Where Did Jim Harbaugh Go??
Disclaimer: To be completely clear, I think anyone even thinking about Jim Harbaugh's job status is beyond insane. He is our coach, and no one could be better than him. This is just a post with a small concern that I think is emotionally hindering this team and need to be solved.
In December 2014, when rebuilding our program from an absolutely catostrophic scenario, our interim Athletic Director Jim Hackett did the impossible and made IT H4PPEN.
What followed that was the reignition of our program by the wildest and gif-yiest head coach in College Football who attacked each day with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind, and certainly showed that every week on the sideline.
I could go on forever, you should get the point by now.
I don't know if you guys have noticed, but this version of Jim Harbaugh that we've known and loved has become almost non-existant this year. Instead, we find him pacing the sidelines, with a very stable amount of enthusiasm, not even close to enthusiasm unknown to mankind.
Michigan players have always (and sincerely) loved playing under such a coach, and I think that his activity on the sideline keeps a spark under the team and is a factor in their performance, as well as their positive opinion on him.
So where has he gone? Where is this Jim Harbaugh that we love? Where is the QB that guaranteed a win over OSU? Where is the coach who has a more honest and meaningful press conference, unlike his Hoke-like bland coachspeak we saw out of him last night? Where is his attacking of each day with an enthusiasm unkown to mankind?
I thought that this loss would be a breaking point and a huge wake-up call for him, where he realizes (and says) that this game was unacceptable, that at Michigan, you can't have such a losing record to your rivals. Followed by improvement back to the old, active, enthusistic sideline Harbaugh. Amazingly, we didn't see this. Instead, we heard the infamous "We're on to Cincinnati" approach.
Now, I've realized that he has still kept up his enthusiasm on the recruiting trail, and from what we've seen in practice, and that this seems to be strictly a sideline problem.
I have two ideas what the cause of this may be:
Number One: Tim Drevno needs to be on the sideline. Having a coaches in the press box decreases the ability to manage your team on a personal level. Our offense has sucked, and Drevno has been in the press box, our defense has flourished, and Don Brown has not only been on the sideline, but has looked more Harbaugh-like than Harbaugh has.
Number Two: Fear that the refs may call less favorably due to his antics. After the "technical in basketball" incident at OSU last year, I think he may have a fear that if he reacts too much to bad calls, the refs will tend to have calls go Michigan's way less.
Obviously, we have other problems that should be on our mind, and this isn't a direct factor to winning and losing games, but I think it does have an affect on how these guys play on the field, and if they show energy, passion, hope and care or not. With Don Brown pumping up the defense, they have stepped up, faced adversity, and delivered. With Harbaugh pacing the sideline and talking to Drevno up in the box, our offense has showed less emotion, and as a result, less success.
Has anyone else noticed this? Any thoughts? What needs to be done?
October 8th, 2017 at 6:51 PM ^
bamf16--Slap yourself for all of us.
October 8th, 2017 at 5:57 PM ^
Oh, sorry. Wrong thread.
What's that? It's not funny anymore? Hmmm.
You mean that 3-9 team just whooped M's butt? Got it. I'll cease and desist from anymore of those stupid jokes.
October 8th, 2017 at 6:02 PM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 7:18 PM ^
but widely tipped to be pretty improved this time. I think Steele didn't have them far below us actually.
A lot of people are being ultra-harsh on this team and staff because they *still* have zero respect for MSU and still think they should be so much worse than us by default. Stop living in the Carr era. We're not playing Bobby Williams or John L. Smith teams.
October 8th, 2017 at 7:24 PM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 11:03 PM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 7:36 PM ^
PUHLEASE DROP THE 3-9 SHIT
They arent 3-9 anymore if you havent noticed that was last year!
October 8th, 2017 at 9:17 PM ^
what's wrong with commenting on their record from last year? Dantonio started the 3-9 smack talk shit and even if they're 9-3 this year, he pretty much guaranteed the smack talk favor would be returned. No need for you to get so worked up on Sparty's behalf.
October 8th, 2017 at 11:01 PM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 6:02 PM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 7:34 PM ^
We were stacked with upperclassmen the last two years. Year 1 we had Rudock which a good QB makes all the difference
This year we have super young players every where. You can only get so much of this team
O Line is horrid. QB is horrid. WR are young and making mistakes. Running backs are the only real area we arent getting what we should for the talent we have. Personally I think it is the running back committee at fault here. Higdon should be the starter and he should stay in. Harbaugh doesnt allow any of them to get into a rhythm
October 8th, 2017 at 9:23 PM ^
don't RBs have to be cycled out to some extent? Every team rotates RBs, they take a lot of hits. Also Evans is at least as good as Higdon.
