Michigan Football: Best Quotes and Key Takeaways from Big Ten Media Days

CHICAGO — As if there were any doubt he felt otherwise, Jim Harbaugh let it be known on Friday afternoon that he's ready for football season to begin.

"We feel like bulls waiting for a bullfight," the new Michigan coach said as he sat on stage at the Big Ten Kickoff Luncheon. "You're clawing. Snot bubbles are coming out. We're ready to get started."

Harbaugh can go ahead and wipe his nose, though, because football season might as well officially be underway with Big Ten media days in Chicago drawing to a close. And to the surprise of no one, it was Harbaugh who stole the show in the Windy City, his 15-minute opening press conference littered with stories of yesteryear and an enthusiasm previously unknown to mankind.

"The spirit, the energy has been tremendous," Harbaugh said of his first seven months on the job in Ann Arbor. "I think everybody involved in Michigan and Michigan football is hungry for the 2015 season."

Except Harbaugh wasn't the Wolverines' only representative in the Windy City this week, as Michigan also brought along linebackers Joe Bolden and James Ross III, as well as wide receiver Jehu Chesson to the annual kickoff event. Those players—and of course Harbaugh himself—had thoughts to share on a number of topics, but it wasn't any secret what the biggest story pertaining to the Wolverines program was.

Harbaugh Homecoming

The summer of Harbaugh may be winding down as fall approaches, but that didn't make the buzz surrounding the Wolverines' new head coach any less interesting to witness this week. Harbaugh, to his credit, downplayed the attention he's brought to his alma mater, deciding instead to focus on the product Michigan will be putting on the field.

"It's a work in progress, every single season, every single year. And that's what we're enjoying doing. And it's coming along," Harbaugh said.

"You go through the winter conditioning and then the spring ball, and then the summer conditioning. And now it starts. This is the beginning, the training camp. And the rebirth of football, the rebirth of the season. And then you watch and you watch and you observe. And you can learn—you can observe a lot by just watching. And I feel like I've been doing that. And I feel like our team is getting better every day. I really do."

That, however, didn't stop the new Wolverines headman from being the center of attention in the Windy City, something to which his players could certainly attest to.

Paul Beaty/Associated Press

"More times than I can count," Bolden answered when asked how many times he'd been asked about Harbaugh at media days. "And I can count pretty high."

And although Harbaugh may be shrugging it off, his players admitted to noticing a re-energized atmosphere in Ann Arbor. Whether or not that will affect them on the field once the season arrives is to be determined, but make no mistake—it's there.

"It's been pretty crazy," Ross said. "What I can say is the guys back in Ann Arbor have been putting a lot of hard work in each and every day and that's the most important thing."

Personnel Problems?

While the hype for Harbaugh has reached a fever pitch, the reality remains that there are plenty of questions that still exists about who will be on the field when the Wolverines kick off the season on Sept. 3.

Such is the case at running back, where the former San Francisco 49ers head coach didn't offer much clarity on who would be seeing the bulk of the carries between Derrick Green, De'Veon Smith and Ty Isaac.

"We're at the start of camp here. And there will be plenty of license and plenty of opportunity for one, two, three of our running backs to assert themselves, come to the fore and be counted on," Harbaugh said. "That we'll be watching very closely and hoping that occurs early here in camp."

Unlike the running back position, which can be played by committee, playing quarterback typically comes down to just one man. The Wolverines are still unsure of who will be taking snaps behind center this season, but the battle appears to have boiled down to junior Shane Morris and Iowa graduate transfer Jake Rudock.

As the offense waits for a leader, Chesson spoke of how he's been affected by Harbaugh's quarterback conundrum.

"As a wide receiver, you don't know who the quarterback's going to be. The thing that's tricky is you have to take reps with every single quarterback," said Chesson, who recorded 14 receptions for 154 yards in 2014. "I have to take as many reps with Shane as I do with Jake."

Paul Beaty/Associated Press

Having just arrived in Ann Arbor this summer, Rudock has seemingly acclimated well to his new surroundings. Whether or not that will work to his advantage in training camp remains to be seen, but with an experience advantage over Morris, the job could very well be the former Hawkeye starter's to lose.

"He's doing a great job. He's really impressed me," Chesson said of Rudock. "You can already sense that he has a wanting-ness to be a part of Michigan by committing himself to not just football. I really respect him. As a player, he's so good and so focused. Obviously he has a lot of experience. I think he's a very good addition to our program."

Early Expectations

Although plenty of newfound optimism now exists for a program just a year removed from a 5-7 season, the Wolverines will soon have to back up the buzz their head coach has built with their play on the field. In a division that also contains the defending national champion in rival Ohio State, that may ultimately be tough to do, as Harbaugh has yet to endure an entire recruiting cycle since returning to Ann Arbor.

But as so many coaches claim to be doing, Harbaugh says he's taking the season one game at a time.

"I don't compare really one game to the next, but it's big," Harbaugh said of the Ohio State rivalry. "And you know, the biggest one right now is Utah...I mean, that's—we've got the same type of opponent first game on our schedule. Great team. Did not fare well against them last year. We go out this year to play them first game in college football. I believe it's going to be the first game on September 3rd."

Paul Beaty/Associated Press

That type of attitude appears to have rubbed off on his players, with Chesson stating that a head coach can only be responsible for so much. Chesson said that it will be up to the players, not Harbaugh, to determine just how successful the Wolverines find themselves in year one of his regime.

"Self-police each other, hold each other accountable in every situation," Chesson said when asked what the Wolverines players have to do this season. "Coaches can't win championships for you. Coaches can't win games for you because coaches can't play. Coaches inspire, and Coach Harbaugh is really inspiring."

Now it's just a matter of how much of an impact that newfound inspiration in Ann Arbor will make in the coming months.

"The expectation is to be the best that we can," Ross said. "We want to be on top. Me, being a senior, I know I can speak for all my seniors when I say we want to go out as best as we can, as best as possible."

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