Great Michigan Daily Summary of Harbaugh's Contract Extension
This is hands down the best article I've read about Harbaugh's contract extension drama and how Warde Manuel isn't solely to blame.
What a great summation of a negotiation that has put the program in a less than ideal situation. FWIW, I'm all for Harbaugh staying, but he's got to want it too!
January 22nd, 2024 at 3:49 PM ^
Yeah I was skimming looking for the new info or insight into the negotiation. There's zero new information here
January 22nd, 2024 at 4:06 PM ^
They packaged up the conjecture, wrote it to defend Manuel, and put the Michigan Daily name across the top.
January 22nd, 2024 at 7:17 PM ^
Name one thing Joe Average mgoblog person couldn’t have done that Warde has done
January 22nd, 2024 at 2:57 PM ^
JH not signing yet is not Wardes fault, and Warde deserving to be let go can both be true.
January 22nd, 2024 at 3:00 PM ^
Force Harbaugh's hand ... make Jack Harbaugh AD.
January 22nd, 2024 at 3:09 PM ^
I actually had this go through my head multiple times of late. :) Jack Harbaugh isn't dumb enough to take this job.
Rob
January 22nd, 2024 at 3:03 PM ^
I think everyone knows this isn't entirely on Warde, and that Jim has some culpability. But Warde Manuel can be replaced in about 90 seconds. Jim Harbaugh can't. So Warde needs Jim more than Jim needs Warde, and that's on Warde to fix.
I don't think the article does a bad job of pointing out the facts, but acting like these are two sides with the same leverage is not true. This statement rings a little hollow for me:
"While other schools might pull the plug from fatigue if their coach flirted with the NFL every offseason looking for an upgrade, Manuel has remained patient because he knows he has a proven winner."
No other school would pull the plug on a coach with Jim previous three seasons. Not a single one. So Warde doesn't have a choice but to be patient with Jim.
January 22nd, 2024 at 3:35 PM ^
Every single football factory wouldve pulled the plug after covid. All of them. It may be Warde's "Id rather do nothing if given the opportunity" Ron Swanson mantra that got us through to the promised land but either way it worked and worked well. Im no Warde fanboy but whew what an amazing result since that decision.
“If he decides that he wants another opportunity to coach in the pros, then I’m gonna be happy for him, sad for us,” Manuel said Jan. 8, mere hours after winning the national championship. “We’re gonna move on and find the next person to lead. But I want him to stay at Michigan. I’ve said it. I believed that three, four years ago when people wanted me to get rid of him. I didn’t because I believed it then, and I believe it now.”
January 22nd, 2024 at 3:43 PM ^
As much as some people rue Harbaugh's pay cut after 2020 (on the belief that it may have spurred him to look more seriously at the NFL), I think it was a brilliant move. Did it piss Jim off? Very probably. But it worked. It's been nothing but success on the field ever since then, even if we have to put up with this NFL crap every 12 months (and let's face it, will probably lose Jim to the NFL over it sooner or later). It was worth it for 40-3 and a Natty and 3 B1G titles and no OSU losses.
January 22nd, 2024 at 3:53 PM ^
Agreed. For those that wanted him to stay 100% through all of that they think most of the others were fans that were bloodthirsty to see Jim axed. When in all reality I thought he was always our best hope of winning it all but I was of the belief that he had ran out of steam and just didnt want to be here anymore. It was very sad to think he had to go but I didnt want to see him or the team spiral worse. Coach rebuilt himself and his staff in that 2020-2021 off season and he has been the next coming of Nick Saban since then. Best comeback story ive ever seen. Harbaugh Harbaugh'd Harbaugh!
January 22nd, 2024 at 3:58 PM ^
This is why I can't help but roll my eyes at the "Warde absolutely hates Jim" brigade. If that were so, why didn't he fire him when he had the perfect excuse? After OSU in 2018 and 2019, plus basically all of 2020, many here were pissed that Warde wasn't pulling the plug on Harbaugh. And I'm sure there's plenty of overlap between people pissed at Warde both then and now.
January 22nd, 2024 at 4:01 PM ^
Sorry but this needs to be said and will be somewhat political. The blame for the 2020 season does not fall on Jim Harbaugh. The 2020 season for a Big 10 team was awful but for Michigan teams (MSU included) was worse.
In the spring of 2020 when teams are ramping up practice the state of Michigan had some of the most extensive and far reaching (some would say draconian) lockdowns in the country. Citizens were not even allowed to travel to a relatives house in the same town. This effectively ended spring work for the football team.
