Always try to leave a place better off than you found it
That's a good rule especially for leaders. I hope that I have done that in my career, but what about JH?
When you think back to the Hoke years, yeah, he beat OSU when they were almost historically bad and even that was close. Things went downhill from there. 2016 had a great defense that was let down by a mediocre O-Line and an OK but not great quarterback. The story after those years followed that script, supposedly good QB's that didn't pan out and an O-Line that never reached its potential until 2021 (2020 never existed.
The team starting next Fall will have 2 very good QB's, an experienced O-Line, at least two great RB's, a receiver room waiting to break out, and all B1G TE's. On the defense, there are some holes, but the next man up has gotten some experience and shown flashes in either a starting or backup role.
I think that Jim has left us better off which is all any of us can hope for. I wish him all the best and am ready to move on and up.
February 2nd, 2022 at 3:20 PM ^
lets hope when he does leave his replacement is on staff and has been being mentored to take the reigns......
its the least he could do.
February 2nd, 2022 at 4:22 PM ^
Or we could just get Sean Payton lol.
February 2nd, 2022 at 5:37 PM ^
Maybe doesn't work as well when it comes to football coaches, but I've lived by, "A leader's first and primary job is to train his or her replacement."
February 2nd, 2022 at 7:20 PM ^
In fairness RGard, you are talking about a job that apparently a monkey can do.
February 2nd, 2022 at 3:22 PM ^
The 11th Commandment: Leave because you have trained your people to replace you. We'll see.
February 2nd, 2022 at 4:14 PM ^
Oh....the Washington Redskins should have been called the Commandments...unlike the 12th man at TAMU, the QB and the Free Safety can be the 11th Commandment. Follow me on social for more great ideas
February 2nd, 2022 at 5:40 PM ^
What the fuck?
February 2nd, 2022 at 3:22 PM ^
This rule does NOT apply when using a public port-a-john. It's OK to leave a port-a-john worse-off than you found it. In fact, it's expected...
February 2nd, 2022 at 3:24 PM ^
Or a cooler in Ohio
February 2nd, 2022 at 4:07 PM ^
What? You don't always clean them up when you're done?
February 2nd, 2022 at 4:14 PM ^
This is why I never use a public port-a-john. I'm not into having 99 people ahead of me leaving it worse off than they found it. No sir!
Scatalogical humor. We are probing the depths. But its better than talking Harbaugh.
February 2nd, 2022 at 5:39 PM ^
I'm really worried you might be my neighbor and I don't know it.
February 2nd, 2022 at 7:09 PM ^
If neighborhood children are missing, I'd take that as a "yes."
February 2nd, 2022 at 3:22 PM ^
I wish him 4 straight 5-12 seasons followed by him spending the rest of his coaching career coaching the University of West Buttfuck Egypt
But don't worry my butt is definitely not hurt
February 2nd, 2022 at 3:25 PM ^
Wait, what is West Buttfuck Egypt's mascot again? I know East Buttfuck Egypt is the Pharaohs, but West BFE always escapes my mind...
February 2nd, 2022 at 3:27 PM ^
The Gerbils
February 2nd, 2022 at 3:50 PM ^
Is Richard Gere an Alum?
February 2nd, 2022 at 5:08 PM ^
Regardless of how does at Minnesota it’s a guarantee he’s gonna freeze his nuts off 7 months out of the year.
February 2nd, 2022 at 3:22 PM ^
Another shitty snowflake post....
February 2nd, 2022 at 3:25 PM ^
We've got months of this shit coming
February 2nd, 2022 at 3:27 PM ^
1 Big Ten Championship
1 playoff game
1 Bowl win
I wonder if when he was hired 7 years ago he would consider that a job well done at the end of his tenure. My guess is he would not. I do agree if I were WM, I would move on, Vikings job or no Vikings job.
February 2nd, 2022 at 3:33 PM ^
Nah, WM (which I presume is a millennial's texting contraction for the band Wham!) would say, "gotta have faith."
February 2nd, 2022 at 3:42 PM ^
Not a job 'well done' but he most definitely is leaving the program (if he is leaving) in a far better position than it was when he arrived. And butt hurt or not as fans, I can at least appreciate that he didn't sink us deeper into the hole.
