You’ll have to forgive the Panthers linebacker Michael Barrett to look ahead to a specific game. There is still quite some time to go, but the rookie has his sights set on the second Sunday of the regular season.

Panthers vs. Chargers. Book It. Sunday just happens to be the day Barrett, a former Michigan star, meets his old coach. Jim Harbaugh. Since the Wolverines won the national championship in January, Harbaugh decided to return to the NFL and take the head coaching job in LA.

It could be a big maize and blue reunion. Barrett’s fellow linebacker and ex from Michigan Junior Colson plays for the Chargers. And Harbaugh hired several Wolverine assistants to his staff.

“It’s going to be exciting to look at the sideline and see them on the other side,” Barrett told Panthers.com. “I know they’ll talk nonsense. But I’m excited to see all my old coaches and old teammates.

Barrett recently said the Panthers got him “on sale” during the draft

Barrett said Harbaugh called him after the Panthers selected him in the seventh round. “He just told me how proud he was of me,” Barrett recalled. “And he wished he could have gotten me as a free agent. And then just told me good luck with everything.

As for the Chargers, Barrett now calls them “Michigan 2.0. They have like, I want to say, about seven guys from Michigan there. Plus Junior Colson. I actually texted them and I was like, I’m going to make you all pay (I’m going to make you pay for it). “

The Panthers host the Chargers at Bank of the America Stadium on September 15. It’s an early afternoon kickoff on CBS.

Barrett and Carolina recently completed minicamp. And there will be a six-week break before the Panthers report for training camp. His almost-draft snack still stings and serves as his motivation. On the final day of the NFL Draft in April, Barrett tried to make peace with the idea of ​​being a free agent. Then Panthers general manager Dan Morgan called him. Barrett was the 240th pick of the NFL Draft, with his selection 17 slots shy of the end. Barrett was the 10th former Wolverine off the board. Three more followed.

“I’m definitely the pick of the draft,” Barrett told reporters at the Panthers rookie camp. “Carolina has a great player, a great teammate, a great person, a great athlete.

“I’m really excited to say they put me on sale.”

Harbaugh took some of his defensive staff from Michigan to Los Angeles, along with other support personnel.