Harbaugh Watch Definitely Sees a Shadow
If you’re following closely—and nine of ten doctors recommend not doing this—you’ve probably been convinced several times that Jim Harbaugh is going to one NFL team or another, or definitely returning. Balas at the Wolverine says morale has suddenly plummeted($) among the people they talk to. Poor Sam Webb’s “Harbaugh going or staying? What I’m hearing($)” is now on Part 11. The title of that latest edition is also the most ominous:
'if offered, he's gone'
The good news, groundhogs, is that we probably don’t have to suffer through another six weeks of this.
SO HE’S GONE?
Well, there’s an “if” in there. IF the meeting tomorrow goes well and the Vikings offer Harbaugh the job, it sounds like he’s going to take it. Sam said today that the Vikings have Harbaugh on the top of their list, but that he needs to address concerns held by others in the organization. From conversations with a reader who knows the organization well, I get the sense that “others in the organization” refers to the ownership.
WHAT CHANGED YOUR TUNE?
I don’t think it’s a slam dunk that Harbaugh’s offered the job tomorrow—I was at 60-40 yesterday when I made my hot take on this morning’s podcast that Jim was going to coach Michigan next year. I wasn’t worried this whole time because we’ve done Harbaugh to NFL bler bler so many times since 2015 that I’ve become used to NFL reporters using his name for clicks and NFL executives wanting no part of him. I think the hidden story of what’s changed is Matt Weiss was able to convince his friend (they went to grad school together at Stanford) and analytics soulmate Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah that Harbaugh is the only guy with a chance to turn around the fortunes of a team stuck in Kirk Cousins hell.
WHAT CHANGED HARBAUGH’S TUNE?
That’s for Harbaugh or those closer to him to answer. He’s always been a weird dude capable of pursuing one route with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind, then reversing course and going just as hard that way. There’s also a big difference between talk in 2016, when he was just getting started at Michigan, and in 2022, after seven seasons in Ann Arbor, a Big Ten championship, a defeat of Ohio State, a playoff appearance, and a young roster and durable young staff set up for future success if the next guy can fill a few holes.
I maintain that the 2021 negotiation shifted Harbaugh’s sense of himself in the grand scheme of Michigan. Warde Manuel and the Michigan administration were always behind him—Schembechler Hall does what it wants and Weidenbach Hall does what they can to help, as the saying goes—but it was clear after the 2-4 season that Harbaugh was no longer the toast of the town, or completely synonymous with Michigan Football. Once it got in everybody’s minds that Michigan had a future beyond Harbaugh, and maybe a brighter one, it must have occurred to him too. There was a time not too long ago that Michigan was still synonymous with Bo, and Harbaugh was the natural heir of that program. I think the fanbase has come around slowly on the sense that Michigan is Michigan, a mega corporation with some quirky values both quaint and admirable, and a history worthy of its brand. The Great Man Theory fell out of favor in the History Department when I was getting a bachelor’s from them. Recent events and revelations finally moved that idea all the way down State Street, probably for the better. But if you’re the Great Man in residence as that happened I have to imagine the experience was humbling.
HOW DID WE GET FROM ‘OAKLAND IS STILL IN PLAY’ TO HERE?
Harbaugh+NFL rumors is an absolute fount of bad reporting, so piecing together something resembling the truth has been difficult. Here’s the timeline, as I understand it:
- Jan 2021: The season sucks, Harbaugh makes overtures to the NFL, but nobody wants him, and Michigan offers an insultingly low contract that they can get out of if they need to fire him.
- Harbaugh reshapes his staff with young guys, several of them former players from the Carr era, including mending fences with Mike Hart, with whom Harbaugh publicly feuded at times.
- After achieving all the things, Harbaugh senses this is his last opportunity to jump back to the NFL if he’s ever going to, and the first time he’s been able to do so and feel like he’s done right by his alma mater.
- The first and most sensical opening was the Raiders, as Harbaugh is friends with the owner, got his start in coaching with the organization, and met his wife in Las Vegas. But they go in another direction.
- Other NFL openings come and go with Harbaugh’s name attached to them only by clickbait news reporters. Jacksonville? Not with Trent Baalke there. The G-Men? No interest. Chicago, who drafted him way back when? Not even remotely interested. Miami? If Stephen Ross is talking to Harbaugh it’s about how much it takes to stay at Michigan.
