Jim Harbaugh on Detroit Lions drafting Michigan's Aidan Hutchinson: 'Great to have him in our home state'
Former Michigan Wolverines football defensive end Aidan Hutchinson was the projected No. 1 overall pick for the majority of the 2022 NFL Draft cycle. However, he fell to the Detroit Lions at No. 2 overall, with the Jacksonville Jaguars selecting Georgia defensive end Travon Walker with the first pick.
The Jaguars’ loss is Detroit’s, and the state of Michigan’s, gain, though. At least that’s the way Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh is looking at it. Harbaugh said before the draft that he hoped Hutchinson wound up being a Lion — though he recommended to any team to take the Heisman trophy runner up — and he got his wish.
“Aidan Hutchinson, he just checks every single box,” Harbaugh said on an interview at the San Diego Padres game. “The thing I love about him … and it’s so rare … Aidan Hutchinson should have a big head, and you would not blame him if he did. But he’s the kind of guy that doesn’t when he should — and that’s just really awesome when you see that in an athlete or any person, really.
“That’s who he is, and it’s infectious. He’s going to bring that to the Detroit Lions, just the same way he did for the University of Michigan. It’s great to have him in our home state.”
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One of Harbaugh’s favorite compliments for a football player is to call them, well, a “football player.” And that’s exactly what Lions head man Dan Campbell referred to Hutchinson as after the draft.
“He’s a football player,” Campbell told Fox 2. “He brings a motor, he brings tempo, he brings relentlessness, he brings rush, he brings run production. He’s quick, he’s powerful, he’s explosive. He’s really everything we’re looking for.”
In 2021, Hutchinson racked up a school-record 14 sacks, finished as the Heisman Trophy runner-up, was a unanimous All-American and helped lead the Maize and Blue to the Big Ten title and College Football Playoff. He was also a two-time captain at Michigan and is credited for creating a culture that
Jim Harbaugh Back In San Diego
Michigan assistant coaches are on the road, but due to NCAA rules, college football head coaches aren’t allowed to make visits during this period of time. Harbaugh has been in Ann Arbor with U-M hosting visitors at the team facilities over the last few weeks, but he also had some time to make his way back to San Diego. Harbaugh coached the University of San Diego from 2004-2006, and his family had a home in the area.
Harbaugh also took in a recent San Diego Padres game, with the Michigan coach having a personal relationship with the franchise’s manager, Bob Melvin.
“We go back to American Legion baseball days in high school,” Harbaugh explained of his relationship with Melvin. “Just a really great friend. I admire his coaching, his leadership. It’s no surprise that the Padres are right up there at the top, elite in baseball right now.
“The Padres made some great acquisitions this offseason, none better than getting Bob Melvin here.”
Harbaugh has learned quite a bit from Melvin, in fact. Melvin was the Oakland Athletics’ manager from 2011-2021, overlapping with Harbaugh’s time in the Bay Area at Stanford and with the San Francisco 49ers.
“Mainly just kind of watching him,” Harbaugh said of how he’s gleaned so much from Melvin. “He’s just steady. He’s got that demeanor and that relationship with the players, mainly where they get to know him, he gets to know them. You can see the mutual respect.
“Somebody who’s played the game, knows what it looks like looking out of that catcher’s mask or looking into the mask. He’s got it. Tremendous track record. As good as they are, and the Padres are lucky to have him.”
