Michigan running backs coach Mike Hart suffers seizure, to stay in hospital overnight

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Michigan football running backs coach Mike Hart collapsed on the sideline during the first quarter of Michigan's game Saturday against Indiana.

With 4:54 left in the quarter — just after Indiana scored a touchdown to tie the game, 7-7, and Michigan's special teams unit was ready to head on the field — Hart suddenly collapsed while standing near midfield.

"It's definitely one of those events in life that you sit back and you're in shock," quarterback J.J. McCarthy said. "Especially for coach Hart, because that's someone who was waiting for this game, had this marked on his schedule.

"Just all prayers go out to him... I'm glad to hear he's okay but it definitely caught us off guard."

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During halftime of the game telecast, Fox host Rob Stone reported that Hart suffered a seizure.

His team gathered around him and everybody on the field, on both sidelines, took a knee. Medical personnel tended to Hart and made a barricade around him holding towels up to block the view from the sideline. After about 10 minutes, Hart was brought onto a stretcher and placed on a cart that took him off the field.

Video from the TV broadcast showed Michigan running backs Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards visibly upset on the sideline, crying while Michigan staffers consoled them. Hart appeared responsive as he left the field, moving his head; a number of Indiana staffers walked up to the cart to speak to Hart as it drove off.

Fox TV sideline reporter Jenny Taft reported that Hart was joined by his wife on the sideline before leaving for the hospital and that Hart was alert while on the stretcher.

Harbaugh did receive a call from Hart at halftime and relayed the message to his team.

"Mike had a medical emergency during the game, he's in stable condition and he's going to stay overnight here in Bloomington for continued observation," Harbaugh told reporters after the game. "Mike is a strong guy, just an abundance of prayers going his way. It really puts things in perspective.

"In the moment, everybody's thoughts are with Mike. Mine were, everybody around us was just to get him the care that he needed. He was able to before they took him off it looked like he was 'back,' the most important thing is his health at that point in time."

Running back Blake Corum said Hart was going to receive the game ball and Corum had it in his bag and was going to deliver it to Hart's house when he returns to Michigan.

Hart, a former standout running back for Michigan from 2004-07, was Indiana's running backs coach from 2017-20 before taking over the same role in Ann Arbor in 2021.

After three years in the NFL with the Indianapolis Colts, Hart moved to the coaching ranks as a quality control coach for Eastern Michigan. He then was a running backs coach for two years at EMU, one year at Western Michigan and one year at Syracuse before going to Bloomington.