Yahoo Article on Matt Campbell's culture
This is a fluff piece, but I think the age difference between Campbell and Harbaugh, 41 and 56, respectively, shows in some of the exposition on the dedication and passion Campbell brings to his program.
I think Harbaugh has lost a step here since 2016, while Campbell just made ISU a conf champion contender for the first time since 1912.
The article mentions how Campbell went to a winter workout in 15 degree weather in the early morning hours right after his first daughter was born. I'm not here to say what is wrong or right, but that kind of energy is a difference maker for a program that has been stigmatized for lacking focus.
Maybe he isn't the answer for Michigan, but I think I doubt him less than I doubt Harbaugh.
December 31st, 2020 at 12:24 PM ^
This x 10
December 20th, 2020 at 11:05 AM ^
I don't think any one HC is going to save our program (except for the few elite ones we all know about). Before coming to UM, Harbaugh had an amazing resume and demonstrated success of doing more with less. He's a good coach who still can't get over the elite hump. All these coaching suggestions (Campbell, Mullen) have great resumes, but what makes you think they are going to get over the hump if our slam duck hire couldn't? The traits we are admiring in these candidates are the same ones we saw in Harbaugh when we hired him. I think something bigger has to change at UM than just our coaching staff for us to be elite. If we are going to ride with Harbaugh, I hope there is some alignment within the UM administration about what our expectations as a program are. If there is an expectation to be elite like OSU, then it's time to start making some sacrifices with academic standards for recruiting, major selection, etc.
I'm not defending Harbaugh, I just don't believe one of these coaches is going to come save our program if Harbaugh couldn't.
December 20th, 2020 at 11:12 AM ^
Oh my God a realistic perspective. What are you doing here?
December 20th, 2020 at 11:23 AM ^
While I can't argue with most of this, at this point I strongly suspect Harbaugh's issue is that he wears out his welcome--and his enthusiasm--after he's been at any one stop too long. This was one of Bo's strengths; he turned the program into a machine and he managed to keep the program churning year after year despite the occasional poor year.
A coach with similar abilities to Harbaugh *and* the ability to maintain the program would be a step up right now.
December 20th, 2020 at 11:49 AM ^
The only coaches I would have confidence in to do that are the elite ones who are not coming here. Any other hire is a shot in the dark at this point. They could work, or they could turn us into Nebraska, god forbid. What we have now is a 8-10 win coach who we don't yet know is able to crack the elite status. That has been the history of Michigan football in a nutshell
December 20th, 2020 at 12:36 PM ^
The thing is, there are likely up-and-coming coaches who can do that. The trick of course is to identify them.
Is Matt Campbell one of them? Fuck if I know, but I suspect he's worth a shot.
December 20th, 2020 at 11:29 AM ^
Idk...how exactly could the admin hold these guys back aside from admissions standards? They seem to have full support from the university. Isn’t it quite possible that they just hired the wrong guys? They all failed for different reasons.
something happened to harbaugh after 2016. Idk what but he’s completely different and it’s changed how the program performs.
December 20th, 2020 at 11:45 AM ^
Look, I hope there are no administrative issues or internal problems, but at this point that's where my thinking is. Is someone telling JH to calm tf down and not be himself? Idk but he should have full control of the program and run it without any barriers, much like Saban, Dabo, and the last 3 OSU coaches did.
December 20th, 2020 at 11:54 AM ^
Only reason I don’t think his behavior changed because he was told to is because some of it is just instinctive. Like there is no way he wouldn’t let it out at some point the last 4 years.
December 20th, 2020 at 11:50 AM ^
I don't think any one HC is going to save our program (except for the few elite ones we all know about).
The next Meyer, Sweeney, Saban is out there, we just don't know who they are yet. That's why we need to go young. Find the guy with the right plan, the right attitude, and who understands UM's unique culture, challenges, and significant infrastructure and how to take advantage of it and you can win. Be friendly with the media to cultivate the messages you want out there. Be fun and entertaining. Recruit like gangbusters. Let the kids have fun. Be organized! Create the kind of program that make your assistants want to stick around. Develop and retain the guys you get. Utilize social media with the right kind of content and messaging. Can you match what OSU is doing? Probably not unless the administration decides to commit to football the way OSU does, which I don't see. They are too interested in being a world class educational institution and that's fine. But, they can turn into a program that can at least be competitive with OSU and win twice a decade and beat everyone else in the conference all the time. No one else has UM's resources or recruiting ability. So, there's no reason the right coach can't kick the shit out of the rest of the B1G every year and be UGA.
