The defending national champion Michigan Wolverines looked to an unlikely source for inspiration this week, but found it to be a disappointing success.
Michigan invited New York Yankees Hall of Famer Derek Jeter to speak in the locker room on the eve of Saturday's biggest game of the season against No. 3 Texas. Jeter served as captain of the Yankees for 12 years and helped the team win five World Series titles, including four in a five-year span from 1996-2000. Michigan won its first national championship since 1997 last season and is looking to repeat that streak.
Jeter served as honorary captain for the Wolverines on Saturday, where Texas native Matthew McConaughey will face off.
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But Jeter, who was born and raised in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and is a lifelong Wolverines fan, acknowledges that he may have been less confident when it came to football speeches.
“I've never played football in my life, so I don't know if it got through to the guys,” Jeter said of his speech to the players during an interview on Fox's Big Noon Kickoff Show.
Jeter said his goal was to give the team advice on how to do the job as the defending champions and stay on top of the league. Jeter has thoroughly enjoyed winning consecutive championships as a member of the Yankees, but acknowledged that it's very difficult to maintain that lead.
“I think it's just basically sending a message of come out on top, get a win and do it again. I mean, long-term sustainability is very hard, but they're hoping to do it this year,” Jeter said.
But Jeter wasn't even sure what impact his pregame speech would have on the team. He said the outcome of the game would reflect how effective his advice was.
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Derek Jeter dived into the stands to catch a foul ball. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II/File)
“Let's see how this game goes before you give me any credit,” Jeter said.
Michigan lost 31-12. The loss snapped the school's 33-game regular-season winning streak and marked its most lopsided regular-season loss since a 49-11 defeat to Wisconsin in the COVID-shortened 2020 season.
McConaughey claimed bragging rights over the former Yankees captain in this one, and he exercised them in the early hours of the morning before Jeter arrived in Michigan. McConaughey sent Jeter a video message from his own plane during the Big Noon Kickoff, bragging that he hoped and expected it would be a “long day” for Jeter's Wolverines.
“Jeter, I expect and believe it's going to be a long day for your Big Blue,” McConaughey said.
Jeter was once a student at the University of Michigan, but did not play any sports there and did not graduate.
After playing in the Yankees' minor leagues, he took classes at the University of Michigan in the fall of 1992 and then enrolled again the following fall, but when the Yankees asked Jeter to play in their instructional league in 1993, he dropped out and did not return to college.
The defending champions beat unranked Fresno State 30-10 in Week 1 but now must bounce back from that loss in a season that has been in turmoil.
Derek Jeter (Steph Chambers/Getty Images/File)
The show remains under investigation for allegations of illegal sign stealing by a former staff member. Connor StallionsThe investigation began midway through last season and resulted in former head coach Jim Harbaugh being suspended for the final three games of the regular season.
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Harbaugh became the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers well before the investigation was completed after the team beat Washington to win the national championship, but the NCAA recently announced it was issuing a four-year show-cause order against Harbaugh as a result of an investigation into Michigan's improper contact with freshmen and players during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, the head coach Sherron MooreMoore, who served as Harbaugh's top assistant in 2023 and served as interim head coach during Harbaugh's multiple suspensions, addressed his alleged relationship with the Stallions two weeks ago. Moore is accused of deleting text messages between him and the Stallions.
“I can tell you this: I look forward to them being released,” Moore said of his text messages with the Stallions.
Michigan's next game is against unranked Arkansas next Saturday before a big game against 13th-ranked USC on Sept. 21 in the first matchup between the two storied conference rival programs.
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