Tim Tebow explains where Michigan will miss Jim Harbaugh most vs. Ohio State

Michigan will be without head football coach Jim Harbaugh as they take on Ohio State today, and former Florida QB Tim Tebow has a particular area where the Wolverines will miss him vs. the Buckeyes.

When Tebow joined SportsCenter early Saturday morning to discuss the day of football ahead, of course, The Game was a topic of conversation. Particularly, Tebow was asked where Michigan will feel the loss of its head coach most as they get set to take on their hated rival in a game that will likely decide who between them earns a College Football Playoff spot.

He answered that it’s not about x’s and o’s.

“I think it’s very clearly in the feel. There’s nobody that understands the feel of a team and the feel of a game like the head coach,” explained Tebow. “And I’m reminded every single week, over and over, in all my games I got to play with head coaches, they know their team, they know their players.”

Using an old Ohio State coach as an example, Tebow explained how great coaches simply understand their teams really well.

“Urban [Meyer] knows in your eyes when you need to get the ball, when you need to be fired up or when you need to be calmed down. Nick Saban knows what to do with his team. He knew in the national championship, I need to have an onside kick. Brian Kelly, last year, he knew this is our shot, go for two against Nick Saban and Alabama because we got them on the ropes. The head coach knows his team and knows his feel.”

What worries Tebow is… will Michigan’s interim coaches have the guts or the intimate understanding of the football team to pull out all the stops in a massive game like this.

“And will the assistants have the courage in those moments to say — okay, we got Ohio State against the ropes, now we need to bury them. Now it’s an onside kick. Now I need to grab my quarterback and say, ‘hey, go get me this fourth down.’ Whatever it is, will the assistant coaches have that courage and know the feel of their players like Jim would’ve? That’s where I feel like they’re gonna miss him this afternoon.”

In Tim Tebow’s eyes, the loss of Coach Harbaugh means the loss of the leading decision-maker, the guy who green-lights an onside kick or gets everyone fired up by going for two. If Michigan needs a spark, will the assistants know when and how to get it? That’s what Tebow wonders.