NFL combine offers uncomfortable reminder 2023 Michigan football was one of a kind

INDIANAPOLIS — Roughly 270 miles from the Michigan football headquarters where he spent the past four years of his life, Braiden McGregor marveled at the scene before him.

Here he was inside Hall J of the Indiana Convention Center, standing on stage at the NFL scouting combine. Right beside him was one of his old tag-team partners on the Wolverines’ defensive front, Jaylen Harrell. McGregor peeked over at him and remarked, “It feels like Schembechler Hall around here.”

“It’s awesome. Everybody keeps saying, ‘Hey, you guys roll deep.”

Seven weeks after winning the national championship, the core of that undefeated juggernaut is set to reunite at this annual showcase event. Eighteen Wolverines were invited, a record number of representatives from one school in a single year. The massive Michigan presence here offers additional confirmation that one of the best teams in recent college football history resided in Ann Arbor last fall.

But it also provides a sobering reminder that the 2023 Wolverines were one of a kind, with a large contingent of upperclassmen, a rare talent at quarterback, high-end skill players on offense and a successful head coach who are no longer there. Before leaving for the Los Angeles Chargers last month, Jim Harbaugh maximized the potential of the best roster he assembled, seizing the opportunity to lead Michigan to its first national title this century and finish off a phenomenal 40-3 stretch over the past three seasons.

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As one of his former assistants noted, “All the stars aligned for him, and they always have his whole life. ... Some of it is his doing. Some of it is timing. But everything lined up to make that happen.”

It is true that the Wolverines were uniquely positioned to win big. Nine of their 22 starters had a surplus of experience, beginning their college careers before the start of this decade. Two of the defensive stars, slot cornerback Mike Sainristil and linebacker Michael Barrett, benefited from an extra year of eligibility given to all players who participated during the 2020 pandemic season.

“One thing you can point to is that maturity wins,” said Trent Baalke, the general manager of the Jacksonville Jaguars. “That was a very mature football team, a lot of fifth- and sixth-year guys contributing to a national championship. Jim did an outstanding of building the continuity there, where the players wanted to stay.”

Together, they created a unique, tight-knit culture forged from the burning embers of their 2-4 downfall in 2020. That shared trauma from that miserable slog set the Wolverines on the path to glory, hardening their collective mindset and forcing them to change for the better.

As Barrett said, “We just decided that wasn’t the kind of legacy we wanted to live.”

So, they overhauled their defensive scheme, welcomed in a batch of younger coaches and rediscovered a winning formula that played to the strengths of their program. It led to an immediate revival the following season, as Michigan finally beat Ohio State, won its first Big Ten title in 17 years and made its maiden voyage to the College Football Playoff.

Confidence was restored and the future looked even brighter with J.J. McCarthy set to take control of the offense. A former five-star prospect, McCarthy showed flashes as a freshman that suggested he could take the Wolverines to new heights. He had a strong arm, tantalizing athleticism and impressive accuracy. All of it was on display during his first run as the starter, when he guided Michigan back to the CFP two years ago and made Harbaugh a true believer in McCarthy.

As the 2023 season approached, Harbaugh suggested that the team’s limited passing game should expand and balance the vaunted ground attack that triggered Michigan’s rebirth.

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He then compared McCarthy to the NFL’s most dynamic passers, Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes and Buffalo’s Josh Allen. McCarthy proved the hype was justified. As he led Michigan toward the summit of college football during a season marked by scandal and controversy, he was a model of efficiency. He became the Big Ten’s top quarterback, setting program records with a 72.3 completion percentage and 1.20 interception rate. He also completed a 27-1 run as the starter before announcing his decision to go pro.

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“There’s a lot to like with him,” NFL lead draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah said.

It's why McCarthy is considered a potential Day 1 pick, which would put him in rare company at Michigan. Harbaugh, perhaps more than anyone else, can speak to that. After all, the former Michigan coach is the only U-M quarterback to be selected in the first round during the Super Bowl era.

“He's a once-in-a-generational type,” Harbaugh gushed about McCarthy in October.

He then revised that statement toward the end of the season, calling McCarthy the best to ever play the position at the school during the intoxicating aftermath of the Wolverines’ Rose Bowl triumph over Alabama.

In that moment, Michigan fans were just as giddy as Harbaugh was. They could rejoice their team had an extraordinary player at the helm of its powerful offense.

But it was offset by the sinking suspicion they would soon see him go and a great team was on the verge of disintegrating before their very eyes. Sure enough, that happened. In the coming weeks, the Wolverines would bid farewell to some of their biggest names: Corum, Colson, Wilson, Zinter, Jenkins, Sainrsitil, Barrett, Harrell, McGregor, Nugent, Keegan, Johnson, Jones, Barner, Barnhart, Henderson and Wallace.

They were off to the NFL, to another phase in their football lives, to the big stage here in Indianapolis where McGregor stood Wednesday morning side-by-side with Harrell.

“This past year,” he cooed, “has been a dream true.”

“It’s a blessing to be here,” Barrett added an hour later. “A surreal moment.”

But a 4-hour drive away in Ann Arbor, it felt bittersweet because it was accompanied by the harsh acceptance that a uniquely great era in Michigan football had come to a close and it may never be replicated.

Contact Rainer Sabin at rsabin@freepress.com. Follow him @RainerSabin.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: NFL combine reminds us 2023 Michigan football will be hard to copy