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 1:51 PM ^
I can't help to believe that the persecution by the ncaa and big10 not only made his decision easier, but probably was the main reason for leaving.
January 25th, 2024 at 3:10 PM ^
This.
"Screw the NCAA and the Big Ten. I'll just go coach football and maybe do something I haven't done yet."
Not that there aren't nitwits in the NFL, mind you. Still.
January 25th, 2024 at 1:52 PM ^
Warde has had his share of missteps, sure, but I just don't see him being to blame for anything that's happened with Harbaugh. Yes, Angelique is definitely one of the better sports reporters out there, but I don't buy that report. It's either false information planted by someone with an axe to grind or missing crucial details that would paint a different picture.
If Harbaugh was going to leave no matter what Michigan did, then that's really the end of the discussion. If anything, I give Warde credit for sticking with Harbaugh in 2020 and restructuring his contract to light a fire under him (even if it came at the expense of the relationship) when so many were calling for his head.
The writing was on the wall when Harbaugh interviewed with the Vikings back in 2021 and admitted afterwards that he wanted to win a Super Bowl. And his departure became a foregone conclusion the moment the clock hit 00:00 in the NCG. It is what it is. He gave us absolutely everything we wanted. Time to wish him luck and move on.
January 25th, 2024 at 1:55 PM ^
On Leonard: I'm not saying hire him, but the reddit CFB board has said the reason he is at Illinois is he doesn't want to uproot his family. They like it in Madison, he's an analyst during the week and sees them the rest of the time. Him and Bert have a history together and there are finite jobs commutable to Madison in his line of work, Illinois analyst is one.
January 25th, 2024 at 2:03 PM ^
Show us on the doll where the cheeseburgers hurt you.
January 25th, 2024 at 2:06 PM ^
Here’s a hot take … Jim Harbaugh wanted the NFL and a Super Bowl Championship… deal with it !!!
January 25th, 2024 at 2:11 PM ^
Quibble with Brian re Warde: Most reporting indicates -- and business protocol dictates -- that the negotiations were largely handled by lawyers and overseen by Santa. Warde is neither a lawyer nor the final voice on big-ticket contract negotiations. Such matter are almost always the purview of lawyers and corporate honchos worried about legal loopholes and dicey contractual precedents. That's a common misconception made by fans (and Brian). If there was a contractual hangup, it's because someone on the business/legal side was balking. I very seriously doubt the hangup was Warde Manuel.
January 25th, 2024 at 2:17 PM ^
Or someone didn't want to take the risk. The lawyers give you the info, you make the decision. This was ultimately a Warde/Ono call and they didn't make it until very late. Still doubtful he stays but it's a bad look.
January 25th, 2024 at 6:00 PM ^
It's not a misconception in the college sports world where the norm is that the AD hires and fires the coaches and negotiates their contracts at least as to the bullet points -annual compensation, duration, and special provisions. The lawyers are there to assist and facilitate to make sure that the intentions of the parties are reflected in the appropriate language.
January 25th, 2024 at 2:11 PM ^
i see your point, but i dunno man i can't see the regents approving a harbaugh / kathy lee arm wrestling match
January 25th, 2024 at 2:14 PM ^
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.
Eh, I don't think love from the fanbase is what people were talking about. (I doubt Harbaugh's spending time on internet message boards or listening to sports talk radio.) The issue was more about feeling support from his superiors. He lost that support in San Francisco and while it certainly didn't get to that point here, U-M did seem to hedge its bets regarding the NCAA and Big Ten, twice giving in to demands to suspend Harbaugh and initially balking at inserting the immunity clause in the contract.
When you've gone through two suspensions already (preventing you from coaching your best team for 40% of the season) while still potentially facing more punishment, and your school is hesitant to fully secure your status in the face of said punishment ... if you weren't already leaning towards leaving, that probably would push you over the edge.
January 25th, 2024 at 3:05 PM ^
twice giving in to demands to suspend Harbaugh
I've never been a fan of Manuel (including for reasons that aren't specific to Harbaugh) but I think he deserves some latitude on the suspensions inasmuch as they were imposed in part to forestall even greater penalties that could have truly wrecked the season.
My contempt for the NCAA and the BIG means my gut instinct was to openly fight any penalties and effectively tell both orgs to go fuck themselves, but taking that route was certainly not risk-free for both Harbaugh himself and for the entire Michigan program.
