When does it become okay to question Jay Harbaugh?
December 1st, 2019 at 3:15 PM ^
Wtf are you talking about? Are people just throwing out random excuses and reasons why we lost now? Jay Harbaugh has brought success to every position he's coached here and he is certainly not the reason we keep losing to OSU
December 1st, 2019 at 3:17 PM ^
Pretty sure that's not what the OP is getting at.
December 1st, 2019 at 3:55 PM ^
He’s brought what to where? He’s on the staff as a recruiter and has been fine at that but this is his first solo position group coaching and it’s at the position everyone attributes the least to coaching. It was a hire based solely on last name that has been fine.
December 1st, 2019 at 4:08 PM ^
In 2015 and 2016 he was TEs and special teams coach. Ya want to know what was pretty damn good during that stretch? TEs and special teams. From 2017 to present, he's been the RB coach. Ya want to know what's been pretty damn good during that stretch? The RBs
December 1st, 2019 at 4:45 PM ^
Our RB's have been pretty damn good? Am I missing something? Outside of Notre Dame our rushing attack has been dogshit against real opponents.
December 1st, 2019 at 5:11 PM ^
The are no RBs on an NFL roster that were coached by Jay Harbaugh. And none have been drafted. Higdon is on a practice squad. Though that's pretty good money, better than probably 95% of us make. But he's not on an NFL roster.
For a 9 or 10 win team, that's sound about right. But if you want a better team that's not good enough.
So the question has to be faced, should Michigan be better than a 9 to 10 win team?
I'm asking seriously.
I'd like to know what Jim Harbaugh would say to that question, so I know what to expect over the next years from Michigan football.
December 1st, 2019 at 6:05 PM ^
Our RBs have been average at best. I don’t know what he’s talking about. We have Mike Hart down the road but instead Harbaugh thinks his son is the best for the job lol, what a joke. We have maybe two RBs who can even pass protect and all of them consistently miss open holes. No vision. There’s also physical limitations in terms of explosiveness but that’s stuff you can’t really teach as an RB coach.
December 1st, 2019 at 5:14 PM ^
He’s on the staff as a recruiter and has been fine at that
Well.... Id' like a few more 5 Stars. You know, like Alabama, LSU, Ohio St, Clemson.
December 1st, 2019 at 4:21 PM ^
Yes, people are throwing out random excuses because they have trouble facing the fact that OSU football players, as a group, are much better than Michigan football players.
December 1st, 2019 at 4:48 PM ^
And why do you think that is? Why is 4 star Dobbins more talented than any of our 4 star running backs? They don't have 5 star studs at every position, yet they play like they are all 5 stars
December 1st, 2019 at 5:18 PM ^
But hey, don't leave out, their coaches are better, as a group, too.
December 1st, 2019 at 5:21 PM ^
If OP is going to complain the RBs haven’t improved under JayBaugh, then I trust he’d be criticizing Wheatley in 15-16, where the RBs were AWFUL at picking holes and were next to nonexistent in pass pro
December 1st, 2019 at 3:16 PM ^
Lol you can question him now if you want. I doubt anyone will stop you.
December 1st, 2019 at 3:16 PM ^
Running game did, in fact, improve. Michigan RB's did, in fact, miss holes before Jay took over the position.
When will people stop fixating on Jay when the problems are so clearly elsewhere?
December 1st, 2019 at 3:24 PM ^
We had 83 yards against MSU, 87 yards rushing against IU, and 91 yesterday. Please tell me how that's an improvement.
December 1st, 2019 at 3:28 PM ^
Michigan threw for 366 vs IU and won in a blowout. Why do you care about how many yard in that game?
OSU has a great run defense. If you thought UM was going to run wild on them then that is just delusional.
December 1st, 2019 at 4:03 PM ^
Numbers state that Michigan had a pretty good run defense, too. I’d say that Ohio state still did whatever they wanted on the ground (and in the air)
December 1st, 2019 at 4:50 PM ^
Because even the average yards per attempt were dismal
December 1st, 2019 at 6:05 PM ^
Yeah, because beating Indiana has all the earmarks of greatness to it.
December 1st, 2019 at 3:38 PM ^
I would say a lot of that was due to us taking what the defense was giving. We scored 44 , 39 and 27 points in those games. That was the most MSU and OSU have given up all year.
Haskins missed one big hole on that 4th and 1, but he rushed for 78 yards on 12 carries yesterday. I think this is pretty far down the list of our problems.
December 1st, 2019 at 4:04 PM ^
Looks like you accidentally left out the rushing stats against ND in the rain
December 1st, 2019 at 4:29 PM ^
Because they havent done much since that game
December 1st, 2019 at 4:47 PM ^
Because they had no reason to?
Would you run into a brick wall if your could pass for 350 yards and 4-5 TDs?
December 1st, 2019 at 3:33 PM ^
Ask yourself two questions:
1. Would osu, alabama and the like employ someone with zero actual coaching staff experience just because of nepotism
2. Would Jay Harbaugh get a job at any other Power 5 program excluding dumpster fires like msu.
December 1st, 2019 at 3:38 PM ^
1. Zach Smith.
2. Yes, I think he would.
December 1st, 2019 at 3:42 PM ^
Jay has been here five seasons and both position groups he's coached (tight ends and running backs) have looked good, and he's also recruited well. Why would he not land another job?
