jim harbaugh competition junkie

The short version is I don't know anything. But I can't focus on UFR, and threw out a Neck Sharpies, and already updated my starts and snaps data for the year, so we might as well talk about it.

What's the evidence that Harbaugh is pursuing NFL jobs?

Credible reporters say so. Bruce Feldman reported "multiple sources close to Jim Harbaugh" believe he would take an NFL coaching job if it was offered. One source used the "done deal" phrasing.

Feldman is a guy we are pretty sure Harbaugh or at least his staff have a strong rapport with.

John U Bacon has a source who says it's serious, and has to do with frustration with college football:

Carolina Panthers beat reporters are pretty sure Harbaugh spoke with their owner.

That is more than enough smoke to take seriously. I do not believe these reporters would lie, or use sources who might lead them astray. Harbaugh is taking NFL calls.

[After THE JUMP: Evidence to the contrary, what does your heart tell you?]

Within this calendar year, responses to the announcement of Jim Harbaugh’s reduced-salary contract extension on this site included words and phrases like “apathetic,” “off the rails,” “laughingstock,” “worst deal any coach of a major program has ever signed,” “none of this matters,” “mediocrity personified,” “failing marriage,” and “weird, quirky, catatonic failure.” Now he is a Big Ten champion; his seat is only hot in the sense of being warm and comfortable. It may vibrate a little, to gently massage his buttocks, which are lean and healthy this season.

Elsewhere, coaches with less impressive résumés are getting larger contracts, while coaches with comparable résumés are getting waaaaaaaay larger contracts. Harbaugh and Michigan’s response was to announce that he will be giving the performance bonuses he earns this year, which are already substantial, to athletic department employees who have had pandemic-related pay reductions. It’s a classic Harbaugh move, justified in the abstract but also seemingly intended to really needle the hell out of someone, like, say, a rival school that may have signed its own coach to a 10-year, $75 million extension during its team’s second straight year of having a losing record in conference. It’s also—and look, I was as tired of talking about this trope as anyone else, but I have to call ‘em like I see ‘em—the ultimate triumph of the Michigan Man (and Woman).

A year ago the University of Michigan’s entire philosophical deal, which Harbaugh embodies, appeared outdated. Without rendering any political judgment on the hows and the whys, we can likely agree that the concept of “meritocracy” has become an increasingly controversial one at the same time that long standing American institutions which rely on rules and “norms” have become less stable. This puts a tradition-obsessed institution like Michigan, whose self-conception involves meritocracy and rule-following, but also being the best at everything, in a tough spot.

[After THE JUMP: Sorting out trite from faith]

[courtesy Yasmeen Alcindor]

The secret to Michigan’s success on defense isn’t really a secret. It’s hard to stay under the radar when your mustache is so perfect, your stats are so good, and your scheme is so aesthetically pleasing. But the secret ingredient in how Michigan’s defensive personnel was assembled was, well, itself assembled. A few years ago, a sleek new Playstation 4 rolled off an assembly line in Yantai, a coastal city of about 7 million in China, not realizing that it would some day end up in the living room of Jabrill Peppers’ apartment, let alone that it would play a crucial role in landing three contributors to 2017’s no. 3-ranked defense.

The PS4’s shining moment came on the night of June 14, 2015, when three then-recruits--Devin Bush Jr., Josh Metellus, and Devin Gil--went on an unofficial visit to Michigan. The three got in from South Florida around 11 on their first night in Ann Arbor and went straight to Peppers’ apartment, where they found Willie Henry (or, as he’s known around the program, Big Earl) ready and waiting to throw in NBA 2K15 or Madden 15.

“I’ll bust out the 2K or we can throw in Madden if you feel like the odds are better in that,” Henry says. “I don’t think I ever lost to Jabrill, Devin, the other Devin, or Metellus.” Metellus corroborates Henry’s recollection. “It was just funny because Gil, he was playing 2K, he was just losing the whole time. It was hilarious,” he says.

Asked who’s the best 2K player, Gil says it has to be him. This is one of the many times during our interview where the crosstalk explodes, three voices criss-crossing with such speed that the tape plays back a staccato mess. As things calm down, Bush explains his frustration. “He plays as Golden State like he’s tryin’ to cheat,” he says. The pride swells in his voice. “I play as random teams.” Gil, the most reserved of the three, quietly retorts: “I’m still gon’ win, though. Regardless, I’m gon’ win.”

And he might, but not that night. “A lot of people just like playing with Lebron but I can use it as an excuse: that’s my home team I’m just playing with. Can’t be mad that my home team got Lebron James,” Henry says. “But you know me, I’m very competitive, too. So it was just two guys competitive at what they do playing the game at that time. I got the best of him that night but I could see from the fight in that that we had three great competitors coming from the same school that had the possibility to come to the same university. It was just a blessing. I had a great time with the boys that night.”

[After THE JUMP: a secret plan, chasing offers, winning championships, and high-stakes games of…Uno?]