Jaybaugh is a good coach and should be recognized as such
There has always been an undercurrent of discontent on this message board with Jay Harbaugh. Likely because of suspicions of nepotism and frustration with the family name. It has never made sense to me and I think we should put it to bed. Jaybaugh is both a good recruiter and a good coach. My evidence:
His recruiting has been fantastic. We have landed several top options at both TE and RB with him as the primary/sole recruiter. This running back room was entirely recruited by him. The running back room is so deep that the best back in the PAC 12 transferred out because he wasn't getting enough touches. And that decision was justifiable! He beat OSU for the best RB in the country and found the fourth-best back in the country (as ranked by PFF) under a rock in Missouri.
The dude can evaluate talent, recruit talent, and land recruits.
As for coaching, this offseason he was moved to TE & Special Teams coach. From Today's UFR:
"The dirty secret to Michigan’s excellent running game this year is the tight ends are doing as much or more than the official hogmollies. Of them, Erick All is an All-Big Ten player who had an All-American caliber game. The reason Michigan loves to run split zone and counter in the first place is it usually ends with Erick All kicking out a stationary defender of some kind."
UM also has one of the best special team units in the country.
Sounds like he might be doing a good job on the Xs and Os.
Maybe I'm preaching to the choir here (I know there are some detractors out there) but I think Jay should be recognized as a huge asset to the program. Go Blue and Beat State!
October 27th, 2021 at 3:38 PM ^
0 Conference championships. There is no excuse.
October 27th, 2021 at 3:43 PM ^
Idc if this was serious or sarcastic - I still chuckled
October 27th, 2021 at 3:38 PM ^
The RB room of Haskins, Corum, Edwards, is exceptional, maybe top three in program history. And Jay is a part of it.
October 27th, 2021 at 3:44 PM ^
Absolutely. I'm happy Hart is working out as a coach but Jaybaugh absolutely coached these guys well and the fact the TEs look much better than last year while the ST has kept up their great pace is a testament to his coaching. And he's a crack recruiter.
October 27th, 2021 at 4:24 PM ^
We def should recognize him on MGoBlog since 2.5 weeks ago.
https://www.mgoblog.com/mgoboard/jay-harbaugh-appreciation-thread
October 27th, 2021 at 4:25 PM ^
Good coach, still shouldn't be here.
October 27th, 2021 at 6:17 PM ^
Why? Seriously, at this point what is the argument other than just nepotism? It’s also not as if he had no experience, he’d been working with John when he was hired here.
October 28th, 2021 at 3:14 AM ^
I mean, some people might think nepotism is a sufficient argument by itself. There are institutions in the world that just wouldn't allow a guy to hire his son.
October 28th, 2021 at 8:14 AM ^
In no job I've ever had would I have been allowed to manage my wife, parents, or kids - no matter how good they were at the job.
October 27th, 2021 at 4:47 PM ^
He is a good coach and recruiter apparently. Kudos to Jay. But it’s hard to blame posters here for feeling uneasy about nepotism.
October 27th, 2021 at 5:26 PM ^
They had an excuse when he was hired but a considerable part of the fan base wanted him gone as recently as last off-season.
October 27th, 2021 at 4:52 PM ^
Jim Harbaugh has not put his son in a position to fail, or perhaps more importantly, nput him in a position to generate fan ire. He hasn’t been made QB coach, like Jay Paterno, or offensive coordinator, like Jeff Bowden, and as people have said, the position groups he’s been in charge of have largely been successful.
That he’s been a pretty successful STC is an absolute bonus.
October 27th, 2021 at 5:19 PM ^
I've been surprised he hasn't been poached yet
October 27th, 2021 at 5:26 PM ^
Again? How many times do we have to acknowledge it?
October 27th, 2021 at 5:29 PM ^
Until it balances out Mike Hart appreciation threads.
October 27th, 2021 at 5:30 PM ^
Does anyone dispute that who isn't goofy in the brain?
October 27th, 2021 at 6:27 PM ^
During the "If we can Harbaugh who do we give the job to" debate (funny how that kind of died off), since there were no obvious upgrades out there, I floated the idea of a "Dabo" hire: promote a talented assistant on the staff to first HC job. Gattis? Nah. Sherrone Moore? Turns out he's a much better OL coach than we all thought, but HC would really be a stretch. The only guy who seemed like he might be a successful "Dabo" hire is ... Jay Harbaugh. Wouldn't that be something, fire the dad and hire the son!
October 27th, 2021 at 8:06 PM ^
The "nepotism" actually runs in reverse here. If he wasn't a Harbaugh he'd be an OC at a top P5 school or a HC in the MAC.
October 27th, 2021 at 9:45 PM ^
I don't care if he's a bastard. Jim Harbaugh's blood runs through his veins. He's my king from this day until his last day.
October 27th, 2021 at 10:07 PM ^
Fair enough but for someone that has been a coach since 2008 you wonder why he’s not moved up to a coordinator??
October 28th, 2021 at 12:42 AM ^
He was a student assistant and a quality control guy before coming to Michigan. He’s also just 32. And his kids get to be around their grandparents and great grandparents. Plus he probably makes more as a position coach at Michigan than he would as a G5 coordinator
October 28th, 2021 at 2:11 AM ^
He was a better RB coach here than Ty Wheatley was. And he was good at TE (and still is) and was smart enough to basically download the Baxter ST playbook.
JayBaugh is going to be a head coach sooner rather than later.
October 28th, 2021 at 4:55 PM ^
Nah, I will insist that even though every position that he coached has prospered, that’s from nepotism too.