New Michigan OL Coach Explains What it Will Take to Make Unit Elite

Michigan football became the first program in history to win back-to-back Joe Moore Awards in the 2021 and 2022 season, which were years the Wolverines won back-to-back Big Ten titles and reached the College Football Playoff under former head coach Jim Harbaugh.

Now, under new head coach Kyle Whittingham, the offensive line unit—led by the return of some key pieces in Andrew Sprague, Blake Frazier, Andrew Babalola, Evan Link and Jake Guarnera, could very well have the potential to return the program back to elite form up front on the offensive side of the ball.

New offensive line coach Jim Harding will be the man tasked with leading the position group, and he has the experience and proven track record to get the unit to perform at a high level.

Late last month, Harding went on the Blue by Ninety podcast and discussed what it would take for the Wolverines to return to a Joe Moore Award-level form.

What Harding said

"I don’t think it’s wrong to shy away from having that as the ultimate goal, because that’s the standard for offensive line play in college," Harding said. And so what is it going to take? Well, first of all, we got to have a great season. No Joe Moore winner is going to be in an average or mediocre season. So we got to do our part to make sure that we’re successful, not only on the offensive side of ball, but also, as collectively as a team. It’s going to take great technique, great fundamentals, a commitment to making sure that we’re being intentional with what we’re doing each day at practice.

"It can’t just show up on the 12 Saturdays of the season, expect to be able to be recognized as one of the best. So there’s certainly a culture and a kind of a mindset that needs to be created that if we’re going to get back to it, and again, Michigan’s had an incredible tradition of offensive line play through the years, you know, even before the Joe Moore award, Jon Jansen’s like right down the hallway doing media stuff. And so there’s a lot of great offensive line play.

"And so we just have to understand if we’re going to be recognized as one of the best in this program, we got to be intentional with everything we’re doing. And that starts right now. The kids had their first workout last Thursday, and they have a full week starting tomorrow. So it’s not a 12-day-a-year thing. It’s every single day, you got to have the right mindset and approach. And that’s what we got to do."

Oct 8, 2016; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Utes co-offensive coordinator Jim Harding talks to his players during a time out in the first half against the Arizona Wildcats at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-Imagn Images | Russ Isabella-Imagn Images