The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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two decades of coaching, that was his highest-ranked team. And ['85 team member] Jim Scarcelli made me say that." Mary Passink, who has served at Schembechler Hall in various ca- pacities the past 37 years, most re- cently as administrative assistant to the head coach for recruiting, earned the M Club of Greater Detroit's Dis- tinguished Alumni Service Award. "I have to give thanks to Bo Schem- bechler, who gave me the opportu- nity to be a part of this program," Passink said. "It's been a really spe- cial place to work. I have so many great memories." The Wolverines are planning to build more under Harbaugh, and the head coach gave a charge to all of them. He reminded some that although they carried the title as "seniors," they'll be back for a final year of eligibility in 2016. That includes the MVP and several other prominent Wolverines. "As Jehu said, and I said earlier, the days are long, the years are short," Harbaugh said. "I know there are a lot of seniors up here who know exactly what that means. There are some of you who are coming back. I want you to know that we're not go- ing to take no for an answer." To all, he gave a reminder: practice for the bowl game was to begin three days hence. The quest for 10 wins was on. "Not bad," Harbaugh said, of what the Wolverines achieved in the regu- lar season. "We look back at what this team's accomplished, and not bad at all." Soon, though, the grind was to re- sume. "There is no other way to go about it," Harbaugh said. "Winning that game is the most important thing to us. Ten sounds good. That sounds like a good number." ❏ Best Of The Bust Michigan's seniors didn't give speeches at the annual Football Bust this year, other than the award winners. There were still a number of amusing and poi- gnant moments during the night at Livonia's Laurel Manor. Here are a few: • University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel, on Jim Harbaugh: "A person who will go nameless has compared this guy as 'The Steve Jobs of coaching.' That's high praise. But we've seen it, and we're living it together." • Outgoing Michigan Director of Athletics Jim Hackett: "I have to move fast. Before I announced I was stepping down, I had 10 minutes on the agenda, and it's been cut to two." • Hackett again, on players receiving their M rings: "It's much more than what is on your finger tonight. It courses through your veins and is seared in your heart." • Emcee Bob Forman: "One guy said, 'That old guy Forman, who used to be the alumni director here, he's going to be the emcee.' The other guy said, 'I thought he was dead.'