CFP NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP: WASHINGTON VS MICHIGAN

January 6, 2024

Jay Harbaugh

NRG Stadium

Michigan Wolverines

Press Conference

Q. (Indiscernible) performance by special teams, is it something that you necessarily think, oh, man, we need to fix (indiscernible)?

JAY HARBAUGH: I would say it's both. It's a bad day, and those are also major things. Yeah, it's the kind of thing where you watch the film afterwards, and there's easily identifiable things of, hey, from a technique standpoint, this is why this occurred.

To me that's competing as a coach because, okay, you identify the problem, and then you create a plan, and you address it. Those guys are experienced. They have a lot of great reps and experience to draw confidence from, and we feel really confident in them.

So we feel good about them.

Q. (Indiscernible)?

JAY HARBAUGH: The way that you said that is totally accurate in the sense that, okay, it feels like JT had a bad day, and he had hit quite a few field goals in a row. Maybe 13 or 14. Yeah, so you get used to him drilling kicks, so when he doesn't, it feels like a bad day.

He can certainly make that kick, and he expects himself to. That being said, it's nearly a 50-yarder, and that's not necessarily automatic. So not really a bad day. It's an unfortunate missed kick, but the PAT gets kind of lumped into that, and it feels totally different.

At the end of the day, it's about the final product, and it's about our impact on the team winning. Obviously all those things are serious, need to be fixed, and they're highly motivated guys. Nobody is harder on them than they are on themselves. I'm confident that they're go in a great place moving forward.

Q. Who is the D (off microphone)?

JAY HARBAUGH: We feel great about both guys. I think we've had four guys back there this year. We feel really good about (indiscernible) Semaj, and both those guys have had excellent seasons and countless great reps in practice.

For that reason, though guys should feel really confident in themselves. There's minor things that we've done to make sure that they're really ready to go and whatever issues that they might have had in the game are addressed. We feel confident in them, their teammates too, and they feel confident in themselves and they should.

Q. To see your dad be a dad to so many other guys, what's that like?

JAY HARBAUGH: It's pretty cool. I hadn't really thought about it exactly like that, but it's pretty cool. Just thankful. I'm thankful to be a part of this team and to be able to be around him every day. I think he's the best in the world at what he does.

To be able to learn from him, be around him and be able to do what we love together is a really neat thing. It makes me happy that the story is kind of starting to get out that, hey, this guy is different than people maybe have portrayed him or different than people want to think that he is, and our players kind of are making sure that the other narrative of who he really is gets out there and what he is like day in and day out of as a father figure, like you are saying, and as a coach and as a leader.

That makes me happy because he really is an amazing leader, amazing person, and we're really thankful to have him as our head coach.

Q. How difficult is it when you hear that narrative to process that? What's that like for you?

JAY HARBAUGH: I mean, it stinks, but you get so used to it. That's my entire life I've been accustomed to hearing other people's opinions about my dad. So I'm kind of numb to it. It doesn't really bother me anymore. You build up a callus to it.

Q. I hate to ask this, but do you think he'll be back here next year?

JAY HARBAUGH: You would have to ask him that. I don't have any reason to think that he will or won't, and it's just not something that he does of, hey, we're doing this, but I'm really going to worry about this other thing.

Anyone that knows him knows that's not how he operates. He could be doing anything. It could be working with the chickens in the chicken coop or coaching or doing maintenance on his cabin. He's just totally dialed in on whatever it is.

The notion that there would be something else that's on his mind, it's like he wouldn't even entertain it.

Q. Special teams, some issues last week. How locked in were you guys on getting the problems fixed?

JAY HARBAUGH: Yeah, we feel really good. That was a really unfortunate game to have uncharacteristic errors be made and for them to be made at the same time and on that stage. That was unfortunate. We're really thankful to the rest of the team that they picked up the slack.

That's what a great team does. When the offense needs it, the defense can play great. Vice versa. Special teams is obviously in that same mix. You've got to be able to do your best. If you don't, you hope that the other phases can do it for you.

Unfortunately, we created those problems, but being on a great team, those types of things can happen. We have a great week of preparation. We've done plenty to address what we think the problems were. I really believe that those types of things are more -- they're just uncharacteristic and us and the players feel really confident moving forward.

Q. What do you remember about being a kid when your grandpa was coaching at Western Kentucky, and your dad was still in Indianapolis?

JAY HARBAUGH: A lot. Of just when my grandpa was at Western?

Q. Yes.

JAY HARBAUGH: We're talking about years and years. Yeah, it was just awesome. I was pretty young. Yeah, it was just fun. I just liked going to Bowling Green and being around Big Red, the mascot, if you are familiar with him. That's the type of mascot that a kid would really like. A Western Kentucky guy? Great.

As a kid, Big Red, that's a big attraction. You're pretty excited to be around him, and he had no branding at that point. He was just a big red guy. You had the Corvette Museum, that was a big deal as a kid. Being able to hang out, you're just hanging with your grandparents. You're a kid, so you're not really focused on too much else but running around the facility and jumping on the pads and all that stuff.

