Henry Poggi's sense of humor probably overshadowed the lesson.

But somewhere, beneath an expert example of deadpan delivery, patience and flexibility pushed through.

Standing in front of the microphone at Michigan's annual football bust earlier this month, Poggi — a fifth-year senior from Baltimore — began his farewell speech with a thank-you note to Jim Harbaugh.

"I just want to say thank you to Coach Harbaugh for moving me from defensive end to fullback," said Poggi, who entered college as one of the highest-rated defensive line prospects in the 2013 recruiting class. "So I (didn't) end up behind Taco Charlton. And Chris Wormley. And Rashan Gary. And Chase Winovich."

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Poggi's message came under the guise of jocularity, but it also served as perhaps the best advice any upperclassmen can offer younger players as they push forward inside Harbaugh's constantly evolving, shifting and demanding football program.

Leave the ego in the high school locker room. Expect change.

Figure it out. Or quit.

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Harbaugh's arrival in 2014 was a whirlwind. Every day was something different, and changes were made with almost zero warning.

Michigan's coaching staff spent those early months getting to know the roster. Players were challenged to push themselves and try new things. A few opted to leave, instead.

Poggi was a highly recruited athlete in 2013. He had offers from Alabama, Auburn, Ohio State, Stanford and a slew of other top programs who told him he'd be their next great defensive lineman. U-M told him that, too, until Harbaugh showed up.

Had Poggi refused Harbaugh's suggestion, who knows what might've happened. But Poggi knows there's a strong chance he'd have found himself riding the bench behind NFL draft picks (Charlton and Wormley) and All-Big Ten pass rushers (Gary and Winovich).

He might have made it to this year's U-M banquet. Maybe he would have left.

But he's happy he swallowed his pride.

"I got to see the field," Poggi said. "So thank you for that."

One of those players Poggi mentioned in his speech had a similar story.

Winovich was brought to Michigan as a linebacker in 2014 but was moved to the other side of the ball after Harbaugh arrived. He never had played tight end and nothing seemed to click.

Desperate to find his way onto the field, Winovich walked into former special teams coach John Baxter's office with a list of reasons why he should be given a shot on one of the Wolverines' specialty units.

Baxter's message? You're not good enough.

"I went to my car, bawled my eyes out and called my brother and said 'I don't know if I want to do this,' " Winovich recalled. "I gave it a day or two and said 'Eff that, I'm going to (find a way).' "

Things have worked out for Winovich. He forced his way onto the field, pleaded his way onto the defensive line. And now, as the Wolverines prepare for the Outback Bowl on Jan. 1 against South Carolina, the Big Ten's leading sack man is contemplating a jump to the NFL.

During his first team meeting after taking the job in December 2014, Harbaugh told the group he planned on building a keel, which is the bottom of a ship. The hull, or the foundation, is built around the keel.

Players like Poggi and Winovich became Harbaugh's keel.

So did Khalid Hill.

A fifth-year senior from Detroit, Hill entered 2015 without much of a home and not a lot of certainty. At 6-foot-2, he didn't have prototypical tight end size. And he was stuck on the depth chart behind Jake Butt (6-6, 250 pounds), another NFL draft pick.

Hill spent the year contributing low on the depth chart as an H-back, seeing little playing time. Then he embraced change prior to the 2016 season. Harbaugh told him he should play fullback and would be more marketable to NFL scouts. The move would help the team, Harbaugh said, and he would be a better player, even though he had never played the position.

Now, approaching his final game at Michigan, Hill has 13 rushing touchdowns, three receiving touchdowns and something he didn't have before embracing change: A realistic shot at playing in the NFL.

"(Jan. 1) will be the last chance to be with the guys, to play for the team," Hill said recently. "We want to finish with a win."

U-M will wrap up its final week of the 2017 season in Tampa, Fla., with a mission on improvement. This year wasn't good enough, Harbaugh says, and things have to ramp up moving forward. Change will, once again, have to be embraced.

The core of next season's roster will be the players who were deemed as youngsters this year. Some of them will be facing situations Poggi, Winovich and Hill (and many others) found themselves staring at not so long ago.

Poggi's message was wrapped in humor. But it told an interesting tale. One the rest of Harbaugh's roster should pay close attention to.

Contact Nick Baumgardner: nbaumgardn@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @NickBaumgardner. Download our Wolverines Xtra app for free on Apple and Android devices.