Connor Stalions shares insights into Michigan’s success under Jim Harbaugh

Connor Stalions was a member of the Michigan football program as a low-level analyst before his eventual exit in 2023 following the program's alleged sign-stealing scandal. The former Marine was accused of leading the in-person scouting of future opponents for years.

In an interview with On3’s JD PicKell, the former Wolverines staffer disclosed what he believed made Michigan so good under the leadership of Jim Harbaugh.

"First of all, it starts with Jim Harbaugh, the head coach, hiring the right people,” Stalions said. “His biggest strength is he was a very decentralized command, as you would say in the military where he was not like this dictator of, ‘I need you do exactly this exact way’ and ‘you to do this exactly this way.’

“His biggest strength was a combination of hiring the relatively right people, getting, getting a good staff and then being hands off, providing his commander’s intent, providing his guidance but not being, you know, over the shoulder, you know, and bugging you about exactly how you do everything.”

Harbaugh won the Big Ten championship in each of his final three seasons at Michigan, as well as making the four-team College Football Playoff each year. Before leaving Ann Arbor to join the NFL, the coach won the national championship.

Connor Stalions also credits attention to detail for Michigan's success

One other factor that played a role in Michigan's success was the core attention to detail. With Harbaugh empowering strength and conditioning coach Ben Herbert, Connor Stalions noted he started a wave of paying attention to things in the program.

"The improvement of the daily habits and attention to detail that starts in the weight room," Stalions said. "You don’t really get that edge anywhere else unless you have something like that where it is that attention to detail.

“That’s why Michigan is so good and even why, on a relatively ‘down year’, they still had success because of those habits that are ingrained in the players and have been for years now.”

The way Michigan performed on the field under Jim Harbaugh demonstrated a meticulous attention to detail. However, Connor Stallion revealed that it extends beyond the games. This is the value that Sherrone Moore is aiming to maintain at the program after succeeding Harbaugh.