Exit Harbaugh: The Takes
Well: Jim Harbaugh decided to go out on top, at least as far as college goes. As you have no doubt already heard, he's taken the Chargers job. Michigan is already in the process of hiring Sherrone Moore and will have a press conference announcing it as soon as they can. Technically they're supposed to post the job for a week before they can hire anyone, but IIRC that's some sort of Department of Education diversity initiative and Sherrone Moore is about to be the first black head coach in program history, so they're applying for a waiver.
Let's get some h2 tags up in here.
This was probably inevitable
Harbaugh had flirted with the NFL the past two offseason and just culminated a nine-year career with three Big Ten titles and Michigan's first national title since 1997. He checked one of the items on his bucket list (a term popularized by the 2007 film Bucket List) and there are only two left: win a Super Bowl and beat Kathy Lee Gifford in an arm-wrestling contest. He cannot do the former at Michigan.
I don't think money really matters to Harbaugh, nor do I think he "needed to feel loved." He has more money than he knows what to do with. He mows his own lawn and one day I went into Home Depot and literally the first person I saw was Harbaugh, no doubt there to do some errand 99.999% of multi-millionaires delegate. And if the man wanted to feel loved and appreciated he would not be leaving a Michigan fanbase still in the outer stratosphere for an NFL team that almost literally has no fans.
I think the thought process went like this: can I win the Super Bowl here? Will they hire the GM I want? Will I have full control otherwise? The answer to the first is "yes, I am Jim Harbaugh." Once the answers to the latter two were also yes, Michigan could have given Harbaugh a fully guaranteed 16 million dollars a year and a rider that he gets to pull out every hair in Tony Petitti's eyebrows and it wouldn't have mattered.
This does not happen to other college coaches who win titles because the transition from one to the other almost never works. In the past 20 years there has been one coach who had an extended, successful college tenure after a successful NFL one. His name is Jim Harbaugh. Pete Carroll is the only other guy in the picture, and Carroll had a 33-31 NFL record before taking the Seahawks job. Is the NFL going to hire Dabo? In a word, lol. I remember what being an NFL coach did to Nick friggin' Saban. I would pay money to see Dabo coach an NFL team.
[AFTER THE JUMP: keep Herbert, keep Herbert, keep Herbert]
…but what are we doing here?
If you are trying to retain Jim Harbaugh and he is asking for something in his contract and you do not want to give it to him and then you end up giving it to him at the last second, what was the point of denying him the thing in the first place?
— John U. Bacon (@Johnubacon) January 25, 2024
It is true that Harbaugh was probably gone no matter what Michigan did; it's also true that Warde Manuel doesn't come out of this looking particularly good.
Meanwhile, the impending hire of Moore is another on-rails decision for a guy who's barely had to make a decision in his tenure. The timing of John Beilein's departure meant that the college coaching carousel was already done and Juwan Howard was more or less the only reasonably appealing option available. Brandon Naurato was hired as an interim largely because Manuel dithered for months about whether he should fire Mel Pearson. It's a very strange situation in that the athletic director receives neither merits nor demerits for the performance of Michigan's three most important sports.
The one actual decision Manuel can be credited with is not firing Harbaugh after the COVID year, but isn't that just more of the same inaction? Anyway.
Sherrone Moore is the right decision-type substance
[Barron]
It's the end of January and Kalen DeBoer got sniped by Alabama mere moments before all this started going down. Assuming that Dan Lanning is untouchable (and he turned down Bama, so… yeah), who's out there that has a compelling case? It says something that Feldman's list of non-Moore candidates is three guys long: Lance Leipold, Chris Kleiman, and Brian Kelly. You've got two guys around 60 piloting B12 programs to good but not unassailable heights and an obvious nonstarter.
If Michigan could have gotten DeBoer, I'm listening. In lieu of a stone-cold lock sort, continuing the program momentum with Moore makes the most sense. The culture around the program is better than it ever has been and I don't think it's a coincidence that the arrows started pointing all the way up when Moore started become a larger and larger factor.
Promoting Moore should help Michigan fend off the portal pirates that decimated Alabama's roster, and the fact that he's 37 instead of 62 (Leipold) or 56 (Kleiman) gives Moore huge long-term upside. Also, the last guy who was an internal hire in the aftermath of Harbaugh started off with four 11+ win seasons in his first five years. David Shaw tailed off badly at the end of his tenure but kept the Harbaugh train rolling for a long time. One of Harbaugh's biggest assets was hiring coaches. (Note: not "recruiting" analysts.) Let the man cook.
Oooh: minor searchbits time
Michigan isn't going to undergo a month-long will-he-or-won't he Harbaugh chase this time around (RIP our coaching search traffic) but his exit is going to cause some additional departures amongst the staff. Josh Henschke of Rivals asserts that Harbaugh is going to take Jesse Minter and Jay Harbaugh with him, which would create a total of four openings since Chris Partridge was not permanently replaced after his firing.
If nothing else changes, that means Michigan needs an offensive coordinator, a defensive coordinator, an OL coach, a LB coach, and fill-in-the-blank.
OL is pretty easy: Grant Newsome is already the TE coach and will probably slide over.
DC is conceptually easy: find the most Ravens guy around. John Harbaugh tossed a couple of up-and-comers Michigan's way, which worked out great for everyone involved. Let's keep doing that. Zach Orr looks like a potential candidate. Orr played for the Ravens as a UDFA out of North Texas was second team All-Pro in his third year, then had to retire due to a congenital spine injury. He immediately became a Ravens defensive analyst, then popped over to the Jaguars for a year as their OLB coach before returning to coach LBs at Baltimore. He has the same profile as Macdonald, except he was also an All-Pro LB. The other Ravens-adjacent guy is D'Anton Lynn, who USC just poached from UCLA. Normally you don't get guys jumping before they even play a game, but maybe you could poke Lynn with a stick, show him the defensive rosters of USC and Michigan, and induce a move.
Lots of people are mentioning Jim Leonhard, who was a very successful DC at Wisconsin until Paul Chryst got fired and Wisconsin install him as a mid-season interim, clearly with an eye towards giving him the full-time gig. Instead they pivoted amongst lots of rumors that Leonhard had stabbed Chryst in the back, and when that didn't work he got a job at Illinois. As an analyst. After their DC left to be Purdue's head coach. I have is-this-dude-a-good-dude questions. Maybe this is spurious, sure.
OC is one of those things where Michigan might internally promote Campbell and lean on Moore. In that case you'd need a QB coach. LB/QB/whatever position coaches could be anyone. I would like to offer Courtney Morgan whatever he wants to come back.
Herbert?
Once the Harbaugh-to-the-NFL train started rolling in earnest the biggest question on most people's minds was Wither Ben Herbert? Herbert is the highest-paid S&C coach in America and the NFL does not really have equivalent jobs, as most players have their own personal trainer. There are conflicting reports here, with Henschke asserting he expects Herbert back and Feldman tweeting that "the expectation is that Harbaugh brings Herbert with him." Nick Baumgardner knows the ins and outs of all of this and seemed skeptical of that one:
Ben Herbert makes seven figures at Michigan as S&C coach.
— Nick Baumgardner (@nickbaumgardner) January 25, 2024
That is not, to my knowledge, what NFL S&C coaches make. In fact, just about every player on your team has his own trainer. So. That's ... we'll see about that one.
If Michigan can't keep Herbert when NFL S&C jobs are basically nonexistent—quick, name the most famous NFL S&C coach—then it is time to put Manuel in the rocket and fire him into the sun.
January 25th, 2024 at 5:27 PM ^
I highly doubt it. Ono wouldn't let that slide. Harbaugh wanted to go, so be it.
January 25th, 2024 at 2:07 PM ^
As soon as the leaks came out I texted my buddy, "This means Harbaugh is gone."
It was an obvious PR move by Michigan to say, "see, we did all we could!!!!!"
Even when they didn't.
January 25th, 2024 at 2:37 PM ^
No. That's Manuel CYA to the max. Look we gave him everything to keep him (after he accepted another job)!
January 25th, 2024 at 5:00 PM ^
I think it was Michigan playing CYA, so it could come back to he fanbase and say "Well, we tried."
I'm not sure there's much Michigan could've done to keep Harbaugh in Ann Arbor. They can't offer him the one thing he really wants at this stage in his career, which is a Super Bowl trophy. But by the same token, it sure feels like there is A LOT Michigan could've done to at least make the decision a lot tougher for Harbaugh.
Again, my gut tells me he would've left no matter what, but it feels like Michigan could've done a lot more to at least make him think long and hard about it. I think once the Chargers gave him whatever it is that he asked for, there was no decision-making left on Harbaugh's end.
January 25th, 2024 at 5:25 PM ^
No it was 100 percent a CYA move to try to appease Mich fans: We offered everything he wanted, don't blame us.
edit-didn't see the above, sorry for the redundancy
January 25th, 2024 at 12:57 PM ^
I'd like Mike Elston to get a shot at the DC opportunity.
January 25th, 2024 at 1:12 PM ^
When did Elston work for the Ravens?
I'm pretty determined to try to keep this thing rolling as best we can, and that seems to be working...🤷♂️
January 25th, 2024 at 2:38 PM ^
This is a question for someone smarter than me… but Jesse Minter had four years with the Ravens, but only one as the official DB coach. He obviously had tons of College DC experience.
Clinkscale has three years in the system under McDonald and Minter. Elston has two years in the system.
So, is 2-3 years in a system enough to fully grasp it? I get that not everyone has the knack for calling plays. But how much more experience do you need in the system? Or is there a major advantage to coaching with the Ravens instead of for Michigan (as far as calling plays at Michigan)?
I do want there to be one or two gray hairs on the staff for a young coach like Sherrone, but if Clink shows the aptitude for calling the defense, I don’t think he’s at a disadvantage for not coaching with the Ravens.
January 25th, 2024 at 3:08 PM ^
I think Elston is overqualified for his current role.
He was on Michigan's staff for both National Championships, has been an Asst. Head Coach (2x), Co-DC, coached DL, LB's & Special Teams. He has coached in New Year's Six Bowl Games, BCS National Championships and CFP Championships.
January 25th, 2024 at 3:43 PM ^
I thought one reason Elston came to Michigan from ND was he was passed over for DC at ND. The consensus then was "this guy should be a P5 DC, at a good program." It's an embarrassment of riches.
January 25th, 2024 at 7:14 PM ^
Uh oh. If he doesn't get the job here, does he bolt ?
January 25th, 2024 at 1:02 PM ^
“Wither Ben Herbert?” I don’t think Herbert, nor anyone he trains, is capable of withering.
January 25th, 2024 at 1:03 PM ^
CFB isn't what it used to be:
-Lack of divisions that make sense
-NIL/Transfer Portal
Jim was suspended for 6 games! No one can blame him for leaving.
January 25th, 2024 at 1:13 PM ^
Can you imagine
- being suspended for three games for allegedly lying about cheeseburgers (while OSU is just paying people millions of dollars)
- being suspended for an additional three games by Chief Rube Tony Pettiti despite not being directly implicated in anythig
- And then the general annoyance of NIL, portal, and working 365 days a year
Thanks for a great nine years Jim. I'd leave too
January 25th, 2024 at 1:25 PM ^
That's quite a list of reasons to leave but the original promise by Jim was kept, to win the national title, despite all of the bullsh!t happened this season alone.
January 25th, 2024 at 4:56 PM ^
Actually I think the original promise was I'll give you 7 years before starting to look at the NFL and he did exactly that, we even got a couple more years out of it.
January 25th, 2024 at 2:07 PM ^
Seriously, which would you prefer to manage, a roster where players agree to legally binding contracts, or one in which anyone who loses a position battle can immediately quit the team and go to any other team who wants him? The NFL sounds less stressful
January 25th, 2024 at 3:32 PM ^
The NFL also has a true off season.
