Before Jim Harbaugh left Ann Arbor, he had been grooming Sherrone Moore to take over the Michigan football program. So much was that the case that when Harbaugh was suspended for three games at the end of the 2023 regular season, Moore was the interim coach, leading the Wolverines to wins over Penn State, Maryland, and Ohio State. So when the NFL came calling again, and Harbaugh answered, there was no question about who the heir apparent was. Though the program was delivered on a silver platter, Moore wasted the opportunity. And thus, Kyle Whittingham is the new head coach of the Michigan Wolverines football program. Harbaugh and Whittingham faced off against each other once in history, the former's debut coaching the maize and blue, and the latter emerged victorious. Despite his successor's failure in Ann Arbor leading to Whittingham's hire, Harbaugh is excited about what the former Utah head coach brings to the table. And with that, he believes it will be a positive for the Wolverines that he's leading the charge. He shared more with Taylor Lewan on Bussin' With The Boys. "Yeah, very great -- I feel like it's gonna go well, yeah," Harbaugh said. "Nothing but respect for him, and I think he's going to do an amazing job. Wish him well. And like you, I'm the same -- Go Blue, forever. And I would even add Go Blue, both shades -- Chargers, too."
Lewan thanked Harbaugh for his service to their shared alma mater, leading the Wolverines to a national championship in 2023. Given all of the controversies that happened in the year-long lead-up to that championship, Lewan asked Harbaugh when he believes that team will get the credit it deserves for winning it all. Harbaugh says, given the culture in this country at this moment, it's unlikely that he and those Michigan players will receive the accolades, but in the end, it doesn't really matter, he says. "I don't know, it's really unknowable," "First of all, we know. We know. Incredible, is what it was. But everything else -- it's like, in society, in sports, in politics for sure, whatever is said these days, it's probably 50-50. What somebody believes, what somebody thinks, who somebody roots for. You could be telling them the truth, and cross my heart, this is the truth. Half are gonna believe you, half are not. It's practically a jump ball in today's society. "To answer the question, I don't know. But we know." Harbaugh is currently coaching the Los Angeles Chargers and is entering his third year back in the NFL. He spent four years with the San Francisco 49ers before leaving to coach Michigan football in 2015. This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Jim Harbaugh backs new Michigan coach Kyle Whittingham