This spring has not been business as usual for college football coaches. With practices canceled, recruiting limited and working being done from home, everyone has been forced to adjust as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to keep sports on the back-burner.

Still, coaches have to prepare like there will be a college football season this fall. Even though there’s some uncertainty as to whether or not the pandemic will encroach upon the previously-scheduled kickoff dates, everyone is preparing as if the season will continue uninterrupted.

Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh is one of many who is staying optimistic about the outlook of the 2020 season, while preparing like he always has in the past. He’s not even allowing the thought of not having college football creep into his thought process right now.

“Hope and going to prepare,” Harbaugh told Jay Nordinger on a podcast. “I’m not going to give it one thought that it’s not going to happen, because it’s like being a quarterback. I learned that it’s better to be prepared and not have the opportunity, than to not prepare and your chance comes and your opportunity comes and you’re not prepared to do it.

“You got to not have one thought that it won’t happen.”

The Wolverines are coming off a 9-4 campaign in 2019 and are still searching for their first division title. Michigan is undergoing plenty of changes, especially offensively this offseason, so the loss of spring practice has really hurt UM’s opportunity to create some chemistry on that side of the football.

Michigan still has a talented roster and will be a factor in the B1G East race. It should be reassuring that Harbaugh continues to work this spring as though there’s going to be no interruption with the college football season.