The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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34 THE WOLVERINE ❱ SEPTEMBER 2023 ❱ MICHIGAN FOOTBALL that word out of my head. That best de- scribes the vibe, the mentality. "It's infectious; you can't help but pick up on that. And that was well-de- fined — it's vibrant. And they take that from the meeting rooms to the weight room to the practice field to the sta- dium." It's to a man, Harbaugh added, espe- cially the veterans. He's tried motivat- ing players in an attempt to make them "love football" and "attack each day with enthusiasm unknown to mankind," but he's realized "it has to come from the individual, no matter how hard you try." And it's working for his 2023 group. "There's not a guy right now in the junior, senior and fifth-year classes that I can point to and say isn't doing every- thing they should, taking any and every opportunity and trying to maximize it and just being trusted agents and known friends," the Michigan coach said. "It's to the point where I had to make a poster person for who I thought really defined 'enthusiasm unknown to man- kind.' I looked at every player, I looked at every coach, even considered myself. "By the power vested in me as the head coach, the poster person for 'en- thusiasm unknown to mankind' for the 2023 year is [senior defensive tackle] Kris Jenkins. Made a nice little sticker, 'EUTM,' that's now on the helmet. "He's not the only one who has it. We've given some others out. But the poster person is Kris Jenkins. "There are a lot of them. And captains — that's coming. We'll see what that vote yields, but there are just so many to choose from that lead and attack and love football. Good problems to have." The Wolverines held their first scrim- mage of camp Saturday, Aug. 12 at The Big House, leaving Harbaugh even more impressed with his team. "It's a first to have the first scrimmage in the stadium be as good as it was," the Michigan coach said. "Every season I've coached, every season that I was a part of as a player, you go to that first scrim- mage at the stadium, and guys forget. "I forgot. I forgot coaching as a player. There's just something about going to The Big House as a player. Coaches are yelling at everybody. Freshmen forget everything that they've been taught. "It wasn't like that at all. It was the same vibrant energy and execution. And I even commented to the team afterward that I had never seen anything quite like that." — Clayton Sayfie OFFENSIVE TACKLE BATTLES WILL CONTINUE INTO THE SEASON Michigan went into last year with two quarterbacks head coach Jim Harbaugh felt were both starters. Rather than decide based on their play in practice alone, he gave both Cade McNamara and J.J. McCarthy a start to show what they could do to create separation be- tween them. Some coaches are now calling it the "Michigan method" of winning posi- tion battles and employing it with their teams. Harbaugh was all about it at an Aug. 15 presser, and he said he planned to do the same thing at more positions this year, including offensive tackle. Veteran Karsen Barnhart is currently competing with Arizona State transfer LaDarius Henderson on the left side, while fellow vet Trente Jones is bat- Stanford transfer offensive lineman Myles Hinton (78) — shown going against edge Jaylen Harrell — is battling Trente Jones for the starting job at right tackle. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETICS