The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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66 THE WOLVERINE ❱ FEBRUARY 2024 J im Harbaugh arrived back in Ann Arbor in December 2014 to a hero's welcome, the pro- posed savior of a program that had suffered like few thought possible. Rich Rodriguez and Brady Hoke couldn't get it done — only Hoke's first season, the 11-2 2011 campaign, was a "Michigan type season," and it took some good bounces to get there. Of all the potential coaching candidates available, interim athletics director Jim Hackett had only one in mind — Har- baugh —when he launched his coaching search. The San Fran- cisco 49ers coach was the closest thing to a sure thing, and why the operation to land him was aptly named "Project Unicorn." Michigan President Santa Ono seemed to understand the im- portance of keeping Harbaugh in Ann Arbor better than anyone following a third straight Big Ten title. After that, he made it his personal mission to retain him, in fact, even meeting personally with the coach for breakfast to let him know how much U-M wanted him. And we'll say this, too — finally, Michigan has a leader on The Hill who understands athletics' importance to an elite academic institution. He also knows, per those who work with him, the importance of keeping talent when you've got it, whether it's a world-renowned doctor or professor, or in this case a football coach. Because, as we've seen many times over, it's not as easy as it looks to win championships, even at a storied place like Michigan. It takes a unique personality — in this case, one of the most competitive men most who have interacted with Har- baugh have ever seen. "I've been here since 2019, so I've seen Coach Harbaugh for five years. I've seen him grow as a person," grad student offensive guard Trevor Keegan said. "When we're winning, he is so happy. All he's wanted us to do is win. He's probably the most competitive person I've ever met. "I consider myself like that, as well. I don't want to lose. Even if it's like Con- nect Four before meetings, I want to win. He's just the same. He wants to win at everything he does." That competitiveness is what it takes to thrive at a Northern school in this climate of pay for play under the guise of NIL. Since Notre Dame last won the na- tional championship in 1988, schools "up north" have only won four titles — two from Michigan, two from Ohio State. Changing demographics have something to do with that, and the fact that the Southern football factories op- erate differently. In short, what Harbaugh accom- plished this season might not be "mi- raculous," but it's not far off, especially given the adversity his Wolverines over- came this year with his suspensions and the NCAA investigations. And if he were to leave and assistant Sherrone Moore were to take over — and yes, that appears to be the plan — the U-M offensive coordi- nator and line coach will have the task of following a true legend. But Moore has earned that right, and we've seen it work before … heck, right here at Michigan with Gary Moeller and Lloyd Carr taking over for Bo Schembechler. When you've got a great, winning culture, you do what you can to preserve and move forward with it. That's es- pecially true when you've got a man of high character like Moore waiting in the wings. "Playing for a guy who wants to be great, his mentality and how hard he works … it just falls to us as players," Keegan said. "We just want to play for him. Look at him [he said as linemen presented him a game football in the locker room after the na- tional championship game]. "I'm so happy for him and how hard he works. It's visible. My dad told me, 'That guy works his ass off.' It's a plea- sure to play for him. "I was immature, but Coach Moore came in and changed my whole outlook on life and football. He made me fall in love with football again. I can't thank him enough. "He's just a guy who puts his head down and works. He started here as a tight ends coach, and now he's an OC getting head coaching offers." Ideally, he'd be waiting a few more years as Harbaugh's right-hand man, continuing to learn. If you trust Harbaugh, you have to trust his intuition in supporting Moore as his successor. Given what we've seen of both over the last five years if it comes to that count us in. ❏ INSIDE MICHIGAN ❱ CHRIS BALAS Huge Legacy, Bigger Shoes Jim Harbaugh, along with coordinators Jesse Minter (left) and Sherrone Moore (right), brought Michigan back to the top of the college football world. Should Harbaugh leave for the NFL, the plan appears to be that Moore will then become his successor as U-M's head coach. PHOTO BY DOMINICK SOKOTOFF Chris Balas has been with The Wolverine s i n c e 1 9 9 7 . C o n t a c t h i m a t c b a l a s @thewolverine.com and follow him on X (Twitter) @Balas _ Wolverine.