February 2nd, 2022 at 3:53 PM ^
The cupboards were not bare when he got here
February 2nd, 2022 at 4:28 PM ^
The B10 championship is enough for me.
February 2nd, 2022 at 4:51 PM ^
CFB isn't what it used to be....
And given where UM was when Harbaugh arrived I say he did a damn good job.
Plus...he was def cheated out of a second conf championship and playoff birth
February 2nd, 2022 at 5:57 PM ^
I can't see how WM could not. Harbaugh's basically burned the ships by this drawn-out saga. But they'd probably welcome back because that's how UM rolls..
February 2nd, 2022 at 3:31 PM ^
Enough with the Snowflakes!
February 2nd, 2022 at 3:33 PM ^
Would almost take COVID posts again
February 2nd, 2022 at 5:41 PM ^
Shut your whore mouth, please.
February 2nd, 2022 at 3:38 PM ^
Don’t cry because it’s gone, smile because it happened.
Feels like this whole damn message board is trapped inside a vault of passive aggressive AIM away messages.
February 2nd, 2022 at 4:02 PM ^
Honestly, the boards gonna board. I'm probably not going to be around to opt-in to much of it. I feel like I can ride the high of this past season into next.
What I'm really not interested in is seeing the fragile psyches of people and their fandoms play out in a messy public manner in front of me. And really, I'm kind of surprised people are willing to just vomit it up so willingly.
Maybe I'm from a different era and today is about oversharing every intimate thought and experience with everyone, regardless of how unintelligible or embarrassing it may be.
Earlier this year I hypothesized that the "Harbaugh Haters" were simply lying in the wings waiting. Waiting to explode. Because so much of the "Harbaugh experience" as a Michigan fan had gone from being about Jim, to being about self. The "haters" (a simple reductive label, I'm sure) didn't really care about whether or not the team had success or failure, but rather, they had made it about themselves, as we are apt to do. So, it was about the confirmation of one's belief. They made a proclamation. And we were about to see how smart and right they were. This was not the right man for Michigan football.
They made a small roar after the Washington game. "We won a game by how many touchdowns?" "But we only threw for how many yards?" "How dare."
The roar was slightly bigger for Michigan State. "ANOTHER loss to the team my annoying coworker roots for." "He just cant win big games"
But the unexpected happened. This team rolled through everyone else until the tournament. A decisive win over Ohio State. A Big Ten Championship.
It seemed like the "haters" would have no release.
But inexplicably now, they will, and have, and do.
300 reply threads already have plenty of it. It's worse other places. I'm already basically out on visiting the pay boards.
So, the board is gonna board. This much is already true. Why anyone would want to actively engage with the nonsense, I'm not quite sure.
February 2nd, 2022 at 4:15 PM ^
Yeah. I’m truly only annoyed by people telling others how to think and feel about this. As if somehow their opinion of a situation is the only way to look at it, when it isn’t. Also, those that think by posting dumbass threads to mock other dumbass threads it will stop people from posting dumbass threads.
February 2nd, 2022 at 4:38 PM ^
This is a very emotional place. So many feelings. All these feelings. I'm emotional won't you be emotional too?
February 2nd, 2022 at 4:43 PM ^
Well I do love a good dumbass thread to mock another dumbass thread as much as the next guy, and nothing ACTUALLY annoys me I guess.
Which official dorm account went on a tear of only posting snowflakes back in December? East Quad? Mosher Jordan?
Either way, I think poor Alice Lloyd's fingers would fall off from all of the snowflaking happening these days.
The sheer volume of damaged ego, broken psyche, tear-covered posts is staggering to me. But, I don't really portend to care to understand people's motivations. I'm here mostly to entertain myself with nonsense.
February 2nd, 2022 at 4:20 PM ^
Reading a lot of this is like listening to that Finebaum idiot. Everything about JH is a negative until you have no choice but to admit he just delivered in a huge way. Then wait a few weeks and start picking.
To me JH looking at the NFL is like someone in the family business gong for something big outside. If it happens nothing but best wishes as it reflects well on everyone. If not come back here and keep going.
It would be different if he were flirting with another school.
