The football world is still reacting to Jim Harbaugh leaving Michigan for the Los Angeles Chargers. Reporters at MLive canvassed the Detroit Lions locker room ahead of the NFC Championship game and got reactions from former Wolverines stars Donovan Peoples-Jones and Graham Glasgow.
“It’s bittersweet,” Peoples-Jones told MLive regarding Harbaugh’s departure from Michigan. “He had a great run at Michigan. It really took him a while to get to that point, and then he got (there). I’m definitely happy for him and hope that this move positively impacts him and his family.”
People-Jones played three seasons under Harbaugh in Ann Arbor. He earned freshman All-America honors in 2017 and capped his collegiate career with third-team All-Big Ten selections in 2018 and 2019. Glasgow was a fifth-year senior when Harbaugh arrived at Michigan in 2015 and said he believes his former coach is driven to win a Super Bowl
He’s a very driven person, and he has his own goals,” Glasgow said. “At some point, I imagine he probably wanted to go and compete for a Super Bowl and win a Super Bowl. With that being said, I’m thankful he was there for as long as he was. I’m thankful he gave back as much to the program as he did.”
Glasgow compared the end of Harbaugh’s tenure at Michigan to the end of a relationship.
You’re in a relationship with somebody, and you want something to change really badly, or you’re trying to get more out of them than you’ve been getting, and they refuse to do it until (Harbaugh) is really, really ready to leave. (Michigan) didn’t really want to do it,” Glasgow said. “They’re just doing it to appease you at that point in time. I can understand that he’s probably just like, ‘Do I really want to keep dealing with this? Or would I rather just go and do something else?'”
In nine seasons under Harbaugh, Michigan went 89-25, including a staggering 40-3 over the last three seasons. The Wolverines have won three straight Big Ten titles and capped a perfect 15-0 season earlier this month with a national title win over Washington — Michigan’s first national title since 1997.
Here’s the deal — Michigan had an offer on the table to make him the highest-paid coach in college football,” ESPN’s Adam Schefter said Wednesday night on SportsCenter, “and Michigan, though, could not offer him the chance to win a Super Bowl. And really, that’s ultimately it. He would have loved to have stayed at Michigan. Michigan would love to have had him. But the fact of the matter is the Chargers give him the ability to compete for a Super Bowl, and I think that Jim Harbaugh clearly was interested in L.A.”
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