[jwplayer ijCrlIvI-XNcErKyb]
It’s not exactly a new thing for longtime Michigan assistant Jay Harbaugh to be working with special teams.
While now-departed Chris Partridge had the titular role of Special Teams Coordinator since working with the position upon John Baxter’s departure after the 2015 season, Harbaugh has also worked extensively with the unit, having spent three of his five seasons in Ann Arbor coaching special teams alongside Partridge.
But now, he officially dons the title, and will oversee the unit in earnest.
Speaking with Jon Jansen on the weekly In the Trenches podcast, Harbaugh says that it won’t be much different than what he was already doing, coaching special teams alongside his duties overseeing the running backs position.
“It’s something I’m really excited about,” Harbaugh said. “It doesn’t change my week a ton, probably just shift a little bit of time towards special teams. But that’s something I was spending time on to begin with. Really looking forward to working with the players that we have and the coaches we have involved in that phase.”
So, how much different can we expect Michigan’s special teams unit to look?
Harbaugh doesn’t anticipate many changes, if any. He’ll still be on the lookout for cutting edge trends when it comes to special teams, just like he always has working on the offensive side of the ball (note: he was the one who brought the infamous ‘train formation’ to head coach Jim Harbaugh’s attention).
So, in a familiar credo to what we’ve heard coaches like Josh Gattis say, he’s looking mostly at putting his players in a position to succeed.
“I wouldn’t say different – we’ve had a lot of success here on teams and we have a good culture with the way we meet and the way we practice,” Harbaugh said. “So we’re not gonna change for the sake of changing. The same as any other year, we’ll look at who do we want to be based on who we have coming back. What can we be really good at? And then you look at the different trends and see, ‘Hey, this is cutting edge. This might be a way to get us an advantage and get us better field position.’ So always open for ways to improve but keep the core of what we do intact.”