This is the time of the year-round football season when moods are light and coaches and players seem overjoyed about putting pads on again for the first time in nearly three months.
It’s time for spring practice, when coaches, by the conclusion of the 15th practice, have a good idea which players might be potential starters. It also gives coaches an opportunity to tinker with position changes.
For Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh and the Wolverines, coming off back-to-back 10-3 seasons, this will be the beginning of reworking a team that lost 18 starters from last season. He will have to overhaul the defense, in particular, considering the entire secondary is gone, and also rebuild an offensive line that lost three starters.