What Could Warde Have Done Differently?
I see a lot of people complaining about Warde Manuel's handling of this coaching situation... but I'm wondering what you think he could have done differently that would have worked out in Michigan's favor? Here are the options he had:
1. Fire Jim Harbaugh and lose $10 Million (correct me if I'm wrong on this number) on the buyout in a year where the athletic department is already losing millions of dollars. To me and many others, this option was a non-starter because of the buyout.
2. Don't offer a contract extension and have Harbaugh go into year 7 as a lame-duck coach, which is terrible for recruiting. Another non-starter.
3. Give Harbaugh a low-ball contract extension with a low buyout. He either goes to the NFL, in which case you can try to go after Soup, or he re-signs, which allows him one more year to prove himself, and if he doesn't, then you fire him next winter and you don't lose nearly as much money on the buyout.
I don't really see anything else that Manuel could have done. Am I missing something?
January 8th, 2021 at 4:45 PM ^
1. Everything
or
2. Anything else.
January 8th, 2021 at 5:06 PM ^
There are other coaches in the big ten that are better and could probably have been hired instead.
Dragging this out and still retaining him at half the cost is such a bad look.
January 8th, 2021 at 6:14 PM ^
Okay, so you’d have eaten the buyout then? Because there’s only two ways to get rid of Harbaugh - fire him and eat the buyout, or wait and see if he accepts an NFL offer. (which is what he did).
January 8th, 2021 at 5:19 PM ^
I dunno man. Sure this did not go smoothly but I think people are REALLY discounting the fact that the athletic department is pretty damn cash strapped right now and buying out Jim and any necessary coordinator/ assistant coach contracts wouldn't be easy. I really think Warde was hoping that the NFL would do his job for him and take Jim off our hands. It was a financial win/win because either the NFL took his contract off our hands or Jim was forced to realize there were no NFL options and Jim would be forced into a corner to sign the new contract that gives Michigan a much easier buyout if next year goes wrong.
January 8th, 2021 at 5:26 PM ^
1. We have no idea how the cash/donation/ticket situation will look next year. Big unknown, could be really bad. There's a cash bubble in college athletics and it might be crashing as we speak for all we know.
2. Even if the cash is there, the optics of throwing 8 figures at Harbaugh to leave and 7 or 8 figures at another coach to come is really tough up here. Wouldn't take much for a local media org to contrast those numbers with news of layoffs in some industry or another. If the athletic department takes a loss, that publicity becomes really ugly, and could in fact hurt donations.
This is a difficult time. The best scenario would have been for the team not to gag against MSU or quit against Wisconsin, but here we are. No good options.
January 8th, 2021 at 8:53 PM ^
Awesome response from one of the very many armchair ADs on this blog. What exactly would you do?
January 8th, 2021 at 4:47 PM ^
I think people prefer complaining
January 8th, 2021 at 4:48 PM ^
Yep!
January 8th, 2021 at 4:59 PM ^
You don't seem very certain.
OF COURSE, PEOPLE PREFER COMPLAINING.
January 8th, 2021 at 5:09 PM ^
ESPECIALLY ON MESSAGE BOARDS.
January 8th, 2021 at 5:08 PM ^
Exactly. Warde had this worked out weeks ago.
January 8th, 2021 at 5:10 PM ^
It’s the American way
January 8th, 2021 at 6:38 PM ^
Nailed it. I would love to know the ratio of women to men in here.
January 8th, 2021 at 8:20 PM ^
Personally, I think he was a little hard on the beaver, so was Eddie Haskill, Wally and ms Cleaver
January 8th, 2021 at 4:48 PM ^
I don't believe that $10MM is a hurdle for an athletic department getting $100MM+ donations and taking entire football teams overseas regularly.
January 8th, 2021 at 4:53 PM ^
The ONLY thing I can imagine is that the wealthy boosters have said to Warde they will not finance the team if Harbaugh is let go
Regardless, Texas pulled a much more drastic and expensive move in the exact same economic climate we're in. Michigan could foot the bill if they cared enough
January 8th, 2021 at 5:35 PM ^
Texas is getting grilled over their buyout of Herman and his assistants so they could hire retread Sarkisian. Texas has been cycling thru coaches every 3-4 years and not getting anywhere while spending lots of bucks. Who would we get if JH (a favorite son) fails? Would a “hot” coach take the job after seeing RR, Hoke, and JH fail? Weren’t RR & JH “hot”coaches when we hired them? Better hope JH figures this out, or we’ll be lost for another 3-4 years or more.
