An early sign that the 2023 Michigan football team is special

This offseason has been quite noisy for the 2023 Michigan football team, which will begin its run at a third-straight Big Ten title and College Football Playoff on September 2nd against East Carolina. It started just days after the Wolverines’ CFP loss to TCU when Jim Harbaugh was rumored to be interested in an NFL return — since then, Michigan has been hit with ‘Burgergate,’ suspensions, and all kinds of other outside storylines. Yet, despite all of this, the focus in Ann Arbor has never wavered — the Wolverines are just as locked in on a national title now as they were when the 2022 season ended, regardless of the outside narrative.

2023 Michigan football offseason has been noisy, but that has not impacted the Wolverines

Right after last year’s College Football Playoff loss, Jim Harbaugh was immediately thrown into the NFL rumor mill — nothing new for the Maize and Blue, as this is a yearly occurrence. At the same time, the Wolverines were hit with NCAA investigations, which are now likely to result in a multi-game suspension for Jim Harbaugh and perhaps a few other coaches as well.

Additionally, Michigan football had to find a new full-time offensive play-caller — which now belongs to Sherrone Moore — when former OC Matt Weiss was fired abruptly at the beginning of the year amid a police investigation. Yet, once again, Michigan football never wavered; in fact, it seems to be a complete non-factor for the Maize and Blue.

Many fans are well aware of this, though I feel it’s essential to mention that two team captains from last year’s team hit the transfer portal (Cade McNamara and Erick All), choosing a fellow Big Ten school as their new home. On their way out, both seemed to throw a bit of shade at their former school, but when the Wolverines were asked about these two at Big Ten Media Day, nothing but positive things were said.

On the field, many players are nursing injuries, such as Blake Corum, Donovan Edwards, Will Johnson, and more. All three of these star players had surgery during the offseason, generating more press surrounding Michigan’s health — another outside factor that seems to have had zero impact on the Wolverines.

During the spring, Michigan football hired Shemy Schembechler in what turned out to be a controversial move for the program — he was fired just days after being brought in, and the program was scrutinized nationally. That said, no one in the building seems to be impacted whatsoever.

As a matter of fact, this list could go on, because, as I said, it has been a noisy offseason for the 2023 Michigan football team. Yet, that is what makes Jim Harbaugh’s team culture so impressive right now — no matter the controversy or outside noise, the Maize and Blue have stuck together entirely and are unfazed by anything in their pursuit of a College Football Playoff berth and national title this fall.

This team stands in the shoulders of Jim Harbaugh’s elite lockerroom culture

The fact that the 2023 Michigan football team is able to stay focused is impressive and largely speaks to the team culture that Jim Harbaugh and his staff have installed in the locker room and on campus — perhaps the best culture in college football.

“The story is that people want to come be here at Michigan. There’s really no other layer to that,” Jim Harbaugh said earlier in the offseason. “There are just a lot of really good players that by word of mouth or whatever it is … I think the guys talk amongst themselves. I think you see that here. We’ve got a lot of guys … more that want to come in than want to leave.

“Like I’ve always said, anything goes well around here, that’s everybody … everybody doing a tremendous job,” Harbaugh said. “When it goes bad, then I’m a bad manager. That’s my role, and that’s a role I think you always have a job at, because nobody is waiting in line to do that job.

“But I couldn’t be more blessed. People talk about culture on a football team — they throw that out there. To me, culture is doing the right things, being on time, being where you’re supposed to be when you’re supposed to be there. Giving it a really good effort. But this program is beyond that.

“Everybody bleeds blue, goes in the same direction,” Harbaugh continued. “You can trust your name in somebody else’s mouth. We enjoy it. We enjoy each other’s company. It’s father and son relationships; it’s brother-to-family relationships in this program. I just feel really blessed to be part of it.

“Like I’ve said, [success] not only seems possible; it seems inevitable. Being around a great team and a great bunch of guys that are on our team and role models, that affects generations, to me.”

In addition to this high praise, Michigan football wide receiver Peyton O’Leary, who stood out this spring, says that he is best friends with everyone on this year’s team.

“The culture is really good,” O’Leary told the media this spring. “I’m best friends with everyone on the team, we’re all brothers. Coach Harbaugh always says that we’ll only go up from here, you know, either 14-1 or 15-0, so that’s the ultimate goal.”

Thank you for reading Blue by Ninety. For more Michigan Athletics and Big Ten content from Blue by Ninety, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. You can also subscribe to our YouTube Channel. For feedback, questions, concerns, or to apply for a writing position, please email our Publisher at Cj@BluebyNinety.com. Also, be sure to check out our shop and our podcast, which is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all other streaming platforms. It is because of your support that we have become one of the fastest-growing and most influential Michigan media outlets there is!