As the Michigan 2023 approached, I did what most dedicated Michigan fans would do, spend the daily commute listening to podcasts and reading articles during work breaks, amping myself up for an unforgettable championship season. It just so happened that one day I came across the Joel Klatt videos where he did Big Noon Conversations with certain coaches. And one such coach was Ryan Day. The part that I will never forget was the last part of the video. Joel Klatt asked him, “Is there a coach in the country who you look at right now, where you respect what he’s doing and it’s tough to play against his team?”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8x3SiuOx3U&t=1405s

Paraphrased Interpretation of the Conversation:

Ryan Day: Oh yeah, there’s a lot of good coaches out there.

Klatt: I’m sure, so you’ll name Jim Harbaugh right? The coach who curb stomped your team two years in a row.

Ryan Day: Actually, Chip Kelly. Oh yeah, he’s the best and greatest coach who did amazing at Notre Dame.

Klatt: So the second is Harbaugh right?

Day: Well, I would have to say that Sunny Dykes is another great coach!

Klatt: I see what you did there, naming a coach that beat Michigan. What about Harbaugh?

Day: Ah, Kalen Deboer from Washington.

Klatt: Okay, good one. Naming a coach who beat Michigan in 2020 during the COVID season. Anyone else Day?

Day: Bret Bielema out of Illinois.

Klatt: Seriously? That’s a pick you had to make? The team that ended Blake Corum’s Heisman season. You can’t think of anyone else?

Day: Nope, I can’t think anyone else. I don’t like mentioning teams that curb stomped me as a coach. They make me feel weak and pathetic.  

Klatt: That’s because you are weak and pathetic! Can’t even mention the one coach who took your team and smeared them all over the Horseshoe and planted their block M flag in the middle. And it looks like they’ll do it again this year!

 

It didn’t take a lot for me to realize how much Ryan Day hated talking about Harbaugh. Even to the point where he mentioned coaches who had beaten Michigan in the near past. Pathetic Day! If we only realized at that point in what lengths Day had gone to, to destroy Michigan’s season, we would’ve been more prepared for this year. He gave all his data and signs on Michigan to Purdue, hoping to see Michigan lose their BIG Ten title. He wanted to humiliate Michigan more than making the College Football Playoff himself.

Was his plan B to hire a private investigator to find dirt on Harbaugh? Probably. After what he tried to do last season, I think we all know that his motives were there all along.

Or maybe the plan came from Michigan State? How Mel Tucker’s players were caught assaulting our players in the tunnel. If they hated us before, they definitely hated us now for getting their players suspended. A dirty and filthy program from the top down, exposed in the light of day and their AD did not like it.

We stood tall through it all. Ignoring their hate, even when we humiliated and dominated them. But when you stand on top of the hill, everybody wants to pull you down.

Before Day’s plan (probably) came into motion, we had the cheeseburgers. This was the beginning of the assassination of Harbaugh. Everybody seemed to fear him. A man with integrity, beloved by his team, and stood tall in his faith. He wanted to give more to the players and provide them a share of the money that filled the pockets of the greedy and filthy directors of the NCAA and the BIG Ten conference. Oh, they hated him alright and anything that they could pin on him, they would. They didn’t want a coach who was an example of leadership to players, coaches, and fans. Most of us knew the cheeseburger allegations was a minor issue that escalated because the NCAA wanted Harbaugh to admit to lying. It was stupid and idiotic. We all started to see how Michigan and Harbaugh was challenged on everything while everyone else (Kansas and Tennessee for example) were let go without any major punishments.

Many of us ignored this as a continual attack on Harbaugh, thinking it was just an overreach by the NCAA. We wanted to move on. But we didn’t know how deep the hatred for our team and institution was and the smear campaign that they were trying to put together. But still, Michigan backed down, willing to compromise and give Harbaugh a 3-game suspension to mitigate the potential for more. Harbaugh stood firm and even accepted unfair punishments to coach his team. Instead of getting mad and upset, Harbaugh did what he always does, he puts the spotlight on his coaching staff and players. By giving four different coaches an opportunity to lead, he set an example of what a leader should do, serve those below him. A perfect example of what Jesus did by washing His disciples’ feet. Harbaugh turned a negative into a positive.

The cards had been set up and the floodgates were about to open. It was truly Michigan against everybody, but most of us were too blind to see it, too focused on the team to understand how hated our coach was. Our enemies found a weakness and exploited it to the max. This was a smear campaign, a chance to pull Harbaugh down and destroy him. There cannot be another interpretation. They knew Michigan’s advantage came from their ability to coach and their players who played to win. They knew it, but they didn’t want to believe it. They came to destroy and it was not out of sportsmanship that they did it.

At the start, most of us were shell-shocked, but soon it became clear that this was more than just revealing a former Michigan staffer exposing a grey area of the advanced scouting rules, it was meant to take down Michigan piece by piece. To remove Harbaugh from his position as coach and to cause enough harm to the program so that the season would be ruined.

Ah, but most of us soon caught on. It became clear that those who spoke up to defend us were only those who knew us, those who bled Maize and Blue. Few dared to speak out in truth with an unbiased point of view. We screamed for fair reporting, but got none. We saw the inconsistences and issues rooted in the system, but could not defend ourselves.

We had something too good. And others didn’t want it for us. They wanted to destroy our team, our coach, and our institution. Now, now it is clear as day. Oh, and the cherry on top was sending in a decision to suspend Harbaugh on a Friday when the team was flying to their next game. For the purpose of arguing for “player safety.” Nah, now I’m sure it’ll have the opposite effect.

That is the last straw. This isn’t just about our team anymore or Harbaugh. This is an attack on our institution and home. This is a call to stand up and defend!

Dear everyone, YOU AWOKE A SLEEPING GIANT!

Be you an alum, current student, lifelong fan, or a former player, there is no doubt in our minds that our University, our coach, and our players have been attacked unfairly. We will not stand down any longer. It is time to stand strong together and leave no doubt in the minds of those who are before us. This is Michigan! And when we band together, when we stand on the hill with our team and coach, nothing and noooobody can bring us down.

This is no longer just a rivalry or about the game of football. It is personal to each one of us. We are sick and tired of compromise and being humiliated. We will stand strong and we will support our great institution.

And be ye a foe of Michigan. I got some words from a wise man called Biff Poggi. “Stop whing and get a better team!”

BET