Joel Klatt on Harbaugh's future at Michigan

Let's have a little reality check.

Harbaugh, by big time football standards, is a class act. Urban Meyer, anyone?

We are 7-1, having lost one of the worst officiated (or re-officiated by replay) games ever.  Hardly a sinking ship.

Harbaugh does not have the option of bringing in JUCOs, and many transfer portal kids also dont pass Admissions Dept muster.   Remember Xavier Worthy?  He was in Ann Arbor, trying to enroll early and make spring ball.  Admissions told him his quickie HS graduation did not fly, but that he could still enroll and play in the fall.  It took him about 2 weeks to land, fully eligible, at Texas, where he already has something like 800 receiving yards and 6 touchdowns.

Luke Fickell, Matt Campbell and the like are not prepared to recruit Michigan level students.  

I believe Harbaugh is here until Mike Hart is ready to take over, and I expect that is at least a few years off.

It's actually crazy how much the national media talks about Harbaugh. It's a major part of Klatt and Cowherd's segment literally every week. Same with the Finebaums and others of the world.

I think some of us have gotten used to this. It's not normal. Other coaches that make the playoffs don't even receive this much attention.

It’s going to come down to Ohio state Ohio state and Ohio state. Nothing else matters at this point. Win that and I want him back. Lose it and gtfo of Ann Arbor please

We accord these utterly banal commentators far more respect than they are due. Klatt is a mid-level hack with nothing of much greater interest to offer than dozens of thoughtful commentators on this board. I realize that we all hunger for news, but Jim Harbaugh has saved his job for now, and next year promises a far more mature team. We're looking at a three-year timeline, barring outright collapse, before any of this becomes pertinent. 

And--speaking only for myself--commentators like Klatt and (FGS) the penis with ears only cycle and recycle these tales of Michigan's failure to our team and school's detriment. We happen to be having a very good year, far beyond expectations, and lost a squeaker in which an outright dicking by the refs figured prominently last weekend to the (now) number three team in the country. Hey--let's grouse about the coach! Given the institutional impediments, our position in relation to the rest of the conference, we are all-but-guaranteed to remain a half-step below OSU unless we start offering car dealerships to five-star players. As a proud alum, I am not for that. In fact, though it won't be popular to say among twelve-year olds, I am absolutely okay with where we are. 

Losing hurts. One team in two does it every single weekend. The reason that guys like Brian are perennially miserable is that they have made this their whole world, invested the entirety of their egos in it. We're not required to. 

Somewhat OT/TL:DR Version:  If I were a Michigan alum, I be satisfied with a football program averaging 8-10 wins a year and Michigan challenging for the Directors’ Cup title every year, with at least 10 teams each year that were considered national powers. 

    . . .  you don't know what you've got till its gone. They paved paradise, put up a parking lot. ("Big Yellow Taxi" - Joni Mitchell)

There was a time when I was competing in high school sports close to 60 years ago when the only college sports I considered to be important were football and men’s basketball, and I competed in neither of those sports. There also were very few women’s college sports in those days and no high school sports for females other than cheerleading.

Army, Navy, USC, Oklahoma, Texas, Nebraska, Michigan, Michigan State and Notre Dame were the big football powers I knew about. Cincinnati, Duke, Kentucky, UCLA, Michigan, Ohio State, Loyola of Chicago, NYU and Princeton were the big-time basketball teams I recall from those years.

Things have changed dramatically since then.

If I were a Michigan alumnus, I’d be thrilled if Michigan had at least 10 sports that were nationally competitive every year and:

(1) Michigan battled Stanford closely every year for the Directors’ Cup title and won it at least twice a decade;

(2) the football team averaged 8-10 wins per season and at least twice a decade could beat all three schools considered better than them in the Big Ten East and maybe make the College Football playoffs at least once every 15 years;

(3) the hockey team made the NCAA tournament at least 75% of the time and made the Frozen Four and won the Big Ten championship at least four times every decade;

(4) the men’s and women’s soccer, basketball, lacrosse, golf and tennis teams and the baseball, softball and field hockey teams made the NCAA tournament at least 70% of the time and won at least 15 Big Ten championships among them within every five-year period;

(5) the men’s and women’s gymnastics teams always were among the top five teams in the country;

(6) the men’s and women’s swimming and diving, cross country and track and field teams always were among the top 15 teams in the country and won at least a total of six Big Ten championships within every five-year period;

(7) the wrestling team produced at least three Big Ten championships every decade and always finished among the top eight teams in the NCAA tournament; and

(8) the volleyball team made the NCAA tournament at least two-thirds of the time and won at least two Big Ten championships every decade.

I don't think that Jim Harbaugh is a great coach, but as long as Ohio State, Michigan State and Penn State are in the same division as Michigan and Michigan high school football isn't considered to be as strong as high school football in Ohio, Pennsylvania and the private Catholic schools in New Jersey, then a head football coach who wins about 70% of his games would seem like a good choice to lead Michigan's football program.

I agree with some of Klatt's comments about the play call on 3rd and 3 and the defense not adjusting.   I was yelling at the TV when I saw that 3rd and 3 play.  Made no sense.   They are driving down the field and eating clock (they had plenty of time to do so.).  If they score then, MSU has time to return the favor.  Still, the overturned TD in the first half was a huge turning point in the game.

They didn't stop #9 either.

Still hoping the Spartans lay an egg this weekend.  

What on earth would these guys talk about every damn week if Harbaugh was gone?  
Oh, they would probably talk about the coaching carousel that’s going on at U of M.  
I get it.  Losing close games sucks ass but not as bad as regularly losing games where you were obviously outmatched.  As was common just 7 short years ago. 

If I was AD at Michigan, I would tell Harbaugh he needs to beat OSU this season at homer to be retained. If he loses I would toss him. Next year OSU will be much better and we will be playing them on the road. But if we finish with a 9-3 or 10-2 record that would be fine for the University and we will get several more years with coach Harbaugh. 

"There were bad coaching decisions made", and the sun rises in the East. We've seen it over and over again. It is frustrating for the fanbase. We're just done. The worst thing that can happen to a fanbase is happening now. People aren't getting upset anymore, or as much as they used to. It's apathy. People are starting to quit caring. That is the death knell. 

1) I think the call to throw the fade on 3rd and 3 was a good one. The WR was open, and Cade missed him by a few inches.

2) If not Harbaugh, then who? I think the luster has worn off Matt Campbell. I'd take Fickell (would he come to UM)? I'm not sure any other coach is an upgrade. Look at UT and their issues from switching coaches every 3-4 years.

This is a ridiculous discussion.

We're 7-1, only one close loss on the road to a rival and in the top ten.

Harbaugh's a very good coach.  Will he be able to get Michigan to the very top?  That seems very questionable at this point.  But he's running a clean program and has it at a very high level without the talent of an OSU or Bama.  That's hard to replace.