Former Michigan Wolverines football offensive lineman Doug Skene said it the first time we spoke with him for a Where Are They Now? Article in the early 2000s — ‘there’s something that makes me sleep better at night knowing those guys are in the building.’
He was talking about coaches with ties to the program’s championship past, which at that point hadn't been very long. The Wolverines were competing for Big Ten titles every year, and there was only one expectation — to win.
“If you came up short, you failed,” Skene said recently.
It’s going on 17 years now since Michigan last won a conference championship, which to guys like Skene (with five Big Ten championship rings) amounts to a decade and a half and change of coming up short. Head coach Jim Harbaugh, who also won titles in Ann Arbor and beat Ohio State both times he started against them, probably feels the same, and he’s taken steps to correct it.
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On offense, Harbaugh moved Sherrone Moore to offensive line and co-coordinator, a move that brought energy and excitement. He added running backs coach Mike Hart, a former Associate Head Coach/running backs coach at Indiana (and, of course, one of U-M’s all-time best running backs) and has been pleased with the changes.
“How they’ve come together in a short period of time with the advantage of having spring ball, with the summer cycle … watching our guys work on that side of the ball has been very impressive,” Harbaugh said. “Better than I’d hoped for.”
Whether that’s coachspeak or sincerity is irrelevant. The results on the field will tell the tale, and there’s no telling how quickly it will come together. Co-coordinator Josh Gattis has a lot to prove heading into his third year, and while he’s been insistent it’s been ‘his’ offense the last few years, it’s clear Harbaugh wanted at least another voice in the room.
On a positive note, Gattis has been receptive to the move.
“Where we’ve come the farthest on offense is there’s a real trust,” Harbaugh continued. “The offensive coaches trust Josh and myself. Josh trusts the other offensive coaches, respects them, thinks they are good. Sherrone is good, coaching the offensive line, has a lot of input in the run game. Same with [quarterbacks coach] Matt Weiss and the areas we need to improve.
“Run, pass … it’s together. I like to stress that. The trust is there between the staff and Josh, Josh and the rest of the offensive staff. Watching them work together in those meetings, ideas are flying, coming from everywhere — from Mike Hart, Matt Weiss, Jay Harbaugh, Sherrone, from analysts — watching how well they’re working together, I feel like we’ve come a long way.”
Hart could be an ‘X’ factor, having been heavily involved in everything at Indiana. He and Harbaugh put past differences aside to work together for U-M after Harbaugh followed his career from Western Michigan to Indiana.
“I felt like he was doing a really good job,” Harbaugh said. “Also, the idea of some more Michigan guys here, helping all of us send a message of what it’s like, what the expectations are … Ron Bellamy Mike Hart, [analyst] Doug Mallory, [recruiting coordinator] Courtney Morgan. It’s been good. It feels good, even better than what I was kind of hoping and visualizing."
It has been and always will be that way on his watch, Harbaugh added, from the staff to the in-state recruits.
“Michigan guys and players are always an emphasis,” he said. “Michigan has always been good when we’ve had Michigan players playing at Michigan. That’s the way it was 35 years ago, the way it is today, the way it will probably be 20, 30 years from now, as well.”
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