Urban Meyer on Michigan: "Don't lower your standards"
Brady Quinn, Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart, and Urban all discuss Harbaugh. Urban mentions that he grew up in the 70s, 80s, and 90s and saw what we could do as a program and that he refuses to believe Michigan can't compete with Ohio State and to not lower our standards. He also said "blow things up" not necessarily meaning change coaches but that the approach to everything really needs to change.
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December 12th, 2020 at 8:30 PM ^
I don't know what happened in the OP but here's the video, jesus
December 13th, 2020 at 12:04 PM ^
Query: Is anyone the right fit for Michigan?
We had the coach who basically created the modern spread offense. He tanked.
We had a "Michigan Man" CEO with terrific recruiting skills for whom players would run through a brick wall who had turned around programs in the MWC and the MAC. He tanked.
We have now a "Michigan Man" who has coached in multiple Super Bowls and won at all levels, DII and P5 and NFL. He's tanking.
And don't speak as if the prior coaches had been much more of national championship contenders. Even 97 was split and frankly there's room to doubt that Carr bests Osborne head to head. The main difference was that OSU was down so we actually won the Big Ten.
You can say it's those three men themselves, but at some point, we have to reckon with the common denominator. It's Michigan. We can't play everything holier-than-thou, better-than-thou, more-storied-than-thou, more-moral-than-thou, more-academic-than-thou, and expect to compete against the guys slinging tattoos and ferraris at talent, who will excuse murder if you get a W on Saturday.
In the alternative: We can commit to our losing mentality and accept the hard truth that this is the path we chose for ourselves.
I'm of the opinion that COVIDball wasn't real. Let's try again next year.
December 13th, 2020 at 1:18 PM ^
Bullshit on the concept that OSU was down when UofM was beating them. Cooper beat everyone except Michigan. When Biakabatuka punched Eddie George and OSU in the mouth they were not down. We were the underdog most of those years but we had their number. Sure Tressel and Meyer brought them to new levels (with Tattoos and wife beaters) but saying they were down is revisionist history. If anything OSU has their current streak because Michigan has been down. GTFO.
December 13th, 2020 at 2:42 PM ^
If we're "down" right now, then OSU under Cooper was similarly "down" for most of his tenure. More than half of seasons under Cooper's tenure (7/13) featured four or more losses. Two more had three losses--one with 8 wins and one with 10--and of the remaining four, three were Big Ten championships (one of which featured a win over Michigan).
Don't get me wrong, our program is obviously struggling the past 20 years. But really, who would you propose to right the ship? At some point, we have to ask if it's more than just the captain.
December 15th, 2020 at 1:31 PM ^
All of Harbaugh's seasons have had at least three losses and half have had 4-5 loses including this year which has 4 losses in 6 games. I actually think Harbaugh righted the ship in the first couple of years, and I had high expectations of this year pre-COVID. The glass was half full for me despite last year being a huge disappointment. This year sucks worse, but if there is a year to have an aberration this is it.
On average Cooper was as good or better than Earle Bruce. Earle Bruce went 9-3 almost every year. Woody Hayes only won 2/3rds of his games on average his first 9-10 years at a time when most college football programs weren't competitive. Cooper had some Harbaugh-esque losses, and he wasn't Woody Hayes at Hayes' peak, but OSU was not "down" during that time. OSU hasn't had a RR or Hoke in recent memory.
December 12th, 2020 at 8:31 PM ^
What’s he supposed to say? OSU is doing just fine against Michigan’s current standards.
December 12th, 2020 at 8:34 PM ^
I just find it interesting that a rival coach seems to have more respect for our program than some of our own fans do.
December 12th, 2020 at 9:00 PM ^
Perfect
December 12th, 2020 at 9:08 PM ^
You are insufferable. As if fans who are hesitant to fire Harbaugh after a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic causes uncertainty all over college football (a year in which we don’t play non conference games or OSU because hundreds of thousands of people are dying) and have our 5th coach in 14 years somehow don’t respect our program.
December 12th, 2020 at 9:15 PM ^
I would say your kind of "we're doing the best we can, we don't cheat, Harbaugh just needs more time, he's just been unlucky" are the insufferable ones.
