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The “State Of Michigan” Trophy – 01/03/2016 – Drew Montag

It’s back, bigger and better than ever: the “State Of Michigan” Trophy! Get all the information on one of the most heated rivalries in all of college sports: the University of Michigan vs. Michigan State University. Not just the “marquee” sports, but all 20 men’s and women’s sports with head-to-head competition. First, some history:

Back in September 2003, Pontiac started ‘The Pontiac Challenge’, to track the head-to-head competition between the University of Michigan and Michigan State University for the whole school year. They divided the school year up into 3 sessions (Fall, Winter, and Spring), and awarded a trophy to the winner of each session, with the current winner keeping it in the case of a tie.

Not too surprisingly, UM won (or tied) every session for all 3 years that Pontiac sponsored the Challenge (2003-2004, 2004-2005, and 2005-2006). Also not too surprisingly, Pontiac lost interest when the Challenge got too one-sided. So, after the 2005-2006 season, they dropped it, but I picked it up. However, I thought their setup with the 3 sessions and a goofy scoring system could be improved, so I changed it to a single session (the whole school year), with 2 points for each win, and 1 point for each tie.

From 2006-2010, I used Microsoft Excel spreadsheets to track the results. I used the built-in spreadsheet-to-HTML converter in Excel to generate the Web pages, which I then had to upload to my Web site. It was clumsy, to say the least, so I wrote a PHP script, with some Javascript, to use MySQL to generate the Web pages ‘on demand’. I also entered all the old data for the seasons going back to 2000-2001, which is as far back as I can find reliable information.

A quick look at the ‘Season: Summary/Sport: All’ page will show that UM has won the State of Michigan Trophy every year for the last 15 years except once (2009-2010). Even then, it came down to the last contest.

May the best University win!

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M FOOTBALL 2015: WOLVERINES CHOMP GATORS IN BUFFALO WILD WING CITRUS BOWL 41 TO 7.

The final chapter of the Wolverine’s 136th season, and the finale of Coach Jim Harbaugh’s inaugural season as the Wolverine Head Coach, was written New Year’s Day at the Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida.

The Wolverines met a dedicated and dangerous Florida Gator team in an attempt to secure their 10th victory this season, and prevailed convincingly. This win doubled last year’s total wins, and provided a positive note on which to springboard into the 2016 season. The Wolverines are 3 and 0 all-time against the Gators.

Post-game, Coach Harbaugh was effusive in his praise for all elements of the team, offense, defense and special teams. He even named a list of outstanding players, and this is a coach that doesn’t do that sort of thing ordinarily. Accolades were deserved, as they played their best game of the season in this true team victory.

41 to 7 was the final result of a fine effort by offense, defense and special teams against a Florida team that fought hard, but was overshadowed offensively at QB by Jake Rudock, and a stern defense. The Wolverines were better organized and played harder.

QB Jake Rudock hit 20 of 31 passes for 278-yards, two TDs and no interceptions. He became the second Michigan QB to amass over 3,000 yards (3017) in a season in a season. He took every Wolverine snap at QB.

His Gators counterpart had no such success, tossing a pair of red zone interceptions that hurt. The Gators tried “trickeration” on their opening drive after being stalled after a third down in the Wolverine red zone. They pulled a fake FG out of their bag of tricks. M LB Jenkins-Stone batted the resulting shovel pass to Channing Stribling for an interception. The Wolverines answered with a 73-yard drive for a TD.

Florida answered with more “trickeration”, this time effective as they scored their only TD. The play was a reverse. The QB turned his back on the play, stood still, and then leaked into the end zone to receive a perfect shovel pass for six from a wide receiver, achieving a first quarter tie at 7 up. This play was beautifully conceived and executed to perfection.  The bad part was that it belonged to Florida.

Michigan missed their most talented skill player, Jabril Peppers who did not play. His understudies stepped up. Injured punter, Aussie Blake O’Neill also did not participate, but Kenny Allen stepped up, and filled the punting gap admirably. The defensive backs were very good, including Channing Stribling.

Running Back Drake Johnson rushed for a TD, and caught a TD pass. He rushed 6 times for 58-yards and a TD with a long of 17-yards. He caught two, one for a TD. WR Grant Perry had his best game as a Wolverine, nabbing a TD.  Season MVP and WR, Jehu Chesson produced 118-yards and a 31-yard TD.

