Jim Harbaugh noticed it the minute he walked into Schembechler Hall and saw some of the players he hadn’t seen in weeks. Many of their bodies were different, he recalled — linemen David Ojabo and Julius Welschof were bigger, while some had actually cut bad weight — but all seemed to have the hunger to make themselves the best they could be.

That was what he wanted to see coming off a 2-4 season, and while it’s not necessarily an indication of how the season will go, it’s a step in the right direction. Junior end/linebacker Aidan Hutchinson admitted he’d dropped a few pounds for his new responsibilities of playing standing up, and he looked it.

“I was already at a good weight,” he said. “I've been at 265, and that's where they want me, in that 260-265 range. I've got more responsibilities this year, so you get a little bit lighter, and I've done that.

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“But I feel like a frickin’ beast right now. I'm 100 percent; I'm rolling. I got cleared to practice around March, but coach [Mike] Macdonald held me out and we had a little argument about it … they held me out of spring ball [even though] I was already cleared to do it. I feel amazing right now, though. Ankle is 100 percent. Everything in my body, I'm going into camp without any bumps or bruises or anything like that. My body, my mind, everything is feeling pretty sound.”

The same could be said of redshirt junior Josh Ross. His brother, former Michigan linebacker and coach James Ross (now linebackers coach at Hope College), said this summer his little brother was in the best shape of his life, and it showed during Media Day in Indianapolis.

Ross looked smaller but ripped, a self-reported 225 pounds. He’s moving better and is better equipped to make plays, he insisted.

“This summer I’ve just really been attacking nutrition, really running, doing some speed training in my discretionary time,” he said. “I’ve just been working. My main thing was getting as lean as I possibly can, because I know the strong suits of my game, which is contact — that’s the strong suit of my game, downhill.

“But let’s get a little bit more fluid; let’s get some yoga in. I’ve been doing a lot of yoga, and I’ve really been seeing the gains. I’m so excited to show what I’ve been working on, because I’ve been grinding, and we’ve been grinding too. Our whole team has been grinding.”

Others have added good weight. Those concerned about redshirt sophomore Mike Barrett moving from Viper (safety/LB hybrid) to inside shouldn’t be, Ross insisted.

“Mike Barrett is 239 pounds,” Ross reported. “That’s all you need to know.”

Redshirt frosh defensive tackle Mazi Smith is in the best shape of his life, Harbaugh added — ‘he’s going to ball out,” Ross said — and several others, too, have made the commitment to being in elite shape this fall.

They’re hopeful the gains off the field will translate to winning on it, having done what they could to put themselves in position for a solid bounce back season.

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