Done Deal:Detroit Tigers has been suspended to the state AFC and without the senior coach….
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A little bit of the old Jim Harbaugh was present on Friday afternoon, with the Michigan football coach sporting a familiar wardrobe and spouting some of this favorite lines.
Wearing his trademark khaki pants, a white Michigan basketball T-shirt and a blue ‘block M’ baseball cap, the 57-year-old Harbaugh provided an update on his team a week into preseason training camp.
t was the first time Harbaugh had spoken to reporters in-person, face-to-face in Ann Arbor since November 2019, the week leading up to Michigan’s lopsided loss to Ohio State. He was looking trim, a slimmed-down version of his former self — and in good spirits after a helmets-only practice outside Schembechler Hall.
Back to my playing weight,” Harbaugh quipped.
And while healthy and optimistic, Harbaugh also acknowledged publicly the pressure he faces from the public, especially the Michigan football fanbase. Six years into his tenure, Michigan is a respectable 49-22 — and 34-16 in the Big Ten — but without a conference championship appearance or berth in the College Football Playoff to boast about. The lucrative contract Michigan handed Harbaugh in December 2014 has been rewritten to include a lower base salary but plenty of bonus opportunities, many of them incentives for more on-field success.
The decision by athletic director Warde Manuel to retain Harbaugh also came with strong suggestions (and internal realization) to change things up with the staff. Harbaugh responded by overhauling most of the staff, electing to dismiss defensive coordinator Don Brown and absent safeties coach Bob Shoop, and not renew the contracts for three others. That paved the way to hire a new defensive coordinator (Mike Macdonald), familiar faces from Michigan football lore (Mike Hart, Ron Bellamy) and some go-getters on the recruiting trail (Steve Clinkscale, George Helow).
Harbaugh also chose to promote Sherrone Moore to offensive line and co-offensive coordinator, pairing the 35-year-old assistant with offensive coordinator Josh Gattis, and move his son, Jay, a returning member of the staff, to tight ends.
“Really well organized,” Harbaugh said of the staff. “Just a lot of coaching. Lot of coaching going on. You notice it in the special teams; you notice it on offense, defense — a lot of coaching.
“And I say that in a good way,” Harbaugh continued. “Guys are knowing what to do.
