Brady Quinn evaluates potential benefit Michigan gains from Jim Harbaugh suspension
It’s looking like the Michigan Wolverines may start the 2023 football season without head coach Jim Harbaugh, as the NCAA is working toward suspending Harbaugh for the first four games of the upcoming season over alleged false statements he made to investigators regarding recruiting violations.
The suspension is not ideal for the Wolverines as they look to defend their Big Ten title for the second straight season. But according to former Notre Dame quarterback and current analyst Brady Quinn, Harbaugh’s suspension does have one silver lining.
“I actually think this could be one of those things that’s like a galvanizing opportunity for the players to kind of rally around one another and take over control and really responsibility for this team, for this year, and in the locker room without Jim Harbaugh being there on game day,” Quinn said on ‘The Rich Eisen Show’.
Quinn also added that regarding the Wolverines’ schedule, Harbaugh will be missing some of Michigan’s most winnable games of the year, as they open the season with four straight home games facing East Carolina, UNLV, and Bowling Green in their first three weeks of the season.
“Yeah they’ve got three soft non-conference games, no disrespect to those teams they play, but Michigan’s on a different level right now,” Quinn admitted. “Then they have to play Rutgers in Big Ten play, which Greg Schiano has helped make that team more competitive but they’re not quite there yet. So if you’re going to miss four games in the season these are the four to miss.”
But at the end of the day, Quinn believes that the Wolverines are built for the adversity they’re set to face to start the season, as they bring back one of the most experienced teams in the country and plenty of star players in key positions.
“And actually, the suspension allows Jim Harbaugh to be there all week, he just can’t be there during game day,” Quinn explained. “And I think if you had a young team that was inexperienced or maybe breaking in a new quarterback that would be a concern, but that’s not the case with this group.”
“JJ McCarthy returns, you mention Blake Corum, (Donovan) Edwards obviously in the backfield, their offensive line won the Joe Moore Award again for the best offensive line in college football. They’re all back. Seven of 11 starters [return] on defense led by Junior Colson, so this is a very experienced upperclassman group. And as far as the staff goes too, that’s intact as well, not a lot of sweeping changes there,” Quinn said. “So they’re prepared to basically handle this.”