Originally, the plan
was
for
Saturday’s
protest
to
go
from
the
tunnel
entrance
of the Big House to
South
University
Avenue,
where
University
President
Mark
Schlissel
resides.
Organizers
scrapped that due to
construction.
If
they
hadn’t,
Michigan coach Jim
Harbaugh would have
been protesting outside
his president’s house.
Schlissel, according
to
documents
obtained in a lawsuit
by frustrated players
from
Nebraska,
was
among the Big Ten
presidents who voted
to postpone the season
by an 11-3 margin. His
only public comment
on the situation has
been
a
statement
on the day of the
season’s postponement
supporting
the
decision.
The
Daily
requested
to
speak
with him this week and
was denied. He hasn’t
spoken with Harbaugh
— or anyone else with
the football program —
either.
“I have had none,”
Harbaugh said when
asked
about
his
conversations
with
Schlissel.
“We’ve
texted
and
(athletic
director)
Warde
Manuel’s done all the
conversations
with
President Schlissel.”
Players said Schlissel
hasn’t
been
to
the
practice facility and
hasn’t explained his
reasoning
to
them
either. Harbaugh said
he’s sent texts and
emails, but when asked
whether
Schlissel
has
responded
to
any of them, he only
said, “Talk to Warde.
Warde talks directly to
President Schlissel.”
Showing
up
at
Saturday’s
protest,
organized by Michigan
football parents to rally
in favor of a fall football
season, isn’t the first
time
Harbaugh
has
publicly
contradicted
Schlissel on the issue.
The day before the
season’s postponement
was
made
official,
Harbaugh
sent
a
lengthy
statement
outlining
why
he
believed it was safe
to play. Chief among
the
reasons
was
Michigan’s
lack
of
positive
COVID-19
tests.
According
to
an
update sent Saturday
morning,
Michigan
athletics had four new
positive tests in the last
week among players
and coaches from all
teams.
The
football
program
went
the
entire month of August
without a positive test.
“You think maybe
I’ve got some inside
information
or
something.
I
really
don’t,” Harbaugh said.
“I can tell you how
practice was, I can tell
you how the workouts
have been. I can tell
you we just had another
120 tests that were all
negative. That’s close
to 1,000 tests in a row
completely
negative.
I can tell you how the
guys’ grades are right
now. That’s really the
things I’m focused on
is just training and
coaching our guys.”
In
other
words,
without
publicly
saying he’s upset at the
University
president,
Harbaugh
explained
why
he
would
feel
that
way.
All
the
coaches in the Big Ten
want to play, he said.
High school football
in Michigan is back
on. The team feels it
can be ready soon,
and
Harbaugh
has
told them playing in
October is a possibility
despite
conflicting
reports on the matter.
“You
give
me
a
couple weeks in pads,
two weeks, I’m ready
to go,” junior defensive
end Aidan Hutchinson
said.
“We
haven’t
stopped practicing.”
It’s not a given that
playing would be safe
right
now.
A
game
between TCU and SMU
was just postponed due
to positive tests. In the
Big Ten, Maryland had
an outbreak this week.
“I don’t know what’s
going on in the rest of
the world,” Harbaugh
said. “I know what
we’re doing.”
Walking as thin a
line as he could with
recorders in front of
him, Harbaugh didn’t
leave
much
about
his
position
to
the
imagination.
“Well I mean, would
have
rather
been
coming to a game than
a rally,” he said. “But
(that) definitely hits
you. We should’ve been
playing a game today.”
Jim Harbaugh protests Big Ten’s
postponement, says he hasn’t talked with
Mark Schlissel
ETHAN SEARS
Managing Sports Editor
Well I mean, would have rather
been coming to a game than a
rally. But (that) definitely hits
you. We should’ve been playing a
game today.
Alec Cohen/Daily
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