Let's say this is JH's last year...

We need someone who knows how to win in the Big ten conference . 

Not someone like Rich Rod who thinks he can change the conference .

Someone who will run a clean program and who can recruit.

But we also need someone creative . A good game manager and who has answers for situations . Not just square peg into round hole .

Recruiting is the key.  The elite programs stock pile the best players.  Next is development of that talent.  Schemes are really not that important.  

1. - Energy and enthusiasm.  For recruiting.  And for coaching.  These teenage kids feed off of that energy.  

2.  Adaptability.  Someone who is willing to adjust to his team's strengths, and pick on the opponent's weak spots.  I think we are all tired of the attitude that says "this is the way football should be played, so that's what we are going to do no matter what."  When you have unathletic, immature DB's, you've got to protect them instead of leaving them one-on-one constantly.  And when your OL is not holding up, don't run up the middle over and over and over.

Makes me wonder what would’ve happened if Jim Hackett had hired his plan B, Dan Mullen, back in late 2014. Not saying he would’ve been winning championships or anything, just something to think about.

I want Coach Harbaugh from his first two years coaching here. Not Benzodiazepine Harbaugh. 

Matt Rhule is the guy but I highly doubt he leaves the NFL. 
 

Joe Brady would be interesting but he’s like 31 or 32. 

1. A fantastic closer in recruiting

2. High energy with 10+ years of runway

All the usual coaching criteria for a top program (super competitive, great motivator, highly organized, etc).

Does it really matter? This runs deeper than the head coach. There are deep cultural issues that keep Michigan from winning....it's built into the collective psyche. BPONE is real and permeates the entire Michigan football enterprise. The university isn't fully committed to winning at the highest level...as in dedicating at the level of resources needed at Ohio St, Clemson, Alabama, Georgia, etc. Remember that Michigan were one of the leading advocates for cancelling the season just a few weeks ago. 

You're asking the wrong question.

It's not really about the coach, it's about the entire culture of the program.

An improved Harbaugh wins 11-12 games a season. We are still losing to OSU most seasons and if we get past them we are losing to Clemson/Alabama in the playoffs. We're not going to suddenly become world beaters even if it's a home-run hire and we still need a culture shift to compete at the top. 

The solution? Shift to a football factory approach with a win at all costs mindset. Miss me with the "this is not what Michigan is about" BS. You guys bitch about losing to OSU every year but refuse to commit the same time and resources they do for their program.

Bag men. That’s it. Stanford has the unique advantage of getting a degree from Stanford, in the middle of the tech boom, so their bag men were guaranteed jobs at hot companies from super successful alumni. 
 

Michigan is a great school, but we aren’t Stanford quality and don’t have the tech industry nearby. 
 

Clemson, Bama, and OSU don’t care if kids show up to classes (had Fields even took an in-person class ever? Would a professor ever fail him?) and they pay players. 
 

Saban or Dabo can’t do that at Michigan and I doubt they will be more successful than Harbaugh has been. 

Josh gattis. Give him the job for a year. I'd be curious what would happen.

Someone under the age of 45 who has experience on a top recruiting programs coaching staff who will make recruiting the front and center focus and who will defer to offensive/defensive coordinators who will handle the heavy lifting on scheme.

How about having won their college conference at lest 1 year.  I don’t care what conference, just show you can win it.  Harbaugh has never done that, not at Stanford and not at UM.   We laughed loudly at the Jim Tressel hire. Turns out he could coach.   Hearing the same asinine elitist BS when a name like Fickel is mentioned.  He would beat us by two scores today with the amazing resources of *checks notes, Cincinnati.   Hell, we laughed at Day, “he has never been a head coach”. “Wait till he doesn’t have Urban’s recruits” we’ve seen how that story is going.  F it, forget about hiring a coach and hire Gene Smith. 

I have a NE fan co-worker who said he hopes Frost can win like Harbaugh and if he does start winning 8 or 9 games a year the University would sign him to a lifetime contract. I guess it all depends on your perspective, if you are happy with 8 to 10 wins per year coach than Harbaugh would be great to keep around, but if you want to beat OSU more often, win B1G championships and make the playoffs, then we may need a new coach. However, watch what you wish for, since a new coach may knock ups down a notch where we play .500 or just wind 6 to 7 games per year and we will wish for the Harbaugh years.

