Wolverines Q&A: Jim Harbaugh with Steve Kornacki
12/30/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- There was a "New Era" celebration on Tuesday (Dec. 30) at Michigan Stadium. In the hours prior to being announced as Michigan's 20th football coach, Jim Harbaugh had breakfast with and spoke with Wolverine athletic department members and caught up with some long-time friends.
Former Michigan head coaches Lloyd Carr and Gary Moeller were there with their wives, and Jerry Hanlon, his quarterbacks coach, spent time conversing with his father, Jack, who coached on Bo Schembechler's staff, 1973-79. It was Carr who replaced Jack after the Harbaughs moved to California for dad's new job as Stanford's defensive coordinator.
Harbaugh knew them all as mentors, and they became something akin to his uncles over time. The one thing all of them had in common on this morning was a sense of pride that one of their own was coming back, after highly successful coaching stints with the San Francisco 49ers, Stanford and the University of San Diego.
The new coach was battling a cold but wanted to meet and greet everyone.
"I think I got this when [49ers players] doused me with Gatorade," said Harbaugh, recalling the scene after winning his final game with that team on Sunday. "I felt a chill right away. But those were special times with my players after the game. They tell you what you meant to them, and you tell them what they meant to you. It meant a lot."
His mother, Jackie, stood with Jim and pointed to different areas in the stadium, admiring the improvements and recalling happy memories in the Big House. Jim's wife, Sarah, was there. So were all of his six children but one. Jay, 25, is a quality control and quarterbacks coach with the Baltimore Ravens, who are coached by Jim's brother, John, and are preparing for the NFL playoffs.
Jimmy Jr., 18; Gracie, 14; Addison, 6; Katie, 4; and Jack, 2, were seated on padded chairs in the Jack Roth Stadium Club, munching cereal and bananas and soaking in the place where their father played as an All-America quarterback and where their grandfather coached.
Harbaugh picked up Jack, wearing a knit cap with a block M on it and hugged him as he looked at the field below. He soaked up the moment, thinking back to the past glories and ahead to the future.
Before addressing a packed house of media members at the Junge Center, Harbaugh spoke with MGoBlue.com:
Q. When exactly did you decide to become Michigan's football coach and what was that moment like?
A. It's a great question. I don't think it was one particular moment. It was just that whenever I thought of it, I kept coming back to this decision.
Q. When did it start going through your mind?
A. I can honestly say it's gone through my mind since I was a youngster of nine or 10 years old. I went and sat behind Bo's desk and had my feet up on his desk, and he walked in and said, 'How you doing, Jimmy?' I said, 'Doing good, Bo. How are you doing?' He said, 'Whatcha doin'?' I said, 'Sittin' at your desk, Coach, seeing what it's like to be you.' Only I didn't actually say that last part. But I always thought about coaching here like my dad.
I dreamed about being the coach at Michigan, and now it's time to live that dream. It's a dream I've had since I was little.
Q. Why did you decide to return as the leader of the Wolverines, the winningest program in college football, and who or what had the greatest influence on your decision?
A. I didn't really take a pros-and-cons approach. I just went with my heart. I never had a list. I kept coming back to coming back here.
Q. If Bo were here today, what would he say?
A. I'm looking across this room at Lloyd, Mo, Coach Hanlon and (former equipment manager) Jon Falk, and it's like he's here, too. But I don't know what he would say to me today. What do you think? I just don't know.
Q. Can you talk about the influence Bo and your dad had on you?
A. It was my dad and Bo. I studied both of them carefully, and most of what I know came from those two. I loved watching them both over all of those years. (Jim was an assistant for Jack at Western Kentucky while still playing in the NFL.)
Q. Jim Hackett, Michigan's interim athletic director, talks about swinging the pendulum for Michigan football back from negative to positive. A lot goes into that, but can you share what the keys will be in accomplishing that shift?
A. Michigan has always been excellence. I want to bring the same standard of excellence that's always been associated with Michigan.
Q. When you go on visits to the homes and schools of recruits, what are the main points you will make to potential student-athletes and their parents?
A. I'm just going to talk from the heart about a place I believe in. I don't know the exact things I am going to say, but they are going to know that at Michigan, for a parent to drop their son off at our doorstep, they are dropping off their most prized possession. It doesn't matter what they have or don't have, that son is their most prized possession. And there is not a finer place they could drop their youngster off than right here, I believe that. And it will be our responsibility to take care of that same fine person they dropped off at our doorstep, and maybe they will learn a few things along the way and become even better people.
Q. What approach will you take with recruits who are currently committed to play football at Michigan and those who de-committed when the coaching situation was or appeared to be in limbo?
A. I will talk to all of them. But the committed guys are the committed guys -- they will be here.
Q. Are there any coaches that you've already secured for your staff?
A. We're still lining that up; nothing's set.
Q. How long will it take you to get Michigan back into contention for Big Ten and NCAA championships?
A. We have high expectation for the first team meeting and the first practice, and I can't wait for winter conditioning and to get started. So, we can get working to be the best.
Q. Talk about the importance of getting the Michigan State and Ohio State rivalries back in the win column for the Wolverines, and what your relationships are like with Ohio State coach Urban Meyer and Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio.
A. It's been a very respectful relationship with both of them, as it has been with many Big Ten coaches. Jerry Kill at Minnesota, my dad's competed against him. Dantonio and Meyer are coaches I have admired from afar. And we're going to look to win and be good at everything we do.
In terms of practice, we want to win. In the classroom, we want to win. In the community, we want to win. And on fall Saturday afternoons, we want to win. We will strive to be good at whatever we want to be good at.
Q. What did it mean to you when Michigan players such as Anthony Carter, Desmond Howard, Jon Jansen and Billy Taylor reached out to you about taking this job?
A. It was much appreciated; it meant a lot to me. It moved me, yeah, I was moved.
Q. With all the success you had in the NFL, many in the league wondered why you would leave. Can you tell us why you did?
A. I believe in Michigan. It's great from top to bottom.
Q. What will be the first words to your team, the 2015 Michigan Wolverines?
A. It will be us getting to know them, and them getting to know us. It will be about the things you do when you start to form a relationship. A team is relationships directed at one goal, and we need to form those relationships and win.
Q. Your dad mentioned how special it was today, coming back to Ann Arbor and remembering your family home off Packard on Anderson, and you and your siblings going St. Francis for elementary school and Tappan Middle School, and the town itself. You have a young family. What does it mean to you to be bringing them back here to be raised just like you were?
A. It's a great opportunity, and I think it will be wonderful. I think it's the greatest place to grow up. Seeing my kids in the maize and blue of Michigan and wearing the hats, it's just the best.
