ND fans expect us to turn on Harbaugh after he goes 9-4
It's always interesting perusing the college football blogosphere and seeing what other fans think of our situation with Harbaugh. Obviously most of the time it is negative. We all know that Michigan creates ire everywhere just by being Michigan, and that is doubly compounded by Harbaugh.
Notre Dame has always struck me as an odd animal for offering criticism. Eric Murtaugh, a longtime ND blogger and noted M-hater from One Foot Down, has a new blog called 18 stripes, and never misses a chance to rip on M.
Excerpt from one of his more recent posts:
2017 seems like the year a long honeymoon starts ending for Harbaugh in Ann Arbor – expectations for year three will still be extremely high despite massive turnover on both sides of the ball. The schedule isn’t kind to the Wolverines either – they open in Dallas against Florida and down the stretch face road games at Happy Valley and Camp Randall before hosting Ohio State.
Michigan has recruited well enough that the floor remains high, but a step back even to 9-4 could start bending perceptions of Harbaugh from “crazy genius” back toward “just insane”.
This is a common thread among ND writers/fans. I've seen it from MSU and OSU fans too, but on this particular occasion I've limited my perusing to Irish corners.
Following is some additional noteworthy commentary. (Sources at the bottom)
You have to hand it to Michigan. There was no one - at least, no one who wasn't living in the fantasy land known as Ann Arbor - who genuinely believed that Harbaugh would leave the NFL for Michigan, even if it was his alma mater. The Wolverines were abysmal following the 2014 season, where they fell to 5-7 amidst blowouts, a concussion scandal, and the resignation of the athletic director - the very definition of a college football tire fire. Why would any coach with options walk into that?
Then when you realize Harbaugh is actually insane by clinical definitions it becomes easier to understand why he took the job. Of course, that won't stop the fans from eating him alive when he loses a third straight time to Ohio State. All the goodwill Harbaugh has built up from his two seasons will vanish come 4 p.m. on November 25th.
When does the Harbaugh honeymoon end?
The answer is obvious: 2017. Harbaugh is the only Michigan coach besides Rich Rodriguez to fail to beat the Buckeyes in his first two seasons. It's hard to see a triumphant Michigan squad succeed this year, either. They return so little that the losses spell doom for the Wolverines so much it could result in a 9-win season. That will prompt the very real grumbles from Michigan fans that Harbaugh isn't the right guy after all. The so-called Maize and Blue faithful can only take the abuse from Urban Meyer for so long before they decide it's time for a change.
Notre Dame only wishes it could play Michigan this year, when the Wolverines' loss of so many starters means the chance of a crushing defeat at the hands of the Irish would be surprisingly favorable. Alas, they'll have to wait until 2018, when the Wolverines will be a title contender.
Will Harbaugh still be the coach by then? Keep your eye on the game against Ohio State at noon on November 25. If the Wolverines lose that one (again), Harbaugh might just be given his walking papers, even if he's 11-1. Common sense tells us to never underestimate the delusional arrogance of Michigan fans.
In other news, Notre Dame went 4-8 last season.
Sources:
https://www.18stripes.com/
https://irishsportsdaily.com/
http://notredame.247sports.com/
If we fire Harbaugh for going 11-1 but losing to OSU this year, I will quit following Michigan football. That's how mad I would be, and how certain I am it's not happening.
not happen. He could go 8-4 this year and lose to OSU and the word "fire" would be never be discussed about Harbaugh. That being said, as a hypothetical, how many more consecutive years could we lose to Ohio State before you really had to think this through? It is interesting as just food for thought. I think Harbaugh is pretty close to the most untouchable coach in college football given the early returns and how much love he as from the fan base and alumni, but certainly there are some expectations when it comes to Ohio State, right?
What if Harbaugh loses his first four games to Ohio State? Five? When would you not be cool with anymore? It can't be that long, right.
is why I just posed it as a hypothetical. It may be that we beat them this year and it becomes a non-issue, but it is just interesting to think about. Right now, it seems nearly implausible to ever consider such a discussion, but as quickly as two more losses to OSU without a win and it would probably start to get a little foggy.
I guess you don't remember the 2 coach searches following LC's retirement.
"You can probably have any coach in the country not named Saban or Meyer."
I predict we'll start hearing chatter this season we lose to OSU again. Not anything remotely close Harbaugh being fired, but the pressure and the temperture in the room will start to rise.
I love Harbaugh, but people were over the moon here about how Dantonio would never win against Michigan again, and we'd be 50/50 vs OSU AT WORST! blah blah blah
Those were'nt realistic expectations, but i don;'t think the possibility of going 3rd in the B1G East division for the 3rd time in a row (if it happens) can be seen as anything other than "not meeting expectations".
Grounds for firing? of course not, not even if this team went 5-7. They ARE young, have a tough schedule, and OSU is reloading as usual.
But grumbling? After 3 years? Damn right I'd be grumbling.
It's funny how the goalposts move.
"Hoke was a great recruiter, & we've got NFL coaches now so Harbaugh can win right away!" (15)
"Harbaugh just needs to get some of his young talent in to mix with the seniors but all elite coaches win big in their 2nd year" (16)
"We really can't judge Harbaugh until he has at least 4 years of recruiting his guys" . . (17?)
We lost them both, but you can't come much closer than MSU in '15 and OSU in '16 from MIchigan being 2-0 against MSU and 1-1 against OSU.
There's no one better out there to coach Michigan football than Jim Harbaugh. For all intents and purposes we beat Ohio State last season, so he's shown (not that he needed to prove it to anyone) that he knows how to beat an Urban team.
