The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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WHAT MICHIGAN NEEDS Hanlon arrived at Michigan in 1969, in the eye of Hurricane Schem- bechler, which was to deeply affect U-M football for the good over the following four decades. He never experienced a losing season with Schembechler and hasn't witnessed anything like the Wolverines' strug- gles over the past seven seasons. He delivers an impassioned an- swer when challenged with the ques- tion of what Michigan needs going forward. "I want a man to coach at Michigan is because he wants to coach at Michi- gan," Hanlon insisted, slowing the last half-dozen words for emphasis. "He doesn't want to use it as a step- ping stone to go someplace else. He doesn't want to come here to self- aggrandize. "He wants to come because here, you get an opportunity to test your- self against the best in the country. You will have all the things you need in order to do that. "But it's not going to be given to you. You're going to have to work for it. You're going to have to spend the time and effort to do things right. If you want to do that, I want you to become the coach at Michigan." Hanlon laughed over his own re- flections of coming to Michigan from Miami of Ohio and badly desiring to succeed. "When we came here in 1969, they knew we wanted to coach, because they didn't pay us a durned thing to come here," he said. "We wanted to coach here. We wanted this program to be the best in the country." For a long time, it remained among them. Most believe landing Harbaugh could once again propel the Wol- verines back into consistent Big Ten competition and the national spot- light. He has to accept that challenge, backing extensive behind-the-scenes talk by those close to him that he'd love to come back and lead the Wol- verines. If not Harbaugh, Hackett will be seeking to nail down another can't- miss candidate, and quickly. The clock is ticking on Michigan football, and many are feeling the heat. ❏ Spotlighting Michigan Coaching Candidates Jim Harbaugh Record: 48-20-1 at San Francisco (NFL), 29-21 at Stanford, 29-6 at University of San Diego Salary: $5 million Coaching stops: San Francisco head coach (2011-present); Stanford head coach (2007-10); San Diego head coach (2004-06) Background: Harbaugh is one of the best coaches at any level, a winner every-