Michigan spring football game: 3 storylines to watch

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The last glimpses that Michigan fans had of their beloved Wolverines were quickly immortalized as some of the most cherished memories in program history. First came the national championship game in Houston, a 34-13 walloping of Washington in which head coach Jim Harbaugh led his alma mater back to the pinnacle of college football. Then came the celebratory parade in Ann Arbor, a raucous affair at which thousands of maize and blue devotees showered their team with affection.

This weekend marks the program's on-field return to the public eye after an offseason filled with change: to the coaching staff, the roster and the staffers behind the scenes. The reigning national champions will hold their spring game on Saturday at Michigan Stadium before a nationally televised audience — and with new head coach Sherrone Moore leading the way.

"They want more," Moore said of his players' mentality during a news conference last March. "They always got that chip on their shoulder. You win the natty, you would think people would be so satisfied that we won the natty and that's it. That's not it. We want more."

Here are three storylines to watch during Michigan's spring game, which you can watch on Saturday at noon ET on FOX:

A new era

For the first time since 2015, shortly after former coach Brady Hoke was fired, Jim Harbaugh won't be leading his alma mater into Michigan Stadium for the program's annual spring game. Three consecutive trips to the College Football Playoff bolstered Harbaugh's coaching résumé enough for the Los Angeles Chargers to welcome him back to the NFL, a place he inhabited from 2011-14 as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. And with that move, which was finalized in late January, roughly