SETTING THE STAGE AND OTHER COMMENTS:
Both teams had displayed problematic offenses at times during their regular season, and they seemed fairly evenly matched pregame with both sporting better defensives then offenses for parts of the season. Florida has struggled to score TDs recently, which was very un-Florida like. Last season’s Wolverine OC, Doug Nussmeier is now up to the same task for the Gators.

This season, the Wolverines did not produce a 1,000-yard rusher. At times they could not rush the ball enough to win. This was very un-Michigan like. They got back on track against the Gators. The Wolverines produced 225 net rushing yards.

It seemed that perhaps Jake Rudock was the better QB pregame , and that proved out, but the Gators seemed to have better running backs and a better running game, but that did not prove out.

These were some of the pregame concerns regarding the Wolverines.

Also, the architect of their defense this season, D.J. Durkin had advanced to the position of Head Football Coach at Maryland. Fortunately, M’s astute and experienced Greg Mattison was available to stand in as the DC for the Citrus Bowl game. Mattison and his crew did an outstanding job. For example, the Gators produced 2-yards in the third quarter.

A master of aggressive defenses, Don Brown, lately defensive coordinator for Boston College, has been hired as Durkin’s replacement. He will be coaching at Michigan immediately at the completion of the Citrus Bowl.

M’s stellar defense, supposed to be the success base of the team while the offense matured, but the unit struggled in the last portion of the season, not helped by an injury to the outstanding Wolverine walk on nose guard, Ryan Glasgow. DE Mario Olejumudia was also lost for the season early , and they were missing Jabril Peppers Friday.

The secondary, seemed to perform among the best position groups on the team all season and again Friday, and the entire defense did well. They were the best defense on the field at this year’s Citrus Bowl as previous problems were alleviated or eliminated Saturday. Special teams also stood tall, except for allowing one long runback.

On the other side of the ball, M’s offensive ground game sometimes had added to the team’s difficulties during the regular season. They did not effectively run the ball against the better defenses, and were notably lacking against Indiana and the Buckeyes. That too was in the past Friday.

M’s best back was D. Smith who often presented a remarkable effort, running, and pass blocking Friday. The now healed Smith rumbled for 109-yards in 25 carries and a TD. Sione Houma effectively plowed a path rushing 9 times for 32-yards and a TD. Drake Johnson made a remarkable contribution, looking recovered from last year’s injury and sprinting for 58-yards on 6 carries with a long of 17. Ty Isaac did not play and Derrick Green did not travel with the team according to reliable sources.

The wide receivers have matured and played well. During the regular season, the Rudock to Chesson long ball connection took a while to establish, but it got established again in Friday’s game as Jehu caught one for 45-yards .

TE Jake Butt shored up the respect for Harbaugh’s desire for tight end offensive contributions, and Jay Harbaugh’s ability to coach them, by nabbing three for 34 with a long of 12. TE Ian Bunting got one for 17 and Kahlid Hill had one for 24-yards.

Most notably, QB Jake Rudock again proved much more than a game manager. He concluded his career at Michigan with a flourish.

As the soft spoken graduate transfer from Iowa again proved his toughness, smarts, and ability to hit streaking receivers in stride, he reinforced respect for Harbaugh’s wisdom in securing his graduate transfer services, and he further proved Harbaugh’s ability to teach his system to QBs, and to choose assistants that can teach that system. He again proved his worth as a Big Ten Quarterback with an outstanding and winning performance.

This in spite of the fact of Jake’s early season problematic miscues throwing the long ball downfield, and throwing interceptions. Interceptions were not a problem on Friday! Worries that Jake had lingering effects from the OSU game proved unfounded. The Jake Rudock one year stint as Michigan’s Quarterback was an outstanding success both for Michigan and Jake Rudock. Jake just kept improving.

A BRIEF SCORING RECAPCAP:
Florida won the toss and chose offense. Starting at their own 25, they got to M’s twenty before the fake kick attempt previously described resulted in a Stribling interception.

Smith powered a 73-yard drive, which was capped by a great Drake Johnson cut back run for 4-yards for the first score of the game. M-7, Fla.-0.

Florida answered with a couple of minutes left in the first quarter, with a 75-yard drive culminating in the spectacular two yard trick play TD described above., and it was 7 up. That was Florida’s last incursion into the end zone in this game, which means the Michigan defense was up to the task. M-7, Fla.-7

The offense was rolling. Later, in the second quarter, Jehu Chesson grabbed a 31-yard pass for 6. He has already caught a 24-yarder in the 60-yard drive and Smith was running tough. Michigan was assisted by 15-yard face mask penalty to give the drive early life. It was M-14, Fla.-7.

