Jim Harbaugh talks DE Mike Danna: “carries himself like he’s on a mission”

Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh spoke at length about defensive end grad transfer Mike Danna on the latest Attack Each Day Podcast. The former Central Michigan standout has impressed Harbaugh to this point.

Harbaugh on Danna:

• “Mike is the only player we brought in as a transfer in this class, because we thought he was special and could really help our team. We’re happy he chose to be a Wolverine.”
• “His work ethic has been outstanding. He carries himself like he’s on a mission — to make Michigan great and to make himself great.”
• “We knew Mike was good, but he’s doing better than advertised so far. His work ethic has been outstanding, and he’s on a mission to make both himself and Michigan great.”
• “Moving exceptionally well, which we thought. But then there’s some of the sled work and some of the things where you come up and physically punch and hit. He’s got a lot of power. More than we thought. He’s under-promising and over-delivering right now.”
• “He’s a dude in the workouts, as Don Brown would say. Mike moves exceptionally well and has more power than we thought. he’s under-promising and over-delivering right now.”
• “He was one of the top defensive ends in college football last year, and his numbers on Pro Football Focus were outstanding.”

Danna put up impressive numbers as a Chippewa and will have a chance at a starting position in 2019. The 6-foot-2, 257 pound transfer racked up 65 tackles (14 for loss), two touchdowns, four forced fumbles, and 8.5 sacks in 2018. Danna was named to the All-Mid-American Conference First Team defense.

Harbaugh spoke about Danna’s Pro Football Focus numbers being stellar, and he’s right, most of his ratings on PFF are elite.

Michigan is in need of a guy like Danna to step up and wreak havoc in the opponents backfield. U-M lost DE’s Chase Winovich and Rashan Gary to the NFL Draft and their shoes won’t be exactly easy to fill, but Don Brown and Co. almost always seem to plug the right guys in the following year to where there isn’t much of a drop in talent, if at all.

Danna’s numbers were among the best at his position last season, but he was playing for a team that didn’t win a whole lot of games or receive national exposure. Now Danna is playing for Michigan, where he will be known by the masses if he performs at a high level.