The Michigan Wolverines are on top of the college football world. On Monday night, Michigan defeated the Washington Huskies 34-14 in the College Football Playoff National Championship at NRG Stadium in Houston. The Wolverines have won their 12th national title in franchise history and first since 1997. And per ESPN, Michigan became the sixth team in major college football history to finish 15-0 or better in a season. The team also set the Big Ten conference’s record for most wins in a season.
“For me personally, I can now sit at the big person’s table in the family,” Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh said after the game. “They won’t keep me over there on the little table anymore. My dad, Jack Harbaugh, won a national championship and my brother [John] won a Super Bowl. It’s good to be at the big person’s table from now on.”
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Michigan won the title despite the challenges it dealt with throughout the year. Specifically, the team was involved in a cheating scandal as former staff member Connor Stallions was accused of sign stealing. He resigned on Nov. 4, and Harbaugh was suspended for three games. Harbaugh also served a three-game suspension at the start of the year due to recruiting violations. The win is also special because Michigan reached the College Football Playoff in 2021 and 2022 and lost to Georgia and TCU, respectively, in the semifinals.
“I’d say we came a long way, but in order to accomplish things like this, you’ve got to go to those dark places where everything’s not great,” Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy said. “And just the response, the urgency right after that last game last year, it was different. I knew it. Just from being on the podium last year and saying we would be back. I knew the guys that were coming back. I had this feeling that it was going to be where we are right now.”
When it comes to the future, Harbaugh could move on from Michigan and return to the NFL. But for now, he’s enjoying the biggest victory in his college football coaching career. “There was nothing surprising,” Harbaugh said. “It was just good old-fashioned teamwork, good old-fashioned hard work by these players and these coaches and none of us are up here taking a deep, long bow because we know this was just good old-fashioned teamwork.”
