Everything Jim Harbaugh told reporters during the National College Showcase
On the offseason
It's been good, it's been really good. Really looking forward to this month of June, that's when things really get cranked up. Really the start of the year. We've got all of our freshmen in, they reported. Will be hitting hard. Camps, workouts and official visitors. Three main ones that will keep us pretty busy. Fired up to knock it out of the park in the month of June.
On when fall camp starts
I think it's August first. 95% sure it's August first.
On what he hopes to see when the team gets back together
We took the team trip to New York, Washington DC, Gettysburg and the Hall of Fame in Cleveland. Maybe 10 days, 14 days, some took three weeks. A lot came back and have been working out, getting a head start, getting a jumpstart on the summer cycle. Everybody seems to be in a good place. They seem regrouped and refreshed. I think the time off was good for them.
On Amorion Walker's spring
I thought he did really well. Every day is a learning experience for him. Really epitomized better today than yesterday, better tomorrow than today. Coach Clink is doing a great job with him. Really feel good. Really feel good about how he's come along.
On whether he views Walker as a starter
Yeah. There's a starting corner, starting corner and there's a starting nickel. Those are all starters. I predict it. Been right before, been wrong before. We'll see. I think he's right on track. I'm pleased with how he's playing.
On whether this offseason feels different than years passed
I was really surprised after the 21 season. You felt like, OK, this is as good as it can get With everybody. Players, coaches, staff going in the same direction. 22, there was that cultural momentum that seemed even better. Now, I'm kind of saying it to myself, it's gotta be as good as it can get. Seeing our players, our staff, our coaches, seems like there's even more cultural momentum. It's been fun to be around.
On whether he senses the momentum in recruiting
I think a lot of it—I don't know if anybody can see it unless they're just around the building. When I walk down the staff hallway, Albert Karschnia our recruiting coordinator, Scott Goldschmidt our DFO, Dave Ablauf PR, Claiborne Green academics, Christina DeRuyter. I walk down that hallway and I want to stop and have a conversation. It's enjoyable with every person. Tell me what you're doing. There's an energy there. Then, I go down the coaching hallway and it's the same. Every single coach, everybody is working and fired up. Spirited football discussions. You want to stop and have one with everybody. There's nobody that doesn't have a smile on their face or engaged in some kind of football discussion. The weight room, it's the best. Coach Herb and his staff, I love going down there. Something new. He's going to tell me something that the staff has come up with. Try this piece of equipment. They'll show me what it is. Just an unbelievable energy there, the center of player development. Hard to describe unless you kind of walk through there. On the field, with the players, what have we got today, coach? Practice yesterday was banging, are we going to do that again? Yeah, we can do that. A little opportunity, a little bit of this. Oh, good, good. Never where I get, oh, coach, why do we have to do this? Why are we doing this again? What is this, coach? Guys on the balls of their feet, just ready to attack with tremendous enthusiasm. Fun place to be. I enjoy the heck out of it every day.
On whether the players who returned to the program represent the cultural momentum
It's truly amazing. We don't have any bad guys, there's no bad guys. There's no bad person in players, coaches or staff. Especially the players, there's good guys, there's elite, great guys, there's guys that are good guys that are learning from the other guys. You've got the Heisman habits guys, the great guys. No bad guys. Either that or they're impeccable with their timing because every time I look at them they're doing right. Every time I check the class attendance, they're do right guys. Like I was telling the youngsters here today, I think our guys have watched the Hassan Haskins come through, Aidan Hutchinson, evaluated them, emulated them and try to go make them proud. See that with Blake Corum. Just get in Blake Corum's pocket, do what he does. So many guys like that. There's momentum there. There's a real cultural momentum taking place.
On telling Blake Corum that he should go to the NFL and him coming back
That was my opinion but he wanted to have a full offseason where he could train, prepare and be at his best. Wanted to go to the combine and bring his best to a team. That's who he is. I was quick to say, hey, I support that as well (laughs). When you know him, it clicks immediately, that's who he is. He's been a guy that's knocking on the door of the weight room at 6 in the morning. We can't let you in till 6. He's maniacal in his preparation and his training, he's just on everything and every detail. I think this really gave him an opportunity to take his time and to get right. He's one of those guys, in terms of character and who he is as a teammate, it's up there with the elites. The greats. It's awesome.
On JJ adding weight this offseason
I've noticed it just mother nature and maturity. When you look at his face, there's less baby fat. I think he got his man-year that some often at 18, 19-years-old. You remember that he's a very young guy. His face is just more mature, the baby fat is gone and it's been natural. It's not like he was bulking up at the gym or anything. He had a great spring, he had a tremendous spring. That, everything he does, he epitomizes better today than yesterday, better tomorrow than today as anybody that I've ever been around. It's going good.
