A week and a week ago, Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh sent a brief message to reporters.
“Free the Big Ten,” he said on September 5, as he attended a parent-led protest opposed to the Big Ten’s resolve to postpone fall sports. It wasn’t long before Harbaugh realized his wish.
On Wednesday, the Big Ten announced that their football season would begin on the weekend of October 24, and Harbaugh’s reaction was immediate.
“Good news today,” Harbaugh said in a statement through the sports department. “Over the next month, I have been able to feel the anticipation of our players and coaches, and I am extremely happy on their behalf that they will have the chance to play a 2020 season. Stay positive. Negative test. Let’s play football. “
Harbaugh insisted this summer that football be played. In the past, he had published a letter on August 10 (a day before the initial postponement) explaining his reasoning, mentioning the control effects of his team and THE COVID-19 protocols. On the Michigan campus, Harbaugh said his hope was that the Wolverines could play again “as soon as possible. “
“We’re in a position to play,” Harbaugh said on September 5. “We’d be in position, we’ll be in a position to play a game in two weeks. We’ve been in education often since June 15. That’s our position. We are in a position to play as soon as possible.
Michigan President Mark Schlissel, who participated in the initial vote to postpone football and this week’s vote to return to competition, also issued a Wednesday morning.
“I need a percentage of me for the resolution of the Big Ten to start the football festival next month,” Schlissel wrote.
“. . . I expressed my fear earlier, shared through my colleagues in the Ten Great Presidents and Chancellors, that we simply did not know enough about the problems of physical condition and protection of interuniversity athletics to promote education and competition. we remain increasingly informed and have adjusted our technique to the new data that has been developed. “
Contact Orion Sang at osang@freepress. com. Follow him on Twitter @orion_sang.