Michigan star running back Blake Corum will miss spring practice, which began this week, but is on track to return at full strength in June, coach Jim Harbaugh said Thursday.
Corum was a Heisman Trophy contender before injuring his left knee Nov. 19 against Illinois. He played briefly the following week against Ohio State before electing to undergo surgery. After rushing for 1,463 yards and 18 touchdowns last fall, Corum decided to return for his fourth season at Michigan, which is coming off of consecutive Big Ten titles and College Football Playoff appearances.
“He’ll get a full summer cycle,” Harbaugh said of Corum.
Offensive linemen Myles Hinton and Drake Nugent, both transfers from Stanford, will be limited this spring after offseason surgeries.
Since losing to TCU in the CFP semifinal round, Michigan has endured some turbulence, including the firing of co-offensive coordinator Matt Weiss amid a university investigation, and an ongoing NCAA probe of Harbaugh for alleged violations during the COVID-19 recruiting dead period.
Michigan fired Weiss for cause Jan. 20 after saying it obtained evidence that he had inappropriately accessed computers at Schembechler Hall, the school’s on-campus football facility. Harbaugh promoted co-offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore to offensive coordinator and elevated analyst Kirk Campbell to fill Weiss’ other role as quarterbacks coach.
The NCAA investigation continues and includes an allegation of a Level I violation by Harbaugh for allegedly not complying with or misleading the organization’s investigators. Harbaugh could face a multigame suspension.
“Compare us to perfect and we’re going to come up short,” Harbaugh said of the atmosphere within the program. “Compare us to any program, it doesn’t get any better.”
Harbaugh said several Michigan coaches and staff, including himself, received interest from NFL teams but elected to remain with the program. Harbaugh, who went 44-19-1 as San Francisco 49ers coach before coming to Michigan, had a Zoom interview with the Denver Broncos about their coaching vacancy in January but announced soon after that he would stay at Michigan.
He also had interviewed with the Minnesota Vikings for their vacancy in February 2022. Michigan defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, who spent 2017 to 2020 on the Baltimore Ravens staff under Harbaugh’s brother, John, is reportedly a candidate for the Philadelphia Eagles coordinator job.
“It’s an ongoing thing, something we treat as a really positive thing that NFL teams have an interest in all our personnel,” Harbaugh said.
Harbaugh also addressed his relationship with athletic director Warde Manuel, calling it “great” and dismissing the narrative that things have soured amid the investigations and his NFL discussions. Manuel took over as AD in 2016 and inherited Harbaugh as coach, but also was a teammate of his at Michigan in 1986.
On the field, defensive back Amorion Walker, a converted wide receiver, has impressed Harbaugh through the first two practices of the spring session. Walker was an ESPN four-star recruit in 2022.
“I consider him a starter right now,” Harbaugh said.