With cloudy future, so much is at stake for Michigan football, Jim Harbaugh in 2023
Back in the winter, just as he and his Michigan football staff began to conceptualize what this next team may look like, Jim Harbaugh was asked whether he planned to remain in his post beyond 2023. He could have responded with a strong declaration reminding his audience of the long-term commitment he made to his alma mater.
But he didn’t.
Each of the past two offseasons launched with Harbaugh entering the mix for an NFL job opening, which signaled his future in Ann Arbor was tenuous. He didn’t seem to dispel that notion, indicating that coaching the Wolverines had become a year-to-year proposition for him.
“That’s something you assess,” he said. “You assess … after every season. That’s something that I will do after every season.”
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The words hung in the air. Almost six months later they still do, leading some to wonder what will factor into the calculus behind his next big decision and whether the final outcome for this Michigan team will sway Harbaugh one way or another.
It’s a fraught question, which is probably why Harbaugh didn’t seem keen on answering it when it was presented Tuesday.
Instead he chose to recite the mantra of his father, Jack.
“Attack each day,” Harbaugh began. “Attack this day with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind.”
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Throughout a 27-minute news conference, Harbaugh tried to steer the conversation away from what lies in the distance back toward the here and now. He ran through the depth chart, dispensing compliments to the players who make up a team picked No. 2 in the country in both preseason polls. He spoke at great length about the internal competition playing out within the margins of the roster. He cooed about Michigan’s performance at a recent scrimmage, saying it was so on point he had “never seen anything quite like that.”
Harbaugh wanted everyone to know he was completely engaged with coaching these Wolverines and almost nothing else. Honey-do list from his wife? Not a priority. Conference realignment in his backyard? Not a concern of his.
“Very much been focused on one thing and that’s getting our team ready for our first game,” he said. “We’re up there grinding and going over the film from yesterday, and then tomorrow, getting the scripts ready to make that the best day of camp. So, that’s where my head’s at.”
It’s understandable. After all, thinking too far ahead and speculating about what lurks around the corner at this year’s end would cause unnecessary anxiety. The NCAA probe into impermissible recruiting and coaching activities that has ensnared Harbaugh and Michigan remains the elephant in the room at Schembechler Hall, casting a pall of uncertainty over 2024 and perhaps beyond. A negotiated resolution between the school and the governing body’s enforcement staff that would have seen Harbaugh suspended the first four games in September for allegedly misleading investigators and other violations was recently rejected by the NCAA Committee on Infractions, delaying the timetable for a penalty and possibly increasing its severity.
If Harbaugh is indeed facing the prospect of harsher sanctions, will he be more incentivized to seek a job in the NFL and avoid punishment altogether?
Will it be worth sticking around anyway, considering Harbaugh bragged to a reporter that he estimated a record 20 players could be drafted off Michigan’s roster next April? The expected talent drain will only seed more doubt as the Wolverines try to contend when a stronger and more competitive Big Ten takes shape next year. Perhaps it’s why Harbaugh says he hasn’t spent much time ruminating about the potential impact from the recent additions of Oregon and Washington to the conference.
“Really locked in on this football team,” he asserted.
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He should be. This edition of the Wolverines offers his best shot at a national title. The team, in Harbaugh’s appraisal, is deeper across the board than any other he’s coached at Michigan. He describes his quarterback, J.J. McCarthy, as a “once-in-a-generation type of guy.” He crowed about the culture within the locker room, saying it’s never been better. Yet he refuted the suggestion that this upcoming season will be viewed as a failure if the Wolverines don’t win the national title — juicy commentary his own players, including star running back Blake Corum, offered up without solicitation.
“That means nothing,” he scoffed in late July.
Yet in the context of the bright, crystal-clear reality he currently enjoys and the murky one he may soon face it captures everything.
This year is setting up to be a pivotal one in Harbaugh’s football life with so much at stake. It’s why he is so intent on staying in the present while leading his team on what he imagines will be a “happy mission.”
Fretting about what may happen down the line is wasted energy. As Harbaugh said at the start of 2023, “No one knows what the future holds.”
Those words ring truer than ever as the opener nears. Because of that, Michigan’s coach recognizes he must seize the moment, knowing how fleeting it could be.
Contact Rainer Sabin at rsabin@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @RainerSabin.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football's Jim Harbaugh focused on now. The future is cloudy