- Michigan puts a contract in front of Harbaugh. It’s similar to Ryan Day’s—both parties think MSU’s contract with Mel Tucker is laughable. It has a buyout that would change the math if an NFL team comes in the future.
- Harbaugh doesn’t sign it, waiting out the stragglers of the NFL coaching cycle. At this point it seems like there won’t be any more interest materializing unless one of the coachless teams hires the odd GM who thinks he can work with Harbaugh.
- The Vikings hire Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, an analytics-minded executive who worked for San Francisco when Harbaugh was there, and more importantly is good friends with Michigan QB coach/analytics dude Matt Weiss.
- Adofo-Mensah’s first choice for HC is 49ers DC DeMeco Ryans.
- Weiss sets up a call between Adofo-Mensah and Harbaugh, and the two hit it off.
- Rumor spread that Ross would jump in to get Harbaugh for the Dolphins if an NFL job was imminent. This seems to lead back to a conversation Ross had with Harbaugh when they were negotiating the Michigan contract that I interpret to be Harbaugh asking Ross to bring him to Miami and Ross saying something like “Dude, if I’m cutting you a check it’s to coach for Michigan.”
- Smart guys like me look at the Vikings job holistically—horrible cap situation, ruthless ownership who abhor drama, another Midwest town with less appeal that Ann Arbor—and believe Harbaugh’s interest in that job must be lukewarm.
- Ryans declines a second interview. Harbaugh moves up Adofo-Mensah’s list. That list includes Rams OC Kevin O’Connell and DC Raheem Morris, and Giants DC Patrick Graham.
- Harbaugh flies to Minneapolis for an interview today. Multiple reports from all sides saying if offered the job Jim is expected to take it. Balas thinks the Dolphins might make a play if that happens, but at that point it’s all the same to Michigan.
Meanwhile there were a lot of false rumors put to bed beyond the speculation for HC jobs that went nowhere. Harbaugh was not doing this for a contract negotiation—if he wanted anything it was for Michigan do things they already knew they would be dragged into, like paying their assistants more and playing the NIL game intelligently. The dumbest of the dumb were those who thought the dollar amount on the contract was going to matter. What the 2021 contract meant mattered, but the dude ended up making what he usually does in bonuses and then gave all that money back to people in the athletic department hurt by the COVID year.
WHAT HAPPENS IF HE GOES?
They have to sign a class, hire a new head coach, and decide what to do with the staff.
The first immediate need—and also the most minor one—is shoring up the 2022 class. Tomorrow is National Signing Day, but most of the class was already signed in December, and this is still technically just the first day of another signing period, so the only people making a big deal out of the first Wednesday in February these days are those looking to create drama.
Michigan’s still wants to sign 5-star OT Josh Conerly and an impact edge rusher. No doubt their head coach’s long dalliance with the NFL was suppressing those efforts. It’s clear from the comments of recruits and their parents that Harbaugh was honest about the potential he could leave for an NFL job, at least. Most of the class is signed, however. Here the new transfer rules have done us a favor—just last year if a coach left after NSD guys would be able to ask out of their letters of intent and would have had the leverage to get that. Now they just have to use their free transfer year, which means at least it costs something to transfer again. Depending on what happens with the assistants, that might happen with one or two guys, but I don’t think the class falls apart under any scenario. As for anyone not signed, if they’ve managed to draw a guy in, they’ve got it tightly under wraps. If they add someone tomorrow it’s a Dennis Norfleet type they’ve had their eyes on in case there was room. No idea whom that might be.
As for a head coach, it’ll of course be a circus. There are names I could put out there, and names others will come up with, but we have to get to that in its time. I believe the school wants to get it done quickly, has had ample time to think about it already so they’re already down to a narrow list of candidates, and that they value keeping most of Harbaugh’s staff together.
WHO WOULD STAY? WHO WOULD GO?
It depends a lot on the head coach hire, and the staffer. Nobody is 100% safe, but you can split the assistants roughly into three categories:
Harbaugh/NFL dudes. DC Mike Macdonald is already back with the Ravens. I have zero doubt QB coach Matt Weiss would go with Harbaugh. I don’t know what LBs coach George Helow is thinking; he debunked rumors of interest in FAU’s DC job (his brother goes there) over the weekend, but he also followed Macdonald to Michigan and was the weak spot on the coaching staff last year. Losing him might cost Michigan Raylen Wilson. TE/Special Teams coordinator Jay Harbaugh would certainly have the choice to follow his father, but also an opportunity to get out of his shadow, and any head coach would certainly want Jay to remain on staff.
