Jim Harbaugh and Michigan will have a quick turnaround on Monday when the Wolverines take on Washington. To gain an edge, Harbaugh reached out to Georgia coach Kirby Smart, who won the last 2 national championships.

How do you go from about a month layoff to a week turnaround? Especially from Pasadena, California, to Michigan and then Houston. Harbaugh spoke on the Big Ten Network on Saturday during Media Day at the national championship.

“Getting rest first. Getting back from the West Coast was quite a trip,” Harbaugh said. “Talked to Kirby Smart, that was one of the pieces of advice he gave. Was going to be a short turnaround and going to be a lot of travel time and make sure you get the guys, get them plenty of rest. We’ve done our best to do that. And also putting in the game plan, getting prepared and getting practiced, and putting the finishing touches on it now and getting ready for Monday night.”

In typical Harbaugh fashion, he spoke about the joy he gets from a national championship atmosphere, whether it’s football, or other sports.

“Super excited, super thrilled to be here. These things you watch every year, right. I do anyway,” he said. “Whether it’s the football, the basketball, the water polo, the national championship, baseball. ‘Boy, that’d be great to be there’ and here we are. It’s been a full year of dreaming about it, working, hoping, and here we are so just a feeling of onward, let’s have at it.”