October 8th, 2017 at 6:06 PM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 7:27 PM ^
The part that hurts the most is that we are losing rivalry games we should be winning. And the one we won we shouldve blown MSU out but didnt
Shouldve beat MSU two years ago but the punt happened. Shouldve destroyed MSU last year as they were a garbage team. Shouldve beat OSU last year but choked and couldnt pull away and allowd them to come back. Shouldve destroyed this MSU team
Losing rivalry games over and over and over that we should win is demoralizing
Second worst part is we had a bye week yet our best gameplan they could come up with on offense I guess was to have O'korn chuck a bunch of balls into tight ass coverage while neglectin run game that won our games thus far
October 8th, 2017 at 9:32 PM ^
Don't focus so much on the overly hyped media narrative of "rivalry". Think of MSU (we beat them last year btw, evidently you forgot) as another conference game on the schedule for which we must prepare. Every conference opponent is a "rival" and should be prepped for accordingly.
If MSU exposed, and exploited, some flaws that need to be addressed, it was better to choke on this game, in the long run.
October 8th, 2017 at 6:31 PM ^
Look I'm as frustrated as anyone, believe me. But a loss was coming to this young team eventually. It sucks it was against MSU, most annoyingly because it creates a narrative that Harbaugh can't beat his rivals, overrated, blah blah blah. Losses like these fuel players more than anything and are the ultimate moments that put steel in your spine (like Harbaugh said after 2015 MSU game). The fact of the matter is that young players respond the best to these losses. When one player responds to adversity, more players begin to respond.
To me this is a program-forging loss. While I'm pissed, think about how the players feel. This is the fuel that we need. You may think I'm crazy but I think the line will begin to gel, the running backs are gonna start hitting their holes harder and the young receivers will respond to the challenge of getting open. This will take some pressure off O'Korn and he might start gun-slinging again.
The coaches will also get better from this. They haven't forgotten how to coach and they will get better and use this game as fuel.
It may seem dire now and like it won't be better but I promise you this team will be damn tough to beat in Ann Arbor on November 25th. I'm excited to see how we respond to this adversity and who steps up. I wouldn't want anyone else leading my favorite team on the sideline than Jim Muthafucking Harbaugh.
October 8th, 2017 at 8:06 PM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 8:58 PM ^
October 9th, 2017 at 2:42 PM ^
to God's ears. I really hope you are correct, but I just don't know.
October 8th, 2017 at 6:39 PM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 7:03 PM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 7:07 PM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 8:28 PM ^
October 9th, 2017 at 12:41 AM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 7:20 PM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 7:52 PM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 10:12 PM ^
October 9th, 2017 at 8:46 AM ^
Our O-line is young.
In terms of career starts - we're about #80 of 130 FBS teams with 54.
Teams with better offense and same/less OL starts:
Texas Tech - #3 S&P offense, 46 OL starts
Louisville - #11 S&P offense, 53 OL starts
Navy - #12 S&P offense, 36 OL starts
Toledo - #19 S&P offense, 43 OL starts
USF - #25 S&P offense, 40 OL starts
Iowa State - #28 S&P offense, 35 OL starts
Arizona St. - #31 S&P offense, 41 OL starts
Georgia Tech - #32 S&P offense, 54 OL starts
Georgia - #35 S&P offense, 45 OL starts
Texas A&M - #42 S&P offense, 48 OL starts
Baylor - #47 S&P offense, 40 OL starts
Miss. State - #48 S&P offense, 30 OL starts
Southern Miss. - #52 S&P offense, 44 OL starts
Utah - #55 S&P offense, 27 OL starts
Tulane - #58 S&P offense, 37 OL starts
Virginia - #62 S&P offense, 42 OL starts
SDSU - #67 S&P offense, 14 OL starts
October 8th, 2017 at 7:08 PM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 8:17 PM ^
wow. why don't you put away the whistle and say what you mean?
October 8th, 2017 at 10:14 PM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 7:23 PM ^
Pretty sure he stopped because people were saying he was becoming a whiney coach
Look at al the great coaches. They dont huff and puff and throw things when things dont go their way. Urban, Saban, Dabo, etc are all generally calm.
October 8th, 2017 at 8:57 PM ^
We find maturity depressing.
The most MGoBlog thing ever.
October 8th, 2017 at 9:59 PM ^
adulthood is overrated.
October 8th, 2017 at 9:00 PM ^
Because he has a young team, with a fair amount of self-doubt on offense, I think there is a good chance he has adjusted to this, trying to be a calming influence rather than excited, because that's what they need.
Add to that the B1G has made it clear they want the sideline antics curtailed and will police and penalize them more strictly than before, I think the change is a conscious choice, not an indicator of any lack of enthusiasm for the job on his part.
October 8th, 2017 at 9:11 PM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 9:13 PM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 9:33 PM ^
October 9th, 2017 at 1:22 AM ^
October 9th, 2017 at 1:25 AM ^
Very possible. Totally forgot that was in the process of being filmed. So stupid, why did we ever agree to that? There is a reason why NFL teams do almost anything to avoid being on Hard Knocks.
October 9th, 2017 at 7:58 AM ^
Don't know if that's the reason, but could be. Also agree it was a BAD idea. Shit like that is only a distraction especially with 18-20 year olds.
October 9th, 2017 at 11:43 AM ^
October 10th, 2017 at 10:20 AM ^
October 10th, 2017 at 11:08 AM ^