Harbaugh’s college hires. The next three names all depend on who’s named head coach. After the coordinators, the OL coach and the strength & conditioning coach are the core of your program. The S&C guy in particular tends to come attached to the head coach, because that guy gets to work with the players many more hours than any on field staff, and thus serves a de facto role as the coach in absentia. OC/WRs coach Josh Gattis is the reigning Broyles winner and the leading internal candidate to take over for Harbaugh. If Michigan makes an offensive mind HC hire we could lose Gattis; if they hire a defensive guy however it would seem keeping the nation’s reigning top assistant makes a lot of sense since that guy would be high on the list even if he wasn’t already ensconced. Co-OC/OL coach Sherrone Moore is another guy you leave in place unless the new HC has a built-in offensive line coach. S&C Coach Ben Herbert was a coup when he was hired, and again is a top notch candidate you would like to hold onto unless the new coach comes with a certain guy.
Michigan’s college hires. Weirdly, Michigan has more guys attached to the institution than the head coach than perhaps any Michigan staff since the olden days. That’s probably because they were all guys who could believe their positions would be secure no matter what happened with Harbaugh. In ascending order of attachment: DBs (cornerbacks) coach and soon-to-be co-DC Steve Clinkscale is owed a DC title in his contract based on Michigan’s performance last year, unless they want to split hairs because in base passing yards per game they fell to 27th after Georgia where the threshold was top 25. Clink didn’t go to Michigan but he was born to coach in Michigan, has strong ties in the state, and was considered the top in-house candidate for DC when Macdonald left. Losing him would be a big blow one year after they finally brought him home.
RB coach Mike Hart gives people around him the air of a future head coach—it’s an open secret that his arguments with Harbaugh didn’t end when he started working for him, but that’s because the two are strikingly similar people. Hart is clearly here for Michigan, not Harbaugh, so if he leaves it’s because the new coach asked him to. Safeties coach Ron Bellamy is another potential future head coach, finally making the step from Hall of Fame-worthy high school coach to college track. He is beloved, has proven to be their best recruiter, and fits so well in so many spots on any staff that losing him would be a black mark on the new head coach. Finally, DL coach Mike Elston came in just a few weeks ago with full knowledge of the fluid Harbaugh situation. He’s a star DL coach who was passed over for DC so many times at Notre Dame that he decided he might as well be the DL coach at his alma mater. Whoever’s named head coach is stuck with him—it’s not like that’s a bad fate.
I want to stress here that this is not normal--Michigan is about as well set up for a coaching change as you can be, with young staff in key positions who aren't tied to the head coach. Ohio State had a similar transition but they also had to pretend to not have fired Urban Meyer for a year to pull it off.
BEST GUESS?
Harbaugh’s gone, they hire Gattis, and he does fine, because Harbaugh left a solid foundation. But that’s just a guess; coaching situations can get really hairy, as most of us recall. My advice for you today is to try to think of the last one, where your Michigan fandom was in late 2014 before we clinked beers and said “Harbaugh” to each other, and where it was before 42-27. Head coaches matter a great deal, especially in the long term health of the program. But if the floor here is they hire the reigning Broyles winner, that’s a far better place to be than most I could have imagined for 2/1/2022.
February 1st, 2022 at 1:16 PM ^
Great write up.
He is gone and I -- for one -- don't really care how or why.
The main point is that Harbaugh wants out of Michigan and into the NFL. I think he did as well as any coach could have under the circumstances and anyone who doesn't simply does not want to remember the shit show that was Brady Hoke and the 2014 season.
But, again, whatever. I think Gattis is the best option as he keeps the staff and team together and we can have a strong season next year given the schedule. Whatever happens, lets be quick with naming a coach as our rivals are going to pounce if we have an lengthy search that plays out in the press. We will be fine.
Go Blue.
February 1st, 2022 at 1:17 PM ^
I'm probably being overly negative, but the next coach if Harbaugh leaves will most likely be bad. It's so far pass the coaching cycle that it'll be hard to find a good one. Hiring Gattis seems like a terrible choice with no head coaching experience and even parts of this year people really disliked his play calling still.
