The Mike Hart Effect
Mike Hart has been a big part of our turnaround at Michigan so I wanted to look at some of his results over his coaching career. There seems to be a trail of improvement wherever he goes with Indiana and UM being the best examples of the Mike Hart effect.
EMU (3 seasons)
Before (2-22)
During (10-26)
After (3-22)
WMU (2 seasons)
Before (5-19)
During (16-10)
After (19-7) 13-1 season after he left
Syracuse (1 season)
Before (4-8)
During (4-8)
After (4-8)
Indiana (4 seasons)
Before (21-29)
During (24-21)
After (6-18) 25%
Michigan (2 seasons)
Before (11-8)
During (25-3)
UM in Big Ten play
Before (8-7)
During (17-1) 94%
Totals (12 Seasons)
Before (43-86) 33%
During (79-68) 54% - With 10 seasons being at Indiana, EMU, WMU, and Syracuse
After (32-55) 37%
It takes an entire coaching staff for these kinds of results but I have a feeling Mike Hart adds a lot to the locker room, practice, and overall morale of the program. If Moore moves on to a HC position I would be ready to see him in the OC roll.
I'm impressed with Syracuse's consistency.
They did not help the narrative much that is for sure.
If Harbaugh had gone to the Vikings, I'd have preferred either Hart or Jaybaugh be offered the HC job more than any other internal candidate. They'll both be HCs someday.
Jay has been the biggest pleasant surprise I've ever seen from a coach -- at the college or pro level.
I remember there being concern that Jim only hired him because he's family, and being skeptical of giving him any real responsibility. Years later and he's excelled at every coaching challenge he's faced. Whatever position he coaches performs well.
The fact that he's being mentioned as a serious HC candidate is astounding and awesome in my opinion.
I’m sure Jim is bouncing Jay around into different position groups so he gains overall football knowledge. Likely the same thing Jay’s grandpa did with pops and his uncle.
It was more than just "concern" that Jay was a nepotism hire - it was at a fever pitch for several years, and really didn't die out until just ~2 years ago. Fully 2/3 of the people on this board wanted him gone as a 'daddy's boy' the first couple of years after Harbaugh's hire before he proved himself. He wasn't given a chance the first couple of years!
Jaybaugh will have a long and successful career coaching footbaugh...
There was concern because it was nepotism. He did not have the resume to land a job at Michigan like he did. I was very concerned when he got a job on staff. However he has silenced my doubt and I think all others. He has proven to be a top flight coach and one day will be an HC and I believe a damn good one
Fully 2/3 of the people on this board wanted him gone as a 'daddy's boy' the first couple of years after Harbaugh's hire
Citation needed.
There were some vocal posters who grumbled about him. There were others that noted that our tight ends seemed to be playing pretty well under his watch. And there were others (probably the largest group) who weren't sure one way or the other, but were willing to give him a chance, as they trusted Harbaugh's judgment.
In that time period (2015/2016 seasons) Harbaugh was in his post-hire honeymoon and there wasn't too much discord on the board, in general.
Jay absolutely should get credit for his RB recruiting, but Hart has absolutely gotten the most out of the backs on the field. Just saying.
I have to agree with Brian & Seth’s assessment in their HTTV roundtable q&a that it has to be Sherrone Moore if Harbaugh dances with the NFL once again this offseason and actually leaves this time.
I don't know that it was set in stone, but I thought a big part of Gattis leaving was finding out that Moore was the likely next head coach-in-waiting over him. And if he wasn't then, he sure as shit is now
It certainly has to be NOW, but after the '21 season everyone was assuming Gattis would have gotten the offer.
Dodged a big bullet there.
Sherrone or Grant, anything else sets us back a decade.
Grant? As in Grant Newsome?
Dude - seriously? For HC? LOL NO!!! He needs a few years of seasoning yet...
