7/26/2018 football Edit

What They're Saying: Michigan At Big Ten Media Days

Andrew Vailliencourt • Maize&BlueReview

Staff

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Media outlets from around the country had plenty to say about Michigan following Big Ten media days. (TheHoosier.com/Jordan Wells)

Media outlets from around the country gathered at the Marriott Hotel in downtown Chicago earlier this week for Big Ten media days.

A main focus of the event, as it has been the previous few years, was Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, who fielded questions on a variety of topics. We looked around and compiled what some of those other outlets — both national and local — are saying about the Wolverines and their 2018 season, and put it in one place for you below.

John Borton, TheWolverine.com: Wolverine Watch: Jim Harbaugh Draws A Different Line

"It starts up front, even when the questions don’t.

"Harbaugh knows Michigan will be loaded on the defensive line, with ends like fifth-year senior Chase Winovich and junior Rashan Gary firing off while tackles like redshirt sophomore Michael Dwumfour and sophomore Aubrey Solomon toss 600-plus pounds of beef at opposing rushing attacks.

"He’s counting on an offensive line — under new boss Ed Warinner — developing better and faster under new management. From sophomore center Cesar Ruiz on out, Harbaugh is banking on blockers that keep the wins coming and keep his QBs out of the hospital.

"Whether he gets it will go a long way towards making junior quarterback Shea Patterson — or whoever stands behind center — all he can be. ...

"Candor sometimes arises out of confidence. Michigan hasn’t taken one snap in anger since April, but there’s a different feel, both for Harbaugh, those protecting his quarterbacks, and the men whose job it is to ruin game days for opposing QBs.

"It starts up front, whether Patterson becomes a swing and a miss, 10-win transfer Jake Rudock or ’97 Brian Griese.

"Now, Harbaugh has good reason to deflect away from the quarterback talk. He’ll likely be hearing the questions from now until Notre Dame game week. His QB announcement could well arrive when Michigan’s offense trots out in South Bend for the opener.

"But there’s a reality to his hard line about the lines. An already fearsome one, and another determined to get there, hold a big chunk of Michigan’s 2018 season in their soon-to-be-scarred hands."

Bill Bender, Sporting News: Jim Harbaugh, Michigan must answer rivalry questions where it matters most

"Harbaugh was brought on to return Michigan to prominence after a seven-year hiatus from the national stage, to turn the tide against the Spartans and Buckeyes — which have a combined record of 17-3 against the Wolverines since 2008. Michigan is coming off a disappointing 8-5 season, but Harbaugh didn't dwell on that much at all.

"'It's probably better not to live in the past,' he said. 'It's probably better to get on to the next season. No need to compare to last year or any other year before that. It's going to be its own season.'

"You want more from Harbaugh, who has compiled a 28-11 record through three seasons. You want there to be substance to match the social media style he blitzed college football upon his arrival with bells and whistles of satellite camps and trips to Rome and Paris. You want a highly compensated offensive coaching staff that just added Ed Warinner, Jim McElwain and Sherrone Moore to offer something more for the Big Ten, especially in the rivalry games.

"The truth is you don't want that. You want Harbaugh to keep losing in those rivalry games and fire off some more quick-trigger moves. You want Michigan to sink deeper and for Harbaugh to reach a breaking point — which would lead to a breakdown on national TV and the oft-rumored return to the NFL. You want to judge Harbaugh in July.

"Well, you can't always get what you want. Harbaugh might not lead Michigan to a Big Ten championship this season against a schedule that features road trips to Notre Dame, Michigan State, Ohio State and Northwestern, plus home games against Wisconsin and Penn State. All of those teams won 10 or more games last season. Here's the truth, though: Even if Michigan goes 8-5 again, Harbaugh won't be fired. It's not going to happen.

"That said, losses to Michigan State and Ohio State — or Notre Dame in the opener on Sept. 1, for that matter — would increase the negativity around the program. It's nowhere near the toxic levels that overwhelmed Year 3 of the Rich Rodriguez era in 2010 and Year 4 of the Brady Hoke era in 2014, but patience has never been a virtue in Ann Arbor. Harbaugh's losses generate a lot more retweets than Rodriguez's or Hoke's ever did because of the hysteria that followed his hire."

Paul Myerberg, USA Today: What does a quieter Jim Harbaugh say about Michigan in 2018?

"The fourth-year Michigan coach is an artist at saying something yet saying nothing. In that sense, Monday's performance at Big Ten media days resembled his masterpiece. It still felt off.

"Meet the muted, quiet, docile Jim Harbaugh. There were no fireworks during his appearance, no great quote, no statement of confidence, let alone cockiness. Reporters goaded Harbaugh, trawling for responses; he wasn’t biting. The Harbaugh who spoke for 15 minutes was subdued, and a distance removed from the bombastic new hire who took this conference by storm three summers ago.

"Is this the new Harbaugh? Was his staid question-and-answer session a purposeful tactic designed to tamp down the fire, not feed it? It also makes you wonder: What, if anything, does Harbaugh’s appearance say about Michigan in 2018?

"This might not be the new Harbaugh on a permanent basis — he could return to form should Michigan beat Notre Dame in its opener, for example. But it’s hard to not view his performance here as part of a larger design.

