If you are Team #NeverFireHarbaugh, do you expect a national championship?
I decided I'd rather add this to the ultra-snowflakey gameday board than put it up midweek.
I thought we'd compete for national titles when we hired Harbaugh. Now just competing for the Big Ten seems like we're going to need a miracle season.
I'm not saying I want Harbaugh on the hot seat, but I am saying I won't be delusional enough to think we're ever going to sniff the air of Clemson, Bama, OSU, etc.
If you're one of the people who shouts at everyone who dares to question Harbaugh, is it because you still think he's going to start making the CFP on a semi-regular basis or is it because you have just decided beating up on the bad teams (usually) is good enough?
September 21st, 2019 at 6:28 PM ^
Considering that Michigan has won exactly one national title in the last 70 years, maybe that shouldn't be our litmus test for the success of a head coach.
September 21st, 2019 at 6:29 PM ^
I'll mark you down for not expecting one then.
September 21st, 2019 at 6:33 PM ^
Well you're correct. Michigan might win another national title, but I certainly don't expect one.
September 21st, 2019 at 7:23 PM ^
I'm 37 and don't think I'll see UM win another national title in my lifetime. I am being serious. Hell, I'm staring to question if we'll ever win another conference title in my lifetime.
September 21st, 2019 at 6:33 PM ^
Why would you expect one? What in Michigan’s history would lead you to expect one.
September 21st, 2019 at 6:37 PM ^
I don't expect one.
September 21st, 2019 at 6:42 PM ^
I’ve always said that NC would come back to haunt Michigan. Lloyd became untouchable because of it and he, more than anyone else, is responsible for the cluster fuck that has occurred.
September 21st, 2019 at 6:44 PM ^
Blaming Lloyd is ridiculous.
Lloyd has absolutely nothing to do with Harbaugh’s failures as a coach.
September 21st, 2019 at 6:47 PM ^
You don't see the big picture.
September 21st, 2019 at 7:24 PM ^
Apparently you don't.
September 21st, 2019 at 7:17 PM ^
Lloyd left the cupboard bare for the successor.
There's ZERO way that an elite program, as M's fanbase fashions it, that Threet and Sheridan are P5 starting QBs.
And don't counter that with some bullshit about Mallet.
September 21st, 2019 at 7:27 PM ^
Don't counter with Mallett? You're basically telling him that he isn't allowed to bring a legit counter argument. Mallett would have been fine had it not been for RR and his stubbornness to implement his read option system despite the personnel. A good coach adapts to his personnel until he can recruit the type of guys he wants. Brady Hoke did that his first year, though he isn't a good coach in the end, but he still adapted to his personnel.
September 21st, 2019 at 9:21 PM ^
Yea!
“Don’t counter with that thing that legitimately disproves my point!”
September 21st, 2019 at 6:46 PM ^
Yes. Yes. Yes. Bo brought the toughness. Mo brought the talent. People that don't realize this are a waste of time trying to talk to.
September 21st, 2019 at 6:48 PM ^
This program is far enough removed from the Carr era that this argument no longer applies.
September 21st, 2019 at 6:55 PM ^
Do you mean by supposedly blocking Les's hiring back in 07? Or undermining the RR regime? I didn't read Bacon's book on the subject, and only heard rumors.
September 21st, 2019 at 7:05 PM ^
Yes, that’s part of it. He also was horrible on the recruiting trail at the end. I wanted Lloyd gone long before he won the NC. He could have just gone into retirement, but just like Mack Brown at Texas had to be an asshole and make sure the next coach sucked ass.
September 21st, 2019 at 6:55 PM ^
MGOBlog rule #1: when all else fails, blame Carr
September 21st, 2019 at 7:04 PM ^
and OSU hadn't won one in 35 years before they got Tressle
playing OSU with a win an into a big 10 title game every year with a 50% win rate vs OSU is what should be expected.
Not 0-5 vs OSU and 0-7 vs ranked teams on the road.
September 21st, 2019 at 7:10 PM ^
Wake me when OSU is bad enough to be beatable half the time without us being a title contender.
September 21st, 2019 at 7:06 PM ^
(Half a title)
September 21st, 2019 at 7:15 PM ^
I do not think Harbaugh should be fired and realistically I do not think Michigan is a legitimate title contender. That doesnt mean I dont think it could ever happen, but, you know..... Michigan just doesn't have the same priorities as Ohio State and Alabama.