A Jerrod Wilson end zone interception stopped a threatening Gator drive, and the offense produced an 80-yard drive scoring drive. Chesson caught one for 12, Drake Johnson ran for 17, and WR Grant Perry caught one for 24. An incompletion to Jake Butt brought on Kenny Allen’s FG of 21-yards. The 1st half ended M-17, Fla.-7.

Michigan received to start the second half. Smith ran for a couple, and Amara Darboh grabbed one for 17-yards. Jake Butt collared one for 12-yards. Smith ran for 10 and 2. A three yard TD pass to Grant Perry finished the 69-yard drive, and it was M-24-Fla.-7. Florida’s game was a little rough around the edges. The drive benefitted from a Gator substitution infraction as well as an off-sides penalty.

Ruddock then hit Houma with a long ball, a 45-yard completion and Sione Houma finished the work with a tough two-yard TD run. M-31, Fla.-7.

Next came a wide open Drake Johnson reception for six after an 84-yard drive with the assistance of a couple of Rudock runs, a Florida face mask penalty, and a 24-yard pass to TE Kahlid Hill. Johnson recovered his own fumble, and then caught an 8-yard TD pass for six, making it M-38, Fla.-7.

Ian Bunting contributed a 17-yard catch, Jake Rudock rushed for five and the game’s scoring was completed on another 25-yard Kenny Allen field goal for a final of 41 to 7.

RISING WOLVERINES:
The new management in charge of the Wolverines has wrought remarkable stability, national respect, and favorable results in their first year.

It looks like the program is prospering in all its phases. That tickets are selling again, that there is a better work ethic, that more toughness and player skills are being developed, that there is better game management, that there is a better coaching team resulting in a better coached team, that this is a team playing better away from home, that nation-wide recruiting is prospering, are all indications, inter alia, of program development. These are all among a host of feel goods this football season has bestowed to Michigan fans. They mostly overwhelm the disappointments.

Like most fans early this season, I stated that the season could not be a success without victories over the Spartans and the Buckeyes. I do not believe that now.

While there is plenty of work to do in hammering out the next special Wolverines football team, the work is off to an unbelievably effective start. The trajectory is up as the improvements are developed, and deficiencies diminished, and as recruiting improves speed, toughness, and effective depth. At least a top five, maybe better 2016 recruiting class is on the horizon.

The fact that 2016 recruits QB Brandon Peters, Running Backs Kareem Walker and RB/FB Kingston Davis, LB Devin Bush Jr., WR Ahmir Mitchell, LB/DL Carlo Kemp, and TE Sean McKeon will be enrolled Wolverines the 1st week of January, will help address some immediate and significant depth issues. LB and RB are examples of need. Harbaugh will play freshmen at certain positions if they can prove they are the best competitive answer.

It appears more good things loom in the Wolverine’s Football future if the work is done. And with this team of coaches it is certain the work will be done.

I hope that you and yours have a Happy New Year and Go Blue!

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New Year’s Resolution – 01/01/2016 – Drew Montag

After 45 years of getting upset by the successes of the teams I hate really don’t like, I’m making a New Year’s resolution to ignore them:

“I refuse to let the success of my undeserving rivals upset me.”

From now on, I’m just concentrating on the teams I support, all from the University of Michigan. I’ll enjoy their successes, and try not to let their occasional failures upset me too much. I don’t care what my rivals do. League championships, undefeated seasons, national championships? Good for them. I don’t care about it, I don’t want to hear about it, and I don’t want to talk about it. It doesn’t concern me. Sure, it makes recruiting more challenging, but not impossible. Sure, it brings out the worst in the fans that support certain teams, but I can live with it. Just leave me alone. Good for you! Celebrate with your friends, and leave me alone. Yeah, yeah, the team you support is the best team ever in the history of the world, but I don’t care. Go away.

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Nothing But ‘Net – Week #09 – 12/28/2015 – End Of The Non-Conference Schedule, Mid-Term Grades

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played one game this week, and they won it handily. On Wednesday (12/23/2015), they beat Bryant 96-60, in Crisler Arena. The win raises Michigan’s record to 10-3.

