Everything Jim Harbaugh said on the Jed Hughes Podcast
On donating his bonus money to the athletic department staff
It ended up being $1.5 million of bonus money for winning the Big Ten East, winning the Big Ten Championship and (appearing in) the College Football Playoff, etc. What I decided to do is just redirect that money to staff within the Michigan athletic department who had voluntarily taken a pay cut during COVID or had a mandatory pay cut during the COVID period. Something I was inspired to do by our own players, actually. They were giving back from the proceeds they were receiving from NIL. I just felt like it would be useful and helpful to so many. It ended up being 200 athletic department staff members that were able to get made back whole from the pandemic.
On donating bonus money continued
I can't take all the credit. My wife, Sarah, it was something she felt very strongly. She deserves most of the credit on that one.
On getting Michigan motivated to repeat last year
You have to re-win all of those games again, right? They're not going to win themselves, we have to re-win them and get prepared to do that. You've got to figure that teams like Ohio State, Iowa is on the schedule again. They're going to be very motivated to return the favor. We feel like we have a really good template from last season's team, just a gritty bunch of guys who were the backbone of our team. Guys that stayed the course, didn't flinch. They didn't quit or fold at the slightest sign of adversity and they produced at a very high level. Our team has seen what the results are when everybody buys in and everybody is pulling in the same direction, everybody is bleeding blue, just how good it can be. That's been, to describe a word, the 'vibe' that's on our team. Guys are looking for opportunities anywhere they can find it and trying to get better than they were yesterday, trying to be better tomorrow than they were today. It's really awesome. Another thing, just along those lines, there's some really great players, great leaders, that have moved on to the NFL. Aidan Hutchinson, Hassan Haskins, some amazing players like Brad Hawkins and Andrew Stueber, Josh Ross and Andrew Vastardis, real leaders and captains of our team. Our younger guys were able to see how they went about their business, how much they cared about the team. Aidan Hutchinson is a perfect example of a guy, you would not fault him a bit if he had a big ego, if he was cocky or if he had a big head. He's got every right to. He checks every box, he does everything right. The fact that he doesn't, it's just awesome. The fact that he has humility, he checks his ego at the door. No big ego, no big head. Always feels there's room for improvement. Our guys can see—that's awesome. That's even more awesome. Some real good examples as we try to replace some phenomenal players. Dax Hill, David Ojabo, etc. I just see the younger class, the guys who were juniors last year becoming seniors. Freshmen becoming sophomores and sophomores becoming juniors, they're poised and ready and not insecure about filling in those roles.
On having seniors be the leaders of the team
There's no question. They're the ones who have the most investment. They've been here the longest, they're the ones who stayed through some adversity and through some really good times as well. Without them, none of its possible. They're the kind of guys who set the tone for it all. Literally, put the train on their back and start pushing. The rest of us jump on and start pushing and joining in. Those are the ones who have gone through the most training cycles, the most practices, the most games. They've invested so much. They're the ones, good or bad, the other players will have to follow.
On what he looks for in an assistant coach
The first thing, is being smart. It's like I tell my daughters if you're going to marry somebody, just don't marry dumb. You can't trust dumb. You can't trust the judgment. I want guys or gals, anybody in the organization, to be on the ball and to have smarts and other talents. Could be really proficient at Xs and Os, could be really high energy, could have great people skills, great teaching ability. That combination of intelligence and something else you're really good at. When you find the ones that check five, six, seven of those boxes, that's extremely good. Good intelligence, good intelligence for the game, somebody that's hungry. Hungry to make our team better. Also, good people skills and integrity. Without that one, you're going to have a hard time having anybody follow you or trust your decisions.
On how recruiting is going for 2023
It's going really good. We've gone through the process. A lot of the '23 recruits we've been recruiting for a year. Some for six months, some for a month, even. Some we're identifying weekly right now as we go through football camps. Just like we're starting to recruit a lot of youngsters in the 24 class, the 25 class and getting to know kids in the 26 class. Really, when it comes to recruiting for the 23 class, now is when it begins because that's when official visits begin. This month, the month of April, May and June. For us, June is the big month for bringing in official visits. Where you get knee-to-knee, eyeball-to-eyeball with the young man, his family, siblings, and coaches. That's when you really start to get to know somebody, in my opinion. Long and trusting friendship has started and develops. The youngsters kicking the tires. It's not a draft so they're making visits to your school, to other schools and really honing in on where they're going to be comfortable. Where they see it as a fit for them. I truly believe that young men, families, know what's best for them. When you go to a place, meet the people, really understand what the school can do for them academically, where they can get the best possible education for themselves. Then, they look at football, where can they go and play well? Play early, win, be developed. That's what they're looking for. They're also looking for that fit. Where they're going to be comfortable, where they're going to be happy, where they feel like putting their head on the pillow every night. That's really happening all across the country. Most schools are setting up their official visits right now.
