The Wolverine Digest Pod

National Signing Day has a completely different feel now that most prospects announce and sign early in December, but the first Wednesday in February will always feel like the true NSD. For Michigan, a lot of the work was already done, but at least a couple of prospects made their decision earlier this week, with one going U-M's way and another heading elsewhere.

Jim Harbaugh was actually present for National Signing Day this year, which is obviously a good thing, and he recently hired a new quarterbacks coach as well. With Matt Weiss out, Kirk Campbell is now in, and reviews on him are solid. Michigan is poised to make another deep run in 2023, and Campbell might end up being a solid part of that compared to how little Weiss seemed to do.

Even though it wasn't the smoothest process in the world, Jim Harbaugh is back in Ann Arbor. He's already back out on the recruiting trail doing what he does and it seems like he's poised to lead another extremely successful team in 2023. Unfortunately, Harbaugh's flirtation with the NFL, Michigan's looming NCAA violation punishment and now co-offensive coordinator Matt Weiss' legal trouble have the Wolverines looking like a flailing program in the offseason.

Fortunately, it likely won't matter come September. Michigan is poised to run through the Big Ten, including Ohio State, again. The Wolverines are two to three deep at most positions, but there are some questions marks at wide receiver and cornerback. However, the strengths everywhere else are so strong, it might not matter. We're eight full months away from football starting back up, but it's already fun to talk about a three-peat. 

We're now two weeks removed from Michigan's unfortunate loss to TCU in the College Football Playoff semifinal, and instead of watching U-M's momentum build and build after a phenomenal season, we're witnessing more turmoil and uncertainty when it comes to head coach Jim Harbaugh's future with the program.

Harbaugh did a virtual interview with the Denver Broncos on Monday and is now in a bit of wait-and-see mode. The Broncos reportedly want Sean Payton above all others, but Harbaugh is right there. Payton is interviewing with the Broncos on Tuesday, so it'll likely be Wednesday at the earliest until we hear anything about what Harbaugh might be doing.

Jim Harbaugh has every right to look around for a better situation for himself and his family. Over the last three seasons, he's made it pretty clear that an opportunity in the NFL would be one of those situations. In 2020, no NFL teams wanted him after the uninspiring 2020 season that ended with a 2-4 record. Last year, after beating Ohio State, winning the Big Ten and making it to the College Football Playoff, a few teams seemed interested, including the Minnesota Vikings, who actually flew him out, on National Signing Day, for a job interview that Harbaugh thought he had already aced. He didn't, so he returned to Michigan. All he did was follow up with an undefeated regular season, another win over Ohio State and another Big Ten title before making the CFP. Now, he's looking at the NFL again.

It's not that he's looking, it's that he's looking after saying he wouldn't. Adamantly. So instead of riding massive waves of momentum, and using the 2021 and 2022 seasons to build on, Harbaugh and his assistant coaches are instead doing damage control and putting out fires. Instead of signing one of the best recruiting classes in the country, prospects are looking elsewhere because of the perceived uncertainty in Ann Arbor. We'll probably get some answers soon, as Harbaugh prepares to interview with the Denver Broncos this week, but it's completely up to him as to how long all of this is going to take.

For the first part of the podcast, it's all about Jim Harbaugh and his future. Will it be at Michigan? Will it be somewhere in the NFL? After just going through this last year for more than a month at the detriment of his own program, Harbaugh is once again feeling things out with the NFL. That's obviously his prerogative, but it's not a good look and continues to hurt the very thing that he has built.

Once we navigate that topic, we discuss a trio of defensive transfers, which allows us to discuss the depth on Michigan's roster. When semi-productive, fifth-year guys are leaving, there's obviously a reason. The same can be said for someone who just finished their true freshman season. Throw in a tiny bit of basketball talk and some more discussion about the game against TCU and you have the most recent episode of The Wolverine Digest Podcast.

At least 10 Michigan players and both pairs of coordinators talked with the media during the week of preparation for the Fiesta Bowl and all had something interesting to say. Each player and coordinator sat behind a microphone for more than 30 minutes giving media members plenty of time to ask all types of questions.

Mike Morris complimented TCU quarterback Max Duggan. Defensive coordinator Jesse Minter talked about the importance of adjustments. JJ McCarthy shared that he listens to Bob Marley almost exclusively while preparing to play. Ronnie Bell spoke about his little brother Kendrick officially becoming a Wolverine last week. Olu Oluwatimi did a little bit of reflecting on his choice to become a Michigan Man. The list goes on and on.

Christmas is now in the rearview mirror and we're inside of a week until Michigan's playoff game against TCU. Jim Harbaugh and his Wolverines arrived in Arizona on Monday evening to some excited folks and a pretty legitimate welcoming committee consisting of fans, bowl reps, members of the media and even the official mascot of the Fiesta Bowl. Now that the Wolverines are here, it's time to get to work.

Some of that work will include practices throughout the week ahead of Saturday's game. Harbaugh said that practices back in Ann Arbor have gone well in preparation for the bowl this week, but now that they're on location, the Wolverines need to lock all the way in and focus on the Horned Frogs. The team is likely already there, which should come has no surprise given how they have prepared and performed all season. Now, we're just five days away from see it potentially pay off.

Today marks the early, December edition of National Signing Day that has essentially become the National Signing Day as somewhere between 70 and 80% of recruits put pen to paper and officially sign with the team of their choice. For Michigan, it was a relatively quite day aside from landing two top-200 prospects in wide receiver Karmello English and cornerback Jyaire Hill. Once the dust settled on the first day of the period, Michigan sat at No. 17 nationally with 23 signees.

As for the current Wolverines, we're still all really excited to watch them take the field against TCU. So many people are curious about the matchups, especially the ones that involve Michigan's running game and TCU's rush defense. Most expect Donovan Edwards to have a big day and for U-M to improve to 14-0 and advance to the national title game.

In the first ever matchup between Michigan and TCU, many see the Wolverines being too much for the Horned Frogs. Whether it's Michigan's running game against a porous TCU rush defense, or U-M's multifaceted pass rush against a TCU offensive line that can get pushed around a bit, it seems like a tough draw for the Horned Frogs. Still, the games aren't played on paper, so everyone is anxious to see how things play out on December 31 in Arizona.

On a player by player basis, there are some intriguing comparisons. Obviously Max Duggan and JJ McCarthy aren't on the field at the same time, but how they each perform will be crucial to their respective teams' success. With Michigan's defense, it's about each player stepping up and rising to the occasion. There isn't any one guy that has to shine, but all 11 need to be sharp. Perhaps the most important part of Michigan's defense on that day, will be the secondary and covering TCU's talented receivers. However it plays out, it's going to be fun.

As the entire world gets ready to tune into bowl season, the Michigan Wolverines are two weeks away from taking on the Horned Frogs of TCU in the semifinals of the College Football Playoff. Most people still see U-M as the heavy favorite in the game, but as we discuss, TCU is no push over.

We also talk about a potential matchup with both Ohio State or Georgia, which are both very intriguing matchups for different reasons. With Georgia, they're the team who eliminated Michigan from the playoffs last year. With Ohio State...well, Michigan fans everywhere understand what that matchup would look like.