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Jesse Minter speaks on great ‘opportunity’ after head coaching debut

Grant Bricker

By Grant Bricker

Published:

Jesse Minter filled in for Jim Harbaugh on Saturday as the current Michigan head coach was serving the self-imposed 3-game suspension. Minter spoke to the media after the 30-3 win.

Nothing looked too different about the Wolverines under Minter. The running game was still a big part of the offense. The defense held their own and only allowed 235 total yards of offense for East Carolina.

Minter was excited about the opportunity to see the team play after a long offseason camp. He compared coaching the team to driving a very safe, reliable car.

“I was excited for the opportunity, and I was just really excited to see our guys play,” Minter said. “You go through a long camp, you go through a long offseason — it’s been a long time since we played in December, and was just excited to get back out there with the guys and proud of the way they played.

“I equate it to a first-time driver getting to drive the safest, most durable reliable car possible,” Minter said. “Your first game as a head coach; you’re at a new program, and you’re trying to do all this. My opportunity was to take over a really well-oiled machine that Coach Harbaugh has built over his time.”

Minter’s mindset was in the right place as he guided Michigan to a season opening win. Next up will be a combination of Jay Harbaugh and Mike Hart. Harbaugh will be coaching the first half, and Hart will be leading the team during the second.

“Certainly the players do what we needed to do, do what we were trained to do from how we worked all offseason. Knew this was coming for a while, so the mindset was right in how we needed to attack it. Just good to be 1-0.”

Grant Bricker

Grant Bricker covers the B1G for Saturday Tradition. His previous stops include the Williamson Homepage and Nashville Post.