Jim Harbaugh's in for Roller-Coaster Ride with Michigan QBs

Except for a rambling—arguably genius—rant about the college football calendar, Jim Harbaugh offered little to no insight about his first spring practice as Michigan's head coach.

But it was what Harbaugh didn't say on Tuesday afternoon that may have been the most telling, when a reporter asked about how much he enjoys coaching the quarterback position.

"That's the fun part of being the head coach. You can coach any position," Harbaugh said with a smile. "I like coaching all the positions."

Harbaugh—a former Wolverines and Pro Bowl quarterback himself—knew the type of answer the reporter was looking for when the question was asked but downplayed his affinity for focusing on his former position. But when Michigan's official website released video of Harbaugh's first practice with the Wolverines, he unsurprisingly had gravitated to the signal-callers.

Credit: MGo Blue TV

So why did Harbaugh not divulge on his involvement with his quarterbacks?

Maybe he was just giving one of his signature "non-answer" answers, a skill honed in four seasons of coaching in the NFL. Or maybe he simply isn't ready to rave about the signal-callers who dot his roster.

In what's already been a storied coaching career, Harbaugh's success has been defined by stellar play from football's most important position. At Stanford, the development of Andrew Luck helped carry the Cardinal to a 12-1 record and Orange Bowl victory in 2010, while Colin Kaepernick's ahead-of-the-curve style helped lead the San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl at the end of the 2012 season.

"That will be the one position I'm sure we'll talk about," Harbaugh admitted. "We don't have one to name today."

Shaky quarterback play was the calling card of Brady Hoke's time in Ann Arbor, with Devin Gardner seemingly regressing and nobody else proving to be a better option. This isn't Urban Meyer inheriting Braxton Miller at Ohio State or Mark Helfrich having Marcus Mariota in his back pocket at Oregon—Michigan's quarterback situation last season was a mess, and it won't be until this fall that the Wolverines can prove 2015 will be any different.

Paul Sakuma/Associated Press

Michigan's spring practice roster touts seven different quarterbacks, with incoming 4-star freshman Zach Gentry not arriving until the summer. Realistically, the Wolverines' quarterback competition will likely be limited to their four scholarship quarterbacks who will be on campus this fall, but Harbaugh stated he won't be restricting his options.

"I don't know if there's an exact number," Harbaugh answered when asked how many signal-callers he'd prefer to work with. "The more good ones you have, the better."

Harbaugh's current options may be unproven, but that doesn't mean they're not intriguing.

If you had to pick a front-runner in the race right now, it'd be junior Shane Morris, the only one of the bunch to take significant snaps in his college career. The third-ranked pro-style quarterback in the 2013 class, Morris started the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl in his freshman season and one game in 2014 before a concussion brought a premature end to his sophomore campaign.

Having appeared in a total of nine games in his college career, the 6'3", 204-pound Morris has completed 49.4 percent of his passes, throwing for 389 yards, no touchdowns and five interceptions.

Challenging Morris this spring will be 6'6", 234-pound freshman Wilton Speight, who redshirted in Ann Arbor a season ago. A former 3-star prospect, Speight ranked as the No. 22 pro-style passer in the 2014 class.

Tony Ding/Associated Press

The 6'7", 230-pound Gentry, meanwhile, measures in as the eighth-ranked passer in the 2015 class, while fellow true freshman Alex Malzone ranks 13th. Despite not being as highly ranked and smaller in size (6'1.5", 200 lbs) compared to Gentry, Malzone may already have a leg up on his classmate, as he's currently participating in spring practice as an early enrollee.

With 14 practices and all of fall camp remaining, there's still plenty of time for Michigan's quarterback situation to play out this season. But with so many questions still unanswered at football's most important position, Harbaugh's in for a ride, as even he'll admit his quarterback conundrum is one he still needs to figure out.

"At some point you'd like to think that's clear-cut and somebody earns that, and it's not close," Harbaugh said of the starting quarterback role. "That's what we'll be hoping for."

Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Big Ten Lead Writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes obtained firsthand. All statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com. Recruiting rankings courtesy of 247Sports.