No one loves football more than Jim Harbaugh. When he's not coaching No. 2 Michigan, he's working the chains at his son's game, or he's cheering for his brother's team on TV, or he's watching the dozens of former Michigan players in the NFL. Sometimes, he just sits back and bounces between games on YouTubeTV.
One team that's caught Harbaugh's eye this season? The one down the road. The 4-1 Detroit Lions, who have a rising star in Aidan Hutchinson, the No. 2 pick out of Michigan in 2022.
“That team is really put together," Harbaugh said Tuesday on 97.1 The Ticket. "You can see the grit, the toughness, the talent, the discipline. It’s a cool thing to watch. I’m like anybody else, I’m enjoying the Lions. ... They’re playing darn good football. Proud of the way they’re representing the area and the homeland."
He's also proud of the way Hutchinson is representing Michigan. Harbaugh, as he'll tell you, banged the drum for Hutchinson to be drafted first overall after the defensive end broke Michigan's single-season record for sacks in 2021. In "a message for NFL scouts and teams," Harbaugh said he hadn't seen a better draft-eligible player that season than Hutchinson.
"I don’t know who will have the first pick in the draft," Harbaugh said at the time, "but they should study very thoroughly Aidan Hutchinson. And they should take him."
The No. 1 pick wound up going to the Jaguars, who took Georgia's Travon Walker. That allowed Hutchinson to fall into the Lions' lap. At the age of 23, he's already a problem in the NFL. Hutchinson leads the league this season in QB pressures and is on pace to at least tie Detroit's single-season sack record held by Robert Porcher, who had 15 sacks in 1999.
And with another pick last week, Hutchinson joined Hall of Famer Brian Urlacher as the second player in NFL history with at least 14 sacks and four interceptions through two career seasons. (Hutchinson has done it in 10 fewer games.)
“I did comment that Aidan Hutchinson should be the No. 1 pick in the Draft," Harbaugh told reporters this week. "I think I was right on that one as well. Did you see that interception he made on the screen pass? That one-hander? Wow! So proud of him and the amazing job he's doing. Statistics reflect very well, too, in what he's added to the Lions.
"Darn exciting to be a football fan in Michigan right now.”