In effort to learn from past, Michigan football changes College Football Playoff practices
One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
That’s the logic Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh kept in mind when he decided to tweak the way his No. 1 ranked Wolverines would prepare for their Rose Bowl matchup with No. 4 Alabama, according to his players.
Michigan is 1-6 overall in bowl games under Harbaugh, which includes an 0-2 record in College Football Playoff appearances the past two seasons.
Those recent CFP semifinals defeats, 34-11 to Georgia in 2021 and 51-45 to TCU in 2022, left enough scar tissue — literally and figuratively — that the Wolverines are making a concerted effort to preserve their bodies.
“We haven't been in full pads as much, so it's been a little bit of a toll off our body." quarterback J.J. McCarthy said Monday. "This first couple weeks, we really just took things kind of light, easing into things and you know it's been kind of fresh every single day.
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"I think that's going to be the biggest difference, keeping it balanced."
The Wolverines had taken a week off each time after the previous two Big Ten championships, but unlike this year when they decided to slowly lay their ground work, the team would jump back in full throttle. What they found out the hard way: three full weeks of practice leading up to the game allowed the players to peak too soon.
"Coach Harbaugh kinda knew that just because the last few years we didn't win, so something had to change," McCarthy said. "He talked to other coaches around the country and stuff like that, try to figure out the best possible thing for us."
Michigan knows it will have its hands full with the Crimson Tide. Players on Monday praised the discipline of Nick Saban’s defense, the athleticism of quarterback Jalen Milroe and the general talent across the board, notably two projected first round cornerbacks in Kool-Aid McKinstry and Terrion Arnold.
Rather, they've altered their approach in an effort to find that balance between making maximizing the hours they have available and getting enough rest so they can be in peak form in two weeks time.
“You know like Coach Herb (strength and conditioning coach Ben Herbert) likes to say, 'we've got a lot of time, but none to waste,'” said senior edge Jaylen Harrell. "Gotta stay locked in a dialed in, can't let these days slip by, because that's when you let opponents get the jump on you."
Linebacker junior Colson played 794 snaps last season, but just 561 this year with the addition of Ernest Hausmann to the room to take some hits off his body. On Monday, he spoke with the media with his hands in his pockets: both of which are still in casts, which is the expectation for the Rose Bowl, too.
"It's been a lot more mental work," Colson said. "Taking some pages out of other peoples books. A lot less physical so once we are going physical you expect everybody to be 100%. So I think it's been great for us."
Colson — who also gushed about what an honor it was to win the Lott IMPACT Trophy and hear first hand from Ronnie Lott, the trophy's namesake, about how much it meant to him — also made made the point this game won't be won purely on talent.
"It's more about hard work," Colson said. "Once you get to this level, everybody is talented. Everybody has tangibles and all that stuff. This is more about hard work and how much do you want it."
One of the Michigan players identified by the other side as particularly talented after a few weeks of film study was tight end Colston Loveland. Saban singled him out in a recent media availability as perhaps the top mismatch the Tide will have to contend with, going as far as to compare him to Georgia star Brock Bowers.
Loveland said it's "pretty cool" to hear a coach of that caliber about him like that, but that at the same time he always holds that opinion of himself, so it's not as if that is what's validated his hard work. Not looking for outward validation is just one of many steps of Loveland's growth, but not what he identified as his biggest.
"I just have more game experience, more game reps," Loveland said. "I just feel a lot more comfortable."
As much is true for everybody on the roster, with the exception of freshmen who've never been on the stage. Michigan is the only team in the field in its third straight CFP and now is trying to prove it's learned from its past lessons.
It's why Alex Orji is running the scout team as Milroe, but the Wolverines aren't going to run their bodies ragged trying to bring him down.
It's why McCarthy is reading his books on ADD and focus, why Loveland has been binging "How I Met Your Mother" and why Harrell has been playing hours of Fortnite when away from the facility. There's a time to unleash the beast and a time to reign it in.
Michigan hopes it has found that balance, and that the third time is, in fact, the charm
"Experience is one of the biggest edges you can have as a competition," McCarthy said. "We've had that."
Contact Tony Garcia: apgarcia@freepress.com. Follow him at @realtonygarcia.
Next up: Rose Bowl
Matchup: No. 1 Michigan (13-0) vs. No. 4 Alabama (12-1), CFP semifinal.
Kickoff: 5:10 p.m. Jan. 1; Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California.
TV/radio: ESPN; WXYT-FM (97.1), WTKA-AM (1050).
Line: Wolverines by 1½.
At stake: The winner faces the Sugar Bowl winner between No. 2 Washington and No. 4 Texas in the CFP title game Jan. 8 in Houston.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Why Michigan football is tweaking College football Playoff practices
