Jim Harbaugh had a handful of players sit out the Peach Bowl last year, including some of his best in the Michigan Wolverines' loss to Florida. Harbaugh said on Barstool Sports' 'Pardon My Take' Monday it hurt a player's legacy to bail on their teammates ... or at least denied them the opportunity to add to it.

"I do [think it hurts the game], and I think it hurts somebody’s actual legacy, too ... just what they’re about,” Harbaugh said. "A competitor is going to compete; they’re going to go out there and compete. Everybody talks about it; they’re a competitor, I’m a competitor. I’ll compete at everything. I’ll compete at golf or I’ll compete at Tiddlywinks.

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"You hear people say that all the time, but then they don’t go actually play in a football game. To me, now you have a problem with who you are as a competitor and your legacy.”

Junior linebacker and captain Devin Bush, junior defensive end Rashan Gary, senior running back and captain Karan Higdon and fifth-year senior offensive lineman Juwann Bushell-Beatty opted out of the game, Bush citing injury. Harbaugh said they should have followed former Boston Red Sox hitter Ted Williams' approach when he entered the last day of the season hitting .3995 (rounded up to .400) and chose to play rather than sit and preserve his average.

“Everybody tells him, ‘Don’t play; don’t play tomorrow. You’re already at .400. You got it ... you don’t have to do it,'” Harbaugh said. "People would have agreed with that, but he said no. He went out and played.

“He went 6-for-8 and he ended up hitting .406 for the season. Now you’re a legend; not .3996 rounded up to .400 with an asterisk by it. So I’m not demeaning anybody or saying I don’t respect anybody. Everybody’s got the right to make their own decision. But you asked me what I think of it; that’s what I think of it.”

NOTES

Harbaugh said he was excited to bring the 2019 team out for the first time Friday.

"The favorite part is the smell of the grass, the fresh cut grass when you come out in the morning, the sun rising. The cleats clanking on the cement. It's a rebirth," Harbaugh said.

He also said there was still one position open on the offensive line.

"Take our offensive line ... they're pretty cemented, but there's been a true competition for the right tackle, and [redshirt sophomores] Jalen Mayfield and Andrew Stubbier and both have treated it as such over the entire summer," Harbaugh said. "You still have to come in and do your job, but that's the one offensive line position that's a true battle."

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