December 17th, 2020 at 1:51 PM ^
Does it matter if he received an extension? The Buyout is all that matters!
December 17th, 2020 at 1:52 PM ^
Oregon was worried about Auburn. Not so worried about us.
December 17th, 2020 at 1:53 PM ^
Considering we know Jim is going to get a pay cut and get more incentivized deal likely something similar for 3 years. That would be about 5.5 Million Base for 3 years and incentives to beat Osu, Win the BigTen, Rose Bowl or NY6 and more to win the CFP.
Have to remember coaches are getting paid so much now that it's not as easy to just go to other programs and coaches are ready to bolt them. The pay is just so much now. You want Cristobal, Fickell, Campbell it's going to cost you 8 or 9 Million Per season most likely because you are the big pocket school signing them away from their job now.
Cheaper and likely better right now to keep Harbaugh.
December 17th, 2020 at 1:55 PM ^
Cristobal's extension is less than $5 million per year. You're tellin' me $7 wouldn't get it done? It's the buyout that's the issue probably but no need to go to 8 or 9 unless you're competing against another big boy with the same need at the same time.
December 17th, 2020 at 2:03 PM ^
As much as I hate to say this, I agree with your logic. It saddens me but I think this is where we are at. We should have had this discussion a year or two ago when the writing was on the wall.
I admit that I wanted to believe in the JH story. He talked the talk and walked the walk. I was blinded by his BS. Now I have come around to the board's consensus but it might be too late.
December 17th, 2020 at 3:37 PM ^
I think the writing was on the wall for Don Brown a year ago, but I don't know about Harbaugh. Up to that point he'd gone 10-3, 10-3, 8-5, 10-3 and 9-4. Those are pretty much historically normal seasons for Michigan.
December 17th, 2020 at 4:06 PM ^
You're absolutely right. But people don't want to hear that. It's more fun with torches and pitchforks.
9-4?!?!? UNACCEPTABLE! AN OFFENSIVE SCHEME WE LONGED FOR AFTER BITCHING ABOUT THE OLD ONE ENDLESSLY ISN"T PERFORMING THE WAY WE WANT!? UNACCEPTABLE!
December 17th, 2020 at 4:31 PM ^
I actually don't have any problem with Harbaugh's overall record. Things I have a problem with:
- Bowl record (and don't give me 'bowls don't matter', that's what teams that suck at bowl games say)
- The 0-5 against OSU is bad, the scoring differential is the key for me. I know that OSU is playing on a historic level right now. I'd be satisfied with a 7-10 pt loss to them at this point
- 3-3 against MSU is flatout unacceptable. Don't give me 'there have been fluky plays'. Good teams win and don't blame 'flukes' and 'bad luck'.
- Player development, in particular at QB, has been horrendous
- Way too many coaches and players are leaving. People generally appear to tire of Harbaugh quickly
If we were winning 9-11 games a season, beating MSU and PSU more times than not, hanging with OSU, and looking like we gave a shit in bowl games, I'd be a lot happier than I am currently and willing to stick it out but the overall record is only one stat.
December 17th, 2020 at 6:12 PM ^
Harbaugh's winning percentage (.690) is below average for Michigan coaches since WW2 (.707), and is far worse than Bo (.796), Mo (.758), and LLoyd (.753).
December 19th, 2020 at 8:22 AM ^
The punt block was a coaching failure. With 10 seconds left near midfield why not just run around a bit and take a knee leaving 5 seconds on the clock? Or tell the punter, bad snap eat it. I don’t think sparty gets more than one play off.
December 17th, 2020 at 7:40 PM ^
The issue isn't the record. On paper it looks fine. In practice, it's the way we've lost to rivals and namely OSU. We've been competitive like 1 of those times in Harbaugh's tenure. I don't understand how that is impossible for people to understand.
December 17th, 2020 at 6:18 PM ^
I think your pretty close to JH contract Probably 3 years 15-16 million but will have a buyout of 1-2 million.
