CHICAGO — Jim Harbaugh and his Michigan Wolverines football team take the field for practice in less than two weeks, but the U-M coach is already making headlines. Asked about Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer Thursday, Harbaugh said, “Urban Meyer has a winning record, a phenomenal record everywhere he has been, but also controversy follows wherever he’s been.”
As expected, media attending Friday’s Big Ten media days in Chicago wanted more, asking about the context.
“No context you should know about,” Harbaugh said. “I don’t think anything was anything new, or a bombshell … just things that many of you all understand and have written about.”
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Meyer had 31 players arrested during his tenure at Florida and was placed on paid administrative leave by Ohio State last year after reports surfaced that Meyer knew about spousal abuse allegations against assistant coach Zach Smith prior to Smith's firing. An independent investigative panel reviewed the evidence and the Ohio State Board of Trustees found that Meyer and Ohio State University Athletic DirectorGene Smith “did not uphold the values of the university,” resulting in Meyer’s three-game suspension to open the season.
Meyer, meanwhile, remains at Ohio State and is (ironically) teaching a “character and leadership” class. New head coach Ryan Day said he still leans on him for advice.
“He's been unbelievable in terms of understanding when to be there, when to step away,” Day said. “He's taken multiple phone calls from me just looking for advice on how to handle certain things.”
A handful of OSU beat writers asked Harbaugh how he expected to get over the hump to beat the Buckeyes and win the Big Ten East. The Wolverines were co-champions with Ohio State last year.
“That’s the goal. That’s what drives you, starts you off, gets you moving,” he said. “How you go from there is on a daily basis you are focused with disciplined thinking of the task at hand, the process of realizing those goals and making those goals happen.
“We’re doing that. Better discipline, better focus on tasks day by day … that’s how we’re going about it.”
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