I have a NE fan co-worker who said he hopes Frost can win like Harbaugh and if he does start winning 8 or 9 games a year the University would sign him to a lifetime contract. I guess it all depends on your perspective, if you are happy with 8 to 10 wins per year coach than Harbaugh would be great to keep around, but if you want to beat OSU more often, win B1G championships and make the playoffs, then we may need a new coach. However, watch what you wish for, since a new coach may knock ups down a notch where we play .500 or just wind 6 to 7 games per year and we will wish for the Harbaugh years.

Thing is, I don't think most programs or people know who the next great coach is going to be nor can predict how guys will do at the P5 level. In hindsight it is always easy to see that, say Urban's success at smaller schools would translate to FL and then OSU... but that's hindsight. What were Saban's tremendous accomplishments when he bailed at MSU and landed at LSU? How about Dabo's world beating coaching and recruiting before becoming a powerhouse at Clemson? Conversely, look at Brian Kelly's pretty impressive track record at GVSU and Cincy before landing ND. Has yet to deliver a Championship and has up and down years depending on the classes. 

In other words, you can pick a lot of criteria that seems promising or indicative of some form of success that you think will translate to P5 success (JH narrowly lost a Super Bowl, Turned Alex Smith's career around, and took the woeful 49ers to perenial contender in like 3 years) but honestly, no one knows. Don't mean to totally rain on the parade here but this, to me, is all just random dart throwing. 

I am a proponent of UM is their own demise. Personally, I think Rich Rod was a good hire but the powers at be didn’t want him as he wasn’t a “Michigan Man” In hindsight, it was good he was let go due to off field issues, but had he actually had a chance, we wouldn’t be talking about how bad the offense is. 
 

Get out of this whole damn mantra that we’re Michigan and we deserve to win because we’re Michigan. Hire a diamond in a rough, an SEC coach, hell,  anyone that has a desire to win a damn game. Enough of this Bo coaching tree and Michigan man coach bullshit. It doesn’t work in today’s era!  ...and give him a realistic chance like they did with Harbaugh. 

Mark Stoops at Kentucky deserves a look. He's solid, not gimmicky (like RichRod), he's done a really good job at mid-level SEC school. Never gonna take Kentucky to a National Championship let alone a new year's six bowl. Michigan needs to move on from Harbaugh- I hate to finally say it. but Stoops could be the guy.

This reeks of soy boy culture

Another factor no one has raised is Schlissel.  Assuming he's still around (and I get that may be an if), hot names aren't going to want to deal with a president that wants to downplay athletics.  So for example, Fickell might view Schlissel the same way he viewed all the MSU problems that ultimately resulted in him turning down that job.  No SEC coach or assistant (like Mullen) will touch that. 

A) If you're not from a power 5 conference, I'm not interested

B) If you can't recruit Ohio, I'm not interested

C) if you don't understand our rivalries and don't treat them as absolute must wins, I'm not interested

OSU, Bama and Clemson are easier jobs. You could slot in a new totally unknown coaching staff and those schools would still be in their own tier for recruiting. They are where you go if you want to play for a national championship. That's not to say that talented coaches don't go there, but success breeds success.

I made a stupid comment on another thread but I'll post it here too. Why not try to get a John Beilein type of coach? A unique brilliant mind. We would have to suffer through an awful beginning but it would pay off with consistent winning. I never wanted to get rid of Jim Harbaugh but now my needle has moved from "he needs to stay no matter what" to "if he leaves,  he leaves whatever."

And just like JB was,  we would have the benefit of always being divided on whether he's the right man for the job just like what we're doing with JH now. 

1. Young and hungry. 

2. Expertise in modern offense

3. Excellent recruiter

4. Experience fixing messes

There's two guys I have to say intrigue me. Neal Brown and Scott Satterfield. Very similar backgrounds. Both from the offensive side, both spent time as successful conference winning G5 head coaches (Troy and App State), both are new P5 coaches (WVU and Louisville). And both are fixing messes at their P5 programs.

I think Brown is more promising right now. And his QB is a Bowling Green transfer. Bowling Green! He was okay at best at BG but now at WVU is 11 TD/3 int and running the offense efficiently. So Brown knows how to develop players well. So long as hiring former WVU head coaches known for spread offense is not some terrible omen for Michigan, I am intrigued. 

My Criteria is someone who can recruit, and then once they get the players here can maximize their potential, and maybe they beat Ohio every now and again.