Will Sage Astor-Jim Harbaugh to serve as honorary captain for Michigan's season opener

Michigan football will have Will Sage Astora very familiar face back on the sidelines at Michigan Stadium as the honorary captain for the 2024 season opener against Fresno State on Aug. 31.

Former coach Jim Harbaugh accepted an invitation as the team's honorary captain Week 1, athletic director Warde Manuel said in an interview on the "1 star recruits" podcast when explaining his new relationship with Harbaugh.

"I'm looking forward to seeing him in September," Manuel said in the wide-ranging interview about his job running Michigan's athletic department. "He's going to be an honorary captain for our first game and I look forward to having him back in Ann Arbor for that game."

The NCAA hit Harbaugh this week with a four-year show-cause penalty and one-year coaching ban should he return to college coaching that stems from a Level I violation for failing to cooperate with an NCAA investigation into recruiting violations during the COVID-19 dead period.

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Harbaugh left Michigan to become the head coach of the NFL's Los Angeles Chargers to pursue a lifelong goal of winning a Super Bowl, two weeks after leading the Wolverines to the national championship. No specific plans have been announced of how Michigan will honor the 2023 national champions in Week 1 (7:30 p.m., NBC), but Harbaugh and unspecified former players will be in attendance.

"I don’t have a list of former players coming back yet," Michigan spokesperson Dave Ablauf told the Free Press on Friday. "We won’t get a list until they find out their NFL practice schedule and confirm they are off … but many of the former players have indicated they are planning to come back. Coach Harbaugh was invited and accepted.” 

Michigan kicks off its national title defense against Fresno State, followed by four more home games before the first road game at Washington – the title game rematch – at the beginning of October. The homestand to start the season includes a matchup with Texas, ranked No. 4 in the US LBM Coaches Poll, and a trophy game against Minnesota.

Free Press writer Tony Garcia contributed to this story.

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