The hard reality is that Ohio State just has a better program than us right now. They've always had a structural advantage over U-M being the only school in a talent-rich state. Now add to that the momentum of championship seasons behind one of the best coaches in history and ridiculous recruiting classes. We have a long road to catch up, and Harbaugh may lose to them a bunch more times, but anyone else in his shoes would lose worse.
Honestly, the best thing that could happen for us in the rivalry is for Cincinnati to join the Big Ten and start playing like gangbusters.
for there to be real discussions/chances of going in another direction, and even then, to Magnum P.I's point, I just don't see how we get anyone that gives us a better chance unless somehow his recruiting drops off or he isn't winning other games (both highly unlikely).
This year is a slight rebuild year with low numbers of juniors and seniors thanks to poor recruiting classes in 2014 and 2015. A loss would hurt, but wouldn't be terrible and certainly not enough to get on the hot seat (assuming we win 8-9 other games).
Next season is at OSU so again, hard to expect us to beat them. Losing there would put tremendous pressure on 2019, though.
These two recent classes will be juniors and seniors so we'll be stacked with upperclassmen plus several QBs on the roster that Harbaugh has picked and groomed. The game is at home. If he starts 0-4, that game is nearly a must win. And he'd be the first to say that. No one would be more devastated with an 0-5 start than him.
Let's make it all moot and win this season. We have a good shot at home.
OSU has a huge head start on Harbaugh. My expectations for him to beat them won't start until he has a roster full of his own recruits, who have only been coached by him and his staff. I would say the earliest this would be is 2018. From that season on I would expect us to start winning our share against them.
As long as he also wins at least 9 regular season I don't see any rational fan wanting to get rid of him.
Sooooo much this. If any legit fan starts calling for his head before he has had 5 recruiting classes they should be castrated.
How does he lose those games? Is his team injury plagued? Are they non-competitive? Are they like last year - ohh so friggen close on the road?
Put some context into the discussion for it to be 'realistically' played out. But for my money, unless his teams are totally non-competitive (like RR and Hoke) I'm sticking with the guy...
Yep, I think that ND blogger has completely misread the UM fan base.
7 years of mediocre coaching has humbled the fanbase a bit. And we've witnessed what bad football looks like. The only way people grouse in any serious manner on Harbaugh is if we start seeing bad football (excepting for mistakes of young players, obviously).
With the kind of coaches Harbaugh has brought in, I don't expect to see any bad football on M's part for some time. Irrespective of the record, if M's teams play hard with good fundamentals and some creative playcalling, I don't expect any serious complaints from the fanbase.
And we all know elite coaches are very rare and there's no guarantee of getting one. We can look back at ND to see that. And we didn't even want Kelly.
actually has more meaning than it used because except in the most unusual of situations, we will not be able to win the division/play in the BTCG/play in the playoff without winning that game. Even in the BCS era, we could win a share and/or go the Rose Bowl and the season was considered a success even with an OSU loss. Now, success or failure will pretty much annually depend entirely on that game. Really, the result of that game and the result of our season will be one in the same.
serious? The entire point of my post was to ask when, and if, fans would start to question Harbaugh with regard to his record against Ohio State. I did not even say that I would. You either really bad at reading or you are just looking for conflict. Either way, you suck.
(And you are out of your mind if you think that the BIG will send a non-division winner to the playoff anytime soon. That idea died with Ohio State this year).
"Even in the BCS era, we could win a share and/or go the Rose Bowl and the season was considered a success even with an OSU loss."
No season, regardless of win in a bowl, in which Michigan lost to OSU was considered a success. Perhaps it could be considered a decent season or one that raised hopes for next year, but a successful season reqired a win against OSU. That hasn't changed.
That said. I'm quite pleased by the progress the team has made under Harbaugh, and plan to give him at least through 2020 to establish Michigan at the top of the Big Ten. If we can get back to 50/50 with OSU and making the playoffs every couple of years and a NC every four or five years I'll be ecstatic.
Sure. The 'fan' that tweeted threats after the '15 MSU loss was a 14 yo kid. Social media pretty much guarantees that any nutjob who can't control himself can yell loud enough for someone to hear.
The people the AD listen to are the big $$ boosters and former players. The latter group knows when there's a good effort and when there isn't, and they're solidly in Harbaugh's corner.
As for us, people who get out of line get sent to Bolivia.
Of all the things ive read my entire 27.5 years of being alive that was the most ignorant piece of shit these eyes have scanned
Nope
If we go 0-10 against Ohio State I will assume no one else could have done any better and hope Harbaugh stays another 10 years so he can even the record. I can't fathom anyone doing a better job here.
The real question should be why hasn't Notre Dame fired Brian Kelly for going 4-8 last year?
Anyone who talks about firing a coach just for going 9-4 is off their gourd. I don't care what the pre-season expectations are from the talking heads.
Wishful thinking on their part. ND seems to think that other blueblood schools suffer the same as them. It's probably difficult for them to come to grips with the idea that M football pulled itself from a hole to ascend again, while they remain mired in their own pit of mediocrity.
The more Harbaugh succeeds, the more pressure it will put on Kelly to match him.
paying Charlie Weis.
I would follow him to Hell and back carrying gasoline cans. Why our car would necessarily run out of gas near Hell, Michigan is beyond me however. Perhaps we stopped to pick up recruits after midnight or something.
Just......WOW.....
Notre Dame's, and also the curse of a lot of haters on this board's curse too.
I, for one, am glad to see you posting here again!
Speak for yourself, not the board. I am also glad WD is back. So, at least "for two".
For three and Ricky Spanish just assholed himself into the autoneg category.
They did NOT win their last major bowl game in 2006, liar! :-D
You said they last won a major one a year before you were born. If they won a major one in 2006, that means you were born in 2007 and are 10.