Late in the first quarter of Saturday’s game against Wisconsin, Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh pulled an ace from his sleeve and broke out a wild “train” formation.
All players initially lined up behind center before spreading out into their normal formation, but it was enough to catch Wisconsin off guard.
Jim Harbaugh takes the I formation VERY seriously pic.twitter.com/mOSo0cEPKn
— The Cauldron (ICYMI) (@CauldronICYMI) October 1, 2016
On Tuesday, Harbaugh was asked about the 10-man I and he admitted it was actually lifted from Chatfield High School in Colorado.
“I can’t take credit for that one,” Jim Harbaugh said on his radio show via CoachingSearch.com. “That was Jay Harbaugh. He was pouring over high school tape and saw a high school team in Colorado that used that. We can’t take credit for it. If any credit, I give it to Jay for spotting it, being diligent going through the tape. We said, ‘That looks good.’
“We had fun practicing it. We had fun putting it in and putting it in the game. It might have a future.”
His son Jay, who serves as an assistant coach, spotted it while pouring over film of tight end Dalton Keene, who eventually committed to Virginia Tech.
It turns out Chatfield coach Bret McGatlin saw the formation run during the game and sent out a tweet alluding to its familiarity.
Look familiar. They got this from watching Dalton's film, seriously. https://t.co/OOQ6s7oRVT
— Bret McGatlin (@CoachMcGat) October 1, 2016
McGatlin calls it the “Speed Line,” which is part of his team’s “Psycho” offense and was created by his Father. It’s apparently run a few times every game.
