigan play- ers winning September Heismans. Well, Michigan's players played their best in November. "I don't know how you bottle that, but that happened this year, and it hadn't happened in years past." Finally, Karsch noted, the Wolverines needed to retain the brain trust that came together in the offseason. It produced a championship, and it knows the formula. "Keep the staff together," Karsch urged. "I'm sure they'd like to do the Orange Bowl all over again, but ultimately I can't think of one hire or change that didn't have a positive impact on this team." ❑ Quarterbacks Cade McNamara (12) and J.J. McCarthy (9) demonstrated great chemistry dur- ing the successful 2021 campaign, and will be looked at to help carry the leadership mantle moving forward. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL