3 Michigan football thoughts on Jim Harbaugh’s fall camp presser

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Yesterday, for the first time since the start of fall camp for the Maize and Blue, 9th-year Michigan football head coach Jim Harbaugh took to the podium to address the media’s most pressing questions. I’ve covered this press conference quite a bit from an objective standpoint of what was said, but here are a few thoughts on what Harbaugh had to say and where things stand with the Wolverines’ roster.

Jim Harbaugh is locked in on the 2023 Michigan football season, nothing more

There is a lot of outside noise in Ann Arbor right now, yet the Michigan Wolverines are completely locked in on the coming football season. Yesterday, a number of questions were asked about how Harbaugh is handling these distractions and his thoughts on some outside storylines; in each case, Harbaugh gave a similar answer.

First off, just so we have this out of the way, Jim Harbaugh was asked about the NCAA suspension talks — he declined to comment.

The long-time head coach was also asked about conference realignment (the additions of Washington and Oregon, to be specific), yet was brutally honest about his current stance. Jim Harbaugh has no opinion on realignment right now — he’s 100% focused on the 2023 season, nothing more. What about his future with the program? Similar answer — he’s just locked in on the coming season, not what comes after; he even joked that he can hardly focus on things other than football in anticipation of the 2023 season.

There are a lot of question marks during fall camp, but not in a bad way

At the halfway point of fall camp in Ann Arbor, Michigan football still has a number of position battles that have no end in sight. Right now, Jim Harbaugh is implementing the “Michigan Method” to help decide these battles, but it is not due to a lack of standout players.

According to Harbaugh (and a number of analysts who have seen practices and more), this could be Jim Harbaugh’s best Michigan Wolverines team yet — the depth that the Maize and Blue possess across the board is unreal. A few of the most important position battles during fall practice include — center, offensive tackle (right and left), edge rusher, linebacker, cornerback, and backup quarterback. Expect few true answers during camp, as many (if not all) of these battles will extend into the first few weeks of the coming season.

Expect to see a few Wolverines moving around the field this year

There has been quite a bit of buzz surrounding a few outstanding athletes for Michigan football throughout the long offseason. Some of the most talked about versatile players include converted cornerback Amorion Walker, pass-catching running back Donovan Edwards, and, most recently, quarterback/kick return specialist Alex Orji.

Before yesterday’s press conference, Michigan football fans were already expecting to see incredible athletes like Donovan Edwards being moved from wideout to running back and more. That said, Jim Harbaugh outlined a “secret plan” to potentially have sophomore quarterback Alex Orji returning kicks for the Wolverines this year, which was definitely not a role that many fans anticipated the Wolverines’ 236-pound quarterback to take on this year.

That said, Harbaugh thinks Orji could be one of the “greatest ever,” so we shall see how that storyline plays out this fall. Point being, expect a lot of guys to be flexed all over the field throughout the season — Michigan has the depth right now, so it may as well use it.

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