Footballscoop: Harbaugh eyeing exit strategy [Ed: "Oakland Is Still in Play" source lives, is still making reporters look bad]
[Ed-Seth: This "scoop" is pretty laughable. I'm leaving it so it won't get posted again. Harbaugh's NFL agent has floated him around to gullible reporters in the past to try to gin up interest in a client he's getting nothing for as long as he's in college. But if you think Jim Harbaugh would be "eyeing an exit strategy" during the football season you really don't know the first thing about Jim Harbaugh]
https://footballscoop.com/news/sources-jim-harbaugh-eyeing-exit-strategy/
All rumor at this point, but footballscoop was one of the first reporters of Meyer being gone last year.
October 22nd, 2019 at 3:15 PM ^
That’s basically every sidewalk in the Bay Area. No way he’s going back
October 22nd, 2019 at 7:16 PM ^
is that hummus?
October 22nd, 2019 at 7:42 PM ^
Nope...pudding.
October 22nd, 2019 at 4:27 PM ^
The views of Lake Titicaca are awesome from the pin drop on the map. Who doesn't like a view of Titicaca?
October 22nd, 2019 at 2:22 PM ^
Anyone remember when stoops left Oklahoma and what happened after that.
October 22nd, 2019 at 3:03 PM ^
Anyone remember when Lloyd Carr left and what happened after that.
It's pointless and dumb to make comparisons, but there are many more examples of programs going south after a coaching change -- especially coaching changes at programs with winning records.
No, we can't be afraid to make a change, if it's needed. However, using an outlier like Oklahoma to defend it is dangerous. If that's true, 126 teams should be making coaching changes every year, because there's a playoff coach sitting there as their OC.
October 22nd, 2019 at 3:59 PM ^
Or Pete Carroll leaving USC, Jimbo Fisher leaving FSU, Butch Davis leaving Miami, Chip Kelly leaving Oregon, Mack Brown leaving Texas...
October 22nd, 2019 at 4:57 PM ^
All of those coaches you just listed Harbaugh is not in the same universe as...literally all of them have national titles except Kelly, who played for a national title.
October 22nd, 2019 at 5:27 PM ^
All of them have conference titles too....
October 22nd, 2019 at 7:11 PM ^
Sure, but it's a good thing Texas didn't fire Mack Brown after year 5, 6, or 7, despite not winning his conference to that point and getting repeatedly vaporized by his rival under Stoops.
October 23rd, 2019 at 7:09 AM ^
He was also on an upward trajectory at that point, not down. And had just signed the #1 recruit in the nation in Vince Young.
October 23rd, 2019 at 11:39 AM ^
Sounds like you are penalizing Harbaugh for being good early. Should have finished with 4-5 losses his first couple seasons so the trajectory satisfies you.
October 23rd, 2019 at 2:45 PM ^
Um, no, they shouldn't have. Hoke recruited enough talent that those teams were great. 10 NFL picks in 2017. He has his own players now and his teams are worse.
October 23rd, 2019 at 8:50 AM ^
Davis does not have a national title as hc.
October 22nd, 2019 at 5:20 PM ^
I wouldn't mind Lincoln Riley at Michigan...
October 22nd, 2019 at 5:42 PM ^
Well, that’s never going to fucking happen. Lincoln Riley’s next stop is the pros, not a slightly less lateral coaching move.
October 22nd, 2019 at 10:07 PM ^
Take it easy there bud. Im not saying that is what I want I am just saying that there always is a light at the end of the tunnel. Look at Georgia too yes I understand they lost to South Carolina recently who is actually a power 5 team in the sec but they have been solid and Better off then with richt. To be honest I really don’t know if I want harbaugh to stay or not or I guess I don’t care anymore like I used too. Didn’t feel terrible when we lost to penn state because I don’t expect to win these games anymore until proven otherwise. And the Lloyd Carr comparison isn’t to bright either. He left for a reason that style of play was going to give you exactly the result we are getting right now. They hired the wrong guy after he left and then followed it up with a Hoke, so that was their problem. So to your point that is when change is bad. If harbaugh ever leaves they need to make the right hire at that point in time.
October 22nd, 2019 at 10:48 PM ^
Georgia sold their soul to the devil when they traded in Richt for Bama-trained Smart. Maybe Harbaugh is nuts, but i love what he represents about Michigan and its core values.
October 23rd, 2019 at 7:14 AM ^
What does he represent? Losing any time you face adversity?
October 23rd, 2019 at 9:29 AM ^
And then they were in the playoff right after that sometimes it’s just time for someone to go. Nobody sold their sole they wanted to win which is the whole point in playing the game according to germ Edwards. I’m not saying it is time for Jim to leave but him leaving is inevitable and they need to make the right hire when he does leave
October 23rd, 2019 at 12:24 AM ^
You make it seem so easy to just hire the right coach.
October 22nd, 2019 at 3:12 PM ^
Idk if Gattis is quite up to Riley’s level yet.
October 22nd, 2019 at 5:48 PM ^
Bob Stoops was not fired. He retired.
They had the next coach already selected and groomed. They knew him very well.
The situation was completely different than a situation where Harbaugh is fired.
Which of the current staff will do better than Harbaugh?
