The Wolverine

December 2016

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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DECEMBER 2016 THE WOLVERINE 25 Shane Morris in a Sept. 30 home loss to Minnesota in which he appeared to wobble after a big hit, but was left in the game, had put the program in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. The incident and its aftermath proved to be the point of no return for Brandon. He'd be fired a month later. Hoke received his own notice of ter- mination from interim A.D. Jim Hack- ett following U-M's loss to Ohio State, the Wolverines' third straight to the Buckeyes. On Dec. 29, 2014, Hackett announced Harbaugh's hiring, continuing a chain of events that started with a culture change among a group of talented- but-shell-shocked Hoke recruits and has seen the Wolverines ascend to a place among the top teams in college football. "It's unbelievable, really," former Michigan linebacker Ron Simpkins said. "It's like a storybook kind of pro- gression. "When you look back at the Shane Morris concussion situation to where if we win out, we're in position to be in the Playoff and win the Big Ten cham- pionship — it's almost unbelievable." Not just to the Michigan alums and fan base, but also the rest of the college football world. BTN.com senior writer Tom Dien- hart was among those skeptical Har- baugh could make an immediate im- pact, at least at a national level. He became more convinced by the end of the 2015 season and is a firm believer this year. "He's exceeded my expectations, without a doubt," Dienhart said prior to U-M's loss at Iowa. "We all antici- pated improvement, but debuting with a 10-win season and a bowl win — I thought that was overachieving. But now in year two … a top team in the country vying for a Big Ten title. Without a doubt, this Harbaugh train is way ahead of schedule." Part of it, he added, was that many had undervalued the talent at the coach's disposal. Rivals.com ranked Hoke's 2012 class No. 7 nationally and his 2013 group No. 5. Many of them, including a whopping 18 starters, are in the starting lineup now, including most of the offensive and defensive lines, both starting receivers and a pair of All-Americans in tight end Jake Butt and cornerback Jourdan Lewis. "There's always talent at Michigan, always talent at Ohio State, Florida and those places. I'm not taking any- thing away from the coaching, because the coaching brought it out, but there In his first 23 games as Michigan's head coach, Harbaugh's squads have outscored the competition 853-323 en route to a 19-4 mark. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN

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