With Harbaugh and
Corum back,
Michigan is set to
contend again
O
f all the moments that
defined
the
Michigan
football
team’s
2022
season, there’s one that I keep
circling back to.
Sixty-six minutes before the
Wolverines’
clash
with
Ohio
State — a bout for Big Ten East
supremacy — Jim Harbaugh and
Blake Corum emerged together
from the tunnel that led to
Michigan’s locker room. They
walked in lockstep, head coach and
star running back, snaking down
the ramp and onto the field in
Columbus for the biggest iteration
of The Game since 2006.
As
reporters
and
cameras
crowded the tunnel’s entrance
on each side, both Harbaugh and
Corum felt omnipresent — the
coach who turned around the
program and the running back
who carried its offense throughout
the season.
Two months later, they feel that
way again. Last Monday, Corum
announced that he is returning
to Michigan for his senior season,
postponing his NFL aspirations
by a year. A week later, Monday
afternoon,
Harbaugh
officially
ended his latest NFL pursuit,
reaffirming his commitment to the
program.
“My heart is at the University
of Michigan,” Harbaugh wrote in
a statement. “I once heard a wise
man say, ‘Don’t try to out-happy,
happy.’ Go Blue!”
Harbaugh’s decision isn’t as
simple as his enthusiasm makes it
seem. If it was, he wouldn’t have
conducted a virtual interview
with the Denver Broncos for their
head-coaching vacancy, dragging
Michigan’s feet for the second
consecutive offseason. Afterall, he
promised not to do so in February.
No one knows exactly why
Harbaugh flirted with an NFL
return again. Perhaps he wanted
to pursue a Super Bowl and
the prestige that comes with it.
Maybe he saw a chance to escape
the elements that define modern
college football: recruiting, NIL,
the transfer portal. Or, maybe, he
was content with the legacy that
he built for himself across seven
seasons.
For
the
sake
of
exercise,
let’s zero in on the saying that
Harbaugh quoted: “Don’t try to
out-happy, happy.”
It’s certainly applicable here,
since Harbaugh has Michigan
at its apex. The Wolverines are
coming off two straight Big Ten
Championships,
consecutive
victories over Ohio State and back-
to-back appearances in the College
Football Playoff.
In
March,
when
asked
if
his desire to win a Super Bowl
had been quenched, Harbaugh
deflected, instead focusing on the
potential of his current team:
“Yeah, we could win college
football’s greatest trophy, we could
win the national championship,”
he said. “And that’s plenty good.”
Ten months later, nothing has
changed. Once again, Michigan fell
just shy of its ultimate goal. Next
year, the Wolverines seem primed
for more dominance and perhaps
even greater heights. They return
eight defensive starters and their
three most-talented skill position
players in Corum, sophomore
quarterback J.J. McCarthy and
sophomore running back Donovan
Edwards.
That allure is hard to pass
up. Corum, in the same vein as
Harbaugh, realized that, too.
“I’m willing to do whatever it
takes to win it all,” Corum said on
the “In the Trenches” podcast. “I
hope Team 144 is ready. I’m going
to make sure they’re ready.”
Corum’s
decision
is
worth
ruminating on. Because, much like
Harbaugh’s, it wasn’t a simple one.
Running backs have notoriously
short shelf lives, and Corum just
suffered a major injury that will
necessitate months of grueling
rehab. What if he doesn’t come
back with the same electricity?
What if he gets hurt again and his
draft stock plummets? Those are
all fair questions, especially since
Corum likely turned down the
security of a mid-round selection,
and
the
accompanying
draft
money, to stay in school.
He didn’t always think that he’d
come back — he said that his initial
mindset was to merely get surgery
and prepare for the draft. But his
calculus changed.
“I didn’t like the feeling of
getting injured in the Big House
and leaving like that,” Corum said.
“I want to finish off my legacy,
finish what I started.”
Corum
isn’t
coming
back
for fun and games — that’s not
in his DNA, both literally and
figuratively. He comes from a
lineage of industrious workers, his
grandfather a mason and his father
in charge of a landscaping business.
There are stories of Corum’s work
ethic, which include 4 a.m. boxing
sessions and 3:30 a.m. wake-up
calls. So when he says he’s going to
finish what he started, well, you’re
best off believing him.
But Corum needs help to do
so, which is why he talked to his
offensive line “a lot” during the
decision-making process.
“I’m like, ‘Listen, it’s just one
more year,’ ” Corum said. “ ‘Let’s
go finish what we started. Let’s
stick together because this team is
something special.’ ”
Evidently, they agreed. Senior
Trevor Keegan announced his
return on Thursday, declaring that
he wants “legend status.” Junior
Zak Zinter followed suit Sunday,
saying that he’s “back to finish
what we started.”
The sentiment went beyond
the
offensive
line.
Fifth-year
linebacker Mike Barrett joined
them
Sunday.
So
did
senior
receiver
Cornelius
Johnson.
Junior defensive lineman Kris
Jenkins returned, too, saying that
“last year wasn’t enough.”
The caveat, among all the
feel-good mojo, is that nothing
is guaranteed. This sentiment
proved similar last offseason,
following
Michigan’s
loss
to
Georgia at the Orange Bowl. The
program clamored for redemption,
using that game as fuel through
long winter days and grueling
summer practices.
But this year ended similarly,
perhaps even more painfully.
Just like the season prior, this
year
resulted
in
Michigan
players standing under a drizzle
of confetti, solemn spectators
for another team’s celebration,
wondering what could have been.
Maybe that happens again,
maybe it doesn’t.
But
with
Harbaugh
and
Corum officially in the fold,
and a strong corps surrounding
them, the pieces are in place for
Michigan to contend for a national
championship — again.
JARED GREENSPAN
Daily Sports Writer
SPORTSWEDNESDAY
RUN IT
RUN IT
BACK
BACK
The pieces are in
place for Michigan to
contend for a
national champion-
ship — again.
GRACE BEAL/Daily
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