Do you recall when Harbaugh was at San Diego and we thought he wasn’t “experienced” enough and decided that this Brady Hoke guy was fine, I have no idea if Newsome is any head coach material, but never dismiss a guy just on experience
Harbaugh was at Stanford at that point...not San Diego, and none of us thought he wasnt experienced enough.
Exactly, Sherrone in the next 2 or 3 years because he will be a P5 blue blood head coach by then.
Grant after that with four years of seasoning.
I think looking at RB production during all those stops would be a better thing to track but still would be conflated with playstyle and all the other coaches.
That being said, I do think the Indiana RBs definitely looked better and more consistent each year. At least the little i ever paid attention to Indiana
Is this what baseball folks do when they calculate WAR?
At a high level, yes. How much different does this guy do versus others who are in the same spot.
Baseball, of course, is a series of 1-on-1 batter versus pitcher match-ups. So it becomes much easier to isolate individual impacts, and there aren't a ton of conflating factors.
In this example: let's take 2011 Eastern Michigan. They went 6-6, a year that was sandwiched by a bunch of 0-and-1-and-2 win seasons. 2011 drove the EMU numbers above. But in 2011, EMU also scheduled 2 bottom-of-the-barrel FCS teams (they only scheduled 1 FCS in 2010 & 2012 combined, and that was a playoff-level FCS), while also drawing the bottom 3 non-EMU teams in the MAC. It was Ron English's 3rd year, often a "relative peak" for a new coach as it's mostly his own players at that point. One could argue the 6-6 record was inflated for contextual reasons. EMU's defensive SP+ was also much higher than their offensive SP+ in 2011; Hart of course coaches the latter.
I'm not saying Hart had no effect there, but there are so many conflating factors in football.
Thank you. One guy that has some sense. I again am not dissing Hart but if he wasn't here we would have the same record over the last 2 years if Jay stayed or some other guy came in and coached RBs. We cleaned house when Hart came. To say in football a RB coach can turn us into a national championship team downright hilarious. Football has so much more coaches and different things that can make a team have a turnaround or become a playoff team. Now again I have to say this Hart is a good coach and seems to be pretty good as a RB coach. He has played it in college and the NFL so he should be very knowledgeable. As far as offensive coordinator I agree with Mangus he is either a RB coach or Head coach. It is interesting that the stats show what they show but I bet for every place he came in at or left you can have many other explanations as to why the stats are what they are. The OP is seeming to forget Jim made major changes after COVID and we had quite a few coaches that were new come in.
If you think the running game coordinator, with all the duties that involves, has exactly ZERO to do with our victory total the last two seasons I dont know what to tell you. It feels like you have an axe to grind at this point. There is nothing that i stated in my OP that said anything about Hart being the solo reason for anything. I said it takes all the coaches!
No axe to grind it is just simple common sense. You actually think Mike Hart made us make the playoffs the past 2 years and if Jay stayed as RBs coach we wouldn't have made the playoffs? It is that simple. Look I am all for Mike Hart and think he is a good coach. But don't forget Moore gave us the best offensive line in football and Hart was handed BC and Edwards. Look I appreciate what you did but you are going way out of left field to say Hart was the difference between us making the playoffs or not. Like I said a special teams coordinator has more value to wins and loses them a RB coach.
"You actually think Mike Hart made us make the playoffs the past 2 years and if Jay stayed as RBs coach we wouldn't have made the playoffs?"
"you are going way out of left field to say Hart was the difference between us making the playoffs or not."
Is there a mystery person you are talking to/about? What in the hell are you talking about? At this point I have to be being punk'd right? I dont think youve read anything Ive put in this thread and you have an imaginary friend you are confusing me with. My original post is so bland I dont know where you are getting all this from. I never said any of these stuff about Mike Hart not even close. Move along.
I'd like to see him as a head coach in the future. Him, Jay, and several others.
Mike Hart’s special ability was always gaining yards after the hit and is more easily quantifiable in D&D terms—he has +2 Cleats of YAC. He obviously passes them on to his pupils.
Note to DM’s out there: list them as Cleats of Yackk to maintain the proper period feel.
