Why Blake Corum returned to Michigan even though Jim Harbaugh told him not to
By John Buhler
Blake Corum could have left Michigan but decided to return to play for Jim Harbaugh in 2023.
There were a few factors that went into Michigan star running back Blake Corum’s decision to return to Ann Arbor to play one final season for Jim Harbaugh.
Harbaugh told him to get his knee surgery and turn pro after that fateful day vs. Illinois. Corum would have been a Heisman Trophy finalist had he not gotten hurt vs. the Fighting Illini. He went into detail about his decision to come back with The 33rd Team. It was a combination of getting his degree, having a chance to prove NFL talent evaluators wrong and also finish what he started.
As you can understand, this was always about the bigger picture for Corum, as oppose to payday.
"“Think about the bigger picture. I’m the first in my family to ever go to college. If I left, there’s no chance I would be walking this Saturday to get my degree. There’s no shot. I was not coming back. And I got so close to being done … If I leave, I’m going to miss the Combine — something I’ve dreamed about since I was a kid. If I leave, did I leave the Big House like that? Are people going to know me for getting injured or are they going to know me for being in the Heisman race? I don’t know.”"
Michigan is on a shortlist of teams who can realistically win next year’s College Football Playoff.
Blake Corum on why he came back to Michigan when Jim Harbaugh said not to
The unfinished business narrative has been pulsating throughout the Michigan program ever since that head-scratching loss to TCU in the Fiesta Bowl. Not to say that the Horned Frogs weren’t a great team, but the national semifinal loss may have had to do more with the self-inflicted nature of the Wolverines’ defeat than anything. Of course, they have to scale that same mountain again…
Title-contending teams like Michigan may be hunting Georgia, but the rest of the Big Ten is hunting Michigan. Of course, having a Doak Walker candidate at tailback in Corum will play a huge part in J.J. McCarthy’s growth as a passer. Ohio State may have every bit as talented of a roster, but they lost so much to the NFL Draft on the offensive side of the ball, outside of Marvin Harrison Jr.
When Corum does leave Ann Arbor, he will do so as a first-generation college graduate from a prestigious Big Ten university, as well as being a major reason why the Wolverines turned it around under Harbaugh. His NFL future may be murky due to his knee injury, overall size and being a year older than most running backs are entering the league, but it was about the bigger picture.
If Corum can stay focused, he could right all those perceived wrongs he suffered late last season.
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