Michigan's Jim Harbaugh 'Ready To Attack' Fall Camp

Fall camp is underway for Michigan football, with the Wolverines scheduled to kickoff their season on Sept. 5 against Purdue at The Big House.

Head coach Jim Harbaugh is fired up to begin on-field, coach-led practices.

"Estatic, enthusiastic, ready to attack the day with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind," Harbaugh told Jon Jansen on the In The Trenches podcast about how he's feeling now that camp is here.

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Michigan is taking proper measures towards ensuring that fall camp and a season can be had safely amid the unique circumstances presented forth by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The two best defenses right now are social distancing and wearing a mask," Harbaugh said. "All of those things are put into place. All rules are being followed.

"Only 10 can be in a room. There’s 10 or less, depending on the size of that room. Then, there’s the question of actually on the field, to the best of your ability, you’ve tested and to the best of your ability, people out there are negative."

The on-field practices may look different than normal, with players and coaches wearing extra equipment to prevent an outbreak of the coronavirus among the team.

The face shields — people are familiar of the ones that go from the top of the helmet to the top of the face mask, that have, in the past, protected eyes and the face, but [players are] also [wearing] face shields over the mouth and over the face mask," Harbaugh explained. "Our guys have been wearing those on the helmet. And when they’re not wearing that, they’re wearing a mask.

"Taking it to another level, as we start practice here ... lineman that are going to come face to face are going to be wearing a mask and the face shield. Double protection — mask, plus the face shield over their helmets.

"And we’re going to limit the reps. If somebody’s in continuously, we’ll want them to get used to it and not be out of breath or overheated, those kind of scenarios. A lot of thought, a lot of planning [has gone into the measures]. And so far, so good. As our guys wear their helmets now, you see that face shield that’s over the face mask, and it does collect spray that comes out of somebody’s mouth."

Harbaugh also revealed that Michigan has a succession plan if he were to catch the virus, and there's plans in place for if any staff member were to test positive.

Now that Big Ten teams, including the Wolverines, have their schedules for the 2020 season, there's a new sense of energy in the building, Harbaugh said.

"The reaction was good," Harbaugh said. "Like the players, I felt myself, OK, now we know who we’re playing our first game. And we knew nine of the opponents that we’ve had. That was on the schedule, and then we added Northwestern, which hadn’t been on the schedule previously.

"Just a good feeling to see the schedule, know who your first game is against. And, I could tell with our players, too, and coaches and staff that there was an enriched sense of enthusiasm and juice that everybody had at Wednesday’s workouts."

One notable change in the schedule is that Michigan will take on arch rival Ohio State on Oct. 24, instead at on the final week of of the regular season. Asked if it will be "odd" to play the Buckeyes on such a date, Harbaugh was unsure.

"I don’t know that it will or it won’t right now," he said. "We’re ready to play anybody, anywhere. We just want to play football games.

"There’s been so many guys that have trained so hard not just now, but their entire life for this opportunity. And recently, they’ve played and put themselves in a position to have success. Those guys, those players that want to play, need to play, that’s the one that we’re all willing to bend over backwards for so they can have the opportunity to do that."

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