In an interview with the Momentum podcast, former Michigan edge defender Mike Morris gave a great insight into how Jim Harbaugh runs Michigan football.
This will surprise no one: Morris describes Harbaugh who runs a no-nonsense program that cares about its' players well-being while also pushing them to their limit.
And Morris let us in on an Harbaugh-ism that, once you hear it, immediately sounds like a Harbaugh-ism.
"(Harbaugh) cares about us as players, but if you’re not making the team better or doing anything to make the team better, you’re not really benefiting the team," Morris explains.
“He calls it a ‘houseplant.’ You know how house plants need to be catered to, you gotta put them in the sunlight, you have to fertilize it — a nice, little, cute houseplant. He’s like, ‘If you’re a houseplant, you’re not good for the team, but if you’re a field crop, all you need is some rain, a little bit of water here and there, and you’re going to grow and flourish.’ So he’s like, ‘Always be field corn and never a houseplant.’”
At a university that wears maize and blue, Harbaugh created a culture where players desire to be a stalk of golden, delicious corn.
In the offseason, Michigan players lift Monday through Friday and run on Saturday.
"We used to joke around when someone would complain, we would be like, ‘Yeah, you f—ing houseplant, you don’t wanna do s—,'” Morris said. “Coach Harbaugh was like, ‘You wanna stay inside and be all cute and s—, fertilizer?’ ‘Nah, I’m a f—ing field corn.’”
Morris played from 2019-22, developing from a guy who did not see any playing time in his true freshman season into an All-American and All-Big Ten player by 2022. He is projected as a Day 2 selection in the upcoming NFL draft.
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