Michigan football assistant coaches feel 'set up to handle' going without Jim Harbaugh

Jim Harbaugh still isn't sure where he will be on Saturday.

That's when No. 2 Michigan football opens the season against East Carolina (Noon, Peacock) but U-M's usual head man isn't allowed at Michigan Stadium or on any of the team's premises; he will be serving the first of a three-game internal suspension in relation to an on-going NCAA investigation into his program.

Instead of naming one interim head coach across the first three games, Harbaugh appointed four: defensive coordinator Jesse Minter on Saturday, special-teams coordinator/safeties coach Jay Harbaugh in the first half and running backs coach Mike Hart in the second half in Week 2 vs. UNLV and offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Sherrone Moore in Week 3 against Bowling Green.

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“All 10 coaches are tremendous and talented,” Harbaugh explained Monday. “Why one each game? Because I know each time a coach is the head coach. I know that their preparation is going to be the fullest, at the max and that is going to be the best thing for our football team.”

Minter's game at the helm, the season opener on Saturday, has the most moving pieces. Not only is Harbaugh out, but offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore is also serving a university-imposed one-game suspension.

Quarterbacks coach Kirk Campbell, who J.J. McCarthy called "knowledgeable as heck about the pass game and football in general" earlier in fall camp, will call the plays on offense.

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Moore would have been in his first game as the sole play-caller (he split duties with former co-offensive coordinator Matt Weiss in 2022 before he was fired in the offseason) so it's not clear how different Campbell's offensive calls will be to the rest of 2023.

That said, senior running back Kalel Mullings has a good idea of one element of it.

"I definitely think there’s going to be a lot of shots and creativity in the passing game,” he said Monday afternoon. “I’ve noticed that throughout camp and I’m excited to see how it develops throughout the season.”

"I'm very confident in Kirk's ability," Harbaugh added. "He's been preparing. You talk about being dialed in for a game, he's as dialed in as well as anybody I've ever seen."

Campbell was an offensive analyst at Penn State for three seasons (2017-19) and in those years, the Nittany Lions' finished top 10 in program history in total yards and points every year.

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He was then the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Old Dominion (2020-21), where he helped the Monarchs score 28.5 points and 385.4 yards per contest. He became an offensive analyst at U-M last season, with an emphasis on early-down passing.

U-M will appoint analyst Nick Gilbert to fill the coaching vacancy left by Moore's suspension. Gilbert, hired in February, was a quality control specialist with the offense in Colorado last season, helping specifically on the line.

As for Minter, the one leading the charge in the opener, there will be differences in his game day routine, he expects it to be minimal.

Harbaugh and Moore will still be around all week for practice to help install the game plan, which Minter said will be a "normal deal," but he has stepped out of his lane a bit.

"Tried to have a little more sense of what's going on on both sides," he began. "Special teams, how to manage the game and the way we want to play as a team."

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Minter smiled when asked if there's any possibility of Campbell calling 60 passing plays to open the season, saying we'll have to wait and see on Saturday. While it's a near-certainty that won't happen, it is one of the reasons Harbaugh said he trusts Minter (and the others) to make the decisions in his absence.

"When you’re the head coach during a game, and you’re the guardian of victory, that’s a tremendous responsibility," Harbaugh said. "You (have to) understand complementary football, it’s not just defense; it’s not just offense; it’s not just special teams — it’s the whole team."

While there's confidence in Minter, he said there are of course many elements of Harbaugh that will be missed, even in a game where Michigan enters as a 35½ point favorite. The first? His presence, as Minter said he "breeds confidence" into his players.

Then, Minter paused, as if he realized in live time, he does the same for the coaching staff.

"We're set up to handle this well because of his ability to empower us assistant coaches," he said. "Want to be able to manage a game in the way Coach Harbaugh would and make him proud. Really just prove him right."

Contact Tony Garcia at apgarcia@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @realtonygarcia.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football without Jim Harbaugh for 3 games? What's the worry?