Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh: "It's Time To Go Play"
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MIAMI - Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh spoke with the media about their big Orange Bowl matchup against Georgia.
JIM HARBAUGH: It's been a great honor to be here. Orange Bowl is a fantastic bowl and venue, the host of this playoff game. Our guys are excited. We're happy to be here, but not just happy to be here; it's been a tremendous amount of preparation that's gone into this game. We know the task at hand. Georgia is a great football team, and we've had good days, really good days, good meetings, good practices. We're getting the energy up, and it's time to go play.
Q. Both you guys are known for the whole -- your power football. Everybody says they're physical. Everybody says they play power football. But we've seen Michigan and Georgia take it to another level in terms of the commitment. I guess I'd ask you, Coach Harbaugh, about that strategy that Michigan has had over the years and the payoff in a day and age when it seems like offensive football and fireworks is the new way to go.
JIM HARBAUGH: Well, I mean, just always striving to be really good at that at the phase of running the football, and on defense being able to run and hit and wrap up and make tackles and pursue. It's a physical sport. Yeah, you always strive to be as good in that area as you can, and you want to be good in the kicking game just like you want to be good in the protection phases, you want to be good in the throw game. You're striving to get really good in all those phases.
Q. Both of you played at schools that you are now coaching in the playoff; given that, what does it mean to you personally to have your school in the semifinals with a chance to win a national title? Also, I know you shared the same birthday last week. Did you get any presents that stood out?
JIM HARBAUGH: Yeah, I got some real good ones. The kids made some things. I got these cool GPS locators that you can put in your wallet and on your keychain. My son Jay gave me that. It was a good birthday. It's really cool. It's cool whenever I meet somebody that has the same birthday it's so unique, December 23rd, two days before Christmas. We've got that in common, Kirby. That's pretty cool.
I'd be interested to see what Coach thinks of this, but growing up when you've got the December 23rd birthday, you get the short end of the stick so many times because people are running out of money, you don't really have a party because everybody is getting ready for Christmas, and a lot of the times you get the same birthday present as you do -- Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday.
Q. Both you guys are known for the whole -- your power football. Everybody says they're physical. Everybody says they play power football. But we've seen Michigan and Georgia take it to another level in terms of the commitment. I guess I'd ask you, Coach Harbaugh, about that strategy that Michigan has had over the years and the payoff in a day and age when it seems like offensive football and fireworks is the new way to go.
JIM HARBAUGH: Well, I mean, just always striving to be really good at that at the phase of running the football, and on defense being able to run and hit and wrap up and make tackles and pursue. It's a physical sport. Yeah, you always strive to be as good in that area as you can, and you want to be good in the kicking game just like you want to be good in the protection phases, you want to be good in the throw game. You're striving to get really good in all those phases. Yeah, to answer your question, we're going to have to play good. It's going to be about that for us to have a chance to be successful, chance to win. We're going to have to play good. Probably right up there with our best. That's what it's going to take in this ballgame.
Q. Jim, I'm curious, after the 2020 season, your guys have talked so much about this week and throughout the year, what does it mean for you personally to win Coach of the Year and for you to be here in the College Football Playoff?
JIM HARBAUGH: It's been great. As I said at the opening, we're happy. We're really happy to be here. Coach Smart was talking about it just a little bit ago and just it really resonated, yeah, you're -- there's a great joy. There's a great joy around the team, the locker room, practices. It would almost be like if you weren't happy about that, then there would be something else we've got to look into. Why? Why wouldn't you be happy? But not just happy. There's a real narrow focus that the team has concerning this football game and making each day -- making them good days. Having great meetings, having great practices, get the energy up and go play the game.
Q. Coach Harbaugh, a couple crass money questions if I could. I wondering how you reacted on a pride level to the concessions you had to make with the new contract and what led to your idea to donate the bonuses to people affected by COVID, and has any of that money gone out, and have you heard from anybody affected by that?
JIM HARBAUGH: Yeah, I have. Actually people have been very appreciative. I was really happy to be blessed to be in a position to be able to do that. It really resonated with me, something our coach -- my coach and a lot of our coach, Bo Schembechler has a saying here at Michigan. It says, "those who stay will be champions," and it's always resonated with me from day one. Those that stayed through the pandemic when there was voluntary pay cuts, mandatory pay cuts, that kind of thing, just to be able to reward those that stayed in that way was something that Sarah, my wife, and I wanted to do.