The fall wasn't much better as the Big 10 initially cancelled the 2020 season before deciding it was necessary to have one. The season started late, was condensed, and the scheduling changed. Many of our key players opted out of playing the season. All of these factors were completely outside of Jim's control but all of them affected the production of that 2020 team.
If Jim would have been fired after 2020 then Michigan deserved to have many more decades mired in mediocrity. I am glad that didn't and Jim didn't deserve the pay cut either. The pay cut being a national story repeated during the broadcast of every game in 2021 is one of the many reasons why Jim deserves that three man panel to evaluate his job status in response to an NCAA ruling.
January 23rd, 2024 at 9:44 AM ^
I don't necessarily disagree with your overall point, but that 2020 team was screwed regardless. More practice time isn't making Joe Milton feasible for the entire season. More practice time isn't going to finally get Gattis to realize Milton can throw the ball 50 yards but not 12. Cade isn't dragging that team to massive heights like he did in '21 with that OL. It's also not going to fix the defense that was about to completely implode under Brown and Zordich specifically.
That team was poorly constructed (all of the big contributors in '21, '22, and '23 were fresh faced babies) and really they only had Collins, Paye, Hutchinson, McGrone, and Thomas.
Non-covid 2020 Michigan still probably only gets to 9-4ish. That actually could have been worse in retrospect because we can handwave away that season because of covid. Without it, it would have been another meh year with no excuses.
January 23rd, 2024 at 12:11 PM ^
I don't think that's true that every football factory would've pulled the plug after the Covid season. Brian Kelly was 4-8 in 2016 and kept his job. Back in 2020 I had no idea or expectation that the incredible success of the last 3 years was coming, but I do remember thinking after 2020 that Harbaugh had done better than fans acknowledged. For instance, he had won 10 games in 3 of his first five seasons. Not beating Ohio State was incredibly disappointing, but given the 7 years prior to Harbaugh's arrival it still seemed clear to me that he was on the right track. Also, this is just one metric but Scott Bell did a poll after 2020 and most didn't want Harbaugh gone as I recall so the fanbase certainly wasn't united against him.
January 22nd, 2024 at 3:51 PM ^
I don't know why Warde hasn't been replaced yet. The article lays out the list of errors under Warde's watch and I am quite certain there are literally hundred of other suits out there who can do the job better. Warde is very replaceable
January 22nd, 2024 at 7:16 PM ^
Athletic Directors and Conference Commissioners are the list of jobs that can be done by AI.
January 22nd, 2024 at 9:17 PM ^
How quickly people forget that Warde was the one who resisted widespread calls in 2020 for Harbaugh to be fired.
January 22nd, 2024 at 3:03 PM ^
Seems like a pretty accurate summary of what’s going on.
If that were a post on this board it would get negged to Bolivia though.
January 22nd, 2024 at 4:06 PM ^
Most people let emotions get in their way. Jim has brought the Michigan of my childhood back and I love him for that (although I'd despise him if he played/coached for any other NCAA school). That said, anyone who says he doesn't deserve some critique for what's happening, including the repetitive season-end flirtation with the NFL, has got their head in the sand.
January 22nd, 2024 at 3:04 PM ^
" ... it’s Manuel’s job to take this slow and get the contract details right ..."
False, it's Manuel's job to get the contract details right.
He's already a year late in this cluster doodle.
Maybe two.
January 22nd, 2024 at 3:18 PM ^
Do you think the exploring the NFL wouldn’t be taking place if Harbaugh signed an extension last year?
i think the only, or primary differences would be.. 1) the size of the buyout, and 2) a clause about the NCAA stuff wouldn’t have as much scrutiny as this year deal will have.
If the buyout was $10M instead of $2.5, or $1.5 - do you think NFL teams would still be reaching out / interviewing him? I do.
January 22nd, 2024 at 3:57 PM ^
Neither $2M nor $10M will not prevent an NFL owner from trying to hire Harbaugh if interested. Mark Davis gave a coach who had one good year and was out of coaching for 10 years $100M.
And Harbaugh does not seem to think signing a new contract with Michigan would be an impediment to inquiring about NFL opportunities.
January 22nd, 2024 at 3:05 PM ^
if JH is gonna leave if he's offered an NFL job then what's the downside to the AD giving him whatever he wants? Puts all the pressure on JH and if he gets that NFL job then Warde is mostly off the hook but instead its this tedious back and forth in the media about "showing love".
The downside is god-forbid JH comes back to Michigan and Warde is "stuck" with him and the financial obligation to pay him? Seems like a bet worth making....
