Harbaugh back after suspension: ‘Super happy’

• Tom VanHaaren, ESPN Personnel WriterSep 23, 2023, 04:56 PM ET Close ESPN

• staff author Signed up with ESPN in 2011
• Finished from Central Michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich.– As a television electronic camera panned around Michigan Arena as the Wolverines were playing Rutgers, it stopped on a couple of fans with their chests painted: “Jim’s Back.”

In his 100th game training at Michigan, Jim Harbaugh was back on the sidelines for the Wolverines after serving a three-game suspension imposed by the school. The suspension originated from declared recruiting offenses and not complying with NCAA investigators. However Harbaugh’s term is done, and he helped guide Michigan to a 31-7 win over Rutgers.

“Possibly you believed me, [hurt players Will Johnson] and Rod Moore were on a milk container,” Harbaugh stated after the game. “Someplace you shouldn’t find us, but we’ve been discovered.”

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1 Related Harbaugh said there’s no other location he would rather be than on the sidelines coaching and that he wanted the win, but the players wanted it more.While Harbaugh had been associated with group activities throughout the week throughout the suspension, he wasn’t enabled to be present for the past 3 Saturdays. The players, consisting of running back Blake Corum and protective back Mike Sainristil, acknowledged after the game that having Harbaugh on the sideline makes a difference.

“Coach calls us difference-makers, however I feel like he’s a difference-maker,” Sainristil said. “Having him, having his energy back in the locker space, it simply felt terrific. His existence suggests a lot to us, just, the pregame speech he gives us constantly offers us that extra motivation.”

Corum included that Harbaugh’s existence offers the group a little extra juice and said he could inform that his coach had actually missed being on the sideline and the locker space the past few weeks, based upon what they saw after the team beat Rutgers.

“He mored than happy as heck, as he says, ‘Cool man Jim,'” Corum stated. “Just seeing him back, we all wanted this win really bad, and as he states, a win in the Huge 10 resembles 2 wins. One for us and because they lost, one for us once again. It was simply fantastic seeing the energy in the locker space after the win; he’s going to have a great rest of the day and weekend.”

Harbaugh said the game was a meat-grinder game, that his team was able to get 200 lawns on the ground and through the air. He noted he had not truly left, however said it was good to be back and great to get back to some normalcy as Michigan wants to head on the road against Nebraska next week.

“There’s simply no much better place to be than in the locker space after you win a game and everyone acts,” Harbaugh stated. “You just think to yourself, who could have it much better, who could have it much better than I do, who could have it much better than us? I get to coach these men and these coaches. I was super pleased.”