September 21st, 2019 at 8:17 PM ^
Then maybe we should become independent or join the Ivy League conference. I can not believe Michigan does not have the same priorities based on the fact the athletic department shells out ridiculous sums of cash.
If we want kids to graduate and be pillars of the community it’s certainly a noble goal and one that can be accomplished for a hell of a lot cheaper. There should be high expectations for this program and Harbaugh. This seems more a scapegoat for why Harbaugh has underachieved.
September 22nd, 2019 at 1:12 AM ^
You act like the football team costs Michigan money...it's the opposite.
September 21st, 2019 at 6:30 PM ^
How about beating a decent team on the road? I think it’s time for a mutual parting of the ways. It’s clearly not working.
September 21st, 2019 at 6:31 PM ^
Taking the question at face value, the answer is no - the game has changed, and now there is a conference championship game as well as two playoff games, which are in fact three additional opportunities to lose. Add that to the fact that only one (or historically two) teams can ever actually achieve that each year and, well, yeah my answer is bluntly and honestly no.
September 21st, 2019 at 6:31 PM ^
I don't think there's a team #NeverFireHarbaugh. I think everyone's looking at the results, I think people have different thresholds for where they question a coach. There's folks where it just takes one loss to set them off. I remember seeing Pats fans ripping Belichick after losses. There's a type of fan like that, usually low IQ, big drinkers.
What I'm saying is that there's people who think we shouldn't fire Harbaugh provided we win 8+ games every year and the occasional disheartening loss doesn't alter that once the disappointment wears off. But if we do end up going the 6-6 or 5-7 that some people here are suggesting as the likely outcomes of this season, I am absolutely certain that the vast majority of this forum - including the proprietors of this website - will turn and ask for a change.
September 21st, 2019 at 6:34 PM ^
Harbaugh gets paid like a NC winning coach. The AD won’t be able to cover that when it gets clear that he’s a 8-10 win type of guys.
September 21st, 2019 at 6:36 PM ^
Those who matter don’t care. 8-10 is fine with them so long as money keeps flowing in.
September 21st, 2019 at 6:38 PM ^
SQ hits the nail. Money keeps flowing Michigan athletic department is happy
September 21st, 2019 at 6:44 PM ^
There is more here than just money involved.
Harbaugh has encouraged our players to major in non-traditional fields. He has taken the team abroad, something no other football program has done. For people who have no connection to the university, maybe that means little, but I personally respect that my alma mater's football program is doing this. I wouldn't be happy to see these developments be reversed.
Now we obviously have to win enough games, too. But if a guy that lots of NFL teams coveted can't win big . . . I don't know who's out there that can.
September 21st, 2019 at 7:17 PM ^
The word is "coveted". The NFL now covets young, innovative guys like Lincoln Riley, Ryan Day, Kliff Kingsbury, Sean McVay, Kyle Shanahan. Harbaugh's 1980's offense is not in favor these days in the NFL.
September 21st, 2019 at 7:55 PM ^
He's supposed to be a football coach not a academic advisor or travel agent. Time to move in to the next coach
September 22nd, 2019 at 12:19 AM ^
You got killed for this, but I agree with you. I also I think this is probably what the majority of our alumni, the ones who generally don't post on forums or read blogs or really even follow the team that closely, feel.
September 21st, 2019 at 6:48 PM ^
Also, keep the academic numbers up.
September 21st, 2019 at 6:54 PM ^
Keep academic records up? Do you know how many tutors we could hire with JH's salary?
September 21st, 2019 at 6:37 PM ^
Manuel isn't going to turn around and fire someone with a Michigan name like Harbaugh after an 8-5 season. Just haven't seen that in how he runs the shop. The money is not a factor. The next coach wouldn't coach for free, and prices aren't going down.
September 21st, 2019 at 6:55 PM ^
If this team goes 6-6...he deserves to be fired but I think they are more likely to go 11-1 than 6-6.
In my misery I flipped over to OSU and was just in time to see some random true freshmen receiver catch a regular 10 yard hook and then just turn on the jets and he completely out ran everyone for a td. Looked as fast as the kid who took the jet sweep for a td against us last year. They just keep reloading and somehow we manage to make three top wr’s irrelevant. Time to start drinking again.
