Wolverine TV: Jim Harbaugh, Genesee County sheriff speak to Michigan football team at Flint event
Michigan Wolverines football is taking its trip around its home state, and Flint is the first stop. The entire team is on hand to spend the day volunteering with and hosting a carnival for Boys and Girls Club and Flint International Academy students Thursday.
Before the day’s events unfolded, head coach Jim Harbaugh and Genesee County’s Sheriff Christopher R. Swanson addressed the team, as shown in the video below.
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Swanson started the IGNITE program, which aims to educate the incarcerated and give them value, hope and purpose.
“You think I have enthusiasm,” Harbaugh told his players. “And I know my dad does, but nobody has enthusiasm like [Sheriff Swanson].”
Per Harbaugh, Swanson is also an iron man triathlete. The Michigan coach challenged the sheriff to a pushup contest with junior running back Blake Corum and senior defensive back Caden Kolesar.
“Do you love Coach Harbaugh?” Swanson asked the Michigan team. “Here’s why: You’ve got somebody who’s invested in you.”
Michigan’s itinerary in Flint
Here are more details on Michigan’s itinerary in Flint:
Michigan players and coaches will paint a mural, stuff backpacks and create care packages with 60 Boys and Girls Club students on their first stop. Others will volunteer alongside 60 students on various outdoor beautification projects, and 15 will engage with the IGNITE program and serve lunch to the residents of the Genessee County Jail.
Later in the day, 120 players and coaches along with the United Way and Randy Wise Automotive Team will host a carnival for 160 elementary/middle school students from the Boys and Girls Club and Flint International Academy. Students will be treated to food, bounce houses, games, and Michigan Football personnel in dunk tanks.
The Wolverines will then make their way around the state from west to north with several stops at some of the top tourist destinations in the state. Harbaugh said this spring he wanted to introduce his players to some of the best the state had to offer.
“Harbaugh believes that not all learning is done in a classroom, and that these trips serve not only to educate the players about the customs and lifestyles of other cultures and areas but also provide the opportunity to give back to those local areas,” spokesmen for the program said in a release. “Michigan football wants to be ambassadors to communities across Michigan and around the world.”
