Michigan football celebration highlights: Warde Manuel 'working' to get Jim Harbaugh new deal

Shortly after captain Trevor Keegan had finished shotgunning adult beverages without a shirt in sub-freezing temperatures, Alex Orji had concluded playing catch with fans who lined the downtown roads and the general hoopla of the national championship parade through Ann Arbor had subsided, the celebration moved indoor to Crisler Center.

Michigan football’s 2023 national championship celebration was sold out Saturday night and it included the who’s who of the winningest program in college football history at center stage: athletic director Warde Manuel, coach Jim Harbaugh, quarterback J.J. McCarthy, running back Blake Corum and the rest of the team's captains.

Almost immediately, Manuel addressed the elephant in the room.

“I will answer the question that I heard about 500 times at the parade route, I am working on getting (Harbaugh) a new contract, I promise you," Manuel said to a thunderous applause and standing ovation.

While it's hard to rank the loudest cheers of the night, that was likely it. Of course, when McCarthy was introduced, that also created quite the commotion as the standing-room only crowd chanted "one more year, one more year."

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McCarthy made no such promises, but rather thanked the fan base for its unwavering love and support. He harkened back to a social media post from November 2020, when he asked the entire fan base to take a few deep breaths and trust everybody was working toward one mission — a mission that was completed Saturday.

"Got some big decisions to make," McCarthy began, "But I just want to let you guys know that no matter what decision comes with this, Michigan will forever be in my heart."

Of course, McCarthy's ovation was far from the only one. There were a number of deafening roars throughout the evening as the event's emcee, radio analyst Jon Jansen, an offensive lineman on the 1997 national title championship team, went through the team's accolades:

The No. 1 defense in football, the No. 1 team in fewest penalties, No. 1 in turnover margin and the team became the first national champion in more than 20 years to lead every single game at halftime.

That led to the winningest player in program history, Michael Barrett (61 victories), taking the stage as he pounded his chest and hyped up the crowd.

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"We aren't in the talking business, we're in the ass-kicking business," he said. "And business is booming!"

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The team's captain offensive linemen, Keegan and Zak Zinter, also took the mic on stage. Despite Keegan saying he "failed every speech class" he ever took, he did just fine as the thanked the crowd for their unwavering support.

He singled out the moment Zinter suffered his leg injuries against Ohio State and and the huddle got quiet; when Zinter was carted off, Keegan said the roar of the crowd gave the team a lift that led to Corum's 22-yard touchdown rush on the very next play. Zinter echoed Keegan's sentiment as he said that moment, the lowest of his athletic career, is now one he will cherish.

"I felt and heard each and every one of you," Zinter said of the moment he rode up the tunnel and off the Michigan Stadium turf for the final time. "For that I’m gonna be eternally grateful."

Mike Sainristil, who played on the same side of the ball as Zinter and Keegan to begin his career, then Barrett and Kris Jenkins the past two years, joked with the fans about how the team "put y'all through some stuff" in the last five seasons, but throughout the ups and downs, he said he always felt supported.

"Had a chance to come back and play for the best head coach in the country, to be a part of the best team in the country," he said. "There’s nothing from these past five years that I would give back or trade for anything."

The final player of the evening to speak was Corum. The senior became not only the team's seventh leading rusher all-time and not only set a single-season touchdown record, but now owns the program record for the most touchdowns of any player in a career.

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He wore a T-shirt with one of his new catchphrases "business is finished" as he stepped to the microphone at the middle of Crisler Center. He'd done something similar before, only this time, there was a stage. The last time he was in this situation was February 2023. He was recovering from knee surgery when he explained to a men's basketball crowd that afternoon that he will be back and the team will win a national championship.

On Saturday, the video played over his head and he smiled.

"I promised y'all," he said. "And what did we do?"

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The event ended with Harbaugh, who didn't get a "one more year" chant, but rather "10 more years." He spoke for nearly 10 minutes, throwing in some of his usual phrases like "stalwarts," "Michigan men," and a group of players who all year showed "enthusiasm unknown to man kind."

However also threw in a few new wrinkles, including reading passages from Shakespeare about men who were doubted. His team was one of them this year, he said, as it took on all comers and remained undefeated.

"You defied gravity," Harbaugh told his team. "You had to be pulled back, rather than talked into, refused to be divided. ... Bo Schembechler said ‘The Team, The Team, The Team.’ Team 144, you are the team. Victors valiant, team superior, you had each others back, treated others as you wanted to be treated.

"Michigan football legends. Beloved sons of Michigan ... and now, known simply, as national champions."

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

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football celebration highlights: AD working on Harbaugh deal