There was a buzz around Michigan football when Jim Harbaugh arrived in 2015, after the hive had turned hollow. It grew louder over the next couple seasons, thanks to an ascending team and an eccentric coach. Kirby Smart remembers. Georgia's head coach was still defensive coordinator at Alabama when Harbaugh and Michigan were the talk of college football.
"I remember (at a satellite camp) in Alabama when he played a little football down in Prattville. He took his shirt off, I could never do that," Smart said with a laugh ahead of Georgia's clash with Michigan in the Orange Bowl. "He can get away with that a lot better than I can, so I have to keep my shirt on. But he’s a lot of energy. I know the recruiting events and the camps he’s been to, he certainly coaches with a passion and a style that I admire and respect."
With a chuckle, Harbaugh then clarified it was a good “old-fashioned game of shirts and skins.” He wasn’t trying to “show off or anything — certainly not a lot to show off.” Soon enough, there wasn’t much to show off for Michigan. After posting 10 wins in each of Harbaugh's first two seasons, the Wolverines went 29-16 over the next four. They sunk into the middle ground of the Big Ten. They became a punching bag for their biggest rival. On the sidelines, Harbaugh often looked dazed. He lost some of his zest. Then he lost half of his salary. The buzz faded.
Actually, the buzz heightened. It just took on a new sound: Harbaugh has to go. He can’t win the big one. Michigan has to move on. But Michigan and AD Warde Manuel stayed the course, while correcting Harbaugh's compensation. He would be paid the big bucks if he won the big ones -- and he would get a couple more years to prove he could do it. Along came 2021.
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Michigan entered the season unranked for the first time since Harbaugh’s first year on the job. But Harbaugh looked and sounded rejuvenated, emboldened by several young hires on his coaching staff, including 34-year-old defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, and a team of hungry players who, in the words of QB Cade McNamara, "had had enough." Harbaugh said Michigan would beat its rivals “or die trying.”
Then it started winning games it was supposed to lose. It smacked Washington under the lights. It rolled Wisconsin on the road. It averted disaster at Nebraska. And when disaster struck in East Lansing, Michigan struck back at Penn State. Along came Ohio State.
And there went the drought. And here came the buzz that Michigan might be back. The Wolverines will play in the Orange Bowl as the first team to make the College Football Playoff after beginning the year unranked. It's all on the line, a spot in the national championship, the first 13-win season in program history and a statement against an SEC juggernaut that Michigan is here to stay.
"We created some new buzz, this 2021 team," Harbaugh said. "Let’s face it, it had died down a little bit. I do feel like our guys have created some new buzz, and it’s been a good thing."
It's a great thing if you're a fan of Michigan, or of college football at large. The sport is healthier when its traditional powers are stable. The big games are bigger. The grand stage is grander. The spotlight is wider and brighter on the best of the best, like the comets colliding Friday night.
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"I feel like at Michigan and Georgia, you’re never not the target," said Smart. "When you’re one of the premier programs in the country, you get everyone's best shot. My job is to make sure we give our best shot to everybody we play. I’m not interested in the climb and the rise. I’m interested in being at our best when our best is required."
Under Harbaugh, the rise for Michigan happened quickly. So did the fall, only it lasted longer. The climb happened this year, surprisingly so. The year ends Friday night, but the Wolverines intend for their season to continue. The buzz is back and Michigan's best is required.
"We’re really happy to be here," Harbaugh said. "There’s a great joy around the team, in the locker room, at practices. If you weren’t happy about that, there’d be something else we gotta look into. But not just happy. There’s a real narrow focus this team has concerning this game."