December 20th, 2020 at 12:03 PM ^
We don't know if the next elite coach is out there or not. Meyer, Saban, and Dabo are the best ever at their respective schools. Other schools have made multiple hires in an attempt to find the next elite coach. I just think doing so requires a lot of risk and you have to balance risk with benefits. Our program is at a low point right now. If we have Mike Riley type hire, who knows how bad things will be in 4-5 years. If Mullen or Campbell can at least duplicate JH's success while building for the future, I would be all for that. But our fanbase is impatient and I would not be surprised to see either coach run out of town for not beating OSU
I really want to see us doing what you described, but man it's almost impossible to predict who they are. I don't envy people making these decisions. One thing I know is if we are going to find the next elite coach, it shouldn't have to be someone with Michigan ties. Go purely based on resume and make a business decision
December 20th, 2020 at 7:27 PM ^
Other schools have made multiple hires in an attempt to find the next elite coach. I just think doing so requires a lot of risk and you have to balance risk with benefits.
If you would have said that last year I would have agreed. I'm still content enough JH at 8-10 wins per year, beating MSU two years in a row, splitting with Wiscy & PSU, and beating everyone else even if you're always losing to OSU and most ranked teams on the road. But, that is not us any longer. We barely beat Rutgers! Let that sink in. This is the worst UM team I have ever seen in my 41 years on this earth. There is no coming back from that. When you drop off a cliff like that and lose the kids, they start hitting the transfer portal or going to the NFL, the team is lost. You can't just go back to 8-10 wins next year and call it a Mulligan for Covid. We have serious issues.
If Mullen or Campbell can at least duplicate JH's success while building for the future, I would be all for that.
I have a hard time believing anyone that is a decent coach would struggle. JH has averaged a top 10 talented roster in the country during his tenure. You'd have to assume that Campbell with his energy & enthusiasm and personality that he could come in and recruit even better than JH has. And, if he has any organization and structure for a plan and hires decent assistants he should be well. Mullen however is not going anywhere.
I really want to see us doing what you described, but man it's almost impossible to predict who they are.
I think you're assuming we're still a 9-win team and this year was just a mulligan. But, I think we're a losing team with JH now. I'm not sure he can turn this around any longer. His trajectory has been going down ever since OSU 2018. If you assume next year will just as bad as this year, which I do, making a change seems a lot less risky. Can it really be any worse? At least we'll have a better plan moving forward.
December 20th, 2020 at 11:08 AM ^
How old is Nick Saban?
Dabo?
Ed Orgeron?
Bob Stoops his last 2-3 years at OU?
Jimbo Fisher?
You may call this a fluff peace, but it runs laps around your supposed opinion.
December 20th, 2020 at 11:38 AM ^
I agree, I don't think age is the necessarily the problem here. The average age of the five coaches in serious contention for the playoff this year is 55.
I can see the argument for getting a guy who is young and hungry to prove himself. But the better argument might be to get the coach at the right part of his career arc. Harbaugh may have peaked earlier, whereas others have gotten better with experience.
December 20th, 2020 at 1:44 PM ^
I don't think anything about my post contradicts what you're outlining here.
You're nitpicking when you know that I'm talking about passion--obviously age (absent of context) is irrelevant.
December 20th, 2020 at 2:36 PM ^
Glad you agree, and no I didn't know. If you were only talking about passion then let's just say it confuses the matter to state their literal ages ("56 and 41").
December 20th, 2020 at 11:09 AM ^
So he’s living each day with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind.
December 20th, 2020 at 11:10 AM ^
Thamel does some good work.
December 20th, 2020 at 11:30 AM ^
Thamel has done some really crappy work as well. He was the one behind the SI "expose" of Oklahoma State where a majority of the explosive claims were false and had to be walked back. His work led to a huge crediblity hit for SI. Yes, a lot of the issue was a result of the editors (for not vetting his work properly) and PR people (who promoted the story as though his work was the equivalent of Woodward and Berstein's Watergate reporting), but Thamel was the primary reporter of the whole sorry, refuted mess of allegations.
December 20th, 2020 at 12:24 PM ^
Thamel sucks.
December 20th, 2020 at 11:13 AM ^
Not sure the best example for young men is to leave your wife shortly after she gives birth for a workout with the team. I am not going to say that in and of itself, it is a horrible thing either.
But that is the problem with all of the critiques of Harbaugh. None are consistent. He is too harsh, he is too enthusiastic, he is not energetic enough. I do not think any of them are accurate.
Part of the job is to be factor in the development of great young men - educated, informed, involved, caring. By all accounts, Harbaugh excels in this arena.
