Jim Harbaugh Talks Approach During Pandemic, Potential Return Of Football

Jim Harbaugh and his staff are still making due during the pandemic as we all hope for the return of normalcy.

Jim Harbaugh was on The Dan Patrick Show earlier this week and discussed several topics within the world of college football as we trudge through the pandemic.

College coaches across the country are stuck at home like the rest of us so they've had to lean on video calls, text messaging and phone calls to recruit. Harbaugh doesn't seem too bothered by it but would certainly rather be hosting prospective student athletes on campus.

"A lot of phone calls," Harbaugh said. "A lot of Zoom meetings and staying in touch with our head coaches in the Big Ten and our athletic department, our coaches on our staff, our players and recruits, so there’s been a lot of conversations."

Harbaugh also talked about whether or not football will start when it's supposed to.

"As far as whether we're going to be able to play again, I mean that that's the big question on everybody’s mind — when can we play again? I think right now, we don't know," Harbaugh said. "I think the simplest answer is if the governors allow our gyms to open up. Everybody's looking into that, and it’ll be driven by all the health professionals. 

"There’s a lot of different scenarios being planned for. People are looking at the length of the schedule. Is it just the current schedule? Do you play the games and a certain percentage of the fans can come or no fans can be in the stadium? I mean all those things are being talked about and looked at."

However it plays out, Harbaugh knows that he needs his guys back in the building. Like Don Brown also said this week, the first step is getting players back into Schembechler Hall.

"If the governors allow our gyms to open up, then we should be able to get our guys back into the weight room and train," Harbaugh said. "Then a whole set of a lot of other smart people working on when we can we eventually play the game. I don't think anybody knows that for sure right now." 

Harbaugh is no different from the rest of us right now. He wants football back, but has no way of knowing when or if that'll happen in 2020. We're all just hoping that the COVID-19 pandemic slows to a halt so we can resume our normal lives, which hopefully will include football this fall.