"Maybe Harbaugh is humbled by the Wolverines’ inability to defeat the program’s two great rivals, Ohio State and Michigan State, let alone the program’s failure to rise into the upper deck of the Big Ten. Michigan was expected to be an immediate factor in the Big Ten championship conversation. That hasn’t been the case.

"Suggestions that his job security has wavered are fiction. Yet the heat is on for Harbaugh and his staff heading into September, particularly given the renewed attention paid to the Wolverines’ postseason goals with five-star transfer quarterback Shea Patterson’s arrival from Mississippi."

Joan Niesen, Sports Illustrated: Three Years Later, Can Jim Harbaugh and Michigan Advance Past Novelty Act?

"It’s not that Harbaugh’s job is on the line. He’s a long way away from that kind of hot seat. Rather, the attention has moved on: last year, to darling newcomer P.J. Fleck, and this year to Frost, who may have the chops and the talent to hold college football’s fleeting focus. Harbaugh, meanwhile, has lost his novelty. He’s established, but as what?

"This season will go a long way in answering that question.

"Harbaugh’s Michigan teams have been good. In 2015 and ’16, he finished 10-3. Last year, the Wolverines dipped to 8-5, with an offense that was at times painful to watch. Still, Harbaugh and the Michigan tradition were enough to land Shea Patterson, the quarterback transfer from Ole Miss who—if he continues to develop like he did over his first two seasons of ball—could command the Big Ten come September. This is still a team that can flex and land a major transfer, and its 2018 recruiting class landed seven four-star recruits. It was the third highest-ranked class in the Big Ten—which is higher than Michigan has ever finished in the conference during Harbaugh’s tenure. That is to say: this is still a team in transition, that can trade on building toward a big season. Or at least it was, and maybe 2018 has to be that year.

"In a Big Ten East division that’s as loaded as it ever was, Michigan won’t have an easy road to the conference title game or a coveted playoff berth. It opens the year at Notre Dame, and when conference play begins, it’s against Frost and Nebraska. In the season’s final six weeks, the Wolverines get perennial Big Ten West champion Wisconsin, Michigan State and Penn State back-to-back-to-back, then a two-week reprieve (Rutgers and Indiana) before finishing against Ohio State. In more positive terms, that means Patterson, after a Week 1 challenge, will have more than a month to get ready for the games that could make or break 2018 in Ann Arbor.

"On Monday, Harbaugh seemed focused on saying as little as possible, and he avoided discussing the past at all costs—even when framed in the rosiest terms. After telling his reporters he wants his team to improve by 1% each day, he wouldn’t say what improvements it’s made thus far; to do so, he explained, would be 'tooting [is] horn.'"

Nick Baumgardner, Detroit Free Press: Michigan football faces familiar questions; will it now have answers?

"Three years ago they came to Chicago to ask him how he was going to take over the Big Ten.

"This week they came to Chicago to ask him why he hasn’t.

"This has been Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh’s reality for the past six months — probably longer. Perhaps dating back to a rain-soaked home meltdown against Michigan State last October, or to the home loss to Ohio State that followed a month later.

"Michigan’s football program, which many assumed would rocket into space the day Harbaugh took the leadership chair in late 2014, found itself back in a familiar spot at Big Ten media days this week (at least over the past decade).

"The program is not beating its rivals. Year 2 wasn’t better than Year 1. Year 3 was even worse. And the gaggle of assembled Big Ten scribes kept their collective foot on the gas when it came to reminding anyone representing Michigan of those realities this week. ...

"Michigan is 3-17 against Michigan State and Ohio State during the past decade and winless on the road against any ranked opponent since 2006. Harbaugh has only been here three years, but he's done little to turn any of those trends.

"Those numbers are horrible. Some head-in-the-sand fans may claim they’re not worth repeating, but the reality is Michigan’s football program once again faces an uncomfortable situation in which hype has yielded middling results."

Teddy Greenstein, Chicago Tribune: Column: A muted, drab Jim Harbaugh is simply no fun

"What have they done with Jim Harbaugh? And can we please have him back?

"The Harbaugh who showed up Monday to Big Ten media days was muted. He was rational and drab. These are the qualities you might want in a brother-in-law.

"I want Harbaugh to be JIM HARBAUGH.

"Where’s the guy who blew into town before his first season at Michigan and regaled us with stories of visits to Paris and Mike Ditka’s restaurant? The one who made SEC coaches flip out regarding satellite camps? The one who caused a stir with seemingly every tweet? During 2015 media days, Michigan State defensive end Shilique Calhoun joked of Harbaugh’s shirtless pictures: “I think he’s a handsome man. I’m glad he took them.”

"Back then Harbaugh was a must-listen — zany, unpredictable and bold. He called football 'the last bastion of hope for toughness in America in men.'

"Last year he took the stage and proclaimed: 'Good afternoon. Wonderful to be here.'

"It was 9:30 a.m.

"He had a great line about rejecting the typical coach’s wardrobe of a suit and tie, saying: 'I packed light. I packed a toothbrush and a good attitude.'

"And his showstopper: 'Let’s strap on the iron jock and work like crazy and get the job done.'

"The iron jock has been replaced by tighty-whities."