Everything Jim Harbaugh said on Inside Michigan Football pre-UConn

On what he was doing during the delay

I was just kind of walking around, trying to make the decisions, and timelines. Just a lot of nervous energy, I guess. One moment I'd be checking on the players, like, hey guys, you seem pretty relaxed. I guess I don't need to tell you that. They knew what to do. Just relax. There will be one hour until you have to think about doing this so find a spot, put the towel on your head. Lay on the floor and close your eyes. Visualize a little bit. They were pretty much doing that.

On J.J. McCarthy

He was in the zone and in a great place. It was pretty flawless, pretty much the same thing we saw at the game when we looked at it on tape.

On Roman Wilson's impact

Been huge. Ascending player who's already a very good player. So that's very good. He's been locked in every day. Every day he's come to practice. Meetings, wide awake, slight lean forward in his chair. Taking notes. It's all been really, really good. Gotten even faster for a guy that was pretty darn fast. Just added a lot to his game. He's good and getting better every day.

On the offense with Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards on the field together

Or in the same backfield, motioning in, motioning out. So many things you could do and you would love for your opponent to think that all the options are available.

On how he finds areas to address with the offense

It's something we've done. Just coaching, too. Ton of excitement when your players are doing everything that you ask. Even the distractions you talk about, that never got in the way of anything as it related to the game Saturday night. Also, during the week of practice. It was a heckuva week of practice. There's a lot of fight. They're playing smart, they're playing fast. Playing tough. Playing together. Team, the execution, all those things are really at a high level. Inspires you as a coach. We've got to do more, we gotta keep going here. We're grinding to do everything and all things that we can to put our players in the best position to be successful because they're very receptive.

On what he's seen from Grant Newsome

That's a tough question because he's just checked every single box since he got here, in every way. As a student, as a football player, as a teammate, as a leader, then as a student coach, then as a graduate assistant. Now a full-time coach. He was that way when he first got here. You talk about—the highest grade point average of any guy we've ever had on the team. It would be him or somebody else in a close one-two type of race. They'd have to go to the decimal point to find the winner. In every way possible, he's, what, maybe 26? Since the day he got here, he's been (mature) and then some. Every single box. He's one of those guys who you're forever proud to know. It affects everybody in a positive manner every day, whoever comes in contact with is affected in a positive manner.

On the potential of the defense

Makari did have a really good—second game in a row. He's really played well. Super happy about Makari Paige. To answer your question, I don't know. I don't want to make any huge bold statements. New week, new week's resolution to be committed to playing our best football. I think the thing that's really visible, though, is it's a hungry team. They were committed to playing 60 minutes and playing hard. We play hard, I think that's where it always starts. Especially on defense.

On the importance of the young guys to see the field early

I think it's really important. They've gone through a training camp and to go through game action, really keep them engaged. Some will end up playing as true freshman, some may only play in the four games. More is more on that one, I've always thought. It was exciting as heck because we were trying to say this is 0-0 coming out of the half and it was tight. Second half score was 17-14 and Hawaii is driving and making some plays. Young guys are out there getting their first action. It was palpable. Their intensity. They didn't know exactly, he didn't know to cover this guy or that guy, to be in the right gap. That's OK. It's a learning experience. We get it. We gotta do a better job coaching them. We talked about it earlier. Inspiring. Gosh, guys are that into it. It's that important to them. Let's coach up, and make sure they do have it. May have told them a couple times. Gotta tell them more. Or how they learn, too. You're finding out how guys learn. Is it off the film? Is it walkthrough? Is it on the iPad, the whiteboard? They're learning about themselves. It's such a learning experience.

On any surprises over the last two games

So many. The one guy, Dominic Giudice. It's his birthday today. He was playing defense completely since he's got here. I had the idea last Tuesday. Dom Giudice could be a good offensive lineman. I remember recruiting him. He played center. Hey, Dom, you want to go to offense? Yeah, coach, I really do. Dom's dad texted me saying great move. Then we went to the practice field and in one day it was like, man, I'm not a very smart guy. It took me a year to think of this. I've never seen a guy pick it up that fast and play. Tuesday, he makes the switch. Saturday night, he's pulling. He's making calls on the right guard. The center, Raheem, was probably telling him what call to make but he's making calls. He's pass protecting and he's doing stuff. I wish I was a little smarter and thought of that sooner. A lot of guys. That's probably a vivid example.

On Nikhai Hill-Green and Karsen Barnhart's injury status

I'm really kind of hopeful that they will both be back for this game. We'll see. Probable, questionable. Somewhere between questionable and probable.