Jim Harbaugh and Aidan Hutchinson locked eyes, simultaneously grabbed the other's head and let out a demonstrative yell toward each other after Michigan beat Nebraska on the road on Oct. 9.
Hutchinson's emotion could have been seen from the last row of Memorial Stadium, but a camera gave a clear view of what this conference win, which kept Michigan undefeated, meant to him and the Wolverines. That scream was symbolic of the amount of work Michigan players and coaches put into this offseason to erase the embarrassment of the 2020 season and change the culture within Schembechler Hall.
That organic display of relief was nine months worth of effort to change the narrative of what Michigan football was becoming and change their legacy as a Wolverine.
After the embrace, Harbaugh eventually made his way across the field to shake hands with Nebraska coach Scott Frost, then hopped and ran away from his media obligations toward the locker room to celebrate with his team. He left quarterback Cade McNamara to fill in for his postgame television interview, and McNamara gave an honest depiction of what took place on that field.
He said past Michigan teams probably wouldn't have won that game, but this team did. He didn't mean to insult any previous teams at Michigan, but the numbers back him up.
Until beating Wisconsin on the road in Week 5, Michigan had never won as a betting underdog under Jim Harbaugh. The team entered that game 0-11, but this season it left Madison with a win. Nebraska wasn't ranked when the two played, but Michigan is also 2-8 against AP-ranked opponents on the road under Harbaugh despite being ranked in all 10 of those games.
Past Michigan teams had lacked confidence, ability or the resilience to come back the way this team did when Nebraska took a third-quarter lead in a raucous environment. After squandering leads of 13-0 and 19-7, the Wolverines didn't buckle.
"I think last season, it humbled the players a lot. I mean, it's embarrassing to lose that many games in a winged helmet," McNamara said of last year's 2-4 team. "We knew that it was time to change and whatever the change was, we were willing to do it to win."
The Michigan players banded together, in players-only meetings, player-led workouts, a newly formed leadership council and a promise to each other that player accountability was the focus and it was uncompromising if anyone wanted to be part of this team.
Leadership from within had been missing in the past, but this group vowed to change that. Hutchinson, linebacker Josh Ross, wide receiver Ronnie Bell, running back Hassan Haskins, offensive lineman Andrew Vastardis and a handful of other veteran players knew they needed to be the ones to change the culture.
What happened in 2020 wasn't acceptable and they weren't going to let it happen again.
"I really give those guys a lot of credit for creating the environment that we have," Harbaugh said this summer. "And maybe we were beat up, you know, maybe we're the Rocky Balboa of college football, you know, beat up and angry, and I hope so. And I say good, you know, because that's what I've been seeing now."
It wasn't an overnight change or a switch that was flipped. It was a boiling point that caused this team to come together and, rather than dwell on what happened in 2020, decide that they could take this team into their hands and make a change.
"Don't flinch" became a mantra and a mindset led by the players.
An offseason of change
It started with winter conditioning after a forgettable 2-4 2020 season. The coaches had taken the brunt of the criticism, but the players knew they were just as much responsible for the outcome as the coaches. They were embarrassed and ticked off to the point they wanted to come together to turn around the historic program.
"After the first day of winter conditioning, we moved different and guys acted different from last year because of experiencing something like that last year," Ross said. "We're not going to let it happen again. We don't ever want to feel like that again; we're better than that and we know that."
They also knew just talking about it wouldn't change anything. They needed to be consistent, and it started with the small details -- keeping the locker room clean, voicing their opinions when something went wrong, not being afraid to tell a teammate if they were veering off path.
That newfound ownership of this team brought a new lease to how the players felt. The plan to move forward meant they could let go of last season. Gloom turned into hope, which turned into excitement to return to the field for redemption.
Team chemistry grew stronger, too. Players led their own makeshift practices without the coaches to put their words into action. They showed up early, left late and rekindled the joy they felt for football. There was an air of positivity ruminating through the entire program, and when the first spring practices started in February, the players put their words into action.
They describe the first practice with enthusiasm, pads popping, and like a therapy session allowing them to come to terms with the past, knowing they have a path to change the future.
In an uncoordinated or premeditated display of how well the first practice went, when Harbaugh called the team together in the final whistle, the players rushed toward him and broke into a mosh pit.
"We actually did it the day after that, too, and no one planned it, there was nothing crazy said," McNamara said. "We just got together and we just felt in that very first practice, we were like, wow, that was a good practice. That felt good, that's what it feels like to have that level of practice and the boys were excited about it."
Their efforts were now showing on the field and the positivity was spreading to the coaches, who saw their players taking real ownership of the team. Harbaugh himself admitted that he was feeding off of some of the positive energy because he likes being around players who love football, and this team is filled with those type of players.
"They love training, they love practice, or at least they like it a lot, and I like football players that like football," Harbaugh said. "These are the kind of guys that, I mean, you don't have to talk them into it and I think that makes me happy. I'm happy being around players like that and coaches like that and just the whole culture is just like that, made up of a bunch of guys like that."
