The tough Colston Loveland went from the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry in college to the Bears-Packers rivalry in the NFL.
During his rookie season, Loveland said he noticed a striking similarity in the way Jim Harbaugh handled Ohio State’s Michigan rivalry with Ben Johnson’s approach to the Chicago Packers.
“Sure. As far as, in the building, ‘what are you doing to beat Ohio State every day?'” It was there [the rivalry] was in Michigan. Every TV, everything. That’s the way it is with the Bears,” Loveland said on last week’s episode of Bussin’ With The Boys.
Johnson ignited the Bears-Packers rivalry and took a page from Harbaugh. Since his hiring, the Bears coach has thrown fire at his Wisconsin counterparts. First, there was the barb about beating Matt LaFleur during his run in Detroit. Then came more chants, rough handshakes and outright words of distaste for the Packers.
Harbaugh’s focus on the game in Ann Arbor helped Michigan turn an eight-game losing streak against its rivals into a four-game winning streak from 2021-2024. Loveland was around for the last three of those deficits (participated in two – 2022-2023; he missed 2024 with an injury). Johnson lost his first game against the Pack, but followed it up with back-to-back wins, including a 31-27 Wild Card comeback win.
“Everybody’s just talking about the Packers,” Loveland said. “…You can’t go a day without talking about them, talking about beating them, talking about the bad things. So, it’s very comparable [to Michigan].”