Gus Johnson shares what Michigan football needs to do to win in 2021
DETROIT, Mich. — For FOX Sports, Gus Johnson is royalty. He calls all of the network’s biggest college games, across football and basketball. With color analyst Joel Klatt, the formidable duo is on the call for FOX’s ‘Big Noon Kickoff’ along with being the primary pair for the Big Ten championship game in December.
On Saturday afternoon, Johnson was back in his native Detroit, giving back to his community, having donated $30,000 — which was matched by FOX Sports along with another $10,000 donation — to the Detroit West Side Cubs, a youth football organization which Johnson once was a part in his youth. Coach Price was the one who gave him his nickname Gus, which has stuck to this day.
Being the primary play-by-play caller for FOX Sports, the media organization which has the first rights to the Big Ten, means that he’s seen a lot of Michigan games firsthand. And Johnson grew up a Michigan fan himself, so he has a unique perspective on the Wolverines.
At the moment, fan and media enthusiasm for the maize and blue is at what seems to be an all-time low. The annual Cleveland.com poll has Michigan finishing fourth in the division — a far cry from expectations of the winningest program in the sport. Considering that the Wolverines went 2-4 in 2020, it’s easy to see why there aren’t many people buying what Jim Harbaugh & co. are selling.
But Johnson isn’t giving up hope, noting how hard it is to evaluate any team coming off of last year.
“I don’t think there’s a read off of any program coming off this COVID thing, man,” Johnson said. “When I knew that COVID was real? When they canceled Michigan-Ohio State. I was supposed to call that game. I was like, ‘Wow!’ You never think Michigan-Ohio State is gonna get canceled. When they canceled Michigan-Ohio State — I think the jury is out on most teams.
“As a Michigan fan, I think this is gonna be our year. As a fan — the fan part of me. That’s one thing I refuse to give up. Hopefully — they gotta get a quarterback. That’s what it is.”
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Could it be that simple? Does Michigan just need a quarterback to fix its woes?
Johnson’s broadcast partner, Joel Klatt, told WolverinesWire this week that it just needs solid quarterback play and a healthy offensive line, but for Johnson himself, he feels that what Michigan needs most is a competent signal-caller.
“100%. Gotta get a quarterback,” Johnson said. “Somebody’s gotta come in and win, win some games. The coach can only do so much. Sometimes, you’ve gotta have guys go out there and win the game. Give the coach a Heisman — ‘I’ve got this one.’ Just play. I don’t think that’s been there. They’ve had some guys that have been decent, but not great.
“You look at Ohio State and they have two first-round guys — Field and Haskins. J.T. Barrett played in the NFL, Braxton Miller plays in the NFL. He wasn’t a quarterback, but we’re talking NFL players. We’re talking about the quarterback position. That’s the most important position in sports — period. Not even close.”
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Michigan has made changes this offseason, having revamped the coaching staff — particularly on the defensive side of the ball. But the buck starts and stops with the man at the top, Johnson says.
Jim Harbaugh signed a contract extension this offseason, but he took a major pay cut unless he hits just about every contractual benchmark set before him — winning the conference, becoming coach of the year, going to the College Football Playoff and beyond. Johnson assures that Harbaugh is well aware that he’s fallen short of expectations and knows that he has to do what it takes to turn things around.
However, this isn’t the same time period in which Michigan was dominating.
The last time Michigan won a national championship, 1997, the internet wasn’t in every home as it is now. We certainly didn’t have smart phones and social media wasn’t even a thought at the time.
Johnson says that Harbaugh and the Wolverines have to contend with some newfound truths — you can’t live in the shadow of the past and expect similar results.
“My dog’s name is Bo, named after coach, but the days of Bo Schembechler are over,” Johnson said. “He never won a national championship. Today’s college football — I thought Jim did a great job coming off RichRod and Brady Hoke, but it’s different now. The game is different. Kids can go and transfer, it’s like free agency in college sports. Now you’re gonna have the NIL, guys are gonna be getting paid big money.
“It’s different, so you have to figure it out differently. The kid, he’s not running through the wall for you anymore — not like that. He’s on his phone, which is a computer that allows him to go all over the world in a second and have a following and followers and people like what he says. So dealing with this kind of person, it’s a challenge. And I just don’t think that the Wolverines have caught up to it, if you look at their record. Something is broken and hopefully, they’ll fix it — fast.”
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