It's just starting to feel a lot like last off season all the sudden which is impressive since this was the best season I've ever personally witnessed.
February 1st, 2022 at 1:24 PM ^
Maybe lightning doesn't strike twice but Lloyd Carr was elevated to HC after the Gary Moeller debacle. Lloyd basically got as one year trial, he succeeded and things worked out well after that. (Yea, it's not the 1990s anymore in College Football)
February 1st, 2022 at 1:28 PM ^
I thinking the current situation is kind of like the Carr situation in the 90s. Promote from our current staff and keep the band together.
February 1st, 2022 at 1:36 PM ^
Or like the OSU situation where Day was promoted even though he had no HC experience. We aren't at OSU's level so Gattis wouldn't be starting on third but he will at least be at first or second. That's a lot easier than being at the plate.
February 2nd, 2022 at 12:07 AM ^
Day has so much more talent than everyone in the conference that it's not really the same. He also had Urban there to help him out unofficially. I just doubt we have OSU luck and we have more Michigan luck which usually isn't great.
February 1st, 2022 at 1:42 PM ^
Gattis could be the next Carr, or he could be the next Brian Ellerbe. We just don't know and the uncertainty is not very comforting.
February 1st, 2022 at 2:01 PM ^
This is actually the PERFECT analogy, thank you for saying that! I keep seeing people saying stuff like "Gattis could be the next Lincoln Riley or Ryan Day".
Yea well, he could also be the next Manny Diaz or Jimmy Lake.
February 1st, 2022 at 1:17 PM ^
Man i want Hart to be our coach (if not JH).
February 1st, 2022 at 2:14 PM ^
Too soon. He might be a great OC though.
February 1st, 2022 at 1:20 PM ^
Good article. Things are a mess at this time. Highly chaotic to say the least. The scariest part of your piece is the what's next part. I could envision Warde playing it safe and elevating Josh Gattis to HC. It's similar to giving Lloyd Carr a one year trial. That worked out fine, in the end.
Seems like we're now living in a "breaking news" world until all of this is settled.
February 1st, 2022 at 1:21 PM ^
I apologize in advance if this is a dumb question, but if Harbaugh is openly interviewing for new jobs is it bad form for the university to be openly interviewing for new Head Coaches? I'd be surprised if they weren't doing this already as a "just in case" thing, but why not at least make it look like you're doing something other than just sitting around waiting on him to make the choice for you?
Anyway, that was my question. I'll hang up and listen...
February 1st, 2022 at 1:34 PM ^
I'm sure Warde has a deal mostly worked out with Gattis.
February 1st, 2022 at 1:51 PM ^
Unfortunately, I think you're right.
Not that I don't think Gattis should be a HC somewhere, but this feels like a lose-lose situation for Mich. Either Gattis is successful and bolts in a couple years when Saban retires, or he's not successful.
I wish Basketball was doing better so we'd have a distraction...
February 1st, 2022 at 2:07 PM ^
Why would Gattis bolt for Alabama if he’s successful? He’s a Wake Forest grad and spent one year there.
He would be stepping into the biggest empty shoes in college football, and leaving a situation where he’s already successful (in this scenario)
February 2nd, 2022 at 5:44 AM ^
A Gattis HC regime at Michigan would be one of the greatest high risk/ high reward gambles undertaken by a UM AD in decades (and by Gattis himself).
If he is able to keep things together, hire a good DC, and keep Michigan on a high power/tempo offense.... he could go great things and be so highly paid that it would take $Texas to pull him away (not UT-Austin, that is).
He could also flame out spectacularly like RR.
If Jim leaves, this hire will probably define Warde's legacy.
February 1st, 2022 at 1:36 PM ^
Excellent writeup. Sadly, quite sadly, just an example of how something that means so much to me means much less to the involved parties. I would take a pay cut to work at Michigan and being there as a student meant something to me in my bones. The guy I thought embodied that same ethos appears willing to go coach kork coupons after a single good season at Michigan. Whatever. Eat at Arbys.
February 1st, 2022 at 2:02 PM ^
I have not been able to put into words how I think about this whole subject. I just keep going back and forth.
Your comment, however, explains my thoughts almost perfectly. Thanks for crystallizing this whole situation for me.