And from an institutional standpoint, it's just not in the University of Michigan's institutional DNA to do things that way anyhow, for better or worse.
January 25th, 2024 at 3:49 PM ^
This. Not to mention, we simply don't know if he had any role in actively minimizing the suspensions. The Big Ten could easily have kept Harbaugh from coaching at all during those three weeks, for instance, or suspended him for the Big Ten Championship Game, or even deducted wins!
The hatred for Warde is so strong here that he gets blamed for everything that goes wrong, but I think people here have convinced themselves so utterly that Signgate was nonsense that they genuinely don't accept the pressure the Big Ten Commissioner was under to do something.
The fact that the action Petini ended up taking did not derail our national championship season was incredibly fortunate for us, it seems to me, and you could just as easily credit Warde for convincing him to go light as blame Warde for the suspension in the first place.
I'm not saying which is the truth. I have no idea. But damn, the amount of shade the guy gets for overseeing a freaking National Championship season is astounding.
(For that matter, the extent of the anger this board has at our athletic director, despite our football team having won a National Championship, is pretty amazing. Man, just imagine how much more successful the football team would have been these past three years without Warde's interference! They would have ... um ... they would have ... um ...).
But I know, I know. Everything that good that happened happened despite Warde, and everything bad that happened happened because of him. Right.
January 25th, 2024 at 5:25 PM ^
Sure, it's understandable enough why U-M made those decisions. The school was playing the long game and didn't want to go scorched earth on the NCAA/Big Ten.
But from Harbaugh's perspective, it had to be a very bitter pill to swallow to not only be suspended twice, but have his own school have a hand in it.
January 25th, 2024 at 2:18 PM ^
Serious question, what does Steve Clinkscale do? He's listed as defensive passing game coordinator for the past three seasons and co-DC for the last two, yet he only gets a passing mention for the DC spot. Is he not an integral part of game planning? Obviously I'd prefer to keep the band together, but if Minter leaves, I would assume Clink has absorbed just as much of the Ravens strategy as somebody like Zach Orr.
January 25th, 2024 at 2:18 PM ^
Jay Harbaugh's loss big on Special Teams. That unit has been pretty good, especially kicking and punting and fun blocks and tricks. I hope they can find somebody with high attention to detail and creativity there.
January 25th, 2024 at 2:24 PM ^
Like I’ve been saying, if the absolute smartest thing is to do nothing, Warde Manuel will do that. So he’s not the worst. (Dave Brandon was the worst.)
But if you need real initiative and leadership, he will still do nothing.
Harbaugh was probably gone either way but boy was the effort to keep him underwhelming.
January 25th, 2024 at 2:26 PM ^
Why not Hart as OC?
January 25th, 2024 at 9:21 PM ^
He interviewed for the Indiana HC position. I think he's looking to make the jump to become head honcho. Maybe OC isn't something he's interested in? If Moore named him OC, you'd get no complaints from me.
January 25th, 2024 at 2:33 PM ^
Most famous NFL S&C coach: Matt Rhea, New Orleans.
January 25th, 2024 at 2:35 PM ^
It’s possible that making Warde look bad on his way out was another item on Harbaugh’s bucket list.
January 25th, 2024 at 2:44 PM ^
I am a simple man, but if i were offered a million dollars+ to take a job at Michigan and live in Ann Arbor, I would die of happiness.
January 25th, 2024 at 2:44 PM ^
"Harbaugh is going to take Jesse Minter...the expectation is that Harbaugh brings Herbert with him."
Harbaugh: "I'll always love Michigan...it'll have a special place in my heart. Go Blue!"
Also Harbaugh: "Oh, and I'm taking two of the most important Michigan assistants with me. Byeeee."
January 25th, 2024 at 2:46 PM ^
Swim lanes and search bits
January 25th, 2024 at 2:54 PM ^
Maybe Feldman is confused and thinks that Justin Herbert is the same as Ben Herbert?
January 25th, 2024 at 2:54 PM ^
Hope Mike Hart stays on the staff too...
January 25th, 2024 at 7:17 PM ^
Agreed. But if he's not at least a Co-coordinator I could see him leaving
January 25th, 2024 at 3:05 PM ^
Certainly Jaybaugh is tired of working for his dad, right? I mean, at least ready for a little break? Seems like he's due for a coordinator title.
