The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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40 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2017 FOOTBALL PREVIEW did not back down from anyone. "The guy is obviously competing at every- thing. He would still be playing if he could. He wants to get into every drill, and he's got that 23-year-old mentality still bouncing around in his head. Those things attract com- petitors all the time. "The media part blends into the challeng- ing of the establishment, with the satellite camp stuff, the calling of coaches from other teams on the carpet on Twitter. Those things can draw attention and followers. "That's all outside stuff that the talking heads can comment on and replay. What re- ally matters most is what's inside the build- ing." According to some players, the former can affect the latter. Demonstrating an edge translates. 8. Complete Control And Presence Call it the "It Factor." Call it whatever you want. Bo Schembechler had it. Bear Bryant had it. The greatest, most dominant coaches in sport possess it. They simply command the sort of respect and compliance required to run a football machine. Players do not want to let them down and learn very quickly — like a young Jim Harbaugh did after arriving late for a meeting run by Schembechler — that you'd better fall in line. Harbaugh is in control inside Schembechler Hall, and outside as well. Challenge that no- tion, and things will not go well. "I can only compare it to the great coaches I was around, both head coaches and assis- tant coaches," noted Skene, who also played for Schembechler. "When they walked in the room, there was this inherent respect that this guy is leading our charge. He's going to take us to where we want to be, and we're going to have fun in the process. "It's not going to be easy, and he's going to challenge you every second of every day. You sort of straighten up. When you're in that alpha dog, competitive atmosphere, you don't ever want to make a mistake that could cause him to doubt you. You don't ever want to be doubted. "It was that fear of doubt that drove a lot of us, myself included, and you never want to let anybody down." That sort of presence cannot be manufac- tured, Skene assured. It has to be earned, and when it's in place, it immediately determines even involuntary reactions. "When the guy steps in the room, and he's talking to you, these coaches always do it — they give you the ankle-to-eyebrow look," Skene noted. "Coach [Jerry] Hanlon and Bo used to always do it, and Bill Parcells would do it. "It's, 'Hey, how's it going?' And they'd give you the body evaluation look. You're thinking, 'Dang, what's he thinking? Does he think I look good? Doesn't he know how hard I'm working?' "You can't wait to prove yourself when he walks in that room. It's hard to develop that as a coach unless you have a history of winning and proving it. Jim has won a lot of things, but there are a lot of things he hasn't won. People want to be a part of that when it happens. "Coach Schembechler had that. When he walked in the room, it just got silent until he spoke and set the tone, and you went from there. It looks like he's got a lot of the same qualities, and he's surrounded himself with coaches that think and act the same way." 9. Unrivaled Competition Harbaugh's competitiveness has produced countless stories, from pickup bas- ketball games assuming football physicality to a water battle with brother John — head coach of the Baltimore Ravens — in which the NFL's Harbaugh wasn't sure he'd sur- face. Whether it's getting a team picture taken in record time to posting offseason team com- bine results of sprints and shuttle drills, it's about winning. It's also about getting the one percent better every day that Harbaugh de- mands of himself and others. "Every second of every day is a competi- tion," Skene said. Even the "reward" for winning sometimes can make one marvel. "The winners of the scrimmages and the battles get to run extra sprints, because los- ers don't get the privilege of getting better," Skene noted. "That is the opposite of what most coaches do. That struck me right away when he got here. "I don't ever recall having to run extra be- cause we won the short-yardage and goal-line scrimmage. That would have been interesting and different. That stands out." That's no shocker. According to his father, Harbaugh used to go for runs between two-a- The impact that Harbaugh has made at Michigan and how he has gone about doing so would make his coach, Bo Schembechler, proud. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN