Michigan football, MSU coaches show lack of preparation a year after ugly tunnel incident

At his weekly news conference Monday, Jim Harbaugh spent nearly three minutes of a 19-minute session discussing Michigan football closing in on its 1,000th victory. U-M has 996, meaning No. 1,000 won't happen for more than a month, at the earliest.

That didn’t stop the Wolverines coach from going on and on, like a kid rattling off his Christmas wish list, about all his plans. Maybe a commemorative ring for coaches. Definitely helmet stickers. Or suits for players, like the ones Deion Sanders designed for the Colorado Buffaloes.

All this six days before the Michigan-Michigan State game. All this only a year removed from one of the ugliest incidents in one of college football’s best rivalries.

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In all, Harbaugh field two questions about last year’s tunnel fight at Michigan Stadium and spent a total of 59 seconds paying lip service to an altercation that resulted in the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office filing charges against seven Spartans players (one of whom, Khary Crump, still remains suspended by the Big Ten for swinging his helmet at a U-M player).

Over in East Lansing, interim coach Harlon Barnett spent even less time in his Monday news conference: an entire 22 seconds of his 16-minute session answering the one question he got about avoiding a repeat of last year’s incident.

“We're focused on this year and just playing the game 11-on-11 on the football field, because that's all that matters,” he said. “And that's where our focus is, 11-on-11 on the football field.

“You get plenty of chances to get out there and get after them and play hard. And all the other stuff, you know, we’re moving forward past that.”

Harbaugh’s comments were, somehow, less revealing, enlightening or reassuring.

“Every week is a new week,” he said. “I think maybe some have the perception that because you did something last week or the week before, or a game went a certain way, that it's going to go exactly that way.”

When Harbaugh was asked a second time for his current feelings about the incident, compared to his emotional reaction last year — when he called for criminal charges to be filed — he was even more disappointing.

“How do I feel about it?” he said. “That seems like a long time ago. I like what J.J. (McCarthy) said, maybe last week: It's a goldfish mentality. So it's onward.”

So Harbaugh quoted his quarterback, who referenced an aphorism from “Ted Lasso” about having a short memory.

OK, so here’s another aphorism, coach. Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

I’m so disappointed in the lack of leadership, preparation and forethought Harbaugh and Barnett have given to last year’s game and incident. At this point, considering all the avoidance from both coaches, I would be more surprised if an incident didn’t occur Saturday night at Spartan Stadium after U-M beats MSU by 50 points.

I get it. It’s an ugly memory and humans don’t like reliving ugly memories, especially when there are cameras around. Harbaugh and Barnett clearly want to lower the temperature surrounding the rivalry, which has grown so toxic, at times, that some called for a temporary suspension of the game.

But that’s not how we get better. That’s not how we learn. If I’m not mistaken, I believe both universities do a little teaching, as a side hustle, when they aren’t too busy selling merch and luxury suites.

It was actually a player who provided a better example than either coach. Michigan running back Blake Corum, who will be playing in his fourth game of the rivalry, offered the most truthful answer and the best approach to the game.

“We're not really focused on what happened last year,” he said. “We're not going to hold a grudge on what happened last year. Always keep in the back of the mind, but we're not going in there like, 'Oh, we're going to rough them up' or we're going to fight or anything like that, like that's part of the past.

“So we're going to go in there, handle business and come out victorious.”

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I hope Harbaugh and Barnett were lying to reporters. I hope both coaches and the athletics departments at each school have a strong plan in place to keep the peace after what’s sure to be a lopsided, embarrassing loss for MSU.

If you haven’t noticed in his nine years at Michigan, Harbaugh loves quotes. Barnett does, too, and he quoted his late father Monday.

For some reason, pithy sayings are catnip for coaches. So here’s a final one that’s been around a long time but one that I hope resonates with Harbaugh, Barnett and anyone else involved in Saturday’s game: Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.

Best of luck to both teams. I hope we somehow get an exciting game with a thoroughly uneventful ending.

Contact Carlos Monarrez: cmonarrez@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @cmonarrez.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Leadership missing a year after Michigan football tunnel incident