Wolverine Watch: Jim Harbaugh Is Hunting Gators Again
Thomas Edison insisted genius involves two percent inspiration and 98 percent perspiration. The football wizard looking to reinvent dominance among Michigan’s winged helmets concurs.
Two seasons ago, Jim Harbaugh guided his team through an all-business preparation period, getting ready for Florida in the Citrus Bowl. The Wolverines practiced hard, met diligently and didn’t exactly spend their Florida days deep sea fishing or riding Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
At the time, the press obsessed on how much more fun the Gators were having than the Wolverines. At kickoff, the fun ceased for Jim McElwain’s crew, which ran head on into some big thunder.
Michigan destroyed a favored Florida team in its home state, 41-7, forcing McElwain to describe it as “a case of getting your rump kicked in.”
The Wolverines kept pouring it on, to the point that some perceived the Gators flat-out quit in Orlando’s sunshine.
Fast-forward 20 months. Harbaugh’s crew has been quietly, diligently prepping to take on Florida at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The head coach himself surrenders personnel details like Eisenhower before D-Day.
Everyone will know all they need to know come 3:30 on Saturday, he figures.
Meanwhile, McElwain’s team didn’t have a choice in releasing some roster changes. It obviously wasn’t for lack of preparation and focus that fifth-year senior defensive back Marcell Harris tore his Achilles tendon, ending a potential All-America season in one false step.
The false steps of others, though, certainly could have been avoided.
Florida suspended its best receiver, veteran Antonio Callaway, among seven players grounded for the opener, for unspecified reasons. McElwain noted they made choices that are “extremely disappointing,” with one source telling the Associated Press the issue involves misuse of school funds. The suspensions didn't stop there, as the tally eventually climbed to 10, including starting running back Jordan Scarlett.
All programs feature players getting in trouble, but the Gators have chomped up more than their share of scofflaw headlines, dating back to Urban Meyer’s loose rein on the program.
Florida’s defections leave Harbaugh’s heavily NFL-raided roster the favorite in many projections. Harbaugh trusts those judgments like he would a reporter from The Gainesville Sun sitting in on team meetings this week.
“It’s my job to worry about every little thing right now,” Harbaugh stressed. “I’ve always felt it better to worry before the game … we’re continuing to try to think of everything that we can to get our players prepared for the first game.”
It’s been a long time since the Michigan boss felt it necessary to speak brashly before a football showdown. Obviously, McElwain isn’t similarly burdened with restraint.
He declared at one point the Gators plan to “beat the heck out of Michigan,” indicating confidence their rumps have recovered.
McElwain responded Monday to a question about Harbaugh’s “antics” since coming to Michigan, and did not politely defer.
“He obviously felt he needed to do some things to be relevant and that’s his choice,” McElwain said. “I probably wouldn’t have done it.”
Harbaugh proved plenty relevant to Florida on Jan. 1, 2016. Michigan’s only “antics” involving a dominant rushing attack and a passing game that turned the Gators into handbags.
Before that contest, Harbaugh delivered a simple message, former running back Drake Johnson assured.
“He’s been preaching to us the last month, if you handle your business the way you’re supposed to, if you do this the right way, you’re going to win the game,” Johnson said.
Florida’s top receiver, among a host of others, didn’t handle business well enough to see the field on Saturday. Meanwhile, Michigan’s young wideouts are handling everything in sight, according to their teammates.
“We’ve got a lot of really good, young talent,” fifth-year senior fullback Henry Poggi said. “Some of the catches some of these receivers are making are very impressive.”
“Incredible,” senior left tackle Mason Cole added. “Some of the plays they’ve made in camp, they really wow you. I’m excited to see them go out and play, too.”
Harbaugh himself talks about an offensive line that is “a locked-in group. It’s a more focused group. That’s been improving as well. It’s not as much fun and games, joking and laughing, that kind of thing. They are very focused, and proving it.”
Defensive coordinator Don Brown’s crew has its fun and games locking quarterbacks into an existential scramble. He’s out to prove new starters won’t translate into newfound misery.
“Preparation is always at the highest level,” Cole vowed.
Michigan plans to be plenty relevant in 2017. It starts on Saturday, against a team whose last encounter with Harbaugh’s antics involved two black eyes.
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