February 2nd, 2022 at 4:48 PM ^
That's a really good metaphor actually. Because I don't choose to listen to Finebaum either. I'm aware it exists. I know what it basically consists of, and want literally nothing to do with it.
Seeing the text-based tears of a section of the Michigan fan-base that can neither accept that people move on, that everyone has different life/job goals, and have, seemingly, an inability to emotionally compartmentalize the loss of a coach without turning to the far reaches of the "feels" spectrum (hate, anger, rage, jealousy, grief), is kind of beyond me.
February 2nd, 2022 at 4:56 PM ^
IMHO The snowflake posts are a result of fans looking for some catharsis in this process. Being a Michigan football fan has taught us all to expect the other shoe to drop every time something is going well.
Ohio State loses their best coach in a generation and falls bass akwards into hiring one of the best (if not also sleaziest) coaches of the current generation? MSU loses their best coach in several generations who had been trending down but still managed to put his best game plans together against UM every year and is replaced by someone who funnels the rage and disposition of someone who caught his wife with his best friend into willing victory over UM despite having what should have been a grossly overmatched team? James Franklin, who couldn’t be a worse in-game tactician if he tried, somehow manages to be 1 game below .500 against the coach everyone, and I mean everyone, believed was the best man for UM when he was hired and managed a B1G championship before he did by 5 years.
The reality is this all really started in 2016. UM had what was arguably the most complete and strongest top to bottom team in living memory. That team managed to lose on the road by wilting late and giving up a game winning fg drive, and then had a game against their biggest rival stolen from them by some of the poorest and most one sided officiating from known OSU fans in stripes on the field in Columbus. If UM wins either one of those games as they should have (or did if you want to throw in The Spot), they make the CFP. If they are awarded the W they earned against OSU, they win the B1G Championship and go to the CFP as well. Maybe that swings the trajectory of both UM and OSU enough to allow UM to find a way to be more competitive and win in 2018 as the favored team and results in a 2nd B1G Championship and CFP appearance under Harbaugh. I don’t necessarily think UM wins a CFP Championship either season, but who knows, right?
All that to say, the entire way his tenure is viewed is completely different with the change of one play in either the Iowa or OSU game in 2016 because he goes to a CFP in his 2nd year. The culmination of being so close and missing out again in 2018 followed up with the disappointments of 2019 and 2020 left Harbaugh with no leverage and forced into accepting walking papers or a new, diminished contract. UM soured on Jim before Jim soured on UM. Now he wants to go back to the NFL and bank as much as possible where he knows if he doesn’t win and gets canned, at least it’s not personal.
For UM fans that were enjoying the afterglow of 2021, this exploration has made it clear Harbaugh doesn’t intend to be here anymore or build on this success. Which likely means another step back, and further expectation of losing to rivals and remaining a punchline in national media when those losses accumulate.
I don’t think anyone is really mad at Harbaugh. I’m not. He’s doing what he needs to do because he knows there is no loyalty to him from the administration or the fans. He knows he’s just a means to an end, so he owes no one besides his family anything.
Im not mad, just bitterly disappointed that as a fan, I don’t get to be excited for the direction and possibilities for 2022 and beyond. I’m disappointed that the program has to start over, again. I’m disappointed that the administration and fanbase turned on Harbaugh for one bad season when everything was turned upside down for everyone. I’m just so disappointed I didn’t get to enjoy it for longer.
Its a business, not personal. But I think 2020 was personal to Harbaugh, and the result is what we have now.
So, best of luck Jim. I’m sorry it didn’t work out how any of us (him, the admin, the players, or least importantly the fans) wanted it to.
February 2nd, 2022 at 3:39 PM ^
I haven’t read any of the stuff on this blog regarding Jim staying or going. But it seems like there’s some anger directed towards him if he goes. I don’t think that’s justified.
Prior to this last year I would be in the camp of saying he’s a lifer at Michigan. And I think that is definitely or was definitely true.
So what has changed? The other thing we know about Jim is he likes to compete and he likes to compete on a fair and equal basis.
He has definitely seen that recruiting is not fair and equal and that it has a big impact on the ability to win a championship. In the past I think he was OK with that challenge.
