FILE PHOTO/Daily

Former Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson is now a running back for Jacksonville.

10

Thursday, June 25, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTS

Denard switches to 
RB for NFL career

By KEVIN SANTO 

Daily Sports Writer

At Jim Harbaugh’s Ann Arbor 

Aerial Assault camp Saturday, it 
was clear that I wasn’t the only 
person who remembered Denard 
Robinson.

When Harbaugh split the quar-

terback pool into groups, the fans 
followed the one that Denard led 
to Al Glick Field House.

When there was a break in 

the action, fans whipped out the 

sharpies, anxiously hoping for an 
opportunity to get his autograph.

When it was time to walk back 

to the stadium for lunch, the Mich-
igan faithful held their phones 
at the ready, in anticipation of an 
opportunity to get a picture with 
the man they know as “Shoelace.” 
Never mind the dozens of other 
NFL and Michigan quarterbacks, 
it was Denard!

But in reality, his days of con-

trolling the huddle are over. A lack 
of throwing prowess and abun-

dance of running abilities made 
him an appealing choice for the 
Jacksonville Jaguars at running 
back — a whole new position. 
Thanks to his time under center 
in the maize and blue, however, 
that transition was easier than 
Robinson expected.

As 
the 
Jaguar 
speedster 

described, the key to his posi-
tional transition is that he 
learned to read defenses as a 
quarterback, giving him an 
upper hand at the highest level.

“Being able to see blitzes and 

stuff helped me more,” Robin-
son said. “As a quarterback you 
have to know where the blitz is 
coming from so you can turn the 

protection up. As a running back 
now, you look at it, I say ‘Here is 
a rotation from the safety, now if 
the safety tops the linebacker or 
nickel will.’

“Now you know he might 

be coming and I can see that. 
Little things like that help me 
as a running back, because as a 
quarterback you had to turn the 
protection that way or send differ-
ent things to help.”

Though Robinson hasn’t put 

up eye-popping number thus far 
in his NFL career, his stats speak 
for the strides he is making to 
improve.

In 2013, his rookie season, Rob-

inson was given just 20 running 
attempts, which yielded no touch-
downs, three fumbles and 3.3 
yards per carry.

But 2014 showed the impact 

that Robinson can have from his 
new position down the road.

The coaching staff entrust-

ed Robinson with 135 running 
attempts, and he treated those 
carries with care — conceding 
just two fumbles. He increased his 
yards per carry to 4.3, while accu-
mulating 
four 

touchdowns and 
582 total yards.

Specifically, 

he became the 
first 
Jaguars 

running back to 
boast 
back-to-

back 
100-yard 

performances 
since 
Maurice 

Jones-Drew in 2011. Packaged 
into those performances was Rob-
inson’s longest rush of the season 
— a 41-yard burst against Miami 
on a misdirection.

He showed glimpses of being 

a dual-threat as a receiver out of 
the backfield as well, tallying 23 
receptions for 124 yards.

Robinson credited part of his 

fluid NFL transition to another 
former 
Michigan 
quarterback, 

Chad Henne. The two gear up next 
to each other before every game 
and share adjacent lockers, and 
Robinson said that has fostered a 
relationship in which he can easily 
get in contact with Henne.

One 
of 
Robinson’s 
biggest 

issues in the NFL has been accli-
mating to a situation in which he 
doesn’t serve as a dual threat as a 
scrambling quarterback, but that 

doesn’t stop him from continuing 
to embrace his love for the game.

“Now they’re (only) accounting 

for you as a runner. In college they 
didn’t account for me. Well, teams 
did after a while, after I made 
them pay,” Robinson said with 
a laugh. “Now they account for 

me as a runner, 
and they make 
sure 
they’ve 

got someone (to 
cover) you.

“For the most 

part, it’s still the 
same thing. Still 
playing football, 
still having fun 
and enjoying it. I 

mean it’s the biggest stage, so I just 
enjoy playing football, being in a 
team environment, all that stuff.”

Yesterday, Robinson was coach-

ing campers through a drill aimed 
at hitting a receiver running a 
fade route to the corner of the end 
zone, and he gave his apprentices 
one rule: if you score a touchdown, 
give him a celebration to watch.

