There will be no Michigan football season this fall and Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh is awfully disappointed with the decision by the Big Ten to postpone the season until the spring.
On Tuesday, the Big Ten Conference made it official: they will not be playing college football in the fall. Due to coronavirus concerns, schools like Ohio State University, University of Michigan, Penn State, and the University of Wisconsin will not take the field in 2020.
The decision comes as coaches and players alike have expressed this desire to play a season. Amongst those advocates is Jim Harbaugh, the head coach of the University of Michigan. Here was his official statement:
"“Our student-athletes and coaches want to compete. They have committed, trained, and prepared their entire lives for this opportunity, and I know how much they’re disappointed at this time. I share in their disappointment today,” Harbaugh wrote. “We have shown over the weeks since returning to campus that we could meet the challenge and provide our student-athletes the opportunity of a fall football season. Our football team, our coaching staff, our support staff in Schembechler Hall have all stepped up, followed every rule, and done everything in their power magnificently to give all the opportunity to compete. I am extremely proud, thankful and appreciative of our team and how they have conducted and represented our program and university.”"
Jim Harbaugh: What else did Michigan’s coach say about the season?
Before the Big Ten’s decision on Tuesday, Harbaugh had publicly advocated for playing the fall season.
“I’m not advocating for football this fall because of my passion or our players’ desire to play but because of the facts accumulated over the last eight weeks since our players returned to campus on June 13th,” Harbaugh said. “We have developed a great prototype for how we can make this work and provide the opportunity for players to play. If you are transparent and follow the rules, this is how it can be done.”
He ended the statement using the hashtags #WeWantToPlay and #WeWantToCoach, showing support for the movement started by student-athletes this week to save the fall season.
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