January 8th, 2021 at 4:53 PM ^
Well, there’s this thing called the Covid-19 pandemic that’s wreaking havoc on the world, as well as the budgets of universities across this great nation of ours.
So yes, the $10MM does matter... although I would still like to have seen Jimbo fired based on his 6-year lackluster body of work.
January 8th, 2021 at 4:56 PM ^
Yes & no. The buyouts are paid by those same donors, so if they want to keep Harbaugh, Michigan needs to pay the $10M now to fire Harbaugh and they would piss off the big donors who want him.
It's why UT fired Herman. It wasn't the AD's choice, but he had donors willing to pay (and likely threaten to donate less if they didn't get their way).
January 8th, 2021 at 8:56 PM ^
Pretty sure the overseas trips were not funded by the athletic department, but rather directly by some donors. Now, that donations might have diverted funds that would have otherwise gone to the AD, but hard to know this impact. In short, a shaky point at best.
January 8th, 2021 at 4:48 PM ^
Fire him.
January 8th, 2021 at 5:08 PM ^
Look, just because you work in HR doesn't mean you get to make all Michigan's personnel decisions.
January 8th, 2021 at 9:00 PM ^
Now that would be a cold hearted move. Negotiate a new deal with a lower buyout, when said deal is signed, proceed to fire Harbaugh under the lower buyout clause. Obvious problem would be that would present an incredible hurdle when trying to find a new coach.
January 8th, 2021 at 4:49 PM ^
He could have Resigned...Hes challenging Dave Brandon for the all time WORST AD
January 8th, 2021 at 5:18 PM ^
Give me a fucking break, dude. Just because you believe he mishandled the Harbaugh thing he's challenging for all time WORST AD? I think he handled the MBB coaching hire just fine, thank you. Same with hockey.
You my friend have accomplished the near impossible. A cranial rectal inversion. Congrats.
January 8th, 2021 at 4:51 PM ^
Warde was never going to fire a former QB, pro player, successful college and NFL coach who is 49-22 at Michigan to hire a Matt Campbell whose highlight reel consists of a year or two at Iowa State. Harbaugh's had one bad year at Michigan and that was an oddball-of-all-oddball years thanks to COVID-19.
January 8th, 2021 at 4:54 PM ^
Matt Campbell has actually been to a conference championship game, beaten teams of superior talent, and has won a NY6 bowl.
2017 was a bad year, and 2019 was a bad year given what had come.
If the bar was simply to just do better than Brady Hoke and Rich Rodriguez, then that is quite pathetic.
January 8th, 2021 at 4:55 PM ^
Matt Campbell beat Oklahoma in Norman in his second year. Harbaugh doesn't have a single win close to that good in six years and with about 5x as many opportunities to notch one
January 8th, 2021 at 8:13 PM ^
And still Campbell hasn't beat Iowa while the current coach in Ann Arbor has. Also, Campbell was whipped up on by Notre Dame last season while the current coach in Ann Arbor beat up the Irish. Let's not forget that Campbell, outside of this season, was a 3rd or 4th place finisher in the Big 12. So before putting Campbell into the Nick Saban category let's get some perspective and not just chase a shinny new toy.
January 8th, 2021 at 5:04 PM ^
Yeah, I don't get the infatuation with Campbell on this site. The guy is basically living off of an upset of Oklahoma a few years back. This is the first season that Campbell hasn't lost at least 5 games with Iowa St. And, he's in the Big 12! Harbaugh gets a mulligan for 2020 (as should every coach). I'm willing to ride out this contract extension, even if it's a clean 9-10 wins a year.
January 8th, 2021 at 5:10 PM ^
ISU had one winning season in the prior 11 years before Campbell, he has 4. Do people not comprehend how hard it is to win at a place located in Ames fricking Iowa? Like what the hell is even your recruiting pitch? Come to a state full of cornfields, at a school with very little winning history, with bleh weather and is not even top tier academically.
January 8th, 2021 at 5:21 PM ^
Thank you.
Do people realize that Iowa State upsetting Oklahoma twice, is probably the equivalent of Indiana defeating Ohio State twice? Lets say two students take the ACT. One comes from a family full of doctors who pay for ACT tutoring classes, and this student gets a 33. The other student comes from a single parent household, where no one went to college, and cannot afford a tutor, and they get a 30. Which student is more impressive?