Name a school where a winning coach was fired after 5 years and the successor got them to the playoffs.
What other coach would do better than Harbaugh?
What makes you think "hot" coach would take the Michigan job? If Harbaugh is fired, Michigan would be viewed as a career killer position for "hot" coaches.
October 23rd, 2019 at 11:54 AM ^
Especially if they consider that Rodriguez was fired after rebuilding the team so that "a Michigan Man" could be hired. People around here forget the difficulty AD Martin had in recruiting a coach. Schiano and others turned him down.
October 23rd, 2019 at 1:03 PM ^
I agree... it IS difficult to take phone calls on your cell if you're out boating!
October 23rd, 2019 at 12:16 AM ^
Stoops had an elite program and handed it off to an elite assistant. Meyer did the same things. Eyeing a 4 loss season and throwing the keys on *Warinner’s desk and you rush out of town is completely different.
Harbaugh is in the late stage of his time at UM but you can’t compare this to Stoops
*or other on staff future scapegoat.
October 22nd, 2019 at 2:22 PM ^
Not sure how I would really feel about him leaving, I'm conflicted.
October 22nd, 2019 at 2:35 PM ^
It would be bad
October 22nd, 2019 at 2:45 PM ^
Like 1-10 against top 10 teams, 1-7 on road vs ranked teams, 0-8 as an underdog, and 0-4 against OSU bad?
October 22nd, 2019 at 2:49 PM ^
Or like 11-2, 8-5, 7-6 bad?
October 22nd, 2019 at 2:54 PM ^
Ah yes. Comparing JH to coaches that were absolutely awful.
October 22nd, 2019 at 3:01 PM ^
No guarantee we get anyone better and we've got a pretty good one. Our floor is around 9 games right now. 2007-2013 should remind us that it can definitely get worse.
October 22nd, 2019 at 3:13 PM ^
I hear you and have said this myself but staying with someone who you arn't completely happy with only because you fear that you can do no better seems weak to me. It kind of feels like settling. No?
October 22nd, 2019 at 3:20 PM ^
You sound like you’re talking about a marriage or something. Problem with a football program is you can’t be single for a few years while you look for your soulmate. Until Harbaugh craters (like consecutive sub-8 win seasons) or there is some no doubt candidate the reality is he will be the coach.
October 22nd, 2019 at 3:28 PM ^
That was the exact analogy I was shooting for! I know that Ohio State had a damn fine coach in the 90's and they made the decision that they were no longer going to settle. It worked out for them and given the curse that seems to follow this program, it would most likely be a disaster for us, so I do see that side of the coin as well. Its just a frustrating spot to be in.
October 22nd, 2019 at 8:55 PM ^
More likely he quits. He’s never worked anywhere this long (maybe bears, too lazy to look it up).
October 23rd, 2019 at 12:20 PM ^
This is an absurd argument. He started at the U.of San Diego, an extremely low level of football. After winning 2 league titles in 3 years he moved to Stanford a division 1 school. That's normal career advancement.
He was at Stanford for 4 years before leaving for the NFL. I hate the NFL but most people would consider that to again be normal career advancement.
Harbaugh was with the 49ers for 4 years. It's unclear whether he and the team "mutually agreed" to separate. (Harbaugh says he was told he was no longer going to be coach). The many 49ers fans I know all agree that Jed York is a miserable person to work for, so either he moved on to a better position at Michigan or his departure wasn't his choice.
You take this absurd argument a step further when you try to use his career as a player to suggest he's flighty. Players don't have control over that.
October 22nd, 2019 at 7:33 PM ^
Or you stick with the best you got until there’s a viable replacement. What is the realistic hire that is better than Harbaugh? Hell, what’s the realistic hire that is the same as Harbaugh?
I’m not in favor of firing Harbaugh and not having a capable replacement lined up. Unless you have Bob Stoops agreeing to come out of retirement, I fail to see a realistic replacement that is going to do better than 9-10 wins.
October 23rd, 2019 at 12:23 AM ^
UM would never have hired Tressel due to this same ridiculous thought process. MSU is going to be smart enough to go after Luke Fickle who in short order turned a generic team into a team ranked next to UM.....with the nothing resources of Cincy. What would he do at UM, what will he so at MSU. For starters when he lands at MSU, you lose the Ohio Recruits. UM won’t hire a coach like Tress was and Fickle is, and the results are predictable.
October 22nd, 2019 at 3:14 PM ^
This.
October 22nd, 2019 at 3:17 PM ^
Cowards die a little every day.
The brave live forever.
October 22nd, 2019 at 3:21 PM ^
Cowards look the other way at times when they should stand up for the helpless.
October 22nd, 2019 at 5:22 PM ^
Or, they get shot stone dead very quickly.
October 22nd, 2019 at 3:34 PM ^
Hmmm... our floor could be a little lower this year.
October 22nd, 2019 at 7:51 PM ^
Are you old enough that you were a fan when UM still won Big Ten titles? I am. Are you satisfied with what Harbaugh is doing? I'm not.
Our floor is 9 games? We're winning 8 this year, tops.
Honestly, if we're not competing for and occasionally winning Big Ten titles, i just don't give a crap anymore. "No guarantee we will get anyone better" and "it can definitely get worse" is a loser's mentality.