You sort of had to expect new Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh to be open to the idea, and he is. Asked if he would be in favor of Michigan and Notre Dame reuniting for future football games, Harbaugh suggested he would like to see it done. Harbaugh, who has taken steps already to rekindle some of the history and tradition at Michigan with all-white road uniforms and pride stickers, was asked about the hypothetical future of a rivalry series with one of Michigan’s most well-known rivals outside of Ohio State.
“I’d probably have a conversation with coach [Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly] about that before (I had one with) anyone else, that’d be the best course of action,” Harbaugh said. “But I would be open to it, yes.”
Kelly previously downplayed the importance of Notre Dame’s rivalry with Michigan as the series was drawing to a close, but he has recently suggested he would be interested in reviving the series as well. If this does eventually come together, fans of both schools should be patient, because future schedules have filled up and the soonest the series may be played again may not come for another decade at this point.
This season marks the first time in decades Notre Dame does not have a Big Ten foe on its schedule. The Irish have shifted away from the Big Ten in favor of a scheduling arrangement with the ACC as part of the university’s affiliation with the conference in other sports, and Notre Dame chose to keep spots reserved for rivalry games with USC, Stanford and Navy instead of traditional Big Ten foes Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue. The Irish do have future games lined up against Michigan State, Purdue, Northwestern and Ohio State, but the series with the Wolverines is officially on ice until further notice. Notre Dame pulled the plug on the series three years ago and got the last laugh last fall by blanking Michigan.
By the way, Harbaugh was 2-0 against the Irish when he played quarterback for Bo Schembechler.