GBMWolverine
Fansided

Michigan Football: If you’re a player, the coaches are worth listening to

By Douglas Brouwer

MIAMI GARDENS, FL - DECEMBER 30: Head coach Jim Harbaugh of the Michigan Wolverines talks to a referee in the first half against the Florida State Seminoles during the Capitol One Orange Bowl at Sun Life Stadium on December 30, 2016 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
MIAMI GARDENS, FL - DECEMBER 30: Head coach Jim Harbaugh of the Michigan Wolverines talks to a referee in the first half against the Florida State Seminoles during the Capitol One Orange Bowl at Sun Life Stadium on December 30, 2016 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Michigan football coaches aren’t going to say much this time of year. But the players should still listen to them for obvious reasons.

So, what do we make of the Michigan football coaches’ comments at this time of year?

Related Story: Michigan football: Previewing the offensive line

The truth is, not much. Unless they’re announcing an injury or a disciplinary move, we’re not going to learn a whole lot from these guys.

In fact, you get the feeling that they like talking to the press right about now as much as I like having a cavity drilled. They do it, but they’re not happy about it.

Take Jim Harbaugh, the head coach of Michigan football at Big Ten Media Days: “Strap on the iron jock,” he said, in response to a question about how he’ll overcome his team’s youth and inexperience this season.

Well, what exactly were we expecting him to say? That Michigan football is in a rebuilding year, so we shouldn’t expect much? That 9-3 would be a good season, and that 8-4 is not out of the question? I don’t think so.

And then, not to pick solely on the head coach, there’s offensive coordinator Tim Drevno talking about the three quarterbacks vying for the starting job this year: “Very good competition,” he said, and reporters dutifully copied these amazing words into their notebooks.

Michigan Wolverines Football
Michigan Wolverines Football /

Michigan Wolverines Football

But tell me, were we really expecting more?

Frankly, I doubt there’s really much of a competition going on – in other words, I think the quarterback decision was made a long time ago and that last year’s starter Wilton Speight has the job sewn up.

But how else do you keep guys like redshirt freshman Brandon Peters and graduate transfer (fifth-year senior) John O’Korn motivated?

These guys are listening to what their coaches have to say too, and Drevno knows all too well that handing the starting job to Speight at the beginning of August could have prompted Peters to start looking for a new team.

It could still happen. It happened at Alabama at the start of last season. Blake Barnett and Cooper Bateman both made the decision to leave the Crimson Tide, and Nick Saban went public with his displeasure about their decision.

But, heck, these guys want to play. Do you think Peters is really going to sit quietly on the bench waiting for a turn that may never come?

“We lost three of our last four games last year, so I didn’t like that feeling,” Harbaugh said at his Big Ten Media Days interview. He was referring to the long off-season and the motivation to get ready for the 2017 campaign.

Next: Top 10 Michigan Running Backs of All Time

But those words could have been spoken by any of us. We didn’t like that feeling either, and we can’t wait for the opening kickoff in September.

Home/Michigan Football