On the transfer portal
My view of the field, here at the University of Michigan, has been a very positive thing. Somebody that's down on the depth chart, possibly, has a better player or two in front of them at their position. They have had their opportunity to get their degree or maybe just before they graduate, maybe they're halfway there after a year or two. Then, after two years, they look and say they have a better chance to get on the field and play at a different school. That's really, the majority of the players that have gone to the portal at Michigan, that's been the case. Some really good players. I have been talking to a few of them that went in January, who would participate in spring practices at a different school, their coaches are super happy that they have them. In some cases, this is going to be our best offensive player. At the receiver position, was maybe seventh on our depth chart but wasn't going to get the reps and be able to play with too many people in front of them. That's the reason it's been a positive thing. At least in my experience here at Michigan, talking to the youngsters, I've advised them—hey, I support you either way. Whether you want to stay here, you're supported. I think you can break through here. If you feel like you want to go to a different school, then I support that. We've also added some players through the portal to our team. Not many. One, in particular, Olu Oluwatimi, a fine center from Virginia. Has been outstanding. He came here in January and got right into the winter cycle for lifting. The thing I loved about him, he was never, 'Hey, I was a Power Five starter at Virginia. I was a Rimington Finalist. Look at me.' Never a word like that. It was just, went to work and went into spring practices and is now respected by all. Because, I think, his approach, his angle of approach of how he came in and wanted to prove himself. Help the team and hungry to help us to get better.
On adding people to man the transfer portal
We've done the same thing. Tom Gamble, we worked together with the 49ers, been a long-time scout, GM, assistant GM. Dad was a great coach at Penn. Tom is an excellent personnel person, man. Whether it's evaluating high school talent or evaluating players in the portal, he's doing both. It's a good thing, needed. I'm sure glad we have him.
On NIL being taken advantage of and exploited
Positive. Very positive. Before we jump to how it can be exploited in a bad way, as we all know, human nature, that's something that is definitely a possibility. I think we can all agree, take jersey sales for example, or T-shirts, memorabilia, those kinds of things that every school has, every school has the bookstore or the shop where fans' orders can go to buy their gear. It makes sense that the player whose number is on that jersey, their name is on that jersey, should share in that revenue. That example right there, I think, we all agree on. Also, to profit off their name, their image and their likeness, I support it. You just support anybody's ability to do that. That's all in the positive light and the way we're approaching things here at Michigan. I've said this before, we're going to still maintain that this is going to be a transformational experience, not a transactional experience. What that literally means exactly, is we're not going to pay signing bonuses for players to come onto the team. We're not going to pay recruits to sign here. When they get here, and they do well, they're going to profit pretty good here. Off the jersey sales and other examples. Simply put, how I feel about it and what our policy is here, maybe I am wrong. Maybe it's not the way to do it. Boy, imagine yourself on a team and there's good players on the team who have worked really hard. Some of those seniors we were talking about earlier, how important that senior leadership is and guys who have stuck around and paid the price and are producing. The policy on your team is to buy some of your recruits, I don't think it'll sit well. From that standpoint, and others, that's our decision. When you just look at this, the way that rules are and the very good thing that we were talking about earlier, with name, image and likeness. The players should be able to profit from their name, image and likeness. What is the coach have anything to do with that? Other than make the player the best player he can possibly can make. Some are making it sound like the coach is making a salary cap or something, the one that is writing the checks. That's not what it's designed for. This is designed for players to profit off their name, image and likeness, period.
On the reorganization of the NCAA and the future
I don't really have a take on that. I think there's plenty of people to have a take on that. Some of the things you hear, some of the speculation that you hear on NIL, with what teams are doing. At some point, what's true or what's fiction? What's real or what's made up? Exactly the same with the NCAA, what could happen and the speculation. I don't have a take or an opinion on what would happen.
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