This was the last game of the non-conference schedule, and the last of four “cupcakes” in a row (Delaware State, Northern Kentucky, Youngstown State, and Bryant). Michigan won all four of these games convincingly, and led wire-to-wire in the first three. In the Bryant game, UM won the opening tip, made a 2-point basket, and dropped back to play defense. Bryant’s main scorer popped in a 3-pointer, and Michigan trailed for the first time in 2 weeks, 3-2. Michigan hit a 3-pointer of their own, and never trailed again, although the score was tied 8-8 and 10-10. Bryant played very well, especially in the 1st half, but UM played even better, especially shooting 3-pointers (12-for-20 = 60.0% in the 1st half). UM cooled off a bit in the 2nd half (5-for-15 = 33.3% in the 2nd half), but still played well enough to increase the halftime lead (57-35 = 22 points) to 36 at the end.

So, what did we learn about this season’s UM team this week? Nothing new. We already knew that they can beat the cupcakes convincingly, and that the offense can be deadly when it gets going.

Stats

The stats for the game are pretty impressive. Michigan shot the ball very well overall (37-for-63 = 58.7%), they shot 3-pointers very well (17-for-35 = 48.6%), and they shot free throws pretty well (5-for-7 = 71.4%). They won the rebounding battle (33-22) and the turnover battle (8-13). It was a dominating performance. By the way, the 17 made 3-pointers is a new school record.

Individually, 4 of the 5 starters hit double figures. Caris LeVert was the high scorer for Michigan with 19 points, Zak Irvin finally broke out of his shooting slump, with 16 points (including 2-for-4 shooting from 3-point range), Duncan Robinson hit four 3-pointers (on 8 attempts) for 12 points, and Derrick Walton Jr. had 11 points. The only starter who didn’t hit double figures was Ricky Doyle, with 6 points.

The bench contributed a lot of points this week. The only bench player to hit double figures was Aubrey Dawkins, with 10 points. Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman got close, with 8 points, including two 3-pointers. Mark Donnal followed up his strong performances last week with 7 points in this game. Kameron Chatman had 4 points, including the record-setting 17th 3-pointer at the buzzer, and DJ Wilson hit his only shot, a 3-pointer. Moritz Wagner and Andrew Dakich both played, but failed to score.

Mid-Term Grades

Now that the non-conference schedule is complete, it’s time for mid-term grades.

Freshman Eligibility

Brent Hibbitts: Inc.

Brent hasn’t played in any games, and is probably being redshirted.

Moritz Wagner: B-

Moe has played in all 13 games so far, and scored 48 points, but most of his effective production was in the last 2 games in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas over the Thanksgiving break. Since then, he hasn’t done much. There’s still plenty of time for him to become a productive member of the team.

DJ Wilson: B-

DJ missed a couple games (Delaware State and Northern Kentucky) but he’s played in the other 11 games. He’s scored 47 points, and hit 7 of 13 attempts from 3-point range. For a tall, lanky player he gets surprisingly few rebounds: 9 total in 11 games.

Sophomore Eligibility

Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman: B-

MAAR has played in all 13 games so far, and even started 3 games when Walton was out with an injury. He’s scored 59 points, and hit 8 for 22 from 3-point range. He’s had a couple good games (SMU and Delaware State), but even more forgettable ones (Elon, Xavier, Texas, Northern Kentucky, and Youngstown State), where he scored a total of 2 points.

Kameron Chatman: C+

Poor Kam. He just can’t seem to get his game going. He shows flashes of brilliance, then he disappears for long stretches. On a team with a long bench, he needs to make the most of his minutes to get more, and he hasn’t so far.

Aubrey Dawkins: B

Coach Beilein is trying to shape Aubrey into “the best 6th man in the Big Ten”. So far, it’s looking promising. Aubrey started the first 9 games of the season, then got replaced in the starting lineup by Robinson. Since then, he’s had a couple forgettable games (Delaware State and Northern Kentucky) and a couple encouraging ones (Youngstown State and Bryant).

Mark Donnal: B-

Mark voluntarily redshirted his first season, so he still has sophomore eligibility, even though he’s listed as a junior on the official roster. He’s played in 11 of the 13 games so far, with a couple games where he just couldn’t get in. He started the first 3 games, then lost his place in the starting lineup to Doyle. He’s had a few good games (Charlotte, Northern Kentucky, and Bryant), and a bunch of forgettable ones. He needs to be more aggressive when he’s in there. He’s still too much of a finesse player.

Ricky Doyle: B

Ricky has played in all 13 games, and scored 70 points. He came off the bench in the first 3 games, and has been a started since then. He’s had a few good games (Elon, Delaware State, Northern Kentucky, and Youngstown State), and a few forgettable ones (Northern Michigan, Texas, and Houston Baptist). He plays hard, but he’s just a little bit slower, less agile, and less powerful than the big men he’s been matched up against in Michigan’s 3 losses.

