Blake Corum reveals what Jim Harbaugh told him when making decision on future
Michigan football senior running back Blake Corum surprised many when he decided to return for one final season in 2023. Had he stayed healthy at the end of last year, he would have been a Heisman Trophy finalist and had a chance to be selected in the 2023 NFL Draft.
In many ways, it was believed that Corum had proved all he could and that the risk of returning to college after knee surgery was not worth it. Head coach Jim Harbaugh factored into the decision-making process, but not in the way some might have thought.
Corum revealed via The 33rd Team’s YouTube channel this week that Harbaugh told him he should repair his torn meniscus and head to the NFL. And for awhile, Corum agreed and was leaning that direction.
“Coach Harbaugh, he said to get the surgery and he told me to go to the league,” Corum said. “I said coach what would you do, he said if I were you I’d go to the league. But this is before I got the surgery, this was before I even thought about coming back, because I was going to the league. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“But then in the back of my head [I was thinking] you’re not going to be able to do that combine, you’re not gonna be able to show these scouts what you really do. You’ve already been doubted, not in terms of your playing ability, but your size. You’re not tall. That’s been a factor my whole life. So all these things were on my mind. Are they going to judge me off my film? Are they gonna think I’m slow if I don’t run the 40? Am I not gonna be able to prove myself or get drafted as high as possible? So all these things were going through my mind.”
Corum put plenty of great things on film last season, though. He rushed for 1,457 yards and 18 touchdowns in 11 games at Michigan, and many draft pundits had a day-two grade on him even with the knee surgery.
Ultimately, Corum wanted the opportunity to close out his legacy and his unfinished business at Michigan. Assuming good health, he knows the opportunity to play in the NFL will not go away if he handles what is in front of him.
“I had to go with my gut,” Corum said. “Coach Harbaugh was telling me to go, my agent telling me [I] should come out. I had a pretty good season, right? But it was more than that. I tell everyone to think about the bigger picture. I’m the first in my family to ever go to college, if I left there’s no chance I would be walking this Saturday to get my degree. There’s no shot, I was not coming back.”
“The NFL’s not going nowhere. So what’s one more year? I’m getting all these pros: my degree, the chance to win a national championship, the chances of leaving a true legacy, chance of being a hero, I’m in the community here big time, so I get one more year with the community, charities, and just giving back.
“There are too many pros for just something that’s always going to be there, so it was all about the bigger picture coming back honestly.”