January 25th, 2024 at 3:05 PM ^
I don't think Jim's departure is as much "Warde wouldn't stand up for me to the NCAA and B1G" than it was his last, best chance to grab an NFL job where he:
1. Had a young franchise-quality QB
2. Actually got some if not full say in who his boss (GM) would be - he's learned from the SF situation with Baalke (plus backstabbing Tomsula)
3. A hungry owner looking to get some traction in a "foreign" market (sorry, the Bolts will always be a SD team to me)
4. Win the Lombardi - or die trying
I've made it my point to not fall into the BPONE on this situation - watching the big wins on YouTube has been a great enjoyment.
Jim - good luck and thanks for that NC trophy!
January 25th, 2024 at 3:10 PM ^
I will continue to push back against JUB and co. publishing comments from Harbaugh's attorneys about how UM messed up in their negotiations as objective truth. Michigan not giving in to every Harbaugh demand immediately is not, in fact, poor negotiations, and my guess is had the Chargers backed out Harbaugh would have flirted with the Falcons and then likely signed a new contract with UM with a buyout that is absolutely not going to scare any NFL teams away if they're interested next off-season and beyond.
Harbaugh came to UM and did what he needed to do, and my guess is as big a factor in his decision was the realization that he's at the top of the mountain and trying to, at best, stay there wasn't something he wanted to do versus trying to crest a new mountain in the NFL. That's what competitive guys do, and if anyone in the NFL liked Ryan Day, James Franklin, Dabo, Kirby Smart, etc. they'd all jump as well. I hold no ill will toward him and I wish him the best. But he also made it nakedly obvious this wasn't his last stop and I don't see how self-recriminations and internal attacks on UM is particularly relevant or helpful.
January 26th, 2024 at 9:13 AM ^
This^^^.
I'd add that JUB on a couple of occasions (including the weird anti-Naurato "sources say" stuff) has seemed to be parroting someone else's talking points.
Wrt JH- good for him. I hope he wins a SB with the Chargers and that he can maintain the kind of ties with UM that the Ravens have had with it. As long as Sherrone is coach I think that this can be possible.
As for the team, hopefully that family, to paraphrase Tolstoy, will stay happy in the same way they have been.
Let OSU and their Bob Sugar clone coach spend gagilions on trying to buy culture/talent to try and beat UM. Imo that's a fools errand. Ramzy noted in his NYT op-ed a while back that OSU wants to be UM but they can't, and no amount of money will change that.
January 25th, 2024 at 3:24 PM ^
Too often Michigan seems to have an unrealistic view of what it is, and how much draw it has.
Playing coy with the contract like that to me is like them rejecting Stanford credits. 'You should be happy we consider you good enough to be here.'
It's a nice thought but we aren't all that. And when dealing with someone of Harbaugh's caliber and influence it's laughable. Maybe you can do that to Hoke, but not Harbaugh. Jim's pay cut was a slap in the face that didn't have to happen either. But hey, why be cool when we can be petty.
Brian is probably correct. I remember thinking after we won that this was it, and, to be honest, I was okay with it. He got us to the top, and now he wants the other crown. I'm okay with that. I'm also a big fan of Moore. He's young, and he not only gets, but is a source of, a great culture.
I just feel like too many times Michigan shoots itself in the foot with hubris.
January 25th, 2024 at 3:24 PM ^
No surprise Jim Harbaugh is looking out for Jim Harbaugh.
January 25th, 2024 at 6:07 PM ^
Yes, like that time he gave his bonus money to support staff who had lost money because of COVID shutdowns.
January 25th, 2024 at 3:31 PM ^
Brian, in your critique of Warde Manuel, you left out that he lost the battle for Erik Bakich. If there even was a battle. It felt like Clemson just rifled through our pockets and took him. Above all else, I thought that was his biggest failure as AD until this point.
I'm looking forward to the rest of the 2025 recruiting cycle and to see what team 145 looks like by the end of the season. I think Moore has the goods.