On the next steps for McCarthy with his game
You think that with quarterbacks, there's always something to be working on, right? The one he's got is the willingness to do anything for anybody on the team. I look at the great quarterbacks like Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes, I'm not with them every day but you can just tell by looking at how they play the game and what they say. Especially about their teammates, there's a willingness there to do. That's the secret sauce in a quarterback. You could have all the different attributes which Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen do and so does JJ. They also got that willingness to do anything for their teammates. Because of that, their teammates and their coaches, like me, would follow him anywhere. I would recommend that anyone on the team would follow JJ anywhere that he's leading.
On Corum's recovery
He's been moving around and running. It's all been in conjunction with the doctors. He's very coachable as a patient as he is as a football player. He's getting his conditioning back. It's much better now than it was a month ago. He's still got two months and these are the two most important months. I anticipate that he's going to be even stronger and faster and better than he was before.
On managing a backfield of Corum and Donovan Edwards
Really touches. It's important our playmakers get touches. We've got a lot of them. Really want to manage that on a game-by-game basis. Between Donovan and Blake, I haven't settled on the exact number but it's going to be maybe 9 or 10 each. I don't want to wear them out, either. Cornelius Johnson, he's gotta get 6 targets a game. Roman Wilson, Colston Loveland somewhere between 6 and 8. Some of the young receivers are going to emerge, too. Start naming names and I'll leave out one. There will be another back in there that will get some touches as well. I think it makes us more of a harder offense to stop, too, when we really focus on those guys that are all getting dispersed. Everybody eats, as the young people like to say is the plan we're trying to form early.
On the Shemy Schembechler situation
Once I became aware of things that were just offensive, things that were offensive to me and other members of our team, I didn't want that mindset around. Disappointing. Known Shem for a long time. There's no sacred cows, it's not who we are. It's not us.
On whether the situation will change how it will vet candidates moving forward
We've had that, I read the report myself. We had a company that vets that. Social media came back and it said it was good, OK. Got a new company doing that. We've gotta be better. All take responsibility for that. If somebody can find that in a day then we have to be able to be on it ourselves. Sometimes you have to do stuff yourselves.
On whether the program went to the Holocaust Museum
Very impactful. It's like anything, you have so much to learn. Those that want to learn, learn. That was really impactful. Insight on history. You've got to learn more than you knew before, I really recommend that.
On whether it had the impact on Donovan Edwards
It was for all of us. I thought we all benefitted greatly. Jordan (Acker) did a great job. Jordan was amazing. Understanding that things people don't know they thought they knew. I applaud him for suggesting it, for hosting us and teaching us all. We care. We care for our fellow man and I don't want to do anything that's offensive to anybody. We're for everybody.
On whether he expects to see Edwards play a bigger role in the receiving game
His touches, yeah, his touches could come as we could hand him the ball off, we could toss it to him, we could throw it to him. He's definitely somebody that we gotta get the ball to, he's gotta eat. Makes us better. Makes us more dangerous. That's hard for a defense to defend having playmakers. JJ, there's somebody who is going to handle the ball every down. There's other guys, too. A creative way to get all those people the ball. It's something we've got to be good at game planning for and holding ourselves accountable to it, too. Already thinking about after game one, Sunday, I want to be able to say each one of those guys had that many targets or that many touches.
On whether he gets concerned with Sherrone Moore having too much on his plate
I have total trust in the coaching staff that we have. I'll make a bold statement right now, if you want a bold statement, sometimes you like bold statements. Every one of our assistant coaches will be a head coach. I'd even say four after this season. The talent, the coaching acumen and talent is really good. I won't put any limitations on Sherrone Moore, he's so good. He's so good.
On whether he thought Moore would get to be this good when he first hired him
You don't know. You plan those seeds and you don't know which ones will grow. He's knocked it out of the park at every step. Checked every box. Players love him, respected by all. It motivates me, and I know the other coaches, too. When they're all so good, you wake up in the morning it gets you out of bed. I gotta get ready, I gotta bring the A game. To be able to contribute something good and positive to this football team when there's that many other good coaches in the room, it's inspiring. It challenges you to compete and to be better versions of yourself. I see that taking place amongst the entire staff. I know i', not the only one that feels that way and is challenged and motivated that way.
On how different the offense will look under Moore
I see this offense being a 50/50 run-pass. We'll see how the games go, we'll see how the season goes. I bet when it's all said and done at the end of the season, it'll be pretty darn close to 50/50. The amount of times we throw it and the amount of times we run it.
On his best guess who starts opposite of Will Johnson at corner
Same thing, you plan seeds and in the summer, see which ones develop. I think we're going to have quite a few guys with the best license and ability to do that. We'll see. It's always a good thing. By your talent and your effort you will be known. A lot can happen over the summer. There's a lot that can happen from spring practice to the start of training camp. Where it left at spring ball, I was pretty darned pleased. Could be some of the best corners we've had, two of the best corners we've ever had. We'll see how it goes the rest of the summer and into training camp.
On the transfer offensive linemen and their health status
They're healthy. As I said, a big group of freshmen that reported to us on Tuesday night. It was one of the funniest times. Your team is totally different than it was three months before. When they all show up, many of those that weren't in spring practice, some of the linemen that transferred and others. All of a sudden you're looking at this bigger, better team than you had three months ago. Pretty darn excited.
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