It was a really fun way to grow up, and really grateful for those types of memories I have.

Q. You talked a minute ago about just how hard the coaching business can be, but it's also (indiscernible). What made you decide that you wanted to do this? Grandma or anyone say, hey (indiscernible)?

JAY HARBAUGH: I think the most powerful thing was that nobody tried to get me to do it, and also nobody stopped me. I'm really grateful that my parents just let me be a kid and let me pursue my interests.

Naturally that took me here, and I think that was just the byproduct of seeing my grandfather first, seeing how rich his life was, the amazing relationships he had, the stories and memories and former players and the joy, the thrill of winning and just really looking at that, saying, man, that looks like such an amazing way to live.

As I got a little older, got into a high school. My dad starts coaching, and he starts seeing some of the same things with him. And then after enough time, I just kind of realized I think I might want to do this too.

Yeah, the main thing is just seeing all the beautiful aspects of the job firsthand and wanting to experience that myself.

Q. What's it like? Obviously your granddad is still around and got a little award earlier in the year. What's that been like having three generations that are Harbaughs and (indiscernible)?

JAY HARBAUGH: It's a blessing. I don't take it lightly that there's people that never get that opportunity to be able to work with a mom or a dad or a grandparent. It's pretty rare.

Really thankful for that. It's part of what makes it really special being at Michigan for me and for my kids is the family aspect, like you said, and really just thankful for that every single day.

Q. I wanted to ask you (off microphone)?

JAY HARBAUGH: There isn't quite as much -- probably seem unbelievable, but not as many people ask about that as you would think. I think all that stuff is kind of way out there in the future, and they're really focused on that imminent decision and what's next.

You would be surprised that that type of stuff doesn't get talked about all that much.

Q. (Indiscernible) what's that been like from your perspective (off microphone)?

JAY HARBAUGH: It's fascinating, and I didn't hear Mike say that, but I feel the same way. From the beginning as a coach, it's, okay, the process and you are worried about the next practice, the next meeting, fixing this laundry list of issues with scheme or whatever it might be.

From the beginning they said the same thing. They said, hey, we're going to go to the Natty. This is what we have to do. Day in and day out, every single guy saying that same thing.

The thing that made it special is that they were able to simultaneously have that as the goal and not let it distract from what was right in front of them. That's what I think gave us a chance to be here.

Maybe with other teams if you heard players saying that, you would say, man, we need to focus on beating UNLV or Bowling Green or Nebraska, et cetera. With these guys it just never felt that way. It felt like they were looking ahead, if that makes sense.

Q. (Indiscernible) about the kids playing, and he was not having any of them (indiscernible) recovery by the end zone. How do you balance obviously there was a bad part of that play, but there was the recovery right on the line.

JAY HARBAUGH: Yeah, it was a fantastic way to keep that from being disastrous. It was bad, and he kept it from being any worse.

Our guys are really mature, and they care a ton. They don't need anyone to tell them about how big of a deal something is or whatever. They're really hard on themselves because they demand a lot of themselves, and they understand that the standard at Michigan is high. The standard for performance, the stage is big. There's pressure.

They get that, and I think you know that that's how they feel, and the focus has to be on, okay, how do we fix this from a technique or an awareness standpoint or mechanics standpoint. Why did this occur, and what can we do to prevent it from happening again? Especially at this juncture of the year, you're not -- it's just about, hey, this is what we have to do to be ready for the next play.

Q. On that note, it is a short turnaround. How much are you changing things versus just kind of prepping what you have been doing and hoping that the Rose Bowl was an aberration (indiscernible)?

JAY HARBAUGH: We believe it was an aberration. That being said, there's tangible things that needed to be different for those plays to unfold the way that we wanted to. Like anything, you adjust and coach the technique that needs to be improved.

And those guys are highly coachable. They're smart. They're very driven, obviously, to not have that type of thing again.

We feel really good about them and trust that the preparation that we've made, that we've done has been really good and also that they have a massive body of work prior to that that was really sound. They should draw confidence from all those reps too.

Q. How different is Jim just as a coach from his time early (indiscernible)?

JAY HARBAUGH: I'm not sure I'm the best person to ask that to because I'm here and I'm in it. Sometimes things are -- they're harder to -- if there's changes, they're harder to notice day in and day out. Like when you're parenting and all of a sudden you have that moment of, like, oh, my gosh, when did he or she start doing that, they're like a grown-up kid already. You don't notice those things when they're happening right in front of you gradually.

The only thing I would say is probably that every team is different, and so one team might need a certain type of approach and a different team might need something a little bit different. If there's been any changes or adjustments, it might have to do with that. You know?

Q. The night before the game in your room with your family. Talk about what you're feeling, anxiety?

JAY HARBAUGH: I just keep kind of just studying and preparing and just kind of going through mental checklists of if this happens, this is what we're going to do and all that stuff. I find it kind of hard to turn that off.