michael jordan

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[Fuller/MGoBlog]

Wilton Speight and Mike McCray

WIlton, obviously things didn’t start off the way they were supposed to with the interception. Was there anything in particular that Harbaugh said that made you snap into it or was it just instincts?

“Yeah, obviously wasn’t the start I was imagining, but I was kind of rolling to our sideline anyway and my momentum just kind of carried me right into Coach and he just grabbed me and hugged me and was kind of laughing and was like, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll get it next drive. Don’t sweat about that.’ And I was able to do that.”

How much did it help you to have the balance that you did in terms of a running game and some receivers and tight ends?

“Yeah, so anytime the quarterback has a run threat it helps them a lot, it helps the passing game a lot. To have that balance and then have guys like Jehu and Amara and Jake Butt, Moe Ways, Drake Harris--the list could go on and on, just weapons after weapons--makes my job a lot easier.”

Mike, we heard so much about Don Brown’s defense and blitzing. You personally had a great game and the defense overall did so well, especially in the first half. What was it like to get out there in a new scheme and show what you guys could do on the greatest stage?

“It felt really good. We talked about it all week just going out there and showing everybody what we’re about. We had a great defense last year and we want to be better than we were last year. I thought we made a good statement coming out.”

Wilton, can you take us through the process of you getting acclimated? You’re comfortable in the system but the gameday environment and taking it step by step and putting it together, what was that like?

“I knew the gameplan front and back, and once I saw my first completion to Jehu on that slant I felt completely settled in and kind of like a weight was lifted off my shoulders and I was able to get comfortable and just fire some shots in the pocket.”

Was there a particular player that you felt like kind of boosted you?

“They were all really helpful. Jake Butt was in my ear a lot; De’Veon last night and this morning. But yeah, everyone was real cool.”

Coach said ‘We’ll get them back and everything will be okay’ and you started at the two-yard line. Talk about the momentum that you guys got on that drive and how you finished it off.

“Starting that deep, it’s just an opportunity to march down the whole field and that was what we were able to do. I was able to complete a few passes, the offensive line was able to hold all their blocks really well, and the running game was outstanding. To be able to march down the field 98 yards and fire a shot in to Grant [Perry] in the corner of the end zone was a good feeling.”

[Hit THE JUMP for more]

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[Upchurch]

News bullets and other important items

  • Jourdan Lewis, Ben Braden, and Mo Hurst were Harbaugh’s decision to hold out. Lewis and Hurst should be back next week. De’Veon Smith got bruised and should also be back next week.
  • Taco Charlton has an ankle injury and Bryan Mone needed an MRI Saturday night.
  • When all is said and done, 17-20 freshmen should see the field this year.
  • Harbaugh wasn’t worried about the first-play interception because his measure of a QB is how they respond on the following drive.
  • Harbaugh said they’re just scratching the surface of what Chris Evans can do. Expect to see him catching the ball out of the backfield and lining up as a receiver soon.
  • There’s still a competition for the backup QB spot (and probably every spot, really) because of course there is.
  • Harbaugh effusively praised the defense (he said they didn’t make a stance or alignment mistake through three quarters) and the secondary in particular.

[Getting the mics passed out is taking a minute]

“I can just give you my first answer. The first thing that strikes me is—it hit me about Thursday [or] Friday [that] our coaches had worked this group of players as hard as you possibly can, and our players worked themselves as hard as they possibly could, and it just hit me Thursday [or] Friday that it’s time to just let them go show what they can do. I thought we’d be good, and it was. I thought our team played really well.”

Wilton talked about how your reassurance after that first play—what it meant to him. You’ve been through that a lot of times, that kind of thing. Talk about your approach there.

“Well, really my approach was I wanted to see what he did on the next series. It’s very difficult for a quarterback to throw an interception on a series and then come back and lead a touchdown drive the following series. It’s something I’ve always been fascinated in watching quarterbacks, and the really good ones can do that. They don’t think about, ‘I’m not gonna make another bad mistake.’ I mean, that’s what some do, but good ones don’t. I was just excited for that opportunity, to see what he was going to do on the next drive.

“And then to see him start the next drive on the two-yard line. I mean, that’s as much adversity as you can have for a quarterback starting a series, starting a drive: having thrown an interception on the previous drive—and the very first throw of the game—and then to find yourself on the two-yard line. But he responded in tremendous fashion to lead a touchdown drive, make big third-down conversion throws, to make as good a corner throw to Grant Perry as can be made. It can’t be thrown any better. The slant he threw coming off the goal line cannot be thrown any better.

“Had total command and I think it speaks volumes and bodes really well for our team and bodes really well for his career as a quarterback to have done that, to have come back off an interception and then very next drive go on a 98-yard touchdown drive. Now he knows he can do it, and now we’ll expect him to do it. So, it was good for our team. Good for his career.”

Mike McCray’s overcome a lot and we saw him all over the field today. Talk about what that meant and how good he was out there today.

“I feel like our inside backers are very athletic and can run and get to the sideline and still play very physical inside the box, take on blockers, take on guards, take on backs. I think it’s a step up in terms of athleticism when you look at Mike McCray and Ben Gedeon and Devin Bush.