January 22nd, 2024 at 3:29 PM ^
The downside is the idiotic NCAA and a potential significant punishment. Let’s say the NCAA levies a heavy punishment, like suspending Harbaugh for the entire season from all football operations. So now you’re paying a coach $13m a year to NOT coach, he can’t recruit, he can’t do anything. So who coaches the team? Moore? You think he’s gonna coach the whole season without a pay raise? Nope. So now you have to pay moore a couple million too. How do you think that affects recruiting? You just simply can’t meet his demand in this scenario. Now, you could put clauses in that protect him from a firing if the penalty is 4 games or some arbitrary number. But there has to be a point where you are able to fire him if NCAA does something crazy.
January 22nd, 2024 at 3:58 PM ^
Or the university could learn to actually play hardball with the NCAA instead of threatening legal action and then bailing at the last moment...
Seems like every other university on the block has learned how to deal with the NCAA... Everyone except UM.
January 22nd, 2024 at 4:14 PM ^
The legitimacy of everything the NCAA does should be brought into question. Unfortunately there is so much to fix about college football.
January 23rd, 2024 at 7:56 AM ^
There's no way we can't get a big donor to pony up to pay his salary in that kind of case. The U could actually save money if it happens. IDK how that can possibly be the sticking point.
January 22nd, 2024 at 3:39 PM ^
The conversation has been Jim's agents leaks and nothing from U of M. You are going to see a much rosier side of Jim's situation than is probably the truth. If sign-gate has taught us anything its UM takes social media Ls like its their job.
January 22nd, 2024 at 6:04 PM ^
The downside... Unfinished NCAA investigation finds more stuff, Harbaugh gets a multi-year show cause, Michigan gets punished for keeping him, he can't coach, and Michigan has to pay two coaches.
January 22nd, 2024 at 6:21 PM ^
We are talking about the NCAA, so there’s that, but I honestly feel a multi-year show cause is pretty far fetched.
January 22nd, 2024 at 8:11 PM ^
A multi-year show cause for what we know now seems pretty far fetched, but they're still investigating.
January 22nd, 2024 at 3:06 PM ^
The article gives too much credence to the NCAA investigations. It's pretty clear to anyone who has been paying close attention that the "burgergate" investigation is a big nothingburger and that the signgate fiasco is much ado about nothing and a matter that no one has any reason to believe was done with any knowledge whatsoever on the part of Harbaugh. Considering the fact that Michigan, for reasons known only to the administration, elected to agree to a pair of three game suspensions instead of fighting the NCAA on the nothingburger and knuckling under to the Big Ten on the sign stealing issue when a court hearing was about to occur, who can blame Harbaugh for wanting protection from the NCAA and the Big Ten?
January 22nd, 2024 at 3:21 PM ^
The issue is.. the NCAA and B1G are judge, jury, and executioner. Yes, there are options - in certain cases to challenge / contest their decision / suspension / finding - but, they are not really part of the US Legal system.
January 22nd, 2024 at 3:10 PM ^
I don't understand what Michigan is doing here?
1 - Sign Harbaugh and give him the 3 person commitee
2- Find a new AD, Warde has proven he does not have the skills or leadership for this job. This is not UConn.
3- Win more games with a happy Harbaugh and turn around the Basketball Program
January 22nd, 2024 at 3:24 PM ^
Sure, easy, except: You can't sign anyone who doesn't want to be signed.
We are now the fallback option, and you don't agree to the fallback until you have exhausted your chances at your first choice.
January 22nd, 2024 at 4:10 PM ^
No but you can demonstrate that you have put forth good effort and leave the ball in the other person's court, in this case Jim Harbaugh's. Michigan has not demonstrated that such an effort has been put forth.
If Michigan refuses to do whatever is in their power to retain Jim and it's clear they don't mind him walking without doing so then I am no longer a fan of Michigan football.
This has to be a situation that Jim leaves only because he wants to win a Superbowl. If he leaves due to some request that Michigan could have granted but refused to do so then Michigan deserved what it gets. No Michigan fan cares about the NCAA or the Big 10s actions toward Jim and it shouldn't hinder Michigan's approach toward Jim.
January 23rd, 2024 at 5:48 PM ^
Yup. OSU, NCAA, and the Big Ten don’t get what they want if UM leadership was functional, fired Warde, and catered to Jim. Now this stings doubly.
January 22nd, 2024 at 3:30 PM ^
It feels like what you do is you give Harbaugh immunity from being fired for cause for the cheeseburger NCAA issue (of which you already know all the facts and he's not likely to get a show cause or super long suspension), and you give him immunity from being fired for cause when it comes to the Connor Stallions situation as long as the only his only liability is based on the head coach responsibility rule. I imagine his concern here is he may be held liable for something that he no involvement or knowledge of. So you give him the immunity for that specific scenario but you retain the ability to fire him for cause if it comes out later that he did have involvement (but you give him the three person panel to determine if he can fired for cause in such a circumstance or for any future NCAA violations). Feels like this is a compromise that satisfies Harbaugh's concerns but also protects the university.
