Michigan football honoring Greg Harden with special G helmet sticker vs. Arkansas State

Michigan football is honoring former school athletics counselor Greg Harden with a "G" inside of a heart sticker on the back of the helmet today in a game vs. Arkansas State (follow live updates) at Michigan Stadium.

Harden died this week after complications from surgery . He was 75.

Harden was labeled by CBS' "60 Minutes" in 2014 as Michigan's "secret weapon," known for earning credit for Tom Brady's emergence among many more athletes and personnel. Harden was a school employee for 34 years from 1986-2019, then took on an advisory role in the athletic department.

He earned praise for helping the 2023 football team's mental strength as scandal and investigations swirled on the way to a national championship .

LIVE UPDATES: Michigan vs. Arkansas State score today, highlights from Week 3 game

Harden wrote a best-selling book published in 2023 titled, "Stay Sane In An Insane World: How to Control the Controllables and Thrive." Brady wrote the foreword as the book debuted at No. 1 on Amazon, and went on to become a bestseller on lists from the New York Times, USA TODAY, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly.

"There is no one better than Greg Harden and we are devastated as a Michigan family by this news," U-M athletic director Warde Manuel said as part of his statement Friday.

"You have inspired me by your ability to unconditionally love everyone and everything," wrote former U-M quarterback J.J. McCarthy in a lengthy social media post.

Desmond Howard also added to the tributes on "College GameDay" Saturday, crediting Harden as one of the reasons he stayed at Michigan after considering transferring.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football honoring Greg Harden with special G helmet sticker vs. Arkansas State p>