The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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tract and develop the type of talent it takes to compete on a national level, Walker said. As someone who has been in the huddle with Harbaugh, Walker insisted the Wolverines are about to take off. "It's innate in him," Walker said. "He's a winner. He wants to win foot- ball games. He knows what it takes to develop players. He's coached at the college level, and he's coached at the pro level. He went to Stanford and brought some excitement. He went to the 49ers and went to three straight NFC Championship games, and a Super Bowl. "He brings that with him. When he walks into that meeting, they're going to look at him and say, 'Okay, it's time to go. This guy is for real.' "He brings a lot of confidence, a lot of swagger. He's a coach that can re- late to players and relate to recruits. He brings the whole package. What else can you ask for?" Well, you can ask him to stick around. A seven-year contract for $5 million a year, plus incentives and possible deferred payments, can ad- dress that question to some degree. But NFL observers — many of the same ones who insisted Harbaugh would never go back to Michigan — have been quick to predict the now former 49ers boss might jump back into the pros at the right opportunity. Obviously, on this Homecoming Day, neither Hackett nor Harbaugh sounded any less-than-secure notes about the future. "As you know, there is a lot of op- portunity out there for talent like this," Hackett said. "I don't plan on talking more about pay, because I am totally at peace with the fact that we have a win-win deal here." Harbaugh, meanwhile, regaled the crowd with stories of his youth in Ann Arbor, putting his feet up on Schembechler's desk around age 11, and the thrill of garnering Michi- gan gear when his dad worked for Schembechler. "We flew in, and they had a gift bag for the kids," Harbaugh said of his recent arrival. "Hats, scarves, sweat- shirts, and the kids had them on. That took me back to a place, to walking into Moe's Sports Shop, and looking at everything with big, wide eyes, hoping you would get something." He wants his own kids to expe- rience what he felt then, Harbaugh noted. And he no doubt wants to see Michigan's football team be what it was back then. Upon his return, Harbaugh sounded very much like a man ready to settle in and compete over the long haul. "I've coached at the University of San Diego," he said. "I've coached at Stanford University, at the 49ers. I look at it like you construct a home … you build this home, and you hope it's a great cathedral. "Afterwards, they tell you to go build another one. 'There's some dirt down there. Go build another home.' I feel like that again. I'm at that point where, although you've done well, you've built some pretty nice homes, you have to do it again. You have to prove it again. "But I'd really like to live in one, permanently. That's what I'm very hopeful for here." ❑