February 1st, 2022 at 2:33 PM ^
a single good season at Michigan
Let's not get into revisionism here. We went 46-42 from 2008-14. Under Harbaugh we've gone 61-24. If we're saying that his tenure here wasn't good outside of 2021, we may not be setting the bar to a realistic height.
February 1st, 2022 at 3:00 PM ^
I mean, I’m mostly writing from an emotional and not entirely rational standpoint, I recognize that. He has certainly had some decent seasons, but given that every one save the most recent has culminated in a loss to tosu (plus loses to msu and a bowl), it’s hard for me to really say any of his previous seasons have been successful. Now that he had one borderline legit great season he leaps out the door?
Hello bpone my old friend...
I wish that I could like my favorite sports again...
February 1st, 2022 at 6:13 PM ^
At a school like MI, Harbaugh should be judged on wins over ranked teams and top ten teams, wins over OSU, appearances in the B1G championship games in Indy, and playoff appearances.
February 1st, 2022 at 1:37 PM ^
Harbaugh, like all of us, only gets one life to live so I don’t really blame him for doing what he wants to do with it
but damn if it doesnt sting that Jim finally got Michigan over the hump and he sure looks like he’s going to bail if given the chance. Ouch.
February 1st, 2022 at 1:41 PM ^
If Gattis is given the keys to this car, we are in trouble. Of all of the coaches that have not taken a new job, I would prefer Tom Herman over Matt Campbell, or Bill O’Brien, or whoever.
February 1st, 2022 at 1:43 PM ^
media reports said minnesota interview was wednesday. did you mean to say wednesday, or did they move it to today, maybe because of the weather?
February 1st, 2022 at 2:48 PM ^
I'm guessing that this line was also confusing to you?
Harbaugh flies to Minneapolis for an interview today.
I'm assuming that means the flight was today; the interview itself is tomorrow.
February 1st, 2022 at 1:46 PM ^
When he was courting a "full control" job, like the Raiders, we could say Michigan was still important to him. When the talk was of "unfinished business" and Jim going to an organization he could readily build into a Super Bowl contender, we could say Michigan was still important to him. In these cases, Michigan could be seen as a #1A/1B job situation.
He's setting his sights on coaching a team whose ceiling is winning what might be the worst division in the NFL going forward. This makes it clear to me that Michigan has ceased to be important to him.
If he goes, he goes. I want someone to be our coach that wants to be here, 100%.
The bigger picture tells us that 2021 might be the ceiling for the program, at least while the "haves" exist as they are. But that's for another topic to dissect.
February 1st, 2022 at 1:48 PM ^
Harold Goodwin time? It just might be . . . .
February 1st, 2022 at 1:57 PM ^
FWIW, this has been his longest tenure at any coaching job he has had. Most stops Harbaugh has made, had him leaving after year 3 or 4. We got to have him for 7 years.
February 1st, 2022 at 1:57 PM ^
One of you better articles, Seth. I feel ok.
February 1st, 2022 at 2:01 PM ^
Harbaugh is weird in a prickly unfavorite uncle way rather than a kooky Back To The Future Doc Brown way.
He did a great job the first few years but somehow ran out of steam and it showed on the field. They never put together the consistent precision you expect from a Michigan program, if you have been watching since the 1970s. The great exception to this was this years OSU game. But without that game how would we all feel?
He got paid top dollar and delivered just above average performance. His pay was adjusted last year to reflect that performance. If he can’t accept that he is not the blue collar scrapper that is his image.
He doesn’t want to be here. It has been a struggle to recruit and compete with OSU and will continue to be. Teaching young kids is time consuming and harder than user ready NFL players. He doesn’t want that struggle at his age and station in life.
Bring on Matt Campbell.
February 1st, 2022 at 9:59 PM ^
A guy that struggles with world beating Iowa?!?
February 1st, 2022 at 2:05 PM ^
I for one applaud this programs ability to depress me at new and random times every year
February 1st, 2022 at 2:08 PM ^
If indeed Harbaugh is gone I would be fine in promoting Gattis and keeping the staff together as much as possible. I’m pretty sanguine about all this. It was a fantastic season but it seems change is in the air and there’s nothing we can do about it so let it ride I guess. I wish Harbaugh well and thank him for taking us to pretty high heights and nearly getting us there a couple of times. Maybe Gattis can be really good and implement a true speed in space if he indeed is the guy of indeed Harbaugh makes the move. Don’t pay twice. Until he goes Harbaugh is still our coach.