I can’t imagine anyone paying Fickell 8-9 million a year. He has a loosing record as a P5 coach IT would be crazy to pay him more money then we ever paid JH. Same with all the others on your list. I would only give that kind of money to an Urban or Dabo. I would approach both of them and throw around 9+ million a year and see what they say. You never know until you ask
December 17th, 2020 at 1:54 PM ^
He didn't seem like a realistic option anyway
December 17th, 2020 at 1:54 PM ^
Holy shit, Oregon is only paying him $4.5M a year?
December 17th, 2020 at 2:11 PM ^
Oregon is a small school with a small-school athletic department. Phil Knight's big bucks tend to obscure that fact but the truth is, without him they would struggle to be a serious Power 5 athletic department. And since he isn't bankrolling everything out of his own pocket (major capital projects excepted) they can only pay their coaches what a lower-tier P5 would.
December 17th, 2020 at 4:17 PM ^
They are one of the most fascinating teams in P5. Such a weird set up but the consistency they had under Belloti and Kelly really set provided some clout for them. Can't help but remember Dennis Dixon shredding our defense in '07. Felt like their coming out party.
December 17th, 2020 at 4:28 PM ^
Is this forreal? I never would have thought that, just on the surface, with their moderate success in football and basketball on a semi regular basis. Isn't Prefontaine from Oregon too? Didn't they like invent Nikes? Help?
December 17th, 2020 at 7:17 PM ^
Short of using the google, yes, Nike’s started at Oregon. It was the then track coach designs with Phil knight that started Nike. Steve prefontaine ran for the coach at Oregon and used the shoes the coach designed. A waffle iron was used to great their early prototype shoes soles.
December 18th, 2020 at 11:24 AM ^
He was desperate to get the gig. We forget, Mario Cristobal's record as a head coach prior to Oregon hiring him was sub .500. There's context to that because it was as an insanely young start up coach of FIU, but he hadn't really distinguished himself.
He did well at Bama as an OL coach and recruiting ace, and when Willie Taggart made the worst career move any coach has made in the last twenty years in the middle of signing the best recruiting class in Oregon history, Oregon wanted to keep that class together and Cristobal wanted the job badly and took the Dabo deal with the really low starting pay.
December 17th, 2020 at 1:56 PM ^
The fact that some thought he was a legit candidate for the UM job makes me chortle.
December 17th, 2020 at 1:57 PM ^
it made me chortle too; but so did your use of the word "chortle".
December 17th, 2020 at 2:26 PM ^
It made me guffaw.
December 17th, 2020 at 3:05 PM ^
It made me wheeze.
December 17th, 2020 at 4:51 PM ^
I guckled. It's a mix between a giggle and a chuckle.
December 17th, 2020 at 7:23 PM ^
Chortle and guffaw - - - well, well, well, sends me back to Ann Arbor in the late 70s.
December 17th, 2020 at 1:56 PM ^
Auburn fans are so pissed right now. Cristobal is off the table and it appears Kevin Steel is the front runner to be the new HC.
December 17th, 2020 at 1:58 PM ^
Not Will Muschamp?
December 17th, 2020 at 2:03 PM ^
Who? I mean, who the hell is Kevin Steel?
Not that it matters, I don't profess to keep up with all the HC candidates, especially coordinators, around the country. But I'm not a newbie to CFB, either, so I guess I'm somewhat surprised that Auburn is looking at someone I've never actually heard of. Usually, big programs like Auburn are capable of going after someone I have (at least) heard of.
December 17th, 2020 at 2:07 PM ^
He's Auburn's own DC
December 17th, 2020 at 2:55 PM ^
He’s been coaching college and pros for 38 years. He once got beat up by Kevin Greene on the Panthers sideline.
December 17th, 2020 at 4:26 PM ^
Steele isn't even that great a DC. I think there may be mutual interest between Auburn and Tom Allen though.
