JH: "There’s no Lombardi Trophy in college football"
Perhaps this debate is getting old, but in case any of you were wondering whether Warde blew this (many) or Jim was chased out (fewer):
https://x.com/awfulannouncing/status/1751686209590698110?s=20
Maybe he's just being kind, but he seems awfully happy. Good for him.
January 28th, 2024 at 5:04 PM ^
All I was doing was pointing out that he was, in fact, extended following his 2021 season, contrary to what you wrote.
January 28th, 2024 at 5:34 PM ^
And I was just reiterating how much of a failure Warde is.
It's all good my friend!
January 28th, 2024 at 4:36 PM ^
He seems very at peace with his decision and juiced to get after it. After watching this, I’m thrilled for Jim. I definitely feel better after Sherrone being introduced.
January 28th, 2024 at 4:37 PM ^
Thanks for posting. I did not see this live and I enjoyed it.
However, I can't imagine this will change anyone's mind. The people who believe that John Beilein leaving is directly Warde's doing are not able to accept that some things are simply out of Warde's control.
(Yes, yes, he could have done more. That doesn't change the outcome.)
Harbaugh saying this now doesn't really prove anything. I think everyone already understood he felt a pull to both Michigan and the NFL. He was going to be happy with whatever decision he made.
January 28th, 2024 at 4:39 PM ^
Legendary. And he won a championship with Michigan!
January 28th, 2024 at 4:42 PM ^
I don't think Jim Harbaugh will win a Super Bowl and even if he wins one, he should know that he will never be appreciated as much for his Super Bowl win as he would have been for his legacy at Michigan.
This may be me being bitter but I hope that he states leaving Michigan as being the biggest regret of his life.
January 28th, 2024 at 4:45 PM ^
you are bitter it’s not a good look , you wanted him to stay for you not because it was good for Jim … smfh
January 28th, 2024 at 5:18 PM ^
Self-awareness is good and Jim may be lacking it. The last two coaching positions he has had, he has left and reportedly some if it is due to conflict with his superiors. What will make Los Angeles different? The assumption would be that the Spanos have to walk on egg shells around Jim and placate him in order to "win a super bowl." Perhaps, they learn to get along and play nice during this venture for the sake of winning.
My money is on someone in the organization rubbing Jim (or Jim rubbing them) in the wrong way and tension begins to mount. I could be wrong and perhaps I am but you also still have to add the fact of how hard it is to win a super bowl. While typing this, the Ravens have their hands full at home to the Chiefs.
I appreciate Jim, I am thankful for what he did. I have zero doubt that he would accomplish this at Michigan the moment he was hired. Also, I have no doubt he will have a winning record at the Chargers but I can't say he will win a super bowl. There is a better chance that he will get fired and for me that is sad because he could still be here building on his legacy.
January 28th, 2024 at 4:46 PM ^
He may or may not care about the fan appreciation. But if he does, I'd imagine the LA Chargers support is not like the 49ers support, if that's what he's picturing. But surely he also knows that.
January 28th, 2024 at 4:49 PM ^
Nah. I hope he has a great time.
He didn't need to come back here at all. There were NFL teams that would have hired him in all but maybe two of the offseasons between his tenure at the 49ers and his recent change of jobs this past week. After 2020 he started taking those openings seriously again, but at no point was Michigan a "fallback" job. He would have come back to college for no other program. He came because he loved Michigan, he won, he wants to go back to the NFL.
I think if his goal was appreciation by fans, he would stay here, or if he really wanted to go to the NFL, go to a different franchise. But the LA Chargers are literally the last team you join if you care about being appreciated by a fanbase, since they essentially have none at all.
January 28th, 2024 at 4:44 PM ^
Jim said what people should have realized… he had the Super Bowl itch , he wants it bad always has … if you didn’t see that that’s on you … he came back when he didn’t have to … he came back to Meechigan because he loved it and wanted to restore the program to its rightful place … he beat the nuts into full submission and won a National championship… his work was done … he was always moving on … deal with it !!!
January 28th, 2024 at 4:45 PM ^
Agree he looks and sounds happy. Convinces me he made the decision that was right for him.
January 28th, 2024 at 4:45 PM ^
But there are cheaters and a rigged, woke system......in the NFL.