December 12th, 2020 at 9:59 PM ^
I don’t say those things and I’m not those people. I don’t actually want Harbaugh here next year. But I understand people who do want Harbaugh back and it would be ridiculous to say those people respect our football program less than I do
December 12th, 2020 at 10:23 PM ^
I would say both of you are insufferable for viewing those who have different opinions on a football coaching search as insufferable, but alas, we reach a slippery slope with that one.
It's like... Sports. Reserve your disdain for more worthwhile things.
December 13th, 2020 at 4:13 AM ^
I don’t view all people with different opinions than mine insufferable, just him specifically. Because he is an awful poster. He wants to be mad so he makes everything about how angry he is that Harbaugh is still the coach and how he’s not going to renew his season tickets next year if Harbaugh is the coach and blah blah blah.
December 12th, 2020 at 9:17 PM ^
Why do we keep bringing up the pandemic as a factor, not just the poster I’m replying to?? It has nothing to do with poor recruiting in prior years, or not coaching your team up, or getting them excited to play. Teams all over the country also haven’t had an issue with making this a ‘normal’ season. I see a lot on this board acting like it’s a throw-away season, it’s not, and honestly the team plays like they think the same thing.
December 12th, 2020 at 10:26 PM ^
I didn’t say it was a throw away season and losing to MSU was an abomination that should never have happened, but this season will have an asterisk next to it whether you want it to or not. The B10 has 4 total teams with a winning record, we had to change the rules to even make the best team eligible to play in the conference championship game, players could sit out the season without losing eligibility, the B10 didn’t even start playing football until the end of October, we have had to cancel multiple games, etc... I don’t like the way this season has gone, but this isn’t normal and it isn’t going to happen again
December 12th, 2020 at 10:43 PM ^
I wasn’t specifically referring to you in my response, there have been quite a few here acting like this season doesn’t matter and should’ve never happened...I agree things have been messed up this season, but it’s been the same for everyone, outside of how many games each team has played. But the pandemic is a weak ass excuse. Other teams have been ready to play and are playing well, there’s no reason Michigan couldn’t have been in that not too. As I type a pretty crappy LSU team is giving a pretty good UF team all they can handle, UM should’ve dominated MSU this year, should’ve beat PSU, should’ve beat UW, and gone toe to toe with IU, but none of that happened...and it’s not because of the pandemic
December 13th, 2020 at 4:24 AM ^
The problem becomes if you fire Harbaugh, you are doing so for having an outlier year that will quite literally never happen again. There are a lot of concerning things about the program, but Harbaugh has been pretty consistent up until this year and I understand why people might not want to change coaches again. Everyone wanted Tom Herman here. Then everyone shut up about that. People wanted Mullens here and I’m guessing will shut up about that after losing as a 23 point favorite at home. Harbaugh could make some changes and use all of his resources here effectively or he could continue winning a bunch of games they don’t mean much or he could crash and burn. I can almost guarantee you aren’t going to see us crash and burn, so that leaves you with staying with the same and maybe jumping up to they next level or starting all over and hoping someone can take Michigan to a level they haven’t been in 50 years
December 13th, 2020 at 8:20 AM ^
No one wants to fire Harbaugh because of this year only. There is has been some troubling aspects in the program for several years now.
Also, take a look at next year’s schedule. I see only winning 3-4 games.
December 13th, 2020 at 8:36 AM ^
I never said fire Harbaugh, hell I don’t know who who be any better, but we’re paying top $$ for lackluster performances. If the university is fine being a middle of the road team, then why not pay middle of the road money?
This is an outlier year? So you’ve been happy with the performances the last few years? We all of a sudden just started losing to teams we shouldn’t? Guess I’ve been watching different UM games...Based on recruiting and everything else, we should be 11-1 or 10-2 every year and we’re not...
December 12th, 2020 at 10:34 PM ^
Hate to tell you this but the pandemic ended up being a godsend for Harbaugh because this team was going to end up 4-8 and get destroyed by OSU by at least 60 points if the season had been played as originally scheduled.
December 12th, 2020 at 9:13 PM ^
So wait, is this respect for wanting to start over with a new coach OR is it respect for wanting to change up the coaching staff but believe Jim Harbaugh can still win here? I'm honestly confused.
