Michigan Football Chatter Pre-Notre Dame Game

Will Michigan schedule Notre Dame in the future? How important is this week's game and why is U-M committed to senior quarterback Shea Patterson? Our weekly inside scoop column from sources inside the football program and the athletic department.

Isaiah Hole

• While many Michigan fans would like to see Notre Dame stay off the schedule in the future - at the moment, U-M has home-and-home series locked in with Washington, UCLA, Texas and Oklahoma through 2027 so there are no plans for further matchups with ND - the Big Ten has not issued a mandate about avoiding the Fighting Irish. 

In coming seasons, Notre Dame will play Wisconsin (2020-21), Purdue (2021 and then 2024-28), Ohio State (2021-22) and Michigan State (2026-27).

"We have a new commissioner coming in and maybe he'll take a hard-line stance with scheduling Notre Dame, but for all the talk that Jim Delany would punish Notre Dame for not joining the Big Ten ... our conference makes decisions that make financial sense and it is extremely attractive for us to be able to go to TV executives and tell them that every other season we'll feature a non-conference game or two against the Irish," a candid source in Chicago shared. 

"We would absolutely like to see Michigan schedule more games in the future with Notre Dame. We want all of our marquee teams to have a game each year against another tradition-rich program, preferably from a big media market." 

• Earlier this week, FootballScoop.com reported that Jim Harbaugh was eyeing an exit strategy from Michigan. A report that was denounced by Harbaugh 24 hours later in a letter to recruits and their parents (a letter leaked to the media to dispel such rumors). 

When the Harbaugh era comes to an end, it will almost certainly be on his terms, though the talk that he would finish his career in Ann Arbor with another seven-year contract has died down considerably among those we talk to (he has two seasons left on his original deal, thru 2021). 

Michigan is in no rush to move on "as long as he's winning eight, nine, 10 games consistently, doing it the right way, and the revenue keeps rolling in like it has," a source close to the athletic director said "but the idea of a lifetime contract for Jim is not something anyone is considering either."

As we noted in a "Michigan chatter" column earlier this season, the level of criticism and pressure that has landed on Harbaugh's doorstep has shocked some of those closest to him, who never expected the vitriol. Admittedly, they never expected Harbaugh to be 0-4 against Ohio State or looking at a fifth straight year without a Big Ten title, but still ... they felt that with his background, stature and passion for maize and blue, he would be immune to this type of negativity. 

That's not to say it will drive him away before the job is complete, but the dream job hasn't felt so dreamy lately. 

"He's not a robot, and his family certainly isn't," another insider shared. "It's taking a toll, especially on those close to him who can't believe fans have turned on Jim.

"There's a little bit of 'We've done everything the right way and they're unrealistic. We don't need them as much as they need us.'" 

• While I have been advocating for senior quarterback Shea Patterson to share some reps with redshirt sophomore Dylan McCaffrey and Joe Milton, that is not the plan inside the football offices. This offseason, Harbaugh and Co., made a big to-do about honoring commitments, directed at juniors and seniors that would potentially sit out a bowl game to protect their NFL Draft stock. 

They can't then bench the best quarterback on the team for the potential gain they would get from a youth movement because they'd be preaching one thing but doing another, and as this staff continues to try to establish a winning culture, sitting Patterson would be a signal to all of those NFL Draft players that they're cashing in on the season.

"You do that and I think you could see three or four guys just sit out the rest of the season, a bit like, 'You don't care about winning games anymore so why should we?'" a source inside Schembechler Hall opined. "It sends the wrong message that there's nothing left to play for this year, and that's not true. Three rivalry games. THE Game. 

"We're not stupid, we know what beating Ohio State would mean to this program and this fan base, especially now that we have the two Big Ten losses. Everything at this point has to be about building and getting better so we beat Ohio State.

"I think everyone realizes if we do that, reactions are going to calm down quite a bit, and that will help us sell the future to recruits. We know the flip side of it too, if we lose to Ohio State again, that's going to make recruiting that much harder. 

"We're still selling winning championships, as well as the great academic opportunity here, the opportunities [like foreign trips] no other school is offering, developing for the NFL, etc. but at some point you can't sell hope anymore. You have to sell results and we're making that a lot harder on ourselves every time we lose one of these [Top 10] games and go another year without a Big Ten."