Jesse Minter is heading into his second season as the defensive coordinator for Jim Harbaugh. This time around, Minter will also get a turn to serve as acting head coach.

With the head coach suspended for the first 3 games of the season, Minter will handle head coaching duties for Michigan against East Carolina. That is not a task to handle lightly, but Minter pointed to Harbaugh’s confidence in the players during his Monday press conference.

“I think one thing about Coach Harbaugh is that he breeds confidence into our players. He has such a strong belief in our guys,” said Minter. “He’s certainly recruited all of them and been in all of their homes, I think his level of confidence in our players is something that I see every day and I see the power that has.”

Over the course of Harbaugh’s suspension, Michigan will give 4 assistants a turn at handling head coaching duties for the program. Minter addressed that and indicated the program is well-equipped to handle that method with how Harbaugh empowers the coaching staff.

“…But I also think he empowers our coaches and I think we’re set up to handle this well because of his ability to empower us, whether it be our position or our side of the ball. He gives us times to speak in front of the team at different times so I think there’s a level of respect that all the players have for everybody on the staff,” said Minter. “I think it’s all of us just trying to carry our weight and do our job come Saturday.”

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While there is undoubtedly some pressure on the assistant coaches not to falter without Harbaugh on the sidelines, the Wolverines have a strong foundation that has been laid over time. Hopefully that foundation is enough to carry the team through until Harbaugh returns in Week 4.