And while there’s no telling 

what’s in store for Robinson in the 
2015 campaign, it’s obvious that 
he has embraced the challenge of 
succeeding at a position that is for-
eign to him at the most competi-
tive level.

He’s a running back now. But 

with the calculated mind of a 
Michigan quarterback still active 
in the NFL, Robinson may be giv-
ing them a celebration to watch 
instead.

“(I’m) still 

playing football, 
still having fun.”

FOOTBALL
Jack Harbaugh reflects on bringing up quarterbacks

By JACOB GASE 

Daily Sports Editor

At Michigan football coach Jim 

Harbaugh’s Aerial Assault quarter-
back camp on the eve of Father’s 
Day, it was only fitting that one of 
the most famous fathers in Michi-
gan football history was standing 
on the sideline.

Wearing a white Michigan pull-

over, khaki pants and a familiar 
wide grin, former Michigan assis-
tant coach Jack Harbaugh stood 
and watched his son address the 
hundreds of campers on the field at 
Michigan Stadium early Saturday 
morning.

The camp already boasted the 

presence of numerous current and 
former Michigan and NFL quarter-
backs — “as many resources as you 
can possibly have,” Jim would say.

But Jack had come to the Big 

House with Rick Kaepernick, 

father of current San Francisco 
49ers quarterback and former Jim 
Harbaugh pupil Colin Kaepernick, 
to deliver a unique message about 
raising greatness — one aimed just 
as much at the parents in the stands 
as the sons on the field.

“What a journey,” Jack said. 

“Looking back, when our young-
sters — (current Baltimore Ravens 
coach) John, Jim and daughter 
Joani — went through these types 
of experiences, the things we 
shared as parents, we found there’s 
really three things.

“We used to have a sign here at 

Michigan, that’s probably the best 
way to tell you. ‘Whatever you 
vividly imagine, ardently believe, 
enthusiastically act upon will inev-
itably come to pass.’ ”

A paraphrased quote from Paul 

J. Meyer, a businessman and phi-
lanthropist who created a founda-
tion based on motivating people for 

success, this philosophy perfectly 
applied to Jack’s experience raising 
a young quarterback.

According to Jack, the first 

step of vivid imagination starts 
with childhood daydreaming — in 
Jim’s case, adolescent fantasies of 
becoming a star quarterback.

The second step is the most 

important. Once a child “ardently 
believes” they can do something, 
Jack said, that’s when it’s time for 
a parent to step in.

“Once you find out they have the 

passion and love for something, 
and they’re willing to believe in it 
and willing to work for it, now I’m 
gonna do everything as a parent to 
help you achieve that goal,” Jack 
said.

In Jim’s case, helping him 

achieve his goal meant instilling in 
him the competitive fire necessary 
to play the quarterback position. 
That fire is the reason why, even at a 

camp where everyone has an equal 
opportunity to learn, Jim installed a 
leaderboard on the stadium jumbo-
tron to directly pit the young quar-
terbacks against each other.

“It kind of tells you who Jim 

Harbaugh is,” Jack said. “What 
you have to do to be the number 
one quarterback, you have to take 
someone else’s job. And if you 
aren’t competitive, and you don’t 
like competition, and this kind of 
bothers you ... you might want to 
look at a different position.”

A 
young 
quarterback 
also 

requires plenty of wisdom and 
advice. Just like Jack, a coach for 
40 years, was able to impart that 
wisdom on his son growing up, 
Jim surrounded his young campers 
with walking sources of quarter-
back knowledge.

Nearly 40 years of Michigan 

quarterbacks coached at the camp, 
including Rick Leach, who started 

for four years when Jack Harbaugh 
was on the coaching staff in the 
1970s.

“To see (Leach) out there work-

ing with other quarterbacks 40 
years later, that’s what Michigan 
tradition is all about,” Jack said.

After Jim finished his opening 

remarks and Leach, Denard Rob-
inson and the other seasoned vet-
erans began to instruct the next 
generation of quarterbacks, Jack 
wandered up into the stands. As 
he looked at the young faces on the 
field — plenty of which were show-
ing signs of vivid imagination or 
ardent belief — he easily identified 
with the parents seated around 
him.

“It’s not my goal, it’s not my 

dream, it’s (the kids’) dream,” Jack 
remembered thinking. “And I’m 
gonna do everything in my power 
to make sure that I give them every 
chance to achieve that goal.”