February 1st, 2022 at 2:09 PM ^
It's unfortunate if last year's contract did play a role in his desire to leave, because I truly believe it was necessary for the success we had this year. He was an emotionless zombie and had been for years, he had a number of assistants that weren't getting it done (especially with recruiting), he had a team that essentially quit on him, etc. He needed a fire lit under his ass, and needed to remake himself and his coaching staff. And then that pushes him to probably take a job that informed analysis suggests is set up to fail.
I guess it's possible we come out of this ok--it's not like Harbaugh has had Saban or Urban or Dabo success here, on the whole he's been good, not great. But it does definitely feel like we can't have nice things.
February 1st, 2022 at 2:10 PM ^
Yeah I am with Seth, I think Jim is gone. Im not pissed, Im not going to hate him at all, I hope he does well...I guess, I am a Lions fan too. He got us back to where it needs to be, and the foundation to keep going is for sure there.
I do think Gattis will be a hell of a head coach, I think he connects with the guys, great recruiter, young, play calling is finally there....Id love to see him have a shot at it. With our schedule next year, with guys returning, we could have another great year and it could just propel this program even more with a head coach who loves M and is there for the looooonnnnngggg haul
Very optimistic view, I know, but I cant be super pissed off about all this. We just beat the brakes off OSU, 12-1 season, good recruiting class signed, Heisman candidate.... a lot to love.
I know Gattis is not a favorite for a lot of folks here, but look at what happened with ND. I think Freeman is going to do very well there and right as they said he is the guy....the team went allllll in and it showed. Could be same here with Gattis.
February 1st, 2022 at 2:13 PM ^
I hear Tom Brady’s available?
February 1st, 2022 at 2:18 PM ^
It is our fault for thinking that we wouldn’t get our yearly kick in the nuts from Michigan football. We thought we had a lot of momentum, and that we were about to finally stabilize our program near the top, and we are paying for that naïveté. The price of it is multiple kicks in the nuts in 2022 because of our avoidance of it in November and December.
February 1st, 2022 at 6:22 PM ^
Hey you sound like Eric Cartman. I'll kick you in the nuts.
February 1st, 2022 at 2:25 PM ^
I just can't believe that JH would want to go to the Vikings! What a joke.
February 1st, 2022 at 2:25 PM ^
No matter what happens, will always be grateful for his play at QB and as coach. Sure, he didn't meet my expectations, but he did take an unranked team and win 12 games, breaking Ohio and title droughts that dated back 10 and 17 years, respectively.
My senior year (1985) he led us to a glorious win at home vs. Ohio (it had snowed the night before and was fricking freezin') and maybe capped his UM career with a glorious win in the snow.
We have the makings of a very good team (for UM standards), a great O and special teams and a rebuilding but talented D.
I'd love him back if he commits for good but would elevate Josh if he goes. That shows that you will reward the staff for a great year and should keep the transfer portal down somewhat vs. a new hire this late whom the players don't know.
The drama will end by Friday. Not losing sleep either way.
My assessment is JH won the games he was supposed to win (most of the time, the bowl loss to SC was bad) - I exclude 2020 from my analysis - had a strong home record except for OSU and MSU (which is more than Brady and RR could say). He lost SOME of the games he should have won when he was matched ~evenly vs. opponent. The guy was 3-14 vs. Top 10 teams. "Great" coaches finish 65+% vs. that kind of opponent. Even really good coaches finished 500. Lloyd was 20-8 vs Top 10 vs. 3-14. Even if you remove the 1-5 vs. Ohio, that's still 2-9.
If Josh doesn't work out, the bigger issue will be the NIL and admissions policies as we would be 2-3 years into the new normal.
February 1st, 2022 at 2:32 PM ^
"Harbaugh’s gone, they hire Gattis, and he does fine, because Harbaugh left a solid foundation. But that’s just a guess; coaching situations can get really hairy, as most of us recall."
Gattis has a bad game. People start BPONEing and calling for Campbell. UM ignores structural components needed to stay competitive in modern college football. Fans pretend like it doesn't matter and take to twitter.
Whatever. With the treatment the guy has gotten I wish him and his family well. We'll stay dysfunctional and I'll still root for the team.
