The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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Those developments, along with Harbaugh's relentlessness and com- bativeness in competition, have made him the most talked about coach in the nation over the past year — and it isn't close. That's no problem for Manuel, a former teammate of the newest college football phenomenon. "No, it's not," Manuel assured. "From my standpoint, it's not tough. The attention he derives as our head coach is handled effectively by him. Where necessary, if there's some- thing I need to respond to in public or questions arise that I need to ad- dress, I'll address them. "But part of it is the attention Michigan gets. Knowing and hav- ing worked with Jim in the last two months, I've seen it more as he is go- ing to speak his mind around issues that he feels strongly about — and so will I. In that sense, it generates a lot of interest because of who he is. He's the head coach at the University of Michigan. It's one of those things we deal with. I don't have any concern about it." It does give Manuel pause when he hears Harbaugh's critics take their shots. That's not because of any qualms Manuel harbors over Har- baugh's actions. Rather, the AD noted, it's because he senses Michigan's head coach of- ten gets misunderstood. "One of the things that bothers me is that people believe he's about him," Manuel said. "People will say, 'Well, he's trying to generate atten- tion.' I don't see it that way. "I've observed him. I've talked to him on many occasions since being announced [as AD]. He is going to fight for what he feels is in the best interest of Michigan and Michigan football and Michigan athletics. "Others can misconstrue that and take it to mean that Jim is about him- self. That isn't what I've seen, at all. He is very thoughtful. He keeps this university, this department, in mind in the things that he's doing." Harbaugh isn't going to slow down. But he hasn't exactly been calling people up and begging to be interviewed, Manuel pointed out. "If he's covered, if people are going to quote him — as they should — they're not quoting him because all of a sudden Jim wants to be quoted," Manuel said. "They're quoting him because they want to talk to him, and he's responding to the story. "He's been a great person to work with. He's very responsive and thoughtful. He's much, much brighter and more intelligent than many people may perceive, in the way he thinks about things, in the depth he thinks about things." Manuel insists that while quotes can come off sounding one-dimen- sional, Harbaugh is very much a multi-dimensional thinker on any given topic. This much is certain — with a loaded football team heading for the fall, the interview requests and the attention aren't going to dry up anytime soon. FOOTBALL'S HOT-BUTTON TOPICS Harbaugh became the face of satel- lite football camps during Michigan's Summer Swarm tour last year. Such