When Jim Harbaugh entered his sixth year with Michigan football, the Wolverines entered a transition phase.
The list changed when a wave of headlines in both offense and defense left a show that stumbled upon a disappointing 9-4 record in 2019. Only five groups across the Football Bowl subdivision had less production than Michigan when the schedule changed. Then, as a global pandemic has become a disruptive force, more casualties occurred: Wolverines cornerer Ambry Thomas retired and so did top recipient Nico Collins.
That lowered expectations for Michigan, but the Wolverines’ training staff had none of that. Offensive coordinator Josh Gattis said quarterback Joe Milton’s new starter dropped 70-yard bombs and made the kind of practice plays that would be included in NFL reels. He also sang about the closed wing Erick All, and told reporters he was going to be a “special talent. “Gattis’ defensive counterpart, Don Brown, also delivered the speech. He advised that the deep sophomore Dax Hill could be the “most productive type in coverage” in the Big Ten. He also praised defensive wings Aidan Hutchinson and Kwity Paye, saying they can be the most productive mix of complex sports.
[Mail Bag: Will Jim Harbaugh ever make Wolverines a winner?]
At other times, the Wolverines injected into their veins a giant dose of “rat poison,” a term Alabama coach Nick Saban uses to refer to exaggerations.
Three years ago, Saban coined this word at a press convention after a win over Texas A
“We don’t like our team to be complacent in any way,” Saban said.
For Saban, there’s no sense of security. Last Saturday, Saban’s birthday, no less, filmed screaming at backup defensive lineman Tim Smith after an offside penalty in a game won through Alabama, 41-0.
But no matter the instance or magnitude of the victory, Saban is never satisfied. After the defeats, he will detail his team’s mistakes at press meetings and suppress his enthusiasm for the outcome. Jim Harbaugh of Michigan takes a completely different approach. Wolverines’ 25-point win over Minnesota in the first game showed an air of satisfaction.
“Well, ” he said. “So to communicate it. “
In the glare of victory he celebrated his players, especially Milton, as if they had reached the stage.
“I think Joe listens there, but it’s amazing, ” said Harbaugh with a smile.
A week later, Harbaugh again in front of the camera and this time his expression had changed. Michigan had just suffered a shocking defeat to Michigan State, wasting on a rival he intended to beat in more than three touchdowns.
The Wolverines were stunned. The offensive part Hassan Haskins calls it “unreal. “
A few days later, Gattis spoke on the radio and said the Wolverines’ offensive preparation was not “up to the task. “Had the gluttons been infected with their homemade poison?
Harbaugh refused to settle for that option on Monday when asked whether the overreaction of the technical staff to players during the preseason had created unrealistic expectations and distorted the truth of a team incorporating a batch of new games.
Instead, he reaffirmed Milton’s good luck with the practice of cash shooting and said Hill was a “great covered defender. “
But according to Pro Football Focus, Milton is only 1 for nine passes in attempts of 20 yards or more. Similarly, the online page gave Hill one of the team’s lowest scores in pass defense. But they’re not the only players who haven’t made it. All this, the tight game, accounted for 3 of the Wolverines’ seven falls, and the Hutchinson-Paye mix produced only two catches, despite passing 140 shots in two games.
The effects so far are disappointing, but that’s basically because the bar has risen too high.
While lead supporter Josh Ross has said Harbaugh and his assistants strike the right balance between positive reinforcement and constructive complaint behind closed doors, players publicly hear favorable criticism of its functionality and nothing else. only the dismissal that the Wolverines had granted, but said he could not forget it, and ignored it as if it had never happened. Earlier this week, he called Vincent Gray the team’s most sensible cornerer, even after being defeated at Michigan State.
What does it say about competing with Gray for game time?
Words matter, and that’s why Saban uses his press meetings for the messages he conveys to his team.
The primary purpose for him is to keep 85 young adults hungry from week to week. After one of the few cases in which he thought he had failed in this capacity, Saban expressed his regret. This happened after Clemson’s defeat of the Crimson Tide in 2019. national championship game.
“If you lose your humility,” Saban said, “create (the feeling that) I’m above doing things the way I have to do to play in an opposite setting to smart competition. And if I put my own program before the team wins, it will have an effect on my performance
Otherwise, losses can occur, hope becomes sadness, and exaggeration becomes empty promises. It’s Michigan football in Week 3, recovering from its own poisonous aggregate of rat poison.
Contact Rainer Sabin at rsabin@freepress. com. Follow him on Twitter at RainerSabin. Get information about the Michigan Wolverines, Michigan Spartans and sign up for our Big Ten newsletter.