It was one thing to criticize his initial hiring but at this point it's grasping at straws.
December 1st, 2019 at 4:07 PM ^
Yes, his groups have looked good, but we’re not looking for just good
Yes, he’s recruited well, but we’re looking for elite.
Do we want the best or someone that can just get the job done?
December 1st, 2019 at 6:07 PM ^
Are there Ohio St fans downvoting this or something? Michigan fans are downvoting a comment for Michigan becoming elite?
December 1st, 2019 at 4:07 PM ^
Because his name is Harbaugh so he is an easy target even though he has been perfectly fine as a position coach. I love how all of the armchair QBs say things like, “he should have started in HS or gotten a MAC job before being at UM”. This place is the absolute worst some times. I’m glad the site was down yesterday and I was in the Reddit thread. Even with half OSU fans it was way better than the shit takes here.
December 1st, 2019 at 3:44 PM ^
1. Yes, Zach Smith was employed at OSU for only reasons that were considered he was somebody's Grandson
2. Now? or 5 years ago. Now yes... As a decent recruiter, I'm sure he could get a job at half the Pac-10 , or most of the ACC. You will of course call those "dumpster fires" . Thus meaning 25 of the Power 5 programs are dumpster fires
December 1st, 2019 at 4:02 PM ^
Well, at this point, he now has five years' worth of major program experience.
And a running back coach can't coach vision or speed, which is where our backs have paled in comparison to Barkley and Dobbins.
December 1st, 2019 at 5:07 PM ^
Our backs have been fine, even good sometimes. But we haven't had a great one since Mike Hart.
PSU, OSU, Wisconsin, and other schools get great RB's, so why can't we?
That's my only issue with Jay
December 1st, 2019 at 6:12 PM ^
Good or great. That's really what this post is about.
December 1st, 2019 at 3:46 PM ^
This won't happen until we have a championship or a RB taken in the 1st round. Then people will still find a reason to complain.
December 1st, 2019 at 8:26 PM ^
Admittedly, the running game isn't the only issue (or even the biggest one) on this team, but "not the worst" doesn't make it the best. It could be better. That said, the biggest difference between the two running games (other than volume of carries) was the weakness of our D-Line and our inability to tackle the ball carrier on first contact.
December 1st, 2019 at 3:16 PM ^
You are talking more about instincts. Barry Sanders could be the RB coach, doubt it changes much with any of those things. Pass blocking is the big coaching point. Also changing the RB coach has no effect on beating OSU. Next question please.
December 1st, 2019 at 4:17 PM ^
Interestingly, Michigan's RBs have improved tremendously in pass blocking. And if people want to harp on Jay for Haskins missing that one hole, they have to explain how Jay is to blame for one missed read but deserves zero credit for Haskins turning from an also-ran to a terrific RB.
Also, the emergence of Haskins does a lot to puncture the always absurd "Harbaugh plays favorite and doesn't let the best guys out there" myth that people bring up occasionally when their favorite backup isn't on the field.
December 1st, 2019 at 3:22 PM ^
at the start of the year, there were g5 schools who had a more stable setup run game than we did.
true fresh, 2 star, walk-on were our top 3 RB's after Evan's got kicked out of school. Think he did a pretty good job turning the run game from game 1 to game 4-5. OSU tore our line a new asshole.
December 1st, 2019 at 3:26 PM ^
What do you want him to do with the RBs on the roster? Haskins is not elite, Tru is a walk-on, and ZC is Kevin Grady part deux.
December 1st, 2019 at 3:29 PM ^
You consistently say dumb things. Congratulations.
December 1st, 2019 at 3:28 PM ^
If his name was Jay Johansson, you would have never made this shit post.
December 1st, 2019 at 3:30 PM ^
I don't care what his name is
December 1st, 2019 at 3:48 PM ^
You need to step away from the blog for a few days.
December 1st, 2019 at 4:13 PM ^
All of us do, really
December 1st, 2019 at 4:09 PM ^
Yes you do. If you don’t, then you are just stupid which is always possible.
December 1st, 2019 at 4:15 PM ^
You clearly do....
December 1st, 2019 at 3:32 PM ^
Probably when the RBs seem like the big problem.
We have a DL that can't hang with good OLs. This problem is so fundamental it dwarfs all others.
December 1st, 2019 at 3:38 PM ^
Don’t see how could watch our offense in the first few games and then the rest of the season and not think the RBs didn’t improve running the ball or in pass protection.
December 1st, 2019 at 3:45 PM ^
Of course it won’t happen, but Harbaugh should go out and get Frank Wilson to be RB coach.
He just got fired by UTSA as their head coach after 4 seasons, but before that, he was the RB coach at LSU as well as their recruiting coordinator. If I recall, he also won some awards as the nations best recruiter.
December 1st, 2019 at 3:46 PM ^