January 28th, 2024 at 4:57 PM ^
People.
Im not a Warde fan either but I would bet you the sum total of OSU’s slush fund that we expend 1000x the headspace on Warde Manuel that Harbaugh did. Yes he likely doesn’t hold Warde in high regard either, but it’s maybe fifty-eighth AT BEST on the list of factors that swayed his decision to stay or go. I don’t know about the rest of y’all but I don’t have too much storage space in my brain these days so I’m not gonna rent any of it free to Warde Manuel.
January 28th, 2024 at 4:58 PM ^
Whether Warde sucks or not is not really germane to the Jim situation. He wanted to go to the NFL. He wanted to for the last three years. It was pretty obvious. This off-season he got kinda what he wanted -- an established team with a quality QB and a chance to win it all in a shorter timeframe. So he left.
Now, can we let it be for a while?
I'm 100% behind Coach Moore. Let's maintain the culture and the high-level defense. Let's figure out the QB position. Let's focus on what we're doing every single day to beat Ohio State. Let's get after it.
January 28th, 2024 at 5:00 PM ^
Good luck coach Harbaugh and thank you for everything!
January 28th, 2024 at 5:06 PM ^
I don't think he will get one with the Chargers, or even the Falcons if he went there.
January 28th, 2024 at 5:09 PM ^
Good luck to him.
But honestly, I am tried of seeing him come up on sports sites, and in my news feed wearing Michigan gear. I get that the sports world probably doesn't have any other recent photos of him, but it is still a bad reminder of him leaving. Wish they would all use photo shop and put some crappy, pixelated Chargers emblems over The Block M.
January 28th, 2024 at 11:32 PM ^
Disagree. I’ll love me some JH until the day I die. Great coach, great leader, and brought a great culture to AA. He can wear all of the Michigan gear he wants for the rest of his life. If I see him him at Knights Steak house I am buying him 2 drinks and one for Jay as well. If you don’t like it GTFO AA.
January 28th, 2024 at 5:09 PM ^
I obviously agree that it is time for people to turn the page here and support Coach Moore. However, the idea that it is normal for principals in contract negotiations to delegate everything to agents is not really normal. Lawyers serve a role in executing the deal, not making it. Putting the problem here on counsel is not right. Personally, I am not sure the University should have agreed to the “immunity” that people have referenced, whatever it was. That is a terrible precedent, and a decision that would have been almost entirely blind as to the actual facts, since the University cannot make its own investigation while the NCAA/B1G continue to bumble along. Where I really take issue with Manuel is on the way the Department is functioning. Compliance is the AD’s job. Stallions is on him more than Harbaugh. Likewise, handling Pettiti is the AD’s job: terrible outcome. Same for the NCAA. All of that stuff led to where we are, which could still get worse. Regardless of the Lombardi trophy, it seems likely to me that all of this compliance noise did play a factor, and is on the Department and the AD.
January 28th, 2024 at 9:04 PM ^
Yes, the Stalions stuff along with the hiring issues are on Warde and the compliance and due diligence units of the athletic department. There is no excuse for not knowing what is going on within your most important sport in terms of who the coach is hiring or what the staff is doing. Because it isn’t as if all of their attention is on crafting an innovative NIL program.
January 28th, 2024 at 5:18 PM ^
Good Luck to Coach Harbaugh!
As for Warde, not having the contract Jim wanted long before the last hour was pure incompetence! Getting tired of people defending him or doing his job! The fact he waited till the last hour is telling! Don’t care what anyone has to say Manuel has a job to do as AD and failed horribly!
January 28th, 2024 at 5:30 PM ^
He wanted a Lombardi AND Warde sucks. Both can be true.
January 28th, 2024 at 6:02 PM ^
Fire Warde
January 28th, 2024 at 6:20 PM ^
agreed
January 28th, 2024 at 6:15 PM ^
Warde needs to go. What's hard for you wanks that keep insisting it's Warde bashing to understand. Regardless of Jim's decision it's time to move on for lots of other reasons already discussed by lots of folks.
January 28th, 2024 at 6:20 PM ^
Chiefs are my AFC team , so glad they won. Lions match up better with the chiefs! If only the lions can win!