January 9th, 2021 at 11:51 AM ^
Based on this board, the one that got the highest score and won the test. This concept of a savior coach getting Michigan to OSU/Alabama/Clemson status fails to be grounded in reality. Now, how about discussing us taking more chances on top 100 players by providing them with top notch academic support? There’s a real plan to up our talent level.
January 8th, 2021 at 5:21 PM ^
They have an FCS school on the schedule every year. His 4 winning seasons are 8-5, 8-5, 7-6, and a Covid 9-3. That's a real world beater.
January 8th, 2021 at 5:23 PM ^
It. Is. Iowa. State. Holy. Shit. It. Is. A. State. With. 3. Million. People. And. It. Has. To. Compete. With. Iowa. They. Averaged. 3. To. 4. Win. Seasons. Before. Campbell. Arrived.
January 8th, 2021 at 5:37 PM ^
Hey man, excitement over a coach who goes 8-5 in the Big 12 is unwarranted.
January 8th, 2021 at 5:44 PM ^
Convieniently leaving out their record for this year I see.
January 8th, 2021 at 5:59 PM ^
No, you missed a post. I noted it just above. However, 9-3 in this Covid season is not an indication of anything. This was a most abnormal college football season.
January 8th, 2021 at 6:01 PM ^
Keep holding onto that, it wont be any different next year.
I dont want to see you celebrate any of the basketball teams accomplishments.
January 8th, 2021 at 9:23 PM ^
Agreed. Excitement over an extension to the coach who lost to Mel Tucker in year 1 at home is much more warranted.
January 9th, 2021 at 12:45 PM ^
Nervous bird if you can't see that Campbell has done much more at a lesser program, there's nothing we can do for you. We all love coach Harbaugh as a great Michigan guy, but it just hasn't worked for whatever reason.
January 8th, 2021 at 5:18 PM ^
The Cyclones haven't won a conference title since before WWI. That's a long, long time ago. They've been a joke forever, and Matt Campbell has beaten OU (a program at least on par with the Buckeyes) multiple times and got to the Big 12 title game. He's accomplished far more than Harbaugh with hardly a pot to piss in for resources.
January 8th, 2021 at 5:37 PM ^
- He's beaten Oklahoma twice
- His four losses to them are by a combined 27 points
- Harbaugh's 5 losses to OSU are by a combined 95 points. 95!!!
- Campbell's wins over Oklahoma and Fiesta Bowl win over Oregon are more impressive than ANY win Harbaugh has had in 6 years here. Let that sink in
January 8th, 2021 at 4:53 PM ^
I think it comes down to the terms of the contract. If you believe Baumgartner (who's the only one with this "source"), then the deal is insulting to Harbaugh and Michigan. It's a significant pay cut and if he wins every game, he get's what he would have under the old terms.
If however, Harbaugh's base is slightly lower, but his incentive pay is much higher, then I think Warde did everything right. He's showing real support in his coach (extension) and showing everybody is serious about winning (we will pay for winning).
It's about messaging and showmanship and I don't think it's fair to criticize Warde without knowing the terms of the deal and the assistant pool money*
January 8th, 2021 at 4:55 PM ^
Interesting point about the contract being an insult to Harbaugh AND Michigan. It'll be interesting to see what the terms of the contract are.
January 8th, 2021 at 10:22 PM ^
So he lowballed Harbaugh so next year he can fire him if the season is bad again? Why would anyone think that he would fire him next year or the year after? Has Warde demonstrated that at any point in his tenure?
January 8th, 2021 at 4:53 PM ^
For some reason, people aren’t realizing that Warde had absolutely no interest in firing Harbaugh. People keep talking about the money when they should be starting from a place where Warde didn’t even consider firing him.
January 8th, 2021 at 5:23 PM ^
I don't think thats true from what I've heard. I really don't think they could afford to fire him and Warde knew it so he had to see if the NFL would do the job for us.
January 8th, 2021 at 4:54 PM ^
Fire him and try again. This scared to make a move shit is one reason this program is a dumpster fire.
January 8th, 2021 at 4:54 PM ^
Well, no world leader is getting a pass on their handling of the pandemic, so why should Warde get one on the handling of his crisis?