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Jim Harbaugh defines what a successful season looks like for Michigan this year

Teddy Rydquist

By Teddy Rydquist

Published:

After walloping Minnesota on the road in the season-opener, Jim Harbaugh and Michigan dropped four of their final five games in 2020 to round out a disappointing 2-4 campaign.

Set to begin his seventh season at the helm of the program, Harbaugh appeared on the Big Ten Network Saturday and addressed a variety of topics, including what classifies as a successful year for his Wolverines in 2021.

“It’s getting better every day,” Harbaugh said, via 247Sports.

“What I want from this team right now is to get better every single day as one. Felt like we came out of that today, now we’ll go watch the tape, see if we can’t make the meetings tonight the best meetings we’ve had so far in this camp.

“Then, come back tomorrow, put the pads back on and try to get a mile-an-hour faster tomorrow.”

Harbaugh is 49-22 (34-16 B1G) in Ann Arbor, but his teams have displayed a tendency to struggle in matchups vs. ranked opponents; most notably Ohio State, whom the coach is 0-5 against.

One of the nation’s top programs, the Buckeyes have won four-straight conference championships.

Michigan was not ranked in the Preseason Coaches Poll, receiving 30 votes, the eighth-most of any team to not make the top-25. While this would indicate expectations are down in 2021, Harbaugh – who has faced substantial scrutiny from the national media regarding his job status moving forward – welcomes the opportunity to surprise people.

“I got to kind of feed on it as a matter of fact,” he said. “It’s not my first time being in a pressure situation. It’s life-giving energy. I kind of thrive in that environment.”

The Wolverines, who named redshirt sophomore Cade McNamara the starting quarterback over freshman J.J. McCarthy and Texas Tech transfer Alan Bowman, will begin their season at home against Western Michigan on September 4 at 12 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Teddy Rydquist

A graduate of Bowling Green State University, Rydquist has been contributing to Saturday Down South and Saturday Tradition since 2019. He can be found on Twitter @TeddyRydquist.