December 12th, 2020 at 9:18 PM ^
Neither, you're being intentionally obtuse.
It's respect for thinking we can be overall better as a program than a lot of our fans with the talk of "this is just who we are, we can't do better, etc".
December 12th, 2020 at 9:35 PM ^
I mean, Urban Meyer also basically called Michigan a dumpster fire a couple of weeks ago, so I wouldn't necessarily take his words in good faith.
Beyond that, people who think this team is a top-5 monster waiting to be unleashed are, in my opinion, being intentionally dense, assuming that the 9-3 out fit Michigan has been for decades is this fallow period and not, perhaps, its reality. If you've got a compelling argument/evidence that Michigan could be consistently better than they have been under Harbaugh without, as Meyer said, significantly lowering their standards then by all means share it.
December 12th, 2020 at 9:54 PM ^
The basketball program.
December 12th, 2020 at 10:02 PM ^
Urban also said Jim is a great coach.
December 12th, 2020 at 10:08 PM ^
Jim is a great coach when he’s got the fire inside. I don’t know why, but he doesn’t appear to have the same passion/drive that he had when he was hired
December 12th, 2020 at 10:06 PM ^
The reason we have been a 9-3 with occasional better seasons for so long is because so many of our coaches thought the best way to win football games is to kill the clock and not making scoring points a priority. That's literally been Michigan's M.O. for about 50 years.
December 12th, 2020 at 10:24 PM ^
Michigan has a lot of the pieces in place to be an elite program (facilities, history, brand recognition, ability to recruit nationally, etc). I always felt they just needed an elite coach...I hoped Harbaugh would be it, but I was wrong.
I still think the right coach can make M an elite program.
December 13th, 2020 at 3:13 AM ^
The top 10 isn’t much different than last year.So to blame the pandemic for UM’s bad performance this year you have to ignore several bad recruiting classes in the last 4 years. UM signed 15 top 100 players,OSU 36,Bama 38. Clemson just 19 but 15 of them were top 5 players at their positions.Dabo pulls the best QB’s,DT’s,De’s,Lb’s etc. Stars do matter with all the football camps these players attend giving much better evaluations than say 10 years ago. Defense wins championships but you have to have a good offense as well. Great DC’s like Bret Venable given 4 weeks to prepare can dominate a good offense with a flawed QB like OSU had in 2016.
Gotta recruit the top players and top players want to win and get into the NFL’s first couple rounds in the draft.
December 12th, 2020 at 10:15 PM ^
This is true but you have to realize that some people will always be miserable no matter what! I have heard it all before! I’ll never stop supporting my team/university. However, there are lots of strange people on this planet and I would never dump as much vitriol against any coach or player that has given his life to Michigan ever. I miss Gary Moeller a lot and he messed up when he was here should we post everyday about not getting drunk once a week? Misery loves company!!! And of course I get the money vs. product argument, although I don’t think he should get fired, I hope he gets a chance to right the ship. I do believe if anyone can get it done,”Harbaugh eventually can!” GO BLUE!
December 12th, 2020 at 10:24 PM ^
Gary Moeller was about the only coach we've had besides Rich Rod I guess who went against what I posted above. I was only 1 when he was fired but going back and watching his teams they seemed to be more wide open than Lloyd or Bo's teams.
He was not given a fair shake and I'm not just saying that because he was a good coach. He shouldn't have been fired over one incident.
December 13th, 2020 at 2:16 AM ^
I'd say a rival coach likes us just fine where we are, sucking hind teet!
December 14th, 2020 at 8:04 PM ^
..and don't forget the players headed for the exit.............
December 12th, 2020 at 10:01 PM ^
if we lower our standards and back up the $ truck like OSU then yes we'll become more competitive
December 12th, 2020 at 8:32 PM ^
He isn't wrong.....but when you have an Ivy league president then you settle with a mediocre football program
December 12th, 2020 at 8:38 PM ^
You think this is a Schissel issue? Everyone thought Harbaugh was the right hire. Has Schissel interfered with Harbaugh? Did he tell him whom to hire as assistants? What scheme to run? Whom to recruit? Has he told Warde to fire Harbaugh and hire a cheap replacement because he doesn’t care if we win or lose? I don’t know Schissel at all, and it wouldn’t surprise me to learn he isn’t a big football fan, but I don’t think he’s a fool. And I think he understands that winning football means happy alumni, and happy alumni give more money than unhappy ones, generally speaking.