February 1st, 2022 at 2:46 PM ^
The way that Harbaugh has handled this has really made me think less of him.
Why in the heck you'd want to go be locked in to dealing with the Vikings, Kork Coupons and their salary cap hell for the next 5 years is beyond me.
February 1st, 2022 at 3:43 PM ^
yeah, handled weirdly and its seems like he is enjoying it all.
Here is my question, if he is NOT coaching Vikings next year....how the hell do you message that out to the team/recruits/coaches when he says Im staying and/or signs another extension? Feel like you would get a lot of eye rolling. A lot here are saying damage is done, and now I very much agree with that with this latest... very public .....episode of "Harbaugh watch 2022"
Every freakin off season this happens, and this offseason its the realest of the real, so if not this year...then probably next year ,then next year, then next year
Just the most exhausting shit ever and its used against us 100% of the time on recruiting trail or transfer portal.
February 1st, 2022 at 6:28 PM ^
Every school in the country will use what is going on right now with Harbaugh to lure recruits away from MI over the next few years.
February 1st, 2022 at 2:57 PM ^
Ostensibly a Chinese proverb: May you live in interesting times.
An Army proverb: Hurry up and wait.
February 1st, 2022 at 2:57 PM ^
Ostensibly a Chinese proverb: May you live in interesting times.
An Army proverb: Hurry up and wait.
February 1st, 2022 at 3:21 PM ^
I was so hopeful Jim would take this program to the next level. Thankful for bringing it to a "we complain about 10 win seasons" level, and 2021 was a year filled with memories in so many ways and one I will never forget and will always be thankful for.
But turning this program to a yearly contender requires top level recruiting, yet the current head coach is interviewing for an NFL job. What happens if he returns? It'll be even easier to negative recruit against UM. Regardless of outcome, what a shit show this is turning in to.
February 1st, 2022 at 3:26 PM ^
Harbaugh has been so good for Michigan, IMO. He has spearheaded a huge cultural turnaround over his time here, the on-field improvement is stunning, and he runs probably the cleanest program in major college football -- so much so that it's hard to even fathom a scandal happening under his watch.
When you get all of those things, the downside is that the guy who delivers them is going to be highly sought (notwithstanding last year, which was weird in every way imaginable). And because he's as competitive as he is, it probably eats at him that he doesn't have a Lombardi. That doesn't mean he loves Michigan any less (I'm looking at you, Twitter crowd), it just means this is a part of who he is.
But aren't we all like that on some level? I recently was in the job market and, like many people, had to interview while maintaining and even excelling in my current job. Also, I did so not knowing what my ultimate decision would be -- i.e., how I would react once I had a competing offer in hand. That's also very normal, and it seems very possible that Harbaugh is in that situation now. By that, I mean that getting a Vikings offer might be enough to satisfy Harbaugh that he still has what it takes, and he might still decide his heart is in Michigan. I hope that's what happens, as he could be an enduring part of Michigan's football legacy if he finishes his career here. But I also have to be honest that it may not, and that's sad from my perspective as a fan.
Harbaugh, like Bo, has always told players that Michigan is bigger than any one man. I hope he stays, but Michigan will endure.
February 1st, 2022 at 3:33 PM ^
I cant help but think this has to do with his contract. Either the pay cut or the subsequent contact after this season. Rumor is Harbaugh was offered a lack luster contract and it is on his desk ready to sign. That would certainly explain why he is interviewing with the freaking Vikings. Rumors came out that LSU would be interested in Mel Tucker at the end of the season and MSU ponied up to keep him. Would Harbaugh be flirting with crappy NFL teams if he got the contract he deserved after a very successful season? The question is did Warde handle this appropriately and pony up for JH fter the NFL rumors started or does JH believe he has to take his last shot to get into the NFL at his age?
58 is pretty old to rebuild a franchise with salary cap issues though...
February 1st, 2022 at 3:39 PM ^
I f ing hate this. Harbaugh was and is the perfect coach for Michigan. I have a bad feeling if he leaves Michigan goes back to being shit. Unless Gattis is a genius, which is possible.
Please don’t leave coach Harbaugh. Michigan is your home and where you belong. Coaching in the NFL is almost always short term. If he were to stay at Michigan he could finish his coaching days and very likely be more of a legend than he already is at Michigan.
There, that’s my plea.
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