Harbaugh Excited About 2015 Class, Including QBs Malzone, Gentry

By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak

CBS DETROIT - The 2015 class of the Michigan Wolverines includes two quarterbacks, Alex Malzone and Zach Gentry, and new Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh intimated that either one could be the starter for the 2015 season.

"All that will be determined on the field," Harbaugh said Wednesday in a press conference. "This will be a lot of fun. We'll throw the balls out there, and the guys will compete. There will be scrimmages, there will be 7-on-7, there will be team drills, and the 11-on-11 football will be the most important – who moves the team the best, who avoids turnovers, who takes care of the football, who can rally his team.

"All that will be played out on the football field," Harbaugh continued. "Meritocracy at its best."

Other competitors for the starting job include junior Shane Morris and redshirt freshman Wilton Speight.

Harbaugh seemed particularly optimistic about Malzone, who stands 6 feet 2 inches tall, weighs 205 pounds and is already enrolled at Michigan.

"Everything he does, he wins," Harbaugh said. "Excellent thrower of the football. He's got a real savvy in the pocket. His accuracy is outstanding. It jumps out on tape ... He's able to scan the field, go from a receiver to a secondary receiver and move his feet, and then the last thing I would say is that he's been here. He's been here for three weeks, so we've been around him since week one when the students came back to school.

"He does not seem like a freshman," Harbaugh added. "I don't know if he's got an older soul to him, but he's fit right in. He's been very serious about football. I like that about him. He's been serious about school, and it's been really good."

The coach also complimented Gentry's demeanor, his skill set and his size. Gentry is 6 feet 7 inches tall and weighs 230 pounds.

"Zach is also very talented," Harbaugh said. "He's very fast, he's got some real physical attributes that not every quarterback has, and he is somebody who works extremely hard at the game, especially in the offseason, on his technique, on his throwing. Excited about both Alex and Zach, and the two things common to them, with everybody in this class, has really been fantastic to see, is a desire to compete in the classroom and on the football field. I really like those guys, those kind of people, the most."

Harbaugh said he will not watch much tape of last season because he wants players to know that everyone has a blank slate with him.

"You don't know what somebody's been coached, you don't know what they were told, so I think it's better to go in with a fresh eye and let everybody know that everybody starts the same," Harbaugh said. "Everybody's got that first chance to make a great first impression."