Cleats of Yackk. Is that anything like Children of Yost?
Hart’s biggest gift might be the art of protecting the football. Didn’t he only have a couple of fumbles lost in his career?
I was skeptical that Edwards would be able to hold on when his other hand was in a cast, but boy, he sure did! I gotta think Hart had something to do with that.
Now quick handoffs to converted linebackers, harder to teach…
Somehow he fumbled 2x in the bowl game against Florida.
Also too soon...
Well played Razor
Too soon...
Yes yes yes, but what is Michigan's record against OSU during Mike Hart's tenure here?
back to back B1G champs
Hart has had a tremendously positive effect on our running back room in terms of vision, hesitation, then cutting. The improvement in The Don is outstanding- he used to just run to where the hole was supposed to be then try to plow over a LB or Safety. Now, he hesitates to find the opening, hits it and jukes the safety for another long touchdown against OSU!
During the Hoke years it was so frustrating watching our running backs have no vision or ability to bounce to the outside or an open hole.
My goodness, watching Derrick Green go down by a finger tackle, was just so odd... I used to rewind the DVR trying to figure out if he tripped or what.
Green just wasn't a good football player when he played guys as big or fast as him. He was a 5 star bust and it sucked because everyone was so excited he came to Michigan.
Now we have pussy begging going on. Someone's feeling get hurt because they get negged for a comment and they look to see who it is and negs that person comment. Very insecure people who do that.
Success at Indiana had a lot more to do with Matt Rhea & David Ballou.
Maybe I have my UM glasses on or wanted to see Hart succeed, but it seemed like he was a primary reason IU’s running game was top notch a couple years back. I thought you could visibly see the transformation on an annual basis from the backs being shiftier and waiting for holes to attack. Again, maybe UM glasses or the fact IU is IU and not much is known about them, admittedly.
Not saying Hart isn't good but having a decent passing game with some decent WRs and the coach that now is at Washington probably is the reason the whole offense was better when Hart was there. Football has so many parts that you need more then one coaching area to make a team improve.
That coach was there for exactly 25% of Harts time there.
Ya gotta have Hart.
Speaking of Hart, was it ever reported what caused him to collapse on the sideline in that game last year? I assume he’s fully recovered, whatever it was?
HIPAA no.
Rumor was a seizure of undisclosed origin.
It was reported by FOX as a seizure, which seems very likely but I don't think that was ever officially confirmed by Hart or UM. Hart did say it was the first time he had experienced that type of medical situation.
There are many things that can lead to a sudden first ever seizure as an adult- sleep deprivation, stress, medicines, nutritional supplements, previous head trauma, infection, tumor, drugs/alcohol, quitting drugs/alcohol, etc.. Oftentimes it is not evident what exactly caused it.
Coaching turnarounds, but fast.
I love this. Sometimes guys just have a net positive effect on their environment. I think Moore, Hart, and Jay have that. Maybe several others as well.
I think this is a big big reach. You mean to tell me if Jay was still the RB coach and we had another at the spots Jay is at, we would not be the same team with the same record. I think we would have done the same if Hart was here or not. Is Hart a good coach yea but that is a big leap with all the pieces that go with football. Now basketball may one assistant coach could make that big of a difference but football No way.
Mike Hart has been a big part of our turnaround at Michigan so I wanted to look at some of his results over his coaching career. There seems to be a trail of improvement wherever he goes with Indiana and UM being the best examples of the Mike Hart effect.
It takes an entire coaching staff for these kinds of results but I have a feeling Mike Hart adds a lot to the locker room, practice, and overall morale of the program.
What part is a big reach? The rest was just stats. He seems to have a positive effect when joining a program. Hell Jay may be an even bigger plus to the program but Im not trying to pit them against each other.
*Hart currently has 2 of the top 4 running backs in the country. The other 132 schools have the other 2. That is beyond elite. Shame on me for taking the bait but when you can set 85% of your games to AUTO-WIN because of the ground game that is just next level coaching.