Jim Harbaugh attended the Best of the Midwest Camp at Grand Valley State in Michigan on Sunday and spoke to reporters about a few noteworthy topics including the offensive coordinator position, players leaving the program, and Ohio State.
Here’s a recap for you.
Offensive coordinator:
As it stands right now, Michigan has no offensive coordinator, and it may stay that way. Harbaugh is unsure if he’ll name one for the 2018 season.
“What we’re striving for is great collaboration on the offensive side. Some people talk about having too many chiefs as an analogy. We’re looking for warriors and I believe we have that,” Harbaugh said. ”We’re working really well and understanding that the offense is a place of improvement for our football team.”
With 2017 offensive coordinator resigning and taking a job at USC, it appears the collaborative effort will continue with no coach getting the title of offensive coordinator for the 2018 season. While receivers coach Jim McElwain and offensive line coach Ed Warinner will have a say with the flow of play-calling and especially game-planning, the two with the most fingerprints on the play-calls will be made by assistant head coach Pep Hamilton, and Jim Harbaugh.
Not having an offensive coordinator will put Jim Harbaugh’s name front and center when it comes to any praise or criticism the offense receives. While it may be a collaborative effort, as is the case with any coaching staff, after the scrutiny Michigan faced in 2017 and the lack of production in certain areas, Harbaugh is taking more of a hands on approach than in years past at Michigan.
To sum things up, Jim Harbaugh is the offensive coordinator by default.
Emphasizing Ohio State:
A couple weeks ago, Charles Woodson said he didn’t think enough emphasis has put on the game against Ohio State in recent years. When Harbaugh was asked what he thought of Woodson’s comments, it was clear he disagreed with the assessment and feels there has been enough emphasis. You can choose who to side with on this one, but the last two seasons the game has been very close and highly competitive.
Asked Harbaugh about Woodson saying UM not emphasizing OSU enough....... pic.twitter.com/GQktQUOX4N
— angelique (@chengelis) June 3, 2018
Players transferring:
Harbaugh said two players have decided to leave the program, which puts Michigan under the 85-man scholarship limit.
Jim Harbaugh says that two players have left the program, but wouldn’t comment on which two. Wants to let the players make their own announcements. He says the team is now under the scholarship limit.
— Andrew Vailliencourt (@AndrewVcourt) June 3, 2018
Running back depth chart:
Take this with a grain of salt, but Harbaugh shed a little light on the running back pecking order. However, he could have forgot to mention a player or two here so I wouldn’t try to read too much into this (for now).
When asked about running backs, Harbaugh talked about Higdon, Evans and Tru Wilson but no mention of Kareem Walker, fwiw.
— Andrew Vailliencourt (@AndrewVcourt) June 3, 2018