Duncan Robinson: A-

Finally! An “A”! Duncan is a transfer from (Division III) Williams College. He sat out last season, and he has sophomore eligibility this season. He was a great scorer at Williams. The big question was: Could he get his shot off against Division I competition? The answer so far: Yes! He’s played in all 13 games, and been a starter for the last 4 games, and he’s averaging 12.5 points/game. Even more impressively, he’s averaging just under 60% (47-for-79 = 59.5%) shooting from 3-point range. He’s managed to grab 37 rebounds and hand out 22 assists, but he’s still mostly “Just A Shooter”.

Junior Eligibility

Andrew Dakich: Inc.

Sigh. Things just don’t work out well for Andrew. Last season he was trying to redshirt, and voluntarily “burned his redshirt” late in the season when the team needed him. He was trying to redshirt again this season, when Walton injured his ankle, and once again Andrew voluntarily burned another redshirt. Since then, he’s played in 4 games, and scored 4 points, all in his first game of the season against Delaware State. Hopefully, he’ll get to play and contribute enough to make this season worth his redshirt.

Zak Irvin: B-

Zak missed the opener (Northern Michigan), and came off the bench in the 2nd game (Elon), but has been a starter since then. He is averaging 8.6 points/game. He is still trying to get his 3-point stroke back (9-for-45 = 20.0%). The rest of his game has been pretty good.

Sean Lonergan: Inc.

Sean is trying to redshirt this season. He hasn’t played in any games this season.

Derrick Walton Jr.: A

Yay! Another “A”. Derrick missed 3 games (Houston Baptist, SMU, Delaware State) with an ankle injury he suffered in the NC State game. He wasn’t needed in the HBU and DSU games, but he was definitely missed in the SMU game. When he’s been healthy, he’s played well, with only 2 sub-par games (Northern Michigan and Xavier). He wasn’t needed in the NMU game, but his off night vs. Xavier definitely contributed to the loss.

Senior Eligibility

Michael (“Spike”) Albrecht: Inc.

Sure, Spike played in parts of 8 games, but usually only 8-10 minutes. He had double hip surgery in the off-season, and he never looked comfortable out there. He finally “retired” on 12/11/2015, ending this season, and possibly his career. A medical redshirt season is still possible, so he might be back next season, but there’s a problem – UM is out of scholarships for next season. So, maybe Spike will play a “grad transfer” year somewhere else. I hope he’s back at UM, healthy and ready to play.

Caris LeVert: A

I saved the best for last. Caris is leading the team in just about every statistical category: minutes, field goals made/attempted, free throws made/attempted, rebounds, and points. He has scored in double figures in every game but one (SMU), which is probably why UM got trounced in that game. He’s showing great leadership, and is fun to watch.

This Week

This week, Michigan begins Big Ten play with two games. On Wednesday (12/30/2015, 3:00 p.m. EST, ESPN2), they play at Illinois, then on Saturday (01/02/2016, noon, BTN), they play Penn State in Crisler Arena.

Illinois will be a good test, especially on the road. They are 8-5, with one good win (Missouri) and a couple bad losses (North Florida and Chattanooga). They have 3 players who are 6’10” or taller, and they will certainly try to exploit UM’s weak interior defense. This is a toss-up game.

PSU has a pretty good record (9-4), but they haven’t really played anybody good. Their best win was on the road at Boston College, but they’ve lost to George Washington and Radford. UM should win this one.

Tune by on Wednesday, and come by Crisler on Saturday for the game, then check back next week to see what happened, and why.

Go Blue!

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Harbaugh on Recruiting– I Need Tough Guys and Good Students– Take This Job and Love It! Jim Harbaugh Excerpt– Order to Support ChadTough

I need good students, tough guys- Jim Harbaugh

ALL IT TAKES IS ALL YA GOT- JOHN DUERR

John Duerr’s childhood was in Southern California, but he graduated from St. Alphonsus High School in Dearborn, Mich., before walking on at Michigan. Duerr lives in Auburn Hills and works for Chappell Steel Co. in Detroit.

Hardly a day goes by that somebody—a customer of mine, a friend, whoever—doesn’t ask, “Well, is Harbaugh going to do it? Is he going to get that place turned around?” The answer is yes, not because he coached in the NFL or because he coached at Stanford. It’s because of what he learned at Michigan. One thing I know for a fact is you’re going to see effort, tenacity. You’re not going to see guys mail in a block. Just like we learned from Bo, you’re not going to see guys start game in and game out if they aren’t performing. That has happened a little bit too much for our liking. I’m sure that Jim learned it from his dad, and all of the coaches that he was around, and his older brother, John—everything that he absorbed when he was a kid.

