Full circle
With this National Championship every coach since Bo Schembechler has a former player on the current staff. A representative of each generation has finally won a National Championship.
Bo: Jim Harbaugh, Doug Mallory
Moeller/Carr: Mike Elston
Carr: Ron Bellamy, Mike Hart
Rodriguez/Hoke: Denard Robinson
Hoke: Chris Bryant
Harbaugh: Grant Newsome
January 10th, 2024 at 11:03 AM ^
Quite the legacy of Michigan men!
January 10th, 2024 at 11:04 AM ^
Pretty cool and interesting. So many of these players have unique stories.
Mike Hart quit the NFL to get into coaching. Sure he wasn't a star but he played significant snaps alongside Peyton Manning and probably could have bounced around the league a bit longer.
Denard was the most electric player ever and was a consolation prize for us having to endure the RR experience and everything that came with it. I would love nothing more for him to develop as the next great offensive coach and be with this team for the long hall.
Grant Newsome - oh what could have been. I'm glad he has made the most out of his football opportunity despite the awful injury he had (which should have never happened).
January 10th, 2024 at 11:11 AM ^
Grant Newsome - his injury was just terrible - and, it's so fantastic to see how he and Michigan (academics and athletics) work together to create a "40 year plan".
Go Blue!
January 10th, 2024 at 11:06 AM ^
Luv this.
Need more coaching tree branches!
Go Blue!
January 10th, 2024 at 12:19 PM ^
New buds have already sprouted.
I gotta think some of our current players will be future Michigan coaches.
January 10th, 2024 at 12:36 PM ^
It will be bittersweet, because the branches can only grow when the current branches are trimmed and transplanted.
January 10th, 2024 at 11:16 AM ^
Legends and leaders and BEST
January 10th, 2024 at 11:17 AM ^
Cool factoid. Thanks.
January 10th, 2024 at 11:18 AM ^
Wow. Didn’t think of that. Lots of great Michigan men.
January 10th, 2024 at 11:58 AM ^
I don't think it's a coincidence that all evolutionary threads of the Michigan football program from the Schembechler era have been knotted under Harbaugh.
That was always apparent to me, a human connection of a motivational charge of those who stay will be champions and represented at Schembechler Hall. It's also based on the Harbaugh idea of extended family and a tangible example of his truth not rhetoric.
So, from Fred Jackson to Denard, from Jansen to John Falk, the championship thread has been connected by the Harbaugh family devotion to the team, the team, the team.
January 10th, 2024 at 12:17 PM ^
Not to mention guys like Brady, Woodson, and Howard that have supported this program since their NFL days. They did everything they could to keep Michigan in a positive image even during those dark years.
Now you're going to have several of the recent Michigan players that come back to support and coach all the future players for years to come. Hopefully they can keep this culture going for a long time.