CHICAGO -- Looming around Michigan Coach Jim Harbaugh at Big Ten media days Friday was the man who wasn't there.
Harbaugh's tenure has been marked by four losses to Ohio State and former coach Urban Meyer, including last season's 62-39 rout. With Meyer stepping down, the big question heading into the season is whether Harbaugh and Michigan finally can ascend to the top of the conference now that Meyer isn't around.
At least not in person.
Harbaugh invited Meyer's shadow to hang around him by going on a podcast shortly before Big Ten media days and taking a dig -- though not an inaccurate one -- at Meyer.
Speaking on Tim Kawakami's podcast on The Athletic, Harbaugh said: "Urban Meyer's had a winning record, really phenomenal record everywhere he's been. But also, controversy follows everywhere he's been."
Asked to elaborate Friday at the Hilton Chicago, Harbaugh told reporters: "No context. I don't think it was anything new or anything of a bombshell. It was things many of you all understand and have written about."
He later said his comment was a fact-based discussion point and he was not poking the bear. (He also claimed he wasn't familiar with that expression because he's not into "animal analogies." This came minutes after he hissed like a viper and made a fangs sign with his fingers.)
"I don't see why people are so afraid to say what they think," he said. "Maybe that's something that needs [to be] examined. It was me saying what I think."
Meyer was suspended for the first three games of the 2018 season as Ohio State investigated what Meyer knew -- and when -- about domestic violence allegations against former assistant coach Zach Smith. Meyer was reinstated and guided the Buckeyes to a 13-1 record, the conference title and a Rose Bowl victory.
Even without Meyer on the sideline this season, the rivalry continues.
Conference media picked Michigan to win the Big Ten -- a prediction Harbaugh embraced. It would be the Wolverines' first conference title since 2004.
"That's where I would pick us," he said. "I feel like our team is in a really good place. [We have a] young, enthusiastic team with players with a lot of good experience. I feel really good about our coaching staff, and like I said, I feel like it's good, it's tight and we're proceeding on a daily basis to make it even tighter, even better.
"To win the Big Ten championship, qualify for the playoffs, win the national championship, those are our goals. And then you put those to the back of the mind and focus on how you can achieve those. That's what we're trying to do better, trying to do more, focus on that day-to-day."
Then he dropped this Harbaugh-ism: "But like an anaconda, you want to just keep squeezing it tighter and making it better, and that's where our football team is."
The Wolverines need to avoid suffocating in big games. They open the Big Ten schedule Sept. 21 at Wisconsin and also visit Penn State before home games against Notre Dame, Michigan State and Ohio State.
Michigan will try to enliven its offense with new coordinator Josh Gattis, hired from Alabama. He'll be charged with keeping quarterback Shea Patterson on track after passing for 2,600 yards and 22 touchdowns in his first season since transferring from Mississippi.
Patterson is one of nine returning offensive starters, including four linemen. He will have two of the Big Ten's best receivers at his disposal in Nico Collins and Donovan Peoples-Jones.
The defense has holes to fill with the top three tacklers gone. But the key to a successful season, Harbaugh said, is focus.
"That's the goal. That's what drives you," he said. "That's what starts you off. That's what gets you moving."
That, and beating Ohio State.
Sports on 07/20/2019