January 25th, 2024 at 4:19 PM ^
Re: Bakich, people need to be honest about how important baseball was/is in the Michigan Sports universe, and then how important baseball is in the Clemson universe. I follow Michigan baseball on social media and their following is pretty pitiful. People only pay attention when they're doing well, and Big Ten baseball just isn't going to regularly compete with the SEC and ACC or what is formerly the Pac10. The weather plays a big role in this. Anyone who played or has kids who play in the upper midwest know that baseball isn't fun until mid-May.
January 25th, 2024 at 3:35 PM ^
Meh.. LA fans are fickle enough that if you win they will come, and if you don't no one cares.
January 25th, 2024 at 4:34 PM ^
This is true. They'll jostle between USC Trojans and LA Dodgers around September time frame.
USC's 1-5 finish was spectacular. Welp, baseball!
January 25th, 2024 at 3:39 PM ^
Why not Clinkscale (who's already co-DC) for DC? He's had 3 years teaching a very Ravens style system, including for the DBs, and has had some excellent passing Ds in the past as well.
January 25th, 2024 at 3:51 PM ^
If Harbaugh had not gotten an offer he liked, I suspect the contract issues would have solved themselves. I think they'd have ended up on the "you won't be fired for Stalions/cheeseburger issues, we will vigorously defend you for those, and if you get penalized further for those your salary will drop by X% and the assistants taking on those roles will get that money instead" sort of clause.
At any rate, I don't see this as Harbaugh running from something (the AD, the NCAA, sanctions, whatever); I see this as running toward something that he could not get here.
Ave, atque, vale.
January 25th, 2024 at 4:07 PM ^
I really like JUB but this "too late" business makes no sense. If Harbaugh was inclined to stay, it's never too late. You can always walk back from the ledge. That he was finally offered what he supposedly wanted and rejected it because it was "too late", tells me he had previously concluded that he really wanted to go to the NFL. Until Michigan had been provided with a deadline, how would they even know where he was in his discussions with LA? There's a difference between dithering and being cautious.
January 25th, 2024 at 4:52 PM ^
False, it makes a bunch of sense. If it's a deal you really want, you go and pay the price. If it's a deal you want but need some other kind of a win to go with it, you screw around like our guy Warde, until you tinkle the deal away.
January 25th, 2024 at 7:53 PM ^
Exactly. He was stringing us along to get a better NFL deal. I’m actually super mad at Harbaugh right now. Grateful for the memories, sure, but he did us all dirty by not being open and honest about actually wanting to be an NFL coach next year.
January 25th, 2024 at 4:22 PM ^
No Mike Hart as OC talk? Did I miss something?
January 25th, 2024 at 4:32 PM ^
Jim Harbaugh is going to change the LA Chargers colors from electric blue & gold to Maize & Blue and also introduce helmet stickers.
The NFL is going be pulling their goddamned hair out.
January 25th, 2024 at 4:45 PM ^
"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."
Why wait?
January 25th, 2024 at 5:46 PM ^
I think the real test for Michigan regarding Harbaugh was caving to Hamburger Gate and suspending him the first 3 games for a few level 2 violations because the NCAA accused him of lying/misleading their investigators when he said he didn’t remember the COVID year violations as a level 1 offense. He wanted to fight, but the University refused to do so. The second test was the Connor Stallions “spy gate” horse manure where the B1G suspended him for 3 games. Michigan was initially going to fight it, but then backed down.
Given this history, he, in essence, wanted a contract clause that guaranteed they would fight instead of rolling over as they did in both of the above incidents.
I think That’s one of the big reasons he left.
January 25th, 2024 at 7:13 PM ^
FIRE WARDE
HIRE BORGES
January 25th, 2024 at 7:51 PM ^
Honestly, yes, fire Warde, but also some of this anger should be directed at Harbaugh too, IMO. He left when he was still saying he was on the fence. We are no one’s second place. WE ARE THE BEST UNIVERSITY IN THE WORLD!!! 😀
January 25th, 2024 at 7:49 PM ^
I’m sorry, but I’m still in the post-breakup phase of “I hope he loses every game next year and regrets leaving us.” I know it’s irrational, but I just feel like we got done dirty. If Harbaugh wanted to leave, he should have explicitly said so THE MOMENT he decided he was leaving. He could have at least had the decency to give us that instead of stringing us along.
That being said, I’m glad we won the Natty and I’m waiting on bated breath for Sherrone to be named our next head coach. I think he’s gonna be awesome!
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