This is an opinion column.

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There’s a former Michigan analyst who’s picking Alabama to win the Rose Bowl.

I’ll take that as a sign.

The one-time analyst is Bam Richards and he has an interesting story to tell. Before there was Connor Stalions at Michigan, there was “Coach Bam.” He was an assistant coach at Prattville High School in Alabama before joining Harbaugh up in snowy Michigan. Richards didn’t steal signs for the Michigan coaching staff or anything nefarious like that, but he was at the center of his own controversy involving Michigan, Alabama and the NCAA.

Richards was at Prattville in 2015 when he helped organize that notorious satellite camp for Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh. That’s the one where Harbaugh took his shirt off while working with campers in Alabama. Richards remembers the glare of it all like it was yesterday, and I don’t just mean the national spotlight.

“Harbaugh was kind of pale,” Richards said. “I guess he needed a tan to go with those khaki pants.”

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Richards is a jokester, but he has nothing but love for Michigan. He parlayed that satellite camp into a job with the Wolverines. Coach Bam was an offensive analyst and a recruiting analyst for Harbaugh from 2016 to 2017. “Analyst” is a funny-sounding title, but really it’s just an assistant football coach who, according to NCAA rules, can’t go on recruiting trips. They’re full-time employees, but get paid a fraction of the salary given to “on-field” assistant coaches.

Alabama coach Nick Saban has approximately 724 analysts on his staff at any given time, and most of them were former head coaches at Texas. Some of Saban’s analysts punch holes in loose-leaf paper for Saban’s three-ring binders. Some tie Jalen Milroe’s shoes. There’s one guy whose only duty is to buy Saban’s chewing gum. Everyone gets a job.

Harbaugh has always wanted to be like Saban, so he goes overboard sometimes with his analysts. The stealing of football signals, for example, is prohibited by the NCAA, but Harbaugh apparently employed a Michigan fan boy who was really good at it. It got Harbaugh in some hot water this season, and that was after an earlier disagreement with the NCAA about illegal recruiting practices during the pandemic.

For his collection of misdeeds, Harbaugh was suspended for six whole games this season. Give Michigan credit for making the College Football Playoff despite Harbaugh’s penchant for silliness. The Wolverines are a good team by Big Ten standards. Can they hang with Alabama in the Rose Bowl? Let’s just say that I have my doubts based on my conversation with Coach Bam.

“Right now, I think Alabama is the most dangerous team in the country,” Coach Bam said.

Coach Bam says Alabama is going to knock off Michigan and then take down Texas to win the national championship.

Don’t take Coach Bam’s prediction of an Alabama national championship as a sign of disrespect aimed at Michigan. That’s not the case. Coach Bam loves Michigan, and so do his kids. He says he’s “forever indebted” to Harbaugh for giving him a chance to be a college analyst. How did Coach Bam get that opportunity? Let’s just say that Harbaugh has been trying to steal advantages away from Saban for a long time.

The NCAA banned so-called satellite camps in 2016 after the SEC and ACC lobbied to have them banned. Back then, there was a loophole that allowed schools to take their summer camps on the road. For teams in the Big Ten, it was a good excuse to make recruiting inroads in the Deep South. Harbaugh, of course, decided to set up shop in Alabama. Coach Bam was the point man for Michigan’s camp in Prattville.

The way Coach Bam tells it, he didn’t know Harbaugh wanted him to be an analyst on staff until he received a random call from Michigan’s coach many months after the camp. Coach Bam says Harbaugh called him from a hotel room in Washington. Harbaugh, according to Coach Bam, was in D.C. for President Barack Obama’s inauguration.

“It was the chance of a lifetime,” Coach Bam said. “I had to take it.”

Unfortunately, Coach Bam got really sick when was in Michigan and working for Harbaugh. He was later diagnosed with a rare blood disorder known as Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura or TTP. The blood disorder forced Coach Bam to retire a couple years ago. Looking back, considering how things turned out, he’s grateful for the time he spent with Michigan. Harbaugh allowed Coach Bam to live out his dream.

“Coach Harbaugh showed me the ropes,” Coach Bam said.

What’s Harbaugh like as a coach?

Very hands on, says Coach Bam. Harbaugh knows everything that’s going on inside Michigan’s program at all times. If an assistant coach or analyst has an idea, Coach Bam says they bring it to Harbaugh and Harbaugh either gives it the OK, modifies it or says no thanks.

“I learned a different way of coaching,” Coach Bam said. “Harbaugh taught me how to multitask and do the things that coaches have to do at that level.”

Coach Bam, for those wondering, never crossed paths with Stalions, the analyst who was fired amid the sign-stealing scandal.

“I don’t know anything about sign stealing,” Coach Bam said. “I was shocked when I heard about that. Maybe that’s the next generation of coaching.”

We can only speculate.

Coach Bam says that Michigan is going to “dissect” Alabama’s games against Texas and Auburn to find Alabama’s weaknesses. Harbaugh is all business when he needs to be, Coach Bam said, but he’s also laidback and funny. Coach Bam has a pretty good sense of humor, too. I asked Coach Bam about Harbaugh’s ornithological theory about chickens being “nervous birds.” Coach Bam said he didn’t hear about Harbaugh not eating chicken until recently, but in hindsight pointed out that maybe there was something to that because “we had steak dinner every Sunday.”

Naturally, I asked Coach Bam to put his analyst hat back on for the big game between his beloved Michigan and Alabama. He says three important things favor Alabama. The first is defensive coordinator Kevin Steele. Coach Bam loves Steele. He says Steele is “old-school.”

“He has seen everything there is to see,” Coach Bam said.

I had my doubts about Steele after Alabama’s loss to Texas, but I blame Lane Kiffin.

Coach Bam says the Rose Bowl is going to come down to the “trenches,” and that’s where Alabama will have the biggest advantage. I asked Coach Bam to point me in the direction of Michigan’s version of Dallas Turner.

“There’s only one Dallas Turner,” Coach Bam said.

I had my suspicions about that.

As for the game’s X-factor, Coach Bam says look no further than Alabama’s quarterback.

“The difference maker in the game is going to be Jalen Milroe,” Coach Bam said.

Tennessee, Auburn, LSU and Georgia probably all agree.

Coach Bam is a good guy. He says he’s remaining neutral for the Rose Bowl, but that he would be all Michigan if he still worked for the team. Fair enough.

“This is something I’ve always looked forward to and now it’s finally here,” Coach Bam said.

But for one former Michigan analyst, all signs point to Alabama.

Joseph Goodman is the lead sports columnist for the Alabama Media Group, and author of the most controversial sports book ever written, “We Want Bama”. It’s a love story about wild times, togetherness and rum.