January 25th, 2024 at 2:25 PM ^
And even after being suspended for six games in 2023, he might possibly have faced additional penalties in 2024, given that both investigations remain unresolved - and thanks to the NCAA's new provision that any Level I violation committed by a member of a program is assigned to the head coach.
January 25th, 2024 at 1:05 PM ^
This article is full of reasonable takes, based on facts. What a refreshing change, after reading so many ludicrous comments on the message boards in recent days.
January 25th, 2024 at 1:08 PM ^
Just "in recent days"? I'm guessing that you don't much visit the game threads, the original home of shitty takes.
January 25th, 2024 at 1:50 PM ^
Who visits the game threads? I'm being serious -- I haven't visited one in at least 5 years.
They are uniformly awful, at least for college sports. Dregs of humanity type stuff.
January 25th, 2024 at 2:19 PM ^
I do because it gives me something to do during the 1,000 commercial breaks per game. I can only go to the bathroom or get a new drink so many times during the game.
January 25th, 2024 at 4:02 PM ^
If you drink more and faster you can do more of both.
January 25th, 2024 at 4:35 PM ^
Every now and them I stick my head in because I missed something; why do we have the ball suddenly? What happened to this or that player? I thought that was an incompletion/sack/whatever?
Every time, I regret it.
January 25th, 2024 at 1:22 PM ^
There has been a flood of new threads, like more than one per hour ever since the signgate sh!t hit the fan back in late October. We can only hope that it slows down a bit after all of the dominoes fall at Schembechler Hall. Get used to it, we are just getting started.
January 25th, 2024 at 3:27 PM ^
As someone who's been around here since 2010, Michigan getting good and the influx of users that I'm guessing it created has absolutely had a negative effect on the quality of the message board.
January 25th, 2024 at 1:06 PM ^
Give us more Ravens coach for DC. If that's Orr then hell yeah.
January 25th, 2024 at 1:31 PM ^
Give us mOrr Ravens
January 25th, 2024 at 1:07 PM ^
A name I'd at least like to kick around to add to staff is Brennan Carrol. He was Jedd Fisch's OC at Arizona the last 2 years and followed him to Washington. I'd assume we could give him a pay bump if it came to that. I don't want Sherrone to have to call plays and the only offensive coach that I think has any experience calling plays is Kirk Campbell. I don't have a problem promoting him to passing game coordinator and giving him a big pay bump, but I'd prefer to have an experienced play caller that isn't also our Head Coach.
January 25th, 2024 at 1:07 PM ^
Sorry about your coaching search traffic.
I'm doing my best to keep it up with assistant coaching search traffic.
January 25th, 2024 at 1:07 PM ^
Glad to see we have cast dispersion on the “feel the love” and the “contract language” BS. Harbaugh wanted to leave, so here we are.
Saying some guys aren’t great candidates for the HC job because of age is laughable though. What’s the average tenure for a head coach in the power 5 conferences? It’s very unlikely age is going to be the limiting factor in someone’s tenure if they are 60 yo. Even if Moore lights it up, you really think he’ll be here more than 5 or 6 years before bolting for the NFL? No.
January 25th, 2024 at 1:18 PM ^
Some guys are just college coaches. It's what they love doing. Sherrone may be one of those guys.
But we won't know that until we know if he's so good we want to keep him!
After year 3 it probably looked like a great idea for Stanford to extend David Shaw for 10 more years. It wasn't...
January 25th, 2024 at 1:32 PM ^
"Even if Moore lights it up, you really think he’ll be here more than 5 or 6 years before bolting for the NFL? No"
Sherron Moore is desired by the NFL after displaying tremendous coaching acumen over 5 years at Michigan.
Then we will win the lottery and complain about the taxes.
January 25th, 2024 at 1:45 PM ^
If we didn't have such an obvious candidate in Sherrone, I think that Jaybaugh would have been a very strong choice.
Being a good head coach is all about being a great executive with a good football mind. Look at the stock he comes from. Grandpa, dad and uncle all experienced elite success. I think Jaybaugh's got "it".
