ANN ARBOR, Mich. — It was something of a shock on Thursday evening when it was revealed that former Michigan football linebackers coach George Helow was joining Alabama to help the Crimson Tide prepare for the Rose Bowl.
Helow spent two seasons in Ann Arbor before head coach Jim Harbaugh decided to bring back favored son Chris Partridge, which left the former Ole Miss player without a position to coach. Now, he’ll be joining Nick Saban, giving intel that could help eliminate his former team from the College Football Playoff.
Though it was a shock to some of his former players, junior linebacker Junior Colson was magnanimous about Helow joining the competition.
“Mike (Barrett) sent it to me, then Ernest (Hausmann). But just different. Just different — it’s like, they might be a little scared. But you never know. But he’s got a job, I’m happy for him. So, I’m excited for him. I’m happy — I’ll probably say what’s up to him after the game. So just you just gotta go out there and play ball.”
But what does he think about it potentially helping Alabama? Does it give the Tide an insurmountable advantage?
According to Colson, no, it’s more about player execution than anything.
“You can’t really have an advantage in football,” Colson said. “It doesn’t matter if you know somebody’s whole playbook, you’ve still gotta stop it. So you can’t really have an advantage in football. You’ve gotta go out there, play ball, and let the dice roll how it rolls.”
Michigan and Alabama will kick off in the Rose Bowl Game on January 1 at 5 p.m. EST as part of the College Football Playoff semifinal.