GQ Article on Jim Harbaugh: A very enthusiastic conversation with the Michigan coach
http://www.gq.com/story/jim-harbaugh-michigan-peanut-butter-interview
In addition to his love of khackis, he talks about his respect for Woody:
"I love Woody Hayes! If you really know me, you know Woody Hayes is in my top three of all-time coaches. I've read all of his books. I've gone a very long way to try to emulate Woody Hayes. I think he's one of the greatest of all-time."
March 21st, 2017 at 12:21 PM ^
"This interview has been edited and condensed."
Noooooooooo!!!
...And he is ours. His outspoken old school nature works great because the man is 100% authentic. Great coach, good man, interesting mind.
March 21st, 2017 at 12:33 PM ^
Great interview - although I would be scared to be on his daughter's swim team:
But now I have an 8-year-old daughter that's in swimming and I'm a swim dad and it's about us. It's "we." We have swim practice today. We have to get better. We have to improve our backstroke. We got to make sure we're there on time. And I just had an epiphany: with the eight-and-unders, I'm going to coach them like I do my own players. Not treat my kids any different than my own players; and not treat my players any different than my own kids. Enough of the: Don't put pressure on them, and don't try to make them be good. I had an epiphany and I'm going the other way.
March 21st, 2017 at 12:47 PM ^
I am a swim dad of an 8 year old boy, and I am the opposite. I just want him to have fun and improve. No pressure whatsoever on him, he's 8.
GQ is a good magazine overall. The person running their Twitter handle, however, is so annoying. I had to unfollow that handle, as I could not take it anymore. I'll let you folks do the research because I'd rather not start a battle of words.
And you guys can downvote as much as you want, I'm actually very curious.
Are these stories getting old for anyone else? Peanuts, gatorade on cereal, all of it, they've just lost their luster for me. I just want to see this team win a championship, that's all. It doesn't matter to me anymore if he does milk commercials, fights the NCAA camps or whatever auxurially things happen on the outside. The grace period is over, just go win a championship and beat your rival (OSU).
I know the school is already in the process of building a statue, but if he can't beat OSU or get to the Big Ten championship game this season, when can we actually start questioning things? Or does he get like a full 5 years?
Before we start being critical.
Sorry for the missing context.
There's a fair number of people who were calling for fisch's head after some boneheaded playcalling this year.
Feel free to worry about many things in this world, but worrying that Michigan fans aren't being critical of their sports teams shouldn't be one of them.
March 21st, 2017 at 11:26 PM ^
obligatory /s
March 21st, 2017 at 11:26 PM ^
obligatory /s
This interview was hysterical.
I personally find his antics grating, but they've been such a clear net positive for the program that I couldn't care less about my own feelings towards them.
That being said, obviously everybody wants him to "just go win."
Antics? That implies its insincere and forced. Harbaugh is just unabashedly himself, a lover of football, Michigan, and hard work. How can you get tired of that?
stance. I'm leaning that way too. Going at shit full bore is great. I love that aspect. But if this doesn't get UM any higher than they've been the past 2 seasons, does any of it really matter?
My answer to your how many years question, 5 years without anything better than a "good bowl" win probably isn't going to cut it. I'd imagine I'm not alone. UM didn't hire one of the best coaches in the business to lose heartbreakers to osu and fsu and shit the bed against one of the blandest, mediocre coaches in the game.
And as far as all these fluff stories go - sometimes I click, sometimes I don't.
Delano Hill told his own brother (LaVert for those not paying attention) NOT TO GO TO MICHIGAN in 2014. That is why he ended up committed to Penn State before Harbaugh & Co. convinced him to flip.
There are probably another 100 examples of dumpster fire level shit show events that we could point to (look at the last 10 months of recruiting in the Hoke regime or the fact that we were a .500 team for the 7 years before he got here) but I think a player telling his brother to stay away sums it up perfectly.
So while you are certainly free to express you disappointment in Harbaugh but I am certainly free to express that I think the Harbaugh doubters a bunch of imbiciles and probably deserve to go back to a .500 team (except the rest of us don't deserve it).
At all. I just find the ridiculous level of apology and excuse making for JH that RR and Hoke NEVER got is laughable.
Seeing things like "We can expect to start beating OSU in 2019 because of (insert excuse here)."
Mostly, I'm just tired of hearing these fluff pieces. They were cute for the first couple years.
If you don't see the difference between anything RR and Hoke put on the field against what Harbaugh trots out, then you truely do not deserve Michigan football.
I mean, go ahead and take the very best that Rich Rod and Hoke combined to put on the field - the very best players, plays, schemes, games... And they still don't look as good as either of Harbaugh's teams.
If you can't see that, go find some other team to follow.
March 21st, 2017 at 10:14 PM ^
I freaking love him. I was merely remarking on the other guy's post that he isn't unfair in tiring of the "craziness". Then I answered his question as to when the free passes start to dry up. I personally don't care about the craziness either way. Hence me stating that sometimes I click, sometimes I don't.
