Jim Harbaugh message to Michigan players: Be a 'field crop,' not a 'houseplant'
In an interview on the Momentum podcast, former Michigan Wolverines football EDGE Mike Morris, an NFL Draft hopeful who just participated in the combine, took fans behind the curtain of playing for head coach Jim Harbaugh.
Morris, the 2022 Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year who led the Wolverines with 7.5 sacks on the season, said nothing came easy at Michigan. Harbaugh would stress being low-maintenance and focusing on hard work.
“Michigan was definitely a grind,” Morris said. “Coach Harbaugh really doesn’t care about anything but football. Like, he cares about us as players, but if you’re not making the team better or doing anything to make the team better, you’re not really benefiting the team.
“He calls it a ‘houseplant.’ You know how house plants need to be catered to, you gotta put them in the sunlight, you have to fertilize it — a nice, little, cute houseplant. He’s like, ‘If you’re a houseplant, you’re not good for the team, but if you’re a field crop, all you need is some rain, a little bit of water here and there, and you’re going to grow and flourish.’ So he’s like, ‘Always be field corn and never a houseplant.’”
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Morris insinuated that the players took the message as unique and comical, but that it was received loud and clear.
“We were like, ‘OK.’ We used to joke around when someone would complain, we would be like, ‘Yeah, you f—ing houseplant, you don’t wanna do s—,'” Morris said with a laugh. “Coach Harbaugh was like, ‘You wanna stay inside and be all cute and s—, fertilizer?’ ‘Nah, I’m a f—ing field corn.’”
Morris said the Michigan program was “ran as a business.” He’s one of many former Wolverines to say Harbaugh conducts the organization similar to those in the NFL, unsurprising considering the head coach’s background.
The methods have certainly paid off. Michigan has won 74 games in Harbaugh’s eight seasons and is fresh off back-to-back Big Ten championships and College Football Playoff appearances.
In his NFL Combine press conference, Morris credited Michigan strength and conditioning coach Ben Herbert for the team’s unflappable mental toughness. In the podcast interview, he provided some detail on the Wolverines’ regimen.
“Offseason, you work out … Monday, Tuesday were like really hard lifts,” Morris said. “And then Wednesday was ‘optional’ — quote-unquote ‘optional.’ You kinda got forced into doing it because everyone was going to do it. If you didn’t do it, they were going to say something about it, but they would be like, ‘Oh, we’re not forcing you to do anything — we just want you to be better.’ And it’s just like, you want me to f—ing come, bro.
“If you don’t go, they consider it an ‘X,’ so you’re not going. And then we lift Thursday, Friday, and then Saturday is a big running and conditioning day. So we go Monday through Saturday every [week] and our bodies are hurting.
“But the thing is, our coach would be like, ‘Your bodies aren’t hurting too bad’ because we would P.R. on days when we felt like s—. ‘Your bodies aren’t too bad because you guys are doing so good.’ We’re just looking at him like, alright bro.”
Herbert had a bigger goal in mind, of course. Michigan players went through that proverbial hell but were comfortable in uncomfortable situations during the season. In 2022, that led to a 13-0 record and close loss to TCU in the CFP.
“But mentally, that’s why nothing f—ed with us. Even in the TCU game, we were down — offense gave up 14 points, it is what it is — we were down but no one gave a f— because we were just worried about winning the game and we were doing everything we could to win the game. That’s just a tribute to what it’s about.
“They really tried to mind f— us as much as possible, so in life and in football nothing can faze you.”