January 28th, 2024 at 6:52 PM ^
I wish him well and I’m always going to be grateful for the last nine years, but after his dalliance with the NFL for the last three years and how much it undoubtedly hurt recruiting, I’m glad we can all move on.
January 28th, 2024 at 7:34 PM ^
Jim has a lot of “quirks” that align with a lot of identifiable types of mindsets. He is very task and goal oriented. He obviously has wanted to be the greatest coach, and has had it in his mind a Super Bowl is necessary to do that.
Also, he came to Michigan to rescue the program that gave him the great life he’s had. He has finished the business of that. And now he’s on to his next goal.
January 28th, 2024 at 9:26 PM ^
Even if Harbaugh won four more championships with Michigan (highly unlikely), people would still say Saban is the GOAT and the data would back that up. But taking a moribund Michigan program to the top AND an even-more moribund Chargers franchise to the top would put him in a class by himself
Ultimately, I know he doesn't care about people's opinions of his coaching ability, he just wants to prove it to himself.
January 28th, 2024 at 10:18 PM ^
He probably just wants to have the most championships in the Harbaugh family.
January 28th, 2024 at 7:48 PM ^
Astute observation there Jimmy
January 28th, 2024 at 10:08 PM ^
Yes I saw that too. He was going to go no matter what. We should have learned that over the last three seasons.
January 28th, 2024 at 10:09 PM ^
I feel like this was obvious, but then I heard Craig Ross’s bitching at the regents and realized that I guess some people still WANT TO BELIEVE. Jim wanted to leave for the NFL; he’s wanted to leave for at least two years . It’s not about money, it’s not about “feeling the love”, the need to have Warde buy his grandkids some t-shirts, or whatever.
January 28th, 2024 at 10:37 PM ^
Jim is going to talk future and lead it.
It does not change who Warde is.
Warde apologists should take a break.
January 28th, 2024 at 10:56 PM ^
Good luck to him, and thanks to him for getting Michigan back to the promised land but also good riddance. It will literally be nice to not have all the off season drama each and every year. Some people just always think the grass is greener on the other side of the fence and guess what, sometimes it's not. I don't begrudge him for wanting to chase that dream but that Chargers situation with them over 50 million dollars over the salary cap ain't going to the Super Bowl any time soon. Hope for his sake he proves me wrong.
January 28th, 2024 at 11:21 PM ^
Don’t get bitter, get better. 〽️
January 29th, 2024 at 12:13 AM ^
Goodbye, Jim.
Nice to have you with us, Sherrone.
January 29th, 2024 at 12:16 AM ^
Things change. Every year guys graduate and move on, coaches get hired or don't get reupped. Team 145 was always going to be different... sometimes its better to leave on a high note.
Harbaugh did everything people were hoping for when he came back to coach Michigan.
In time, I think people will remember all the great memories we got to see and experience
It's bittersweet, but Championships are forever.
January 29th, 2024 at 12:22 AM ^
He achieved his mission here. Now he is set on a super bowl victory. Good luck and thank you!!!
January 29th, 2024 at 7:38 AM ^
i won't be mad at him for leaving. he said before that he loves michigan but he also loves the NFL. Chase your dreams Jim. And thank you for 2023
January 29th, 2024 at 8:50 AM ^
What he didn't say was there is no Warde Manuel that sucks as AD, doesn't support the program, doesn't back the players and has been terrible at his job! There is no NCAA sending Jim Stapleton to come after Harbaugh for zero reason other than his personal vendetta and Warde not only allowing it but giving him free unrestricted access to do it!
So much more to say on how bad Manuel has been at his job but we've covered this quite well.
January 29th, 2024 at 9:08 AM ^
It's really odd that Jim has been so eager to actually do things like 4-minute TV interviews, smiling and gabbing away in complete sentences, when he more or less stopped doing that at Michigan years ago. I guess the NFL is his happy place.
January 29th, 2024 at 10:56 AM ^
Yes, it's getting old because most people want to look at it in a completely binary way. Either JH wanted to go to the pros and would always leave or Warde is a shithead and that's why he left. Both can be true at the same time.
If Warde wasn't... Warde? Might JH have stayed? It's possible. If my boss is a shithead, the chance of me leaving my job is higher. Warde apologists feel this absolves Warde completely from this and I don't agree with that.