March 21st, 2017 at 11:30 PM ^
But I'm with you on the sentiment.
if he can't beat OSU or get to the Big Ten championship game this season, when can we actually start questioning things?Do you know what our and OSU rosters look like? It was unlikely we'd beat OSU 2 years ago. It's also unlikely looking at our rosters that we'll beat OSU next year. Our opportunity was last year, and we came darned close. It's hard to argue that UM wasn't at least as good as OSU last year. But, if we are going to have a rebuilding year, it's likely going to be next year. So, considering that and the way the recruiting classes went in Hoke's last full year and the year he got fired you'd assume this year will the year where there's a lot of young guys playing. So, based on how both OSU and UM have recruited it would be unfair to judge Harbaugh on beating OSU or winning a B1G title next season. I think it's fair to look at 2018 and 2019 and expect him to at least split. But, IMHO the best one can expect is to start to split 50/50 with OSU going forward starting in 2018. FWIW 2019 will probably be the first season with a Harbaugh recruited QB.
The expectations of Michigan football get this low?
You would NEVER hear things about this program when Rich Rod and Brady Hoke started saying, "Oh, we'll start beating OSU in his 5th season because of X and Y."
The irony here is ridiculous. RR and Hoke were fried immediately (and it proved rightfully so), but JH gets nearly 5 years to start "regularly splitting" with OSU because he "doesnt have his QB."
WTF is with this hypocritical double standard?
Win and win NOW!
Great coaches find a way to win big games despite the circumstances.
Harbaugh's first true class (2016) had a year to get acclimated to college football. Now it's up that class to perform. And the 2016 class is bolstered by the 2017 class. Talent isn't lacking. Coaching isn't lacking. So the results should't be lacking either.
Being results oriented is a good way to make stupid decisions. We don't lose to OSU because Harbaugh. We lose to OSU because they have one of the greatest college coaches of all time, are the best modern era football program in the country, and recruit as well as anyone not named Alabama. And we play them once a year. At best its a 50/50 proposition. Whether that final scores goes in our favor or not shouldnt mean everything to you about whether or not Harbaugh is a good coach. He is a fantastic coach and he'll have to go on a serious decline before any possible replacement would be an improvement.
Ditto on Beilein, may they both stay for 10+ years regardless of what our records look like.
When did the expectations of Michigan football get this low?I guess sometime in the late 2000s (late Carr/early RR) when it had gone a stretch of 8-10 years and we had only beaten them once. It has only gotten worse over time. I think JH is bringing back hope, but until we see a W in the record against OSU or we start beating them in the recruiting rankings I personally will remain skeptical of us reeling off a bunch of consecutive wins.
RR and Hoke were fried immediately (and it proved rightfully so), but JH gets nearly 5 years to start "regularly splitting" with OSU.I think if Hoke continued to produce 9+ win seasons as he did in his first year he would not have gotten fired. Hoke probably had a better first year than JH, but his W/L record got worse each year. JH's 2nd year team showed improvement over his first. Based on the roster you'd expect a slightly down year in 2017 by no fault of JH, but still probably 9ish wins. So, the difference so far between Hoke and JH is an upward trend with JH. RR is another story with lots of factors all over the map, but he probably just wasn't a good fit. I think as long as any coach keeps the floor at 8 wins and hits the 10+ mark every once in a while, beats MSU, remains competitive with OSU, and recruits well it's unlikely the coach would get fired. Hoke couldn't keep that going, so far JH has. FWIW JH has a track record at a higher level than Hoke did which also gives him more credibility.
sorry...having trouble here editing this danged block quote
March 21st, 2017 at 10:17 PM ^
Where do we go from there? We've got "our guy" who is, pretty much unanimously, among the best in the business. What then? How often does Michigan have to beat OSU for you to be satisfied?It's been so long since we've beaten OSU with any regularity, and so much has changed in college football since 2000 that it's hard to pinpoint the specifics as to why OSU is so much better than UM. But, from my perspective the main change is in recruiting as the dawn of the internet age, recruiting websites, social media, and 4 & 5-star HS football recruits becoming semi famous that has most changed. I feel like there was a time when a name brand school like UM could go into places like CA, TX, FL, AL, OH and recruit top 150-type kids. I think it has gotten much harder to do that than it used to be. That gives OSU a significant geographical advantage over UM in that there is more in-state talent in OH than in MI. Now, why is OSU so successful at pulling kids out of TX and UM is not? I don't have an answer for that. Obviously Meyer is a great coach and great recruiter, but so it Harbaugh, so why can Meyer do it, but Harbaugh can't? Not sure other than recent success. So, that part may take time. Saban can do it too, but Saban probably has the best recruiting we've ever seen since recruiting rankings became a thing. Back to the original question...how often does Michigan have to beat OSU for you to be satisfied? I think they have be competitive every game, so no blowouts. They should be able to hover at .500 in home games against OSU and they should be able to hover at .250 when playing in Columbus. So, if they win 1 out of every 2 home games and 1 out of every 4 away games over the course of a 10 year span that would equate roughly 4 wins. My hunch is although we will continue to recruit similarly to OSU, they will continue to slightly out-recruit UM. Over time UM will close the gap, but OSU will likely remain slightly more talented. That means UM will have to be significantly better at coaching and development in order to win more games. Since both programs have great coaching that seems unlikely. So, my guess is as long as these two coaches remain in their current positions starting in 2018, OSU will remain slightly more talented, will recruit slightly better, and OSU will retain a better winning percentage. So, I'd be happy if we get around .400 against them and it becomes a true rivalry. I don't see another win streak like we had in the 90s as long as OSU has a coach like Meyer in place.
