Michigan football: COVID-19 pause will give Jim Harbaugh and Wolverines time to think

Following “presumptive results” of COVID-19 testing, football has been paused at Michigan.

And if things continue on their current trend, the Wolverines may not even end up finishing the regular season at undefeated Ohio State. A spike in numbers could easily put the final stamp on the year.

Of course, this news comes at a bad time for Michigan – considering there are just two games remaining for the 2-4 program that’s suffered embarrassing loss after embarrassing loss this year – but it could actually end up being good news in the long run.

No team wants to throw in the towel, but that may be the right course of action for the Wolverines, who are in desperate need of a reset.

Fans were already shortchanged due to the truncated season. Players and coaches were too. College football tried to be college football this year, but COVID-19 simply wouldn’t allow for a true, uninterrupted 2020 campaign.

That will hurt some teams.

But for Michigan, this pause – or even calling it a season — might be a blessing in disguise.

Time to heal

Michigan’s quarterbacks are hurting. They need some rest and relaxation, along with time to recover and rejuvenate. It’s probably not what Harbaugh meant by being “proactive,” but shutting down for the rest of the year to take care of the roster – there are several other injured key players – is about as “proactive” as it gets these days.

Redshirt freshman Cade McNamara went down during Saturday’s 27-17 home loss to previously winless Penn State. Despite returning a couple of series later, he clearly wasn’t at 100 percent. Joe Milton, a redshirt sophomore, has been dealing with undisclosed ailments for much of the season, per Harbaugh.

Linebacker Cam McGrone suffered an undisclosed injury. He didn’t play vs. Penn State after requiring an MRI following the win over Rutgers.

Kicker Quinn Nordin isn’t at full capacity.

Safety Brad Hawkins is working through a shoulder/collarbone injury and no immediate update has been provided. Defensive end Kwity Paye has missed the past two games due to a groin injury. No update provided on him, either.

Aidan Hutchinson, Michigan’s star DE and a projected first-rounder like Paye, suffered an ankle injury that required surgery — he’s obviously done for the year, and has been for 3 weeks. Left tackle Ryan Hayes has been dinged up for the past couple of weeks, and injured right tackle Jalen Mayfield hasn’t seen action during the past few weeks.

Following a week in which he had a 95-yard return for a TD, UM’s jet-pack man Giles Jackson didn’t play vs. Penn State for undisclosed reasons.

Michigan is very much “hush-hush” when it comes to injuries. The most Harbaugh ever says, unless he can no longer deflect, is that so-and-s0 is “banged up” or “going through something.”

Michigan is mangled, tangled and not in a good place as a program – especially on the injury front. Calling the season and forgoing the final two games of 2020 could end up being beneficial for those looking to return and those eyeing the 2021 NFL Draft.

This past week, offensive line coach Ed Warriner referenced the injuries on his line – but his thoughts can be applied to every position group that’s dealing with bumps and bruises.

“It’s been challenging,” Warriner said. “Injuries has been the biggest one everybody knows about. But we’ve had a lot of guys miss a lot of time because of contact tracing … because this or that. You get the sniffles, you miss 2 days because they’re checking to see and double-checking to see – which is the right thing to do, whether or not you have COVID – so you’re out a practice. And then all of a sudden, you miss the 2 work days of practice and you’re back in … and are you really ready to go when you miss the 2 bulk days of practice, who knows? We’ve had all kinds of things going on that have interrupted continuity in training.”

Evaluation

Michigan used to have a powerful defense, but now it doesn’t – and it’s about that simple. Going from allowing fewer than 2 TDs per game to allowing 35-plus points per game can cause any head coach to re-evaluate his defensive coordinator. Don Brown, who’s been the DC since 2016, probably feels his seat getting a little warmer these days.

Not only did the Wolverines give up 42 to Rutgers – a season-high for the Scarlet Knights – they’ve been dominated by Wisconsin and Indiana en route to an abysmal 2-4 record through 6 games. Having the No. 12 defense in the Big Ten simply won’t cut it for Michigan, which is accustomed to being top-10 caliber nationally – or just slightly outside the top 10 – under Brown, who previously had the No. 1 defense at Boston College before jumping ship to Ann Arbor.

Offensive coordinator Josh Gattis’ ‘Speed in Space’ approach has not worked out for Michigan. Even going back to last year, it was clear that Gattis’ scheme just didn’t mesh well with the Wolverines, who already had an experiment with the spread under former coach Rich Rodriguez, who was fired in 2010 after three woeful seasons in Ann Arbor.

Michigan has been a revolving door for analysts, assistants and advisors since Harbaugh arrived in 2015. To expect zero change in the staff after 2020 would be illogical. Harbaugh makes changes to the staff, in some capacity, every season – and he’ll likely do it this year.

Self-reflection

Harbaugh has endured the same questions every week: From inquiries about his expiring contract in 2021, to culture issues within his program, all the way to if he is truly happy coaching his alma mater. A potential early end to 2020 may allow Harbaugh, who’s in the 6^th year of his contract, some time to do some deep thinking – not only about Michigan, but about his future in football in general. Burned out? Mentally checked-out? It’s all possible, considering how the past two years have gone for Harbaugh.

Throughout this season, Harbaugh has said that he “loves coaching” his team. He stresses how he loves his players. He emphasizes the fact that he’s all about the “process” – whatever that means – and vows to continuously improve. The goal is to go 1-0 every week, he’s said over and over this season. At some point, all of that begins to sound like white noise. At some point, it begins to sound a lot like former coaches Brady Hoke and Rich Rodriguez, who sang the same tunes before being canned by the UM administration.

Harbaugh loves football. He loves Michigan.

But sometimes, relationships crumble.

That doesn’t mean that the love is lost, it just means that it’s time for a change. Sometimes people and things outgrow each other.

An early exit this year would give Harbaugh some time to think about if he’s really the one for the Wolverines, who are also in need of some time to think about their program, as a whole, if they plan to contend next season.

Adam Biggers

Adam Biggers brings his expertise on the Michigan beat to Saturday Tradition. Follow him on Twitter @AdamBiggers81.