December 12th, 2020 at 9:04 PM ^
If you want a top tier football program it won’t happen with Schlissel in charge
December 12th, 2020 at 9:11 PM ^
Why? Provide some small amount of explanation for such a blatantly disrespectful post...
Also - for the record - the University of Michigan is a university. The president is charged with preserving and improving the academic mission. Schlissel doesn’t hire football coaches and doesn’t interfere. If anything, he’s the best thing possible for Harbaugh because he’s hands off.
Harbaugh had a very different experience at Stanford, and by the end of his tenure there, he and the administration were very much at odds. Stanford’s admin was not sad to see Harbaugh leave, especially with Shaw groomed to take over. To my knowledge, that’s not the case at UM.
December 12th, 2020 at 10:20 PM ^
A lot of people can't really work things out for themselves, they just give you hot takes they heard from other people who can't really reason out their own opinions either.
i.e. I WANT MICHIGAN TO HAVE STANDARDS like what the hell does that mean?
December 12th, 2020 at 11:02 PM ^
You are very wise, Buddha. You remind me of Baxter, except without the fur.
December 13th, 2020 at 1:14 AM ^
Ha! As it turns out, Baxter is my spirit animal ;-)
December 12th, 2020 at 8:43 PM ^
And alumni that think they are Ivy league
December 12th, 2020 at 8:43 PM ^
Would this false narrative please die soon?
I challenge anyone to identify at least two things Schlissel has specifically said or done to undermine Harbaugh’s opportunity to have success at Michigan.
December 12th, 2020 at 8:47 PM ^
Maybe the problem with Schlissel, in regards to the football program, is what he hasn't done.
December 12th, 2020 at 9:21 PM ^
So, what hasn't he done?
December 13th, 2020 at 9:13 AM ^
he hasn't fired Jim Harbaugh
<ducks>
December 12th, 2020 at 9:47 PM ^
The president of the university has a lot on his plate. I doubt he does anything to manage the football program. That’s the job of the athletic director. I hope Schissel is focused on more fundamental things that make a university great because, when all is said and done, that’s more important.
December 13th, 2020 at 6:20 AM ^
The main issue is that Michigan’s rival - OSU - runs a football factory. If Michigan realistically wants to compete with OSU, then they will need to run a football factory as well. The Michigan student-athlete model of the 1980s clearly isn’t working and hasn’t worked for over 15 years. The purpose of the football program/factory should be to prepare guys for the NFL and win games and not much beyond that. That means Michigan may have to pay players, lower academic standards, allow online courses and so on especially for top 100 recruits.
So who/what is keeping Michigan from running a football factory? The coach? University president? The athletic department? Nostalgic alumni? University administrators? Don’t know but it’s probably a combination of all the above. Don’t get me wrong - Harbaugh has seemed opposed to the football factory approach himself in many ways. One thing a university president could do is to make it clear that he/she wants or even expects to beat their biggest rival. When you give the impression that you don’t really care and have more important things to deal with and perhaps football needs de-emphasizing, that sends a pretty strong message too.
Three successful coaches have come in and all have failed. If Michigan wants to stick with the same student-athlete model that’s fine but a new coach would probably have similar results..
December 13th, 2020 at 10:25 AM ^
Is Notre Dame a football factory?
December 13th, 2020 at 5:47 PM ^
No, I believe they are not.
ND plays a relatively soft schedule which allows them to pad their record when they do have a good team. On the two occasions they did make the CFP and BCS they were exposed mightily. I suspect the same thing will happen this year in the ACC Championship and if they do get into the CFP. Yes, they've had some nice wins in the last couple of years against Georgia and a covid-depleted Clemson. They are probably the best non-football factory program today.
If Brian Kelly's Notre Dame is the standard that we want Michigan to maintain, then Michigan should definitely keep Harbaugh considering he destroyed them 45-14 last year as well as the fact that Kelly had his challenges but was allowed to turn it around.