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At a place like Michigan, there’s always a strong focus on the achievements made on the football field. But while that’s certainly the benchmark for the public in regards to the football team, there’s a lot more at stake for these student-athletes.
When Jim Harbaugh arrived in Ann Arbor, he didn’t shy away from the comments he once made when he took the reins over at Stanford. It drew the ire of then-head coach Lloyd Carr as well as prolific Wolverines running back Mike Hart.
The latest controversy started when Harbaugh, who was hired from the University of San Diego in December, told the San Francisco Examiner in May that Michigan lowers its admissions standards for football players and advises them to take easy classes.
Harbaugh made his comments in defense of his new employer.
“College football needs Stanford,” Harbaugh told the Examiner. “We’re looking not for student-athletes, but scholar-athletes. No other school can carry this banner. The Ivy League schools don’t have enough weight. Other schools which have good academic reputations have ways to get borderline athletes in and keep them in.”
A week later, Harbaugh told the Ann Arbor (Mich.) News, “I would use myself as an example. I came in there, wanted to be a history major, and I was told early on in my freshman year that I shouldn’t be, that it takes too much time, too much reading, that I shouldn’t be a history major and play football.”
Speaking at the Big Ten Conference kickoff Wednesday, Michigan Coach Lloyd Carr said of Harbaugh’s comments, “Do I think they’re elitist? Yeah. Arrogant? Yes. Self-serving? Yes.”
So when Harbaugh left the NFL to return to his alma mater, he vowed to make sure that the Wolverines excelled in the classroom as well as on the gridiron. So far, he’s kept true to that promise.
Much more of the student side of ‘student-athlete’ can be read about in John U. Bacon’s latest book Overtime (review) but there are some more continuous real-world examples coming out of Ann Arbor these days.
For instance, despite the classroom setting moving from campus to the student-athlete’s home, some of the football players have showcased their dedication to the academic side of things. One such case is Michigan offensive lineman Trente Jones, a Georgia native and former four-star prospect, who just finished up his first year at the University of Michigan.
And he displayed just how serious he’s been about holding his end of the bargain by holding himself to the highest possible standard.
Finished my second semester of college with a 3.9 at the #1 public school in America. All praise to him🙌🏾🙌🏾
— thetrentejones (@trentejones01) May 7, 2020
Last fall, and astounding 37 members of the football program were named to the Academic All-Big Ten team, and there were 45 the year before that, and 48 the year before. While that number might be dwindling somewhat, but when you look to the previous regimes, it’s a significant improvement.
There were just 12 in 2014, 10 in 2013, 16 in 2012, 12 in 2011, 8 in 2010, 10 in 2009 and 9 in 2008.
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Jim Harbaugh has kept true to his word, developing players both on the field and off. While development on the field has been challenged by many pundits, the Wolverines did manage to send 10 players to the 2020 NFL Draft, tied for the second-most in all of college football. Should Harbaugh and Michigan find a way to finally get past Ohio State and into the Big Ten Championship, then Ann Arbor will truly be the complete package — more than it already may be.
For a school whose motto tends from the latter line in the first chorus of “The Victors,” as far as academics are concerned, the football team is truly embodying that of being the “Leaders and Best.”
So congratulations to Trente Jones and all of the other Wolverines who adhere to that, and have strived impossibly in the classroom. Given the demands placed upon football players, it’s certainly not an easy task. But it’s certainly one worth mentioning and celebrating.
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