Q. Coach Harbaugh, I had a question about with so many of the coaches that you've hired this year with connections to the program as players, your athletic director you played for back in the day, I'm curious how that sort of pride and how that experience has sort of contributed to some of the dynamic in the locker room that you're seeing this year with the team looking like it's really playing for something bigger than just wins and losses per se?
JIM HARBAUGH: Yeah, playing for each other, playing for the love of the game, playing to get practicing and to get really good at football. There's all those things. It's like we were talking about before, there's a lot of joy that players, coaches have. The relationships are tremendous, and everybody enjoys each other's company.
We came back here from a really tough practice on Monday, and then to see our guys, 50, 60, 70 guys kind of head out to the water and head out to the beach, and they were doing the chicken where they got the guy on their shoulder and they're tossing the ball around in the water and running around on the beach, it's cool. There's a lot of moments like that. There's a lot of moments where you see that, whether it's coaches in the staff room, guys who went to Joe's Stone Crab and had a nice dinner as a staff, and it's just easy. There's a great camaraderie there and fellowship among the coaching staff. You enjoy each other's company.
I see that with our players, as well. Yeah, it's wins, it's games, it's touchdowns, but there's a lot more to it. Coach Smart said it really well earlier; there's a lot to it, and those relationships are huge.
Q. Is Dax Hill with the team this week in Miami?
JIM HARBAUGH: His status is going to be questionable. He's working through something right now. We'll know more today whether he'll be able to play.
Q. Jim, with Coach Macdonald coming on board, I know there have been several players on defense who didn't play a whole lot that have really been outstanding for you guys this season, DJ, David Ojabo. What do you feel like Mike has done to identify some of the players that you've had and give them these opportunities to find themselves for them to have success this year?
JIM HARBAUGH: Mike has done a great job. He's got his roots at Georgia. There's a lot of things that we do I see Georgia do. I know where Mike got a lot of his ideas. He'll be the first one to tell you that.
He's done a tremendous job. The entire defensive staff has. He's been a really good teacher. Smart, got a great passion for the game of football, and a couple of the players that you talk about, DJ Turner, really going into his junior year, has really had a tremendous season, so has David Ojabo, and Mike deserves a lot of credit for that.
Q. Jim, can you share some about the impact John Madden had on you and what the team's response has been in supporting Jesse?
JIM HARBAUGH: Yeah. Everybody knows John Madden. Jack Harbaugh, 82, me, 58, at every -- down to my son
who's nine years old, and the players and the Madden game, just so many ways he's affected not just the game of football but in so many ways. A great man. Just a great man, a legend.
Jesse on our team, he's adored. He's contributing, been a big factor contributing to our success. The day John Madden passed away, I looked over there and saw Jesse Madden, there's a Madden on the football field contributing to this team's success, and his grandfather would be very proud.
Q. Jim, when last season ended and obviously we know of all the changes that were made and everything else, the preseason Michigan was unranked, the first unranked team to make it to the playoff. When it began did you think it would be -- A, this would be possible to get this far this quickly from where you were last year to now; and B, is it fair to say has it been even smoother than you thought it would be?
JIM HARBAUGH: The approach always from the beginning and each year, every day matters, and the games are the ones that count. We're going into our 14th game that counts. Our guys have done a tremendous job each day, making each day matter, and then when they get to the games, they've made those days count. They've been quite successful doing it.
We'll continue the same formula, which is to strive to have great days. We're going to do that today, have great meetings. We'll have a really good walk-through, strive to have that, and then get the energy up and go play the game.
Q. I know you have a unique approach, unique relationship with somebody on the other side, your sister obviously married to Tom Crean. Has your sister told you who she's going to be rooting for on Friday night?
JIM HARBAUGH: No, she hasn't, but the relationship with Tom, Tom is great. Tom is a great coach, great brother-in-law. He's like a brother to John and I. We're so fired up when Joani started dating Tom and then when they got married it was like getting a second brother for me.
Through the years, he's just awesome. What a guy. What a tremendous brother, person, coach, father. He is so rock solid. Just really proud. Just really proud to have a brother-in-law like Tom Crean.
Q. Coach Harbaugh, getting back to the first part of my question before, how do you react to the new contract and some of the concessions you had to make, and how did you kind of realign your -- did that hurt your pride at all?
JIM HARBAUGH: I reacted -- no big deal, attacking each day with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind, as always. It didn't really mean anything to me. It's just money. Big deal.
Q. You're both obviously perfectionists that demand a certain level. Are you able to take it in yourselves and really relish in what you've accomplished? Secondly, do you think college football is ready for a CEO or a czar or someone to help be more unified in decision making, et cetera?
