Chargers News: Former Michigan Standout Talks Being Passed Over in Draft by Jim Harbaugh

An ex-Michigan Wolverine linebacker is upset that his former head coach passed up on him in the draft.

Michigan linebacker Michael Barrett celebrates a play against Alabama during the first half of the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Los Angeles Chargers made a flurry of moves this offseason, and their most prominent was, by far, the hiring of head coach Jim Harbaugh. Harbaugh will look to make his mark in Los Angeles after spending the last nine seasons in Ann Arbor and guiding the Michigan Wolverines to success. Harbaugh turned that program around and will look to do the same with the Bolts.  

It started with free agency and the draft, and to no one's surprise, Harbaugh got his hand on a handful of his former players. Harbaugh drafted two ex-Wolverines but passed up on a couple, including linebacker Michael Barrett. The Carolina Panthers took Barrett in the seventh round. He didn't mince any words on his feelings towards his former head coach, passing up on him in the 2024 NFL Draft. 

"It's going to be exciting to look over on the sideline and see them on the opposite side," Barrett told Kassidy Hill of Panthers.com. "I know they'll talk trash. But excited to see all my old coaches, old teammates."

"They're Michigan 2.0 now," Barrett said of the Bolts. "They pretty much, they got, I want to say like (seven) Michigan guys over there. Plus Junior Colson. I actually texted them and I was like, I'm going to make you all pay for (passing me over), I'm going to make you pay for it.'"

Barrett won't have to wait too long to make them pay. The Chargers will face the lowly Panthers in Week 2 of the NFL season at Carolina. Barrett played at Michigan for four seasons under Harbaugh and was named a two-time Third-team All-Big Ten in 2022 and 2023. 

Two Michigan Wolverines and most of his staff seemed to be enough for Harbaugh. 

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