Mike Hart Brings 'Spice' To U-M's RB Room, & Blake Corum Is All About It
New Michigan football running backs coach Mike Hart, the program's all-time leading rusher, is back in Ann Arbor in charge of the position group he once was a part of as a player. Hart took over for Jay Harbaugh, who is now coaching tight ends and continuing to serve as special teams coordinator.
Michigan's ball-carriers are already enjoying what Hart has brought to the room.
"It's been an awesome experience so far," freshman running back Blake Corum said. "Coach Mike Hart, he brings a spice to the table, not only on the field, but in the classroom. He teaches us some things that he did as a player. And he also brings some new drills to the field that we've been working on and stuff. So it's been pretty good."
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Added Corum, when asked what exactly he meant by 'spice': “He just brings some oomph. Drills we do on the field, different types of cutting drills, different drills we didn’t do last year and I haven’t done as a running back over my short career. That’s what I mean by spice.”
During Michigan's shortened, six-game 2020 season, Corum made an impact during his first year in college football. He carried the ball 26 times for 77 yards with two touchdowns and caught five passes for 73 yards.
From the first offensive play of the season — a 24-yard reception by Corum on a swing pass to the right — the Marshall, Va., native showed that he has high-level speed. Corum was reportedly clocked in as running the 40-yard dash 'in the 4.4s' last season, and he says he's gotten even faster over the last year despite having added some weight.
"I'm just attacking every day, I don't look too far ahead," Corum said of the work he's putting in. "Just go into every day trying to get better than I did the day before and so that's how I'm attacking this this spring ball."
At 5-foot-8, 200 pounds, Corum is similar in stature to Hart, who was listed at 5-foot-9, 202 pounds during his senior year in 2007. Corum revealed that he watched some film of Hart before even arriving on campus ahead of the 2020 school year, just wanting to look back at how a Michigan football legend did it, and he's picked that back up now that Hart is here.
He knew Hart, who previously coached at Indiana, during the recruiting process, and it's been good to reunite in Ann Arbor.
“Just looking at old running backs,” Corum said. “I’ve been watching his film. I’ve been trying to learn from him, pick him apart, look at the moves he used to do when he played and just the way he attacked each and every game. I've definitely been watching him.”
While Hart may have some extra insights into being a smaller running back that could help Corum, his leadership is paying dividends for all of the Wolverines' backs, not the ones he's similar to in size.
“I think Coach Mike Hart can really help anybody, not just in my stature,” Corum said. “The bigger guys, the little guys, it doesn’t really matter just because of what he brings to the table and how good he was as a running back. I definitely enjoy having a coach similar to my ability coach me just because he can see what I can see on the field, I do like it.”
Corum is expected to be a weapon that coordinator Josh Gattis can use in multiple ways this coming season, including at slot receiver. Corum is willing and ready to play whatever role the team needs him to, he says.
"Right now, I'm not sure what the coaches want to do with me," Corum said. "But I feel like I would definitely be on the field, whether it be running back or in the slot. I will definitely be out there somewhere ... so it's up to the coaches really."
He has also embraced pass protection, an important aspect in being a running back at Michigan and under Hart.
“If you can’t pass pro, then you can’t really play,” Corum said. “I take pass protection really serious. We work on it every practice, which I like. So pass protection is definitely a big deal in the running back room here at Michigan.”
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