December 17th, 2020 at 2:18 PM ^
Be careful what you wish for. They seriously wasted $21 million dollars on a guy that makes no splash.
December 17th, 2020 at 3:37 PM ^
Oh so you mean firing your head coach without a good candidate to replace him is a bad idea? Good to know...
December 17th, 2020 at 4:13 PM ^
Paying a $22 million buyout in order to promote an assistant. Not the move I was expecting Auburn to make.
December 17th, 2020 at 1:57 PM ^
By the by, they inked the #6 class yesterday.
Poor damn Auburn.
December 17th, 2020 at 2:06 PM ^
Recruit rankings. Funny thing, their class looks identical to ours. They signed one D-lineman. I would rather have our class and they are #6, and we finished #12 according to 247.
December 17th, 2020 at 4:03 PM ^
I’m not reading that Auburn is anywhere near that high. Maybe I’m dumb though.
December 17th, 2020 at 4:16 PM ^
He's talking about Oregon.
December 17th, 2020 at 1:59 PM ^
Jim's will be at least double that amount
December 17th, 2020 at 2:04 PM ^
So, we all realize there won't be a CC for HC, right? ?
December 17th, 2020 at 2:19 PM ^
I was going to tell Vova that I love him, but this is inappropriate use of CC, all opinions of Harbaugh aside. Lots of weird denial from this board about the coming extension.
December 17th, 2020 at 2:06 PM ^
There is a list?
December 17th, 2020 at 2:06 PM ^
I never thought Cristobal was in the discussion...
Anyway, it seems pretty clear that Harbaugh is being retained, so the 'CC:' threads can stop now... Not all of us are going to be happy with that (myself included), but some things are just too bad. Once the retention deal is announced, we need to be onboard with it and pull for things to work out.
December 17th, 2020 at 2:20 PM ^
This is close to where I'm at, with one exception. If Harbaugh brings back Don Brown, I'm gonna be pretty checked out, tbh.
I want to believe that Harbaugh sees what we all see and that something is broken. The problem is, I think easily 50% of what's broken is him and I'm not sure he has it in him to fix it.
I'm at the point where I just hope it gets better. I don't think it will but what other choice do we as fans have? I hate this is the place I'm at but here we are....
December 17th, 2020 at 2:32 PM ^
I want to believe that Harbaugh sees what we all see and that something is broken.
Exactly. It's the old saying, "The first step in fixing a problem is recognizing that there is one." I really want to believe that this has been the main point of all the discussions with Warde.
If it hasn't been .... well shit.
December 17th, 2020 at 2:43 PM ^
Totally! I know it's not in his character but gosh, I'd feel a lot more confident if the new contract press conference went something like this:
Harbaugh: "Look, the current trajectory this program is on is simply unacceptable and much of that falls on me. We've lost our way but I assure you, we will be better, we will improve. I will be bringing in new assistants that will ensure we continue to focus on player development. I won't rest until the product on the field lives up to the Michigan standard"....
...Something like that. I just want to hear some self-reflection. SOME acknowledgment that what's happened the last few years isn't acceptable. Again, I know the chances of this are near zero because it's just not Coach Harbaugh's way but again, I'd be feeling a lot more confident with that kind of testiment.
December 17th, 2020 at 2:07 PM ^
Scratched him off when Oregon, with all the talent, lost to Oregon State. He can recruit but not sure if he can coach at the level we need to beat Ohio.
December 17th, 2020 at 2:26 PM ^
Man, I don't know if Oregon is going to get what they think they're going to get out of this deal. Oregon wasn't very good this year, even with the talent they're pulling in.
December 17th, 2020 at 2:27 PM ^
Harbaugh is coming back but this absolutely does not cross him off the list
December 17th, 2020 at 2:27 PM ^
People really think he'd leave Oregon for Michigan? Why?