September 21st, 2019 at 7:42 PM ^
wait, you think this team is more likely to go 11-1 than 6-6?!!
After what you just watched? The rest of your post doesn't jibe with that.
September 21st, 2019 at 9:02 PM ^
It seems like the ultimate excuse for mediocrity: “we do well in academics and I’d rather be Michigan than like OSU”
it feels like the 2019 version of the “winningest program” fluff. He’s a football coach. He’s paid a shitload. If he can’t win AND graduate players he should be gone.
September 22nd, 2019 at 6:33 AM ^
Your posts speaks to the messed up priorities in this country. Only in this country are athletes and head coaches higher paid than clinical researchers, physicists, chemists, engineers, and biologists. Only in America are people playing children’s games more coveted than those that actually advance our society.
September 22nd, 2019 at 12:15 AM ^
More to the point, those with the power to actually change things in the school will only care if Harbaugh costs them money.
The culture around the program is still very old school, blue haired alumni bragging about sitting in section whatever for however many decades. Those people are fine with 8 to 10 wins every season. At this point, I don't even think they care about beating Ohio State so long as we can beat MSU. If those people are kept happy, they keep paying for the seats and they keep donating to the athletic department. Harbaugh will keep those people happy provided he keeps winning at the pace he's been winning at.
If we go 6-6? Those people start getting testy. Then you start hearing about actual change.
I would count myself as someone who is happy so long as the team keeps winning and being relevant nationally every other year. I would happily be a fan of Wisconsin or Iowa if things had broken that way for me. I don't need Michigan to be Alabama, I don't need Michigan to replace the Detroit Lions as my professional football team. I just want Michigan to be relevant like they were in the 90s when I was growing up. If Harbaugh keeps is relevant, great. If he can't? Then he will be replaced by someone who can. National championships? I couldn't even conceive of Michigan winning one. Big Ten championships? I would be elated if we won one but I don't expect them to come easily
September 23rd, 2019 at 12:09 PM ^
Michigan won 5 big ten championships and a national title in the 90s.
If that is your benchmark then I'm afraid you will never be satisfied
that is Urban Meyer at OSU level of performance. (3 big ten titles and a national championship in 7 years).
At this point I'd be happy just winning the Big Ten East once every 4 or 5 years and beating OSU once every 3 years. If we can do that for next 15 years it will be a significant improvement over the last 15 years.
September 21st, 2019 at 6:32 PM ^
Michigan for the past 50 years has been a regional power. Look at it’s bowl record.
Michigan is what it has been in the modern era—a 8-10 win program. Except now the Big Ten’s depth is much deeper than it was for much of that 50 years.
Michigan is fine with that.
September 21st, 2019 at 6:40 PM ^
Imagine if Ohio State was fine with 8-10 win seasons and never winning a B1G title in 15 years. I'm tired of being a good, sometimes great but never elite team. And if you think we can't get to that level, tell that to Jim Tressel. He faced down a National Championship coach in Lloyd Carr with Michigan having dominated the rivalry for 10+ years, and he turned the dynamic on its head.
We need to find our Jim Tressel. I thought we had it in Harbaugh, but it appears not to be the case.
September 21st, 2019 at 6:45 PM ^
Jim Tressel cheated. People here don't want to do that. We need the rules to change so we can legally pay players. Then we'll be out of excuses. And maybe we won't even need them.
September 21st, 2019 at 6:58 PM ^
cop out answers
September 21st, 2019 at 7:10 PM ^
BS. IDGAF about his players selling their jewelry for cash or tattoos. Years later that seems tame with what goes on in the SEC. If you have evidence of systemic cheating go to the NCAA with evidence. Right now Alabama, Ohio, Clemson, UGA, and OU are the elite. The rest are losers just crying with excuses.
September 21st, 2019 at 7:23 PM ^
IDGAF either but he cheated and he was caught.
If you're saying that Bama, UGA, Clemson, OSU are on the up and up, or you're saying we're cheating equally, I can't sit here and prove you wrong. It's what I believe. And if it's true it makes it harder to stockpile the talent and harder to win.
We would be as good as Oklahoma in the Big 12 so ha whatever. They haven't won anything in the CFP.