The questions have risen every year since Jim Harbaugh took over at Ann Arbor. When is Michigan going to beat Ohio State? When are the Wolverines going to add another B1G title to its trophy case?

As Harbaugh enters his fifth year at UM, those questions are as important as they’ve ever been. It’s something the head coach has had to answer to all offseason long.

Rece Davis recently sat down with Harbaugh to talk about the upcoming season. One of the interesting questions Davis asked the head coach was what prevented Michigan from being “a championship” team in the first four years.

Harbaugh’s answer was even more interesting, even though a lot of Michigan fans probably won’t like it.

We’ve played a lot of young guys through the years,” Harbaugh said. “I think our first year we played 11 or 12 freshmen and the next year it was like 17. In our fourth year, we played three. So the reinforcements have come. The team is in a really good place right now. You want to make it tighter. You want to make it better. You’ve got a good tight grip on it and now you want to squeeze it and make it better.”

The 2016 and 2018 squads weren’t exactly young and were both capable of making a College Football Playoff run. But in the final games of the season, both came up well short.

But this year, Harbaugh has a newfound confidence about his team.

“This year the offense will look different,” Harbaugh said. “The major ways it will look different will be shotgun, no huddle. Shea (Patterson) is good at that. He operates really well with that and he can run. He can use his legs. He’s got quick decision making that really fits the RPO world. Josh Gattis really comes with a lot of tremendous credentials in that area.

“… Josh is going to call the plays. I’m sure there will be a time if I want to call a play I’ll make a suggestion. So far I haven’t done that. He’s doing a heck of a job.”

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Will this finally be the year Michigan gets it done? We’ll find out.

But whatever happens, the youth excuse won’t be a good one for Harbaugh to use if his team falls short again this fall.