The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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just such a jolt. It had experienced one season in the past seven over which fans and those directly in- volved came away feeling good. That occurred in 2011, when Brady Hoke's first U-M team went 11-2, knocking off Notre Dame, Ohio State and Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl. While Harbaugh steadfastly refused to acknowledge the struggles of the past few seasons, he won't be satis- fied with any five-loss campaigns, like six of the last seven involved. Carr remembers Harbaugh well from practices in the mid-1980s. The often-brash quarterback didn't just want to win on Saturday afternoons, the former U-M head coach recalled. He wanted to beat the defense on every practice snap. "Every single day, Jim Harbaugh was trying to win," Carr noted. "He wanted to win. He wanted to get the first down. He wanted to complete the pass. He wanted to get the ball in the end zone." "The thing you liked about Jim is that he was that cocky guy, to some degree," former head coach Gary Moeller said. "Overconfident once in a while, but he did it in a very good way and became a leader, and people followed him because of that. That's another thing he'll be able to do." "He's one of the most competitive kids I ever coached," noted former U-M assistant coach Jerry Hanlon, Harbaugh's position coach in his four seasons in a winged helmet. "Whether you're talking about an offensive lineman, a defensive back, quarterback, he was as competitive JIM HARBAUGH BY THE NUMBERS 2 Players in U-M program history to be named both the Chicago Tri- bune Big Ten MVP and Academic All-Big Ten in the same season: Jim Harbaugh in 1986 and Bob Timberlake in 1964. Eleven other Wolverines have earned MVP sta- tus without the academic success. 2 Men to serve as the head coach at both Stanford and Michigan: Harbaugh and U-M legend Fielding H. Yost, who led the Cardinal in 1900 before a 25- year run at Michigan from 1901- 23 and 1925-26. 6 Current college football coaches that were previously NFL head coaches: Harbaugh, South Caro- lina's Steve Spurrier, Alabama's Nick Saban, Louisville's Bobby Petrino, Nebraska's Mike Riley and UCLA's Jim Mora. .671 The collective winning percent- age in college of the six head coaches following their NFL ca- reers.