It's more than personal. I can't screw it up. I have to do.
There are no turnarounds at Michigan. This is greatness. Long tradition of it.
I've always felt like the most improvement you can make is from year 1 to year 2, much like a college freshman who the most improvement he can make in an entire one year of college football is going from year 1 freshman year to his sophomore year. Like a pro football player going from his rookie season to his second season. There's a window there that will never come again that you have a chance to making your biggest strides.
Fans have a constitutional right to expect success and have high expectations.
Top to bottom Michigan is about excellence, greatness. You have my pledge I will carry forward the excellence of Michigan football.
People talk about cold weather and it'd be tough to catch balls. But the greatest catcher of all time, Michael Crabtree, catches everything. It's unbelievable. In the northern snowlands, down to the tropics' sunny scenes, he's catching the football. Where they throw a football, he'll be catching it.
Football - it's not fun when you lose. That's a heartbreaking thing. But then there's a new week, and a new opportunity and I definitely get happier and happier as that new opportunity approaches. So 'win the next game,' that's my mindset.
I love football. Love it. Love it. I think it's the last bastion of hope for toughness in America in men, in males.
I was reminded of another very special word when I was driving into Ann Arbor this morning, and that word is homecoming. Our family's had three homecomings to Ann Arbor, Michigan, in my lifetime.
You're kind of numb after 50 shots to the head.
I have never asked to be the highest-paid coach in football. I have never asked to be paid like a Super Bowl-winning coach. I have never asked for more power.
If I may make a football analogy, we're a team whether we're a football team or community or the United States of America. We are part of a team and I believe the people on that team have a right, but they also have the obligation if there is something that is not good or we don't agree on, to speak about it.
My prototypical quarterback is a competitive guy that's a winner, somebody that has great athletic instincts, somebody who is very accurate throwing the football, a quick-minded guy who can think fast on his feet and can make decisions quickly, someone who has leadership ability, an understanding of timing and can make really good decisions.
Some people say 'Why is a football coach concerned?' I explained I'm an American first and all Americans should care about justice.
