A few weeks ago, just hours ahead of Michigan‘s biggest game to date — a road matchup vs. No. 10 Penn State — Conference Commissioner Tony Petitti suspended Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh from the sidelines for the remainder of the 2023 regular season, which included the Penn State game, the program’s 1,000th all-time win, and the Ohio State game. Well, the Wolverines won all three games, setting up a meeting that every Michigan fan wanted to see: Petitti had to hand Harbaugh the Big Ten title trophy following the Wolverines’ 26-0 win over Iowa on Saturday. After the game, Harbaugh gave his thoughts.
Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh reacts to Big Ten title trophy presentation
For the third year in a row, Michigan football and Jim Harbaugh were presented with the Big Ten’s most prestigious team honor: the Conference Championship. With Saturday’s win over Iowa, Michigan will likely be the new No. 1 team in the nation, largely because Georgia just lost the SEC title game to Alabama.
Despite all that the Wolverines were presented in terms of challenges, Michigan football has prevailed and is Big Ten Champions once again. While it was nothing too special, Michigan fans got their wish: Tony Petitti had to look Jim Harbaugh in the eyes and hand over his conference’s most coveted award after suspending him mid-flight for the three biggest games of the regular season.
A “wonderful” moment
For Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh, his moment on stage was nothing short of wonderful, not because of Tony Petitti or getting revenge, but because he got to celebrate another title with his team and their families.
“Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. The wonderful feeling of winning,” Jim Harbaugh said after the game. “Great thrill of victory. Yeah, I mean — how many more people can we get up here on the stage? They said three, four, five. Keep bringing them up. It’s where we wanted to be. It’s what we hoped for, what we worked so hard for, and then it happened.
“It’s like kind of a pinch yourself (moment), but yeah, the way our defense was playing, the gutty performance, another gritty one by our offense, and then the special teams. James Turner kicked the four field goals, and Semaj Morgan with the big punt return. Just so good.”
Tony Petitti bolted quickly
Kris Jenkins also explained afterward that Michigan football was looking forward to the moment that Petitti had to hand Harbaugh the trophy, though being class about things, Harbaugh did not make a big deal out of it. Perhaps also worth noting: Tony Petitti did not stick around for very long during the Big Ten title celebration — he bolted quickly after handing over the trophy.
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