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I had all but given up on seeing Michigan win another national championship.

I still remember watching the Wolverines win a share of the 1997 title. I am also still bitter that they had to share it with Nebraska, which, as far as I am concerned, only got their piece of the crown because long-time Cornhuskers’ Head Coach Tom Osborn had announced he was retiring after the title game.

As the years went by, there were potential championship teams, but they always seemed to come up short. Then there were the lean years with Rich Rodriguez and Brady Hoke coaching the Wolverines. The program was in a nose dive, from which I was sure it would never recover.

In 2015, there was light at the end of the tunnel when Michigan hired former Wolverine quarterback Jim Harbaugh, who had been a successful coach at Stanford and with the San Francisco 49ers in the National Football League. I remember watching Harbaugh’s press conference and thinking that the Wolverines had finally turned the corner.

While I was expecting a quick return to the top of the college football mountain for Michigan, boy, was I wrong. The Wolverines were winning games with Harbaugh, a breath of fresh air after Rodriguez and Hoke, but they were a long way from contending for national championships. Heck, they couldn’t even beat their arch rivals from Columbus, Ohio.

Then, in 2021, Michigan found its footing after a 2-4 COVID-shortened season in 2020. Harbaugh was on the verge of getting fired, but he made some concessions and hired new assistant coaches who would put the program back on the right track.

But the most important change was that Harbaugh decided it was time for the Wolverines to return to playing Michigan football. Forget the trends that had other teams winging the ball all over the field. Michigan football has always meant lining up across from your opponent and hitting them in the mouth. Power football was returning to Ann Arbor, and because it has, the Wolverines are the 2024 College Football Playoffs National Champion.

Since making the change, Michigan has a record of 40-3, and has won three consecutive Big Ten Conference championships.

I have not much to say on whether or not Harbaugh and his staff cheated by stealing opponent’s signs because the NCAA investigation has not come to an official end. We will have to wait to see how that all plays out. What I will say about it, though, is that to all those who think Michigan will have to vacate wins, that will not matter when it comes to the national title. The CFP is not a part of the NCAA and I am pretty confident they will not strip the title away from the Wolverines now that they have won it.

Whether or not you hate Michigan, you have to give this team credit for sticking together through all of the controversies that began before the 2023 season kicked off. Players who returned to play for a championship instead of moving on to the National Football League could have quit at any point when the weight of all the issues came falling down on them.

But instead, I honestly believe it galvanized the Wolverines. It gave them an even bigger purpose than the one they started with. “Michigan vs. Everybody” was born. It gave these players a laser focus that they used to win another Big Ten championship, beat the Buckeyes for a third straight year, defeated perennial playoff powerhouse Alabama and then competed an undefeated season Monday night.

“Michigan vs. Everybody” has now become “Michigan beat Everyone.” That is a memory that can never be taken away from Wolverine fans everywhere. The Blue is back and I expect that regardless of whether or not Harbaugh stays, Michigan will remain a force to beat every season moving forward.

 

Scott Novak is sports editor for Leader Publications. He can be reached at scott.novak@leaderpub.com