Michigan Football: 2017 should be an “intriguing” season for Wolverines

Jim Harbaugh has done a great job of making Michigan football relevant again. And 2017 is shaping up to be another interesting season.

The 2017 Michigan football season is shaping up as one of the most intriguing we’ve seen in a long, long time.

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And “intriguing” can be good, especially after those pre-Harbaugh seasons when the program was slowly sinking into mediocrity.

With 15 starters from the 2016 season now gone, 10 on the defensive side of the line, we have an opportunity to see – and I mean really see – where this program now stands.

Many, if not most, of the players we’ve been writing about for the last two seasons were recruited prior to Harbaugh’s arrival. Now the team is his in a way it wasn’t before. He recruited exactly the kind of player he wanted at each position, and for the first time we are about to learn what kind of a program Harbaugh has built.

Let me lay this out under four headings: 1) the quality of recruitment over the last two years, 2) Harbaugh as developer of players, 3) quality of coordinators and position coaches, and 4) Harbaugh as turnaround expert for football programs.

First, quality of recruitment. One reason Michigan is ranked as high as it is right now in pre-season polls (among the top 5 or 6) is that there are plenty of high-quality new guys who will step into starting roles.

But how good are these new guys? We’re about to find out in the first game of the season – September 2 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, when the Wolverines go up against the Florida Gators who are ranked in the top 5.

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Is sophomore Chris Evans ready to step into a featured back role? Will true freshman Donovan Peoples-Jones be ready to start at wide receiver as currently projected? Does sophomore Devon Bush Jr. have what it takes to be a starting linebacker against Big Ten powerhouses like Penn State and Ohio State? And can sophomores David Long and Lavert Hill step in at cornerback and not get burned on a regular basis?

We’ll find out soon enough.

Second, Harbaugh as developer of players. Some would argue, of course, that Harbaugh has already demonstrated this ability in other programs.

Look no further than Andrew Luck and his success in the NFL. You can even mention graduate transfer Jake Ruddock – and Ruddock’s steady quarterback play during Harbaugh’s first season.

But 2017 will either enhance or tarnish Harbaugh’s reputation. Frankly, I am confident, but once again we won’t know until the season begins. If Speight, for example, doesn’t continue to grow as a quarterback this season, the Wolverines are going to be in big trouble – and may be forced to turn to sophomore Brandon Peters sooner than expected.

Third, quality of coordinators and position coaches. Michigan football was the first major college football program to pay three of its assistant coaches more than $1 million – Tim Drevno, offensive coordinator; Don Brown, defensive coordinator; and Pep Hamilton, assistant head coach. LSU and Alabama have only two assistants making more than a million for comparison.

Leaving aside the usual arguments about the economics of college athletics, that’s a lot of money. And all three are locked in for three years. Are we getting our money’s worth? We’ll find out this year.

And fourth, Harbaugh as turnaround expert. Back to back 10-3 seasons should be evidence enough that Harbaugh has turned around a once-sagging Michigan football program. Plus, Harbaugh’s record at San Diego State, Stanford, and the NFL’s San Francisco should speak for itself.

And yet, Harbaugh was brought to Michigan to return the Wolverines to an elite program. Turnarounds in college football typically take no more than three years.

At Ohio State, Urban Myers turned things around in one year. The Buckeyes went 6-7 in 2011, and when Myer took charge in 2012 they pulled off an impressive 12-0 season. At Alabama, the Crimson Tide was 7-6 in 2007 and then went 12-2 under Nick Saban in 2008.

After graduating those 15 starters from last year, not many people are expecting still another 10-3 record. 9-4 seems like a distinct possibility.

So, once again, we’ll find out soon enough how much of a change Harbaugh has been able to bring to Michigan in just three seasons.

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2017 should be an intriguing season for Michigan football fans.