January 25th, 2024 at 2:13 PM ^
I'd prefer JayBaugh over Moore or Minter TBH. HC is more of CEO than anything and I'm not convinced the others are more than really good coordinators. JayBaugh has moved around and managed multiple positions to success.
Moore doesn't seem to have the cult of personality (ie weirdness) to be a great HC. I hope I'm wrong.
I also hope they hire some people specifically for recruiting. Complete BS Michigan fired Partridge as he'd be really helpful right about now.
January 25th, 2024 at 2:24 PM ^
I think keeping Sherrone probably makes the most sense in this unique situation where continuity of culture is of foremost importance. I worry that Michigan too often makes the sentimental hire (see: Hoke, Juwan) but if they can see he has the goods to be an elite head coach then I'm fine with it. First-time head coaches have indeed had a lot of recent success.
I do think Leipold is a home run hire for whoever gets him long-term (which may be Kansas). He's done an A++ job at every stop, and while he hasn't made the playoff or anything, getting Kansas to the point where they are beating Texas and Oklahoma and easily getting to bowls verges on miraculous.
BTW Leipold is 59 right now (younger than Jim, actually), not 62.
January 25th, 2024 at 1:07 PM ^
Herbert is the key. Stanford kept it going UNTIL they fired Turley (still don’t quite understand the why).
I do hope Moore moves Bellamy back to defense and brings in a new WR coach. We need a spark there. Otherwise, I liked Campbell’s play calling in the opener so that seems fine.
January 25th, 2024 at 1:18 PM ^
It sounds like there will be A LOT of news coming out of Schembechler Hall these next few days and weeks.
January 25th, 2024 at 1:21 PM ^
I'm a firm believer that the only "spark" the WRs need is targets!
Even after his superlative 2023 season, capped by huge, game saving catches vs bama, Roman Wilson is still being downplayed as a prospect.
Why? Because the theory must be if he was so good they'd have thrown to him more?! That's a logical fallacy even our own board posters are falling victim to!
January 25th, 2024 at 3:33 PM ^
All they have to do is look at Nico Collins to see that, uh, being awesome does not necessarily mean you will get the ball more here. Massively insufficient chucking it to Nico in 2019.
January 25th, 2024 at 1:46 PM ^
I liked what I saw from Campbell as well in the opener.
January 25th, 2024 at 2:59 PM ^
I loved what I saw in the opener.
ECU caveats apply of course. But half of having good offense is intending to have good offense.
January 25th, 2024 at 3:01 PM ^
Same, and I have said so on here. Campbell as OC might be an improvement over Moore as OC. I say might because Campbell did it against a non-conference opponent. More data is needed, but I'd like to see him get a shot.
January 25th, 2024 at 1:10 PM ^
More Ravens connected DCs…yes please.
January 25th, 2024 at 2:09 PM ^
Is it worth it to bring in someone who has never been a defensive coordinator who only coached with the Ravens for a year as opposed to promoting someone like Clinkscale who has now been in the system for three years?
Unless they come with a glowing recommendation from Minter of Macdonald I'm skeptical of taking someone with no defensive coordinator experience who hasn't actually spent much time with the Ravens (which is the case for someone like Orr).
January 25th, 2024 at 2:16 PM ^
If we're okay with promoting someone who has never been a HC to HC, we should very much be okay with promoting someone to a coordinator role who has never been a coordinator.
That said, Clink should probably get a co-coordinator deal.
January 25th, 2024 at 3:57 PM ^
You do realize that Orr has been with the Ravens almost as long as McDonald right? He was on staff for several years before taking a LB coach job with the Jaguars, and then being immediately hired back by Baltimore.
January 25th, 2024 at 2:28 PM ^
It seems what we need is a DC who can run the McDonald/Minter system effectively. Doesn’t have to be a guy from the Ravens if someone on the current defensive staff has mastered the system and can run it. That might even be better from a continuity standpoint.
January 25th, 2024 at 3:01 PM ^
You can't just run it though, you also have to call it in-game. Minter made lots of adjustments on the fly during the heat of battle. He didn't get "got" very much. He kept a step ahead.
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