I was there with Jim three years, and under Bo for four. I went on to coach high school football. Everything that I know about football, I learned from those guys, the same teachers that Jim had. Now, he is 1,000 times more advanced than I am, but I don’t care what level you’re at—you’ve got to be tough. You’ve got to bust your butt. You can’t mail in a block. You can’t sulk. Those are the things that Jim learned. That’s why

Michigan football is going to be good, because they’re going to do it the right way. There is no alternative.

We had seven-on-sevens in the summer of ‘86, and we had off-season workouts. There wasn’t a lot of talking. It was just go do it. You were expected to do it. Go do it. Guys like Harbaugh and Jim Scarcelli, they held people accountable. You didn’t even need the coaches around. Those guys would make sure that you were living up to the standard, and if you weren’t, they were going to call you out. That was the thing that made all of these guys who played at Michigan successful in winning titles like they did.

My junior year, we played in Hawaii after the Ohio State game. Scarcelli and Harbaugh and I were at a place, and he asked these girls at the bar, “You know who that guy looks like? Who does that look like?” He says I look like Huey Lewis, so he liked to introduce me as Huey Lewis’ cousin.

Jim’s senior year—it would have been the ’86 season— right around the time when we started camp. At that time, we voted on captains. We’re at dinner in South Quad. We’re at dinner with all of the guys—you just gravitate to the guys that you hang out with, whether it’s your roommate or guys who play the same position as you. I always ate with the same guys, the Stites brothers, Don Lessner, Scott Harrala, Kyle Anderson, this group of walk-ons. We’re sitting at our same dinner table that we sat at all of the time. Lo and behold, Harbaugh pulls up a chair to eat with us. Well, we both were captains a few days after that. We all thought that was peculiar, that he would choose that day to sit down with a bunch of walk-ons. The Stites boys called him out and he swore he was just looking for a place to sit.

When Harbaugh was coaching at San Diego, there was a guy I worked with whose grandson was a good football player. I emailed Jim and said, “Hey, I got a guy here that might be the guy you’re looking for.” Jim emailed back, “I need tough guys. I need good students, tough guys.” The kid ended up playing lacrosse for Penn State.

I teach my kids things Bo taught me and things I learned playing football as part of a team—the whole team concept. I preach to my kids that you have to remember that the world doesn’t revolve around you. At some point, you’re going to be part of a company or a team, and you’re going to be responsible for a certain aspect that the whole team’s success is based on you doing your job. It doesn’t matter what job you have. It doesn’t matter what company you work for. It doesn’t matter what you do. You have a responsibility for the betterment of the team, and if you don’t do your job, the team is not going to succeed. I’m glad that I got that experience around those people, in that stadium, on that campus. Michigan runs through my blood, and I try to pass it onto my kids.

I still hang out with those guys, those walk-ons that I told you about, that sat at the table where Harbaugh came. Those guys, we all still hang out. If I’m up in Ann Arbor, I’ll call and we’ll go to lunch. One of the guys lives in Cincinatti, and when I’m down there on business, I stay at his place. The other guy is here locally and we go and hunt together. On November 15, all of us get together over by Grand Rapids and have hunt camp. I bring my son and he gets to enjoy these guys that I played football with 30 years ago. I wouldn’t trade a second of what we had to do to make it. These guys mean that much to me. The experience that we went through together means that much. I love them.

The greatest play I ever saw Harbaugh make was that 77-yard TD pass to John Kolesar in ‘85 against Ohio State. He stood there in the pocket and took a shot right in the head as he released the ball. Kolesar was running toward the north end zone and caught that ball. That’s the loudest I have ever heard Michigan Stadium. That was beautiful, man. That play was just phenomenal. What a great pass, under pressure, in a big game like that. Man.

My old teammate, Mike Reinhold, was moved from linebacker to nose guard. He said, “You know the difference between linebacker and nose guard? Nose guard is you’re at a party every day that you ain’t invited to.” I never forgot that line. I used to tell that to every kid I had who played nose guard: “You’re going to a party and you ain’t invited.” He was a good guy. Reiny was a good guy.

Please order Take This Job and Love It- Jim Harbaugh here to help support ChadTough Foundation.