To keep that positivity moving in the right direction, a 12-person leadership council was formed before the season started. The council now helps with decisions on the team, resolving conflicts and holding players accountable. The players bought in and didn't have to be told to work harder. They were already fueled by each other, and it started with the spring practices.
"As a coaching staff, we had the same feeling they did about last season, a sour taste, and we've met with all the guys and asked different questions about the team," co-offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore said. "The thing that kept coming up were the leadership aspects and we needed that in the locker room. I think once you have that, you have a really good team and that's what we've got right now, so I think that was really the biggest thing that took us to that next step."
Coaches facilitating the change
The players led the attitude adjustment in the locker room, but the coaching staff's offseason changes helped push their ideas along.
Moore was promoted to co-offensive coordinator, Mike Hart hired to coach the running backs, George Helow to coach the linebackers, Steve Clinkscale as the defensive passing game coordinator, Ron Bellamy to coach the safeties, Matt Weiss to work with the quarterbacks and Mike Macdonald to lead the defense.
Outside of Harbaugh, only four assistant coaches from the previous season were still coaching at Michigan.
Macdonald came in to reshape a defense that struggled in 2020 and under previous defensive coordinator Don Brown in important games. The Wolverines defense ranked 89th in total yards allowed per game in 2020, No. 79 in rush yards allowed per game and No. 96 in pass yards allowed per game.
The team had only nine sacks in six games and gave up an average of 34.5 points per game. Macdonald wanted to hear what the players thought about what needed to be fixed, not enter with any preconceived notions.
That collaborative nature was a welcome change, as well. Macdonald wanted his players to own the defense and run it as if it were their defense. His philosophy was to talk to the players, give them a voice, allow them to provide feedback and do it all collaboratively.
"Being new to a job, we walk in and I didn't know anything about anything here," Macdonald said. "I wish I had more to just kind of sit and talk to everybody and just listen. That's one thing you learn, don't come in guns blazing, you don't know s---. Just hear them out, feel it out and then have an idea of how you want to do it."
Macdonald understood he was the newcomer, coming from the Baltimore Ravens where he worked with Harbaugh's brother, John, so he wanted to ensure the players felt empowered and felt the leniency to provide feedback.
He didn't know it at the time, but he was helping feed the leadership from the players and fostering a relationship where they felt confident in what they were doing and how they were doing it. Linebacker Kalel Mullings said the previous defense was a lot more memorization, whereas this season he understands more of what's going on with the defense and why they're running certain plays.
That all goes back to communication with the new coaches and Macdonald allowing the players to provide their feedback.
"If we kind of feel uncomfortable with something, a coverage or something, we go and talk to the coaches and they try to help us out," Cornerback Gemon Green said. "Last year, we didn't do that. We couldn't have no one-on-one conversations about the defense. It was always, 'Play this and do this.'"
Executing it on the field
All the groundwork put in during the offseason and all the positivity surrounding the team wouldn't mean anything if it didn't translate on the field. Michigan players have said in the past that there was something different about their team, and they have felt as though they had turned a corner only to see similar results.
This team knew it was different, though, and it wasn't just talk. They started the season with a 47-14 win against Western Michigan and a convincing 31-10 win over Washington at home in a maize-out night game.
Hutchinson emphasized after the Washington game that the communication was at an all-time high on the sidelines. Solving what was happening in the game, talking to each other and keeping each other accountable was ever present.
"I remember the Rutgers game, we were at a high and then the second half it tapered off, and I remember this vividly," Moore said. "Andrew Stueber came over to me and he saw me writing some stuff down, some notes, and asked me if I was good. He looked at me and said, 'Coach, don't worry, we got you, we're good.' For them to have the confidence to say things like that is huge and it makes you feel like these kids will run through a wall for you."
The coaches didn't know about the players-only meetings and weren't invited to them. They knew the players were pushing for more accountability among themselves, but they didn't really see it until the season started.
Moore remembers standing on the sideline in the same Rutgers game when a wide receiver made a mistake. Moore heard someone getting on the receiver, yelling, thinking it was a coach. He turned to see that it was receiver Bell holding his teammate accountable.
Hutchinson and Ross have given Michigan's defense an element it hasn't had to this degree in some time. The coaches and players can feel the difference in the locker room, and while the coaches are helping guide it, they push the credit to the players.
A humbling season in 2020 caused emotions and anger to turn into a new mindset. That humbling aspect hasn't left the team, though, and they still consider themselves the underdog, the Rocky Balboa of college football.
The players feel they haven't accomplished anything yet, because they know much lies ahead this season. It starts on Saturday against Michigan State, a game the Wolverines lost last season, then moves to Penn State and eventually Ohio State to finish the season.
The players and coaches know that as quickly as the criticism went to praise, it can all go right back to criticism depending on those three games. Harbaugh has yet to beat Ohio State as Michigan's head coach, and the Wolverines haven't beaten the Buckeyes since 2011.
If Harbaugh's Wolverines truly are college football's Rocky Balboa, they've gotten themselves off the canvas from last season and are putting up a fight to change their fate. But only they have the opportunity to play 'till the final bell.