March 21st, 2017 at 11:33 PM ^
when the results were so much better?
Michigan's going to send like 10 players to the NFL, and probably had one of the best defenses in Michigan history. The excuses about not beating OSU go out the window. They were completely ripe for the picking with a QB that had no clue how to throw the ball, and the team blew a 14-3 lead late in that game when OSU couldn't do a thing.
Don't project a loss to OSU next year. We'll be good and ready for them.
1) When both teams are good the games are usually (almost always??) close
2) Home field advantage (and home cooking from the refs) can be worth a lot, as we are unfortunately all too aware
3) TBD just how much rebuilding is needed -- a leap in QB play can make up for a lot and overall talent level and team speed seem to be better.
Can't wait for the reaction on this blog when Michigan has a O-line that creates room for its running backs late in games against good teams when it matters. Hopefully we'll see that next year. I'd like to think that it can't get much worse, but we all know it can -- and just a few years ago it was much much worse. And even then (under Hoke) Michigan still had it's chances to beat much better OSU teams -- once at home and once in Columbus.
Because they blew the doors off Michigan in the first year. And in year 2, Michigan probably had equal, if not more talent than OSU. That was a choke job.
It was an amazing game with two really good teams, both of which also had some weaknesses. Both teams were very evenly matched and ultimately UM came up short. That's sports. You don't win every game you're supposed to. Could UM have won that game?...of course. Does that make JH any less of a coach becasue they lost a close game on the road with really bad officiating?...I don't see how.
March 21st, 2017 at 10:20 PM ^
to read the Harbaugh articles. If the articles are getting old, my radical suggestion is to stop clicking on them. I love reading about this guy and will probably never get tired of it, even if we lose 4 games next year.
I have a better idea for you, go back and read about Michigan football from 2008-2014 to help you recover the memory loss that you clearly are suffering from. I remember those years very well and it gave me a kick in the ass that Michigan is not just automatically an elite team - that has to be earned each and every year.
I won't forget that the rest of my life and I will appreciate every bit of excitement and momentum that Harbaugh has brought us.
Relax man, way to go ahead and blow something BEYOND what I'm saying.
Since I know hot takes are the thing of the current generation, here's one for you. I'm sick of hearing about him hanging out with mr. peanut, or calling baseball games, or visiting Judge Judy. Win a championship. He had an INCREDIBLY talented team last year, and they finished THIRD IN THE DIVISION.
So, I know these stories get you excited, that's fine. Let me know when he wins something other than a fluff piece.
Yes, I'm excited about the direction of the program. Yes, I can tell they are better. But fans are going WAY too far in making excuses for him. There was such a massive opportunity to win a title last season, and he fell short. And when someone like myself actually questions things and doesn't buy the fact that it's okay we don't beat OSU until 2019 (?!?!), I get thrown under the shrine.
That talented team couldn't win 6 games in 2014 and that team had two high level NFL players (Clark and Ryan) and a QB that should have been pretty special if not for coaching incompetence.
I agree that he inherited some raw talent but that talent was going NOWHERE until he and his team came in.
My point was that you don't have to read the articles and comment on them if you don't care for them. Sometimes silence is the best response - sort of like me wasting my time responding to the UM whiner crowd. Lesson learned - this my last post :)
But it's truly hard to avoid, there are typically a few posts a day about things that have nothing to do with the football team.
I didn't mind them at first, I liked hearing some of these wacky stories. But for me at least, the grace period is over with them. It's just kind of white noise sadly.
March 21st, 2017 at 10:23 PM ^
March 21st, 2017 at 10:27 PM ^
So how was Bo ahead of Woody? Yeah okay he went 5-4-1 against him, but Woody had 5 national titles to Bo's 0.
I hate being that guy, but head to head does not tell the whole story.
2 of those 5 National Championships are absolutely mythical and I can destroy any OSU that challenges me on them.
OT: OSU fans like to talk about our "half National Championship" but that tells me they don't know their own history under Hayes.
Bo won the ten year war.
Forget the national titles. I was a student for six of those ten years, and had you asked the students or the alums whether beating Woody was more important that winning a national championship, I assure you the overwhelming choice would have been beating Woody.
If you search around you can find an interview with Bo where he explains that, while he never wanted to lose any game let alone a bowl game, he and his teams took far more joy from beating Ohio State than any other win in a season.
You're caught in changes in historical priorities. Beating OSU was the goal of any season. A bowl game win, while nice, was unimportant..