But what has changed is NIL And what Texas A&M has shown us is that you can basically now buy the best team if you have deep pockets with your alumni. The NFL has salary caps but college has nothing.
He can easily see that the writing is on the wall for college where it’s no longer about scholarships and student athletes and building the character of young men. Those are things that Jim cares about. Instead, until things get changed or worked out, it will be about which alumni can buy the best athletes. That’s not a fair team to team competition of student athletes.
Coaching will turn into an asset trading business. The job is now to raise as much money from Alumni and make sure it’s allocated to the top athletes in the country. That is something Jim Harbaugh will turn his back on. As a fan, I will too
February 2nd, 2022 at 3:46 PM ^
I appreciate you saying this and that’s the interesting thing about feelings, they aren’t right or wrong, they just are. Harbaugh said and did all the things that made you think he would be here forever, which is amazing considering how Michigan has shit their pants with 2/3 last coaching searches. I enjoyed not having to worry about who was coaching and was pleased with how he was doing, even if some seasons I was left disappointed. This situation feels like an outright betrayal. It’s cool if you don’t feel that way, but I do think their is plenty of justification for being cheesed at Harbaugh if people are feeling that way.
February 2nd, 2022 at 4:46 PM ^
It comes down to being able to read a bull shitter or not. For each of us to id BS we have to be able to read the facts and actions and separate that from our internal emotional bias, which can be easily manipulated.
We had a BSer in office who not only admitted prior to being a candidate that he was just a BSer and who most recognized as such. But so many still are easily BSed by this person it is quite extraordinary.
In the case of Harbaugh, he has a very solid history of not being BSer. It got him into trouble in SF and other stops. He even told his recruits he would consider NFL offers. BSers never would do that.
You clearly fall on the side of thinking he is a BSer. I am not going to be able to convince you otherwise of course. The facts are there to discover if you can remove any emotional subconscious bias related to the disappointment. not easy
I actually do have some excellent experience in reading BS. I have been fooled before only when I choose to over look the facts.
February 2nd, 2022 at 3:49 PM ^
So, instead of being part of creating an innovative NIL structure that will keep Michigan teams competitive, he leaves. Sounds like a quitter to me. Good riddance.
February 2nd, 2022 at 4:16 PM ^
He's a coach, not a management/finance guy structuring LLCs through which to funnel NIL $.
That is a function to be handled by someone in the AD's office.
February 2nd, 2022 at 4:46 PM ^
right, bring along an AD finance nerd to market the NIL program to recruits. that should work well /s
February 2nd, 2022 at 7:43 PM ^
That is a conver$ation probably better had with Mom and Dad while Jim and/or a position coach talk fuhbaw with the recruit.
February 2nd, 2022 at 8:07 PM ^
Thats right he’s a coach who wants to lead young men of character to battle and win. In the NFL the GM can manage the budget, cap, and player personnel. Perhaps there could be the equivalent in College but not without fair play rules like caps.
So even a NIL manager can’t yet fix what coming. If you go down the path of having someone optimize NIL, coaching is still not the same job. For someone, like Jim, coaching is coaching, it’s getting better every day, it’s a team of student athletes that are still students, and it’s a culture where everyone on the team are equals with the same scholarship, the same resources, the same class requirements…
But if now, you can’t win championships without optimizing NIL, then all that goes away. You have to recruit at the lowest common denominator where money>team, and where some team mates can make 100X what other team mates can make. Good luck with the character development
This thing can implode quickly and we’ll have to see if anything can be done in the name of fair play. I don’t see how that’s possible given the laws being interpreted.
February 2nd, 2022 at 8:21 PM ^
You are absolutely correct. It's a conversation to be had in Warde's offices and the school's attorneys to understand *exactly* where the legal boundaries are and what you can and cannot do within those boundaries. Then a team is put together that works with the coaches to aid in the "offering pitch", most probably involving the parents of the minor.
February 2nd, 2022 at 3:55 PM ^
i left your mom better than how i found her
February 2nd, 2022 at 5:19 PM ^
Username does not check out
February 2nd, 2022 at 4:03 PM ^
Unless there’s major changes with the staff, I would be surprised if we go into next season with two good QB’s. I expect JJ will be starting by the end of spring practice, but we’ll see.