JIM HARBAUGH: Yeah, really happy to be here and proud of our team for getting here. Got a really tough Georgia team to play, and hopefully that's coming through.
Enjoying the heck out of it, and can't wait to watch our guys go compete.
Q. I feel like there's a lot of comparisons made amongst fans, the media, that you guys share some similarities, personality-wise, program-wise. Do you see a little bit of yourself reflected in each other and in each other's programs? What would be some of the main differences you might notice, as well?
JIM HARBAUGH: Yeah, that was shirts and skins. I wasn't trying to take my shirt off to show off or anything. Certainly not a lot to show off. But it was an old-fashioned shirts and skins game. But probably just a lot of similarities. Both football coaches, doing what we love. I can tell listening to Coach talk about his team, feels -- that's the way I feel. You're in it for these relationships and these long and trusting friendships, and trying to get good at football.
Yeah, I see those similarities, and I've been in those camps, too, and Kirby was right down in there, right down in there running the drills, as well. There's probably a lot more similarities than differences.
Q. When you come into a season like this with a little different dynamic, is the ride to get to the top sometimes a little more -- I don't know if enjoyable is the right word, or is there some different meaning in the ride to get to the top as opposed to when you have already reached the top? Is there a different dynamic to a season when you feel like you're sort of building to something as opposed to you've already accomplished it?
JIM HARBAUGH: I would say it doesn't matter what day it is, it's enjoyable to be working on football. Great to be out there. It could be a practice day and you're just out there on the field, under the sky, on the turf. It's a wonderful thing.
You asked me before about -- I'd do it for free. I would do this job for free. I just love it.
Whether it's the first day, first game, or position we're in now, which we're very -- feel really happy about that. I guess I've just enjoyed the ride the whole time. Every day is a blessing, and happy for it and blessed for it.
Q. You guys were talking about the camps. The last time we saw you guys together, Coach Harbaugh, you were running around in a camp in Atlanta in a Hank Aaron jersey. I wonder what you remember about that day, and how fertile a recruiting area is the city of Atlanta, and obviously you've got some guys on your defense there. How important is it to you?
JIM HARBAUGH: What I remember from that day is huge meeting Hank Aaron, spending time with him and getting to know him. Later he became an honorary captain for us at a Michigan game. His granddaughter went to Michigan. That was a really special day getting to cross paths with the great Hank Aaron and also Coach Smart at that camp.
It's a tremendous place for football, as everybody knows. It's a great spot. They take their football really serious, and their baseball. It's a great place for sports. Kids grow up doing it year-round and take it really seriously, and they're really good at it.
Q. You're coaching at both your alma maters. How is it different coaching there than other places, if it is, and obviously you both have had high-profile jobs in other places. Clearly there's some advantages. Are there disadvantages, and how is it different?
JIM HARBAUGH: For me it's been great. Enjoy the heck out of it. There's no downside. Just really honored to be the coach here.
It's always been a big team effort. That's the thing that I learned as a player here, and it started with Bo Schembechler. It's all about the team. The team, the team, the team. We try to continue that idea, that legacy.
None of us is as smart as all of us, and as a team, the more we play like a team, the better off we're going to be.
Q. Jim, I think it was yesterday was talking about how encouraged he is by this offensive line, the conditioning, the mental approach in late-game situations, and I was wondering your impressions of that. And also for clarification, I was just wondering, is Dax in Florida?
JIM HARBAUGH: He's not right now. He might be. He could be here today. He may not. But not currently in Florida, no.
Q. I had asked Andrew Stueber about how strong this team, this offensive line has been in late-game situations particularly late in the season, and I was wondering your impressions of that.
JIM HARBAUGH: I would agree. They've been fantastic. They've been strong. That shows up in a lot of ways. The group have stayed healthy pretty much all season long. The starters have remained healthy and available every game. They look like they're moving around in the fourth quarter as well as they were in the first quarter. In shape, strong, smart, cohesive group. Yeah, would agree with that all the way.
Q. Jim, just a quick follow-up. In an ESPN interview you did maybe last week, you talked about before the season bringing the buzz back and where is the buzz right now about Michigan football. Do you feel like that is back, and do you personally feel rejuvenated?
JIM HARBAUGH: Yeah, I feel like the buzz -- created some new buzz with this 2021 team. Yeah, let's face it, it had died down a little bit, and I do feel like our guys have created some new buzz, and it's been a good thing.
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