“There’s a lot of guys, a lot of guys that have personally overcome a lot that were out there and did well today. Michael Hirsch is another. Several. Several guys.”

[After THE JUMP: Imagine how excited Harbaugh was when Michael Jordan coincidently delivered one of his favorite messages to the team]

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[Fuller/MGoBlog]

News bullets and other items:

  • No one is expected to miss the entirety of fall camp
  • Harbaugh noted that Chesson can be cleared by doctors and still not “cleared,” as there’s a process every player has to go through in going from being medically cleared to being 100% ready for all football action
  • Harbaugh will keep an open mind when it comes to one-off alternate uniforms
  • Jay Harbaugh came to his dad with the idea of switching not only to Nike but to Jordan
  • Harbaugh called Michael Jordan one of humanity’s most evolved human beings of all time
  • Biff Poggi hasn’t signed a contract yet but he’s slated to be either the assistant to the head coach or the assistant head coach and his responsibilities will include “all aspects of being the assistant head coach” so, uh, we’ll see.

So Dana [Jacobson] joked about putting the Jordan logo on the khakis, but--

“Why not? Why not?”

Will you get official pants with the Jordan logo on them?

“That would be wonderful. That’d be wonderful. That would be actually taking it up another notch.”

What do you make of this day for your players, to see the excitement on their faces? How big is it for them?

“You know, it’s big. It’s big. We’ve got a thing where we like to say ‘Who’s got it better than us?’ and the answer to that is ‘Nobody.’ Uh, expect possibly future us. It’s also an affirmation that, you know, we tell them, Jordan, the Jordan Brand, ‘Who could have it better than to have you?’ And then them wanting to have us, they’re telling us that they believe in us as well. It’s a very mutual thing.

“And you see it. You just walk by the aisles here. You see the product that they have and what else do you say? You just know it when you see it. It’s great.”

Jim, when and how did the conversation go down or the idea for you guys to reach out to them and the conversation between you and Michael?

“Second day on the job I said I really want to be Nike. About a month or two after that my son, Jay, younger guy, you know, 26, 27 years old said ‘Hey Dad, I think he we should be Jordan.’ ‘Hey, great idea.’ It all went into motion and ended [when] Michael Jordan called me on the telephone and said that they wanted us to be the first and only football school, program, in the world to be Jordan. I said, ‘You had me at “Hello.”’ We’ve been working for this for a very long time.

“The other thing he said that I thought was profound was that- he told me, you know what Nike means to Oregon, you know what Oregon means to Nike. Michigan will mean that to Jordan. And that, I thought, was very powerful. I thought that was very profound. But he had me at ‘hello’ in that conversation.”

You have a big imagination, but when that conversation happened did you imagine all this buildup and all this lead-up to the thing the other night, today, all this stuff?

“No, I did not. But when you put people that are great at what they do then they just blow you away. They knock your socks, they hit it out of the park starting Sunday night: State Street closed off, M-Den has midnight madness for the opening of Jordan and there’s 4,000 people in the streets with the excitement of a national championship, Big Ten championship, some kind of championship-type of celebration. That was the first thing that struck me: this is really motivating; I want to have one of these to celebrate a championship as well.

“The enthusiasm of the people was next. Everybody that cared about Michigan was showing that enthusiasm at the highest level.

“The next thing that struck me was when I went inside the M-Den and saw the product and the way it was being displayed. I mean, this is first class all the way with a big exclamation point on it (!).

“And today’s another one of those type of days where you walk in and your socks are just knocked off. And you know it when you see it. This is great. Everybody knows something’s great when you see it, so that’s been my impressions.”

Charles [Woodson] said something the lines of ‘We’ve got our swagger back.’ What does it matter what a player wears on the field in your opinion?

“I agree with everything Charles says except for that one. The greatest share is your effort and your talent and the work that you put in. But, as I said at the beginning, as Jack Harbaugh said, you are with whom you associate, and to take that a step further let’s associate ourselves with the most evolved human beings in the world if we are with whom we associate and also the highest level companies, brands, products.

“So, that just goes along with our principles that we have, to be associated with greatness. And to think about having Michael Jordan sharing a sideline with us, to think about being the only team--football team--and that’s the University of Michigan that’s Jordan, to have that iconic logo sharing a uniform, we’re very, very proud of that. You asked me the question and I’m proud. We’re proud.”

Nike likes to do special uniforms. Is there any wiggle room for you in this with this association to do something different?

“Well, we’ll definitely keep an open mind on it. You know, as I said, they hit it out of the park here and everything that they have done up to this point has been hitting it out of the park and knocking our socks off, so definitely going to keep an open mind to what their thoughts are and what their ideas are without question. Haven’t decided anything. Not going to change the uniform design at this time, but I stand open to their ideas because, you know, some people just think of things better than what other people do. And they obviously do a tremendous job, so we’ll definitely keep an open mind.”

I mean for a one-off.

“We’ll keep an open mind. Sure, I’ll keep an open mind. Be dumb not to.”

[After THE JUMP: all the world’s a team]