Wolverine Q&A: Harbaugh on First Spring Practice
2/24/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
Feb. 24, 2015
By Steve Kornacki
Eight weeks have passed since Jim Harbaugh was named the football head coach at the University of Michigan, and his impact in that time has come behind the scenes. He's put together a coaching staff, recruited his first incoming class and gotten to know his new players.
On Tuesday afternoon (Feb. 24), Harbaugh will put on a blue baseball cap with a maize "block M" on the front and jog onto the playing surface at the Al Glick Field House to lead his first practice. The time has come to set that "benchmark" Harbaugh wants established. He slowly but firmly pounded his fist on his desk to emphasize that word on Monday, when he discussed the beginning of a new team in his office at Schembechler Hall during an exclusive interview with Steve Kornacki of MGoBlue.com.
Kornacki was the Michigan football beat writer for The Ann Arbor News during Harbaugh's years as a Wolverine, which culminated with a Rose Bowl berth, All-America selection and a third-place finish in Heisman Trophy voting in 1986.
Q. Tomorrow's the first day of practice. You're going to have a whistle around your neck and a team to coach here for the first time at the place where you played. What are your thoughts and emotions?
A. It's like Thanksgiving. It's like New Year's Day. It's like a family reunion. And having it all rolled into one. Most people think of January 1st as the start of a new year. To people who espouse to Catholicism and Christianity, they might correlate that with the birth of Christ. Us in football, the start of spring practice and the first day of summer training camp are what you look at as the New Year with fireworks going off, it's your birthday. It's being born back into football, it's a happening.
Q. So it's the birth of a new team?
A. Yeah, it's like coming out of the mother's womb. You're in a nice, warm, cozy environment -- safe. And now you are out into the chaos and bright lights. It's a happening. It's all those things rolled into one.
And it's also like the first day of school. You're so excited for that first day of school, and the night before you set out your clothes, you stuff your lunch into a lunch box, and off you go. It's the start. It's laying down a benchmark. Now we have a place to start from. We have a place to improve from. We have a place to go forward from, and you hope to lay that benchmark halfway up the mountain -- and not way down on the flat land.
Q. Where do you want this team to leave that benchmark?
A. It will be as high as we can make it up that mountain. It's a tall mountain to climb. Every team has high hopes and aspirations, and now you have a chance to lay a benchmark and have somewhere to go from. Now we start, and now we are practicing football. We'll have somewhere to improve from, and we'll know when we see it. And we just hope it's up the mountain a ways.
We'll see what kind of talent we have, how good our execution is, and what kind of effort we have from the first day.
Q. I know you don't like to focus on yourself, but this has to be so special for you tomorrow. What will it mean to you?
A. I'm sure it will be a big thrill. I'm sure I'll be feeling the same emotions that everyone will be -- the players, coaches, managers, trainers, equipment personnel and the whole staff. It's that first day of school. I will lay my clothes out tonight. I will triple-set my alarm and be here attacking it with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind. And I'll be encouraging myself and others to see if we can't bottle that -- that feeling and emotion, that excitement and enthusiasm -- because there is going to come a time when you are going to want to re-open it and have it bottled up to make tomorrow better than today and today better than yesterday.
Q. You've talked about players earning their spot and playing time through a "meritocracy." I guess that's going to be a word Michigan fans are going to get used to hearing when you discuss the team. Talk about that and the competition you're going to have, and about moving ahead based on your achievements and merit.
A. That is football. It started back when they had leather helmets before they started putting numerals on the side and names on the backs of jerseys -- that playing time would be earned. And starting positions would be earned, and your contribution to the team being earned. It's been that way since the inception of football.
Q. Everyone is curious about the quarterbacks. You have 22 starting positions on offense and defense, but that's the position of focus. Can you give us your scouting report on Shane Morris, Wilton Speight and Alex Malzone -- the quarterbacks currently here and competing for the job?
A. It will be what we said it will be -- a meritocracy. We'll roll the balls out there and let the fellas compete. And the hope is that it will be clear-cut. It will be that the cream will rise to the top. By their play, by their talent, by their execution, somebody will state their case and make their argument.
Q. Is there one thing about each of those three quarterbacks that impresses you most?
A. We have seven quarterbacks (with Brian Cleary, Garrett Moores, Matt Thompson and Joe Hewlett -- son of former Wolverine quarterback Rich Hewlett) and I wouldn't call it three. That's what we're going to find out tomorrow and Thursday and Friday and beyond. That'll play out.
Q. Defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin told me that he's going to run a 4-3 front but also have a 3-4 front in order to be harder to prepare for and to better counter some teams. How are you going to employ those two fronts?
A. I'd rather not talk about the scheme and how we're going to do what we're going to do and what we're going to employ or implement. Right now, we're not really answering questions, we're asking them. Where are we at? What is the scheme that fits best for the personnel we have? How can we put the players in the best position to be successful? That's where it starts.
Q. When you assessed film of last year's team, did you see the defensive front seven as the strength?
A. Yeah, and I've watched. But I've done less assessing than you would probably imagine. You don't always know what a player was coached, what his technique was, what he was being asked to do. And I've gotten myself into the habit of starting with a fresh slate. Everybody has a chance to make a great first impression and then build on it from there. And invent themselves or re-invent themselves. Everybody is going in on an even footing, and that helps me make it a meritocracy.
Q. You've moved Jabrill Peppers, who was granted a medical hardship after playing briefly and getting injured as a freshman, from cornerback to safety. What was it about his skill set that makes you like him at safety?
A. You know, tomorrow's the first day, and I have high expectations for great meetings, tremendous learning and competition. It's not any one player that I have excitement for over another. We'll lay the benchmark and go from there.
Q. I didn't intend to ask you a question about how you've decorated your office, but there are plenty of interesting photos, footballs and helmets here. What in here means the most to you?
A. The pictures of the (six) kids and (wife) Sarah, those mean a lot to me. And I love anything Michigan. My family and Michigan -- those two things.