January 22nd, 2024 at 9:19 PM ^
What the hell has Warde done wrong? You don't seem to have any facts at your disposal. Is Juwan turning out to be a bad hire? Maybe? But the athletic department is booming and just won a national title in football. So why are you so fucking angry? Do you expect Warde to MAKE Harbaugh sign?
January 22nd, 2024 at 3:11 PM ^
Not a fan of Warde's, really, but you can't negoiate a new contract if the other person doesn't want to sign it (right now) for whatever reasons.
We've heard a lot about the conditions under which JH can be "fired for cause". While he undoubtedly wants those clauses, I've wondered if the wording of those is the sticking point some have made it out to be. After all, if JH truly believes he can get an NFL job without difficulty, then why would being fired be a big deal?
He simply wants to go back to the NFL (IMO, he's really trying to "out happy, happy" , something he said he didn't want to do...but how do you tell someone what they should want?)
Really, the thing that has started to piss me off... We are Michigan, Dammit. We shouldn't be someone's 2nd choice.
January 22nd, 2024 at 5:56 PM ^
I agree with your concerns. I think Jim's demands are contractual steps to asking that Michigan join him in taking on the arrogant staffers at the NCAA. The NCAA is not rational, they are not consistent, they are not putting the student-athletes first. The NCAA should limit their rules and investigations to things that matter.
January 22nd, 2024 at 3:11 PM ^
This article is a little iffy. Yes 2020 was bad, but also a weird COVID situation. IMO 2008 was much worse. Maybe the author wasn't around for that disaster.
After what we just got, JH has earned the right to delay a little while he considers options.
No regrets regardless of what happens
January 22nd, 2024 at 3:14 PM ^
Going through this every fucking year after he repeatedly said that wouldn't be the case is really a bad look for the program and Harbaugh and sucks as a fan.
No sane org is going to guarantee someone $100,000,000.00 even if they break rules and can no longer do their job. That gross fiduciary irresponsibility.
Be accountable and sign a reasonable contract, or go.
January 22nd, 2024 at 3:23 PM ^
Regardless of whether Harbaugh stays or goes and recognizing that he has brought us success on the field and likely in the locker room, his recurrent pursuit or dalliance with the NFL particularly this year will have a negative impact on our team for the next couple of years given our recent subpar recruiting and portal results.
He needs to shit or get off the pot.
January 22nd, 2024 at 3:22 PM ^
Sam made a good point on the WKTA roundtable last week that Michigan signed up for this when they signed Harbaugh: an outstanding coach who never gave up on his dreams of winning another Super Bowl. The trade-off of Michigan 's success the past 3 years is that it's inevitably led to uncertainty about our future coaching situation. I'd almost analogize it to the Cubs trading their best prospects for Aroldis Chapman in 2016 or the Rams giving up 2 1st-round picks for Matthew Stafford in 2021.
January 22nd, 2024 at 7:29 PM ^
Which got the Rams a Super Bowl and UM a National Championship.
January 22nd, 2024 at 7:45 PM ^
And the Cubs their first World Series in 108 years!
January 22nd, 2024 at 3:24 PM ^
We can't blame the university, so we blame Warde. The frustration is that we see other powerhouse programs who we know would do ANYTHING to retain a coach who just won a championship (if Harbaugh leaves we'll be the only championship program to lose their coach to something other than retirement).
Just like NIL, transfer policies, and so on -- Michigan will get in its own way. For some people it's worth it, bc they want Michigan to have higher standards as an academic institution or whatever the argument is. For me, I don't understand why Michigan chooses to cap themselves and only dip their toes in the pool. Does anyone really look down on Texas, USC, etc as academic institutions bc of their devotion to college football?
January 22nd, 2024 at 3:39 PM ^
Good points. Michigan will never go all in like some of these other programs. That's why the championship just won is a unicorn, based on NIL dollars spent, recruiting stars, etc. That this happened at all is a freaking miracle. Jim might have gotten there sooner if not for The Spot. Then perhaps this all would be moot and he would have long since gone back to the NFL. But it took him awhile and here we are. I'm getting frustrated with the situation, mainly because it feels like Michigan NEVER takes advantage of its success, but if he wants to go he should go.
January 23rd, 2024 at 6:10 PM ^
EXACTLY. Why does UM not understand that athletic success does not take away from academic prestige, but schools like USC, Duke, and Texas, can? And OSU took advantage of our weak leadership.