Also, at the end of the day, it is still OU, Clemson, Alabama, and OSU. Close did not get Harbaugh any credit. Why should it for all of the new shiny things?
December 20th, 2020 at 12:08 PM ^
Agreed. This is a horrible thing to do. She nor the child are out of the woods. Be with your family during the most important times.
December 20th, 2020 at 12:22 PM ^
This is my question too. I actually really liked Campbell’s in game adjustments and his game management, so I wouldn’t mind if we were going in a different direction for us to hire him. But at the end of the day, he is still a coach who has zero conference championships and the big reason people want him is because he has been slightly better at ISU than their historical norm. Is he an upgrade over Harbaugh? He could be. And I’m not sure I agree with another coaching change just so we can see if someone is better than our coach whose only bad season was one in which a PSU team with a losing record should have gone to the B10 championship if not for the B10 changing their rules
December 20th, 2020 at 3:48 PM ^
"he has been slightly better at ISU than their historical norm."
Whether or not Campbell would be more successful than Harbaugh at Michigan is solely a matter of opinion—there's no way to be absolutely sure—but you're seriously underselling the record of what Campbell has done at ISU.
Over the last century, there has been exactly one Iowa State HC whose tenure in Ames was over .500, and that was Earle Bruce, whose record was a lusty 36-32.
Campbell currently stands at 34-28, a winning % of .548 that would make him the most successful head coach since Charles Mayser, who coached from 1915 to 1919.
Up until Campbell arrived, ISU's all time winning % was .43.
If you take Campbell's last four seasons, his winning % is .62
December 20th, 2020 at 6:02 PM ^
Being the best head coach in Iowa State football history is amazing, but it’s just that. He is the best coach at a shitty, small school. I just don’t know if that translates to working at a big time program. He’s never coached anywhere that he has any pressure to win at, which is a big deal if you coach at Michigan. Someone in a thread yesterday said it best-winning when you are supposed to win is what separates the truly great coaches from good coaches. Campbell has never had to deal with big egos in a locker room or balancing playing time with talented young players and older more experienced players. It’s all unknown and I don’t know if I’m ready to go through another head coaching change for someone who hasn’t done much other than “best coach at a really shitty school.”
December 20th, 2020 at 2:37 PM ^
And the article goes on to say that Campbell regrets that.
December 20th, 2020 at 11:21 AM ^
Whoever might get him will likely enjoy the fruits of his labor. Anyways, I'm gonna go watch replays of shotgun draws inside the 1 and drink bleach
December 20th, 2020 at 11:24 AM ^
I think it's okay to appreciate what Harbaugh did after Hoke and all, but those saying "Well we just need 2016 Harbaugh back" are hoping for something that isn't going to happen. We've been saying that since 2017 he seems different. He's not just going to flip a switch and return.
Campbell's players seem to love him as shown by the "Five star culture vs five star players a few weeks ago". We need a new culture badly right now.
December 20th, 2020 at 11:34 AM ^
What is this UMx!? A take that doesn't completely shit all over anything and everything?!? What is happening here? You in the holiday spirit or something?
December 20th, 2020 at 12:16 PM ^
That I am!
December 20th, 2020 at 11:41 AM ^
Yeah, I mean I know it's been said on here a million times, but something changed after the 2016 season, Harbaugh's not the same person he was in 2015-2016. This is a man whose motto is "attack each day with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind," and I don't know if I can think of a single instance he's shown enthusiasm since the end of 2016. He used to climb trees and do sleep overs to get recruits. He organized a cross-country camp tour. He was energetic, he was creative. And now, nothing. He has no energy and no emotion. He's the Stepford Coach. It's like he was replaced by a zombie clone of himself. And I don't know how to go back from that...
December 20th, 2020 at 11:31 AM ^
DAMN. I'm gonna be so sad if he's not our coach next year... We need a guy like this to recreate our culture.
December 20th, 2020 at 11:31 AM ^
That's great. He's not coming here, at least not right now.
Harbaugh will be on the sidelines next season with largely the same offensive staff, maybe one change, and an all new D staff - maybe Zordich stays but I suspect that's it. They'll win like 7 games, everyone will say wait until next year because the team will be "young", they'll win like 9/10 games the year after, maybe the same the year after that, then have another 7 win season, rinse and repeat forever.
December 20th, 2020 at 12:11 PM ^
And you think Campbell will come here next year, beat OSU and win the BIG???
December 20th, 2020 at 12:17 PM ^
No, but I certainly don't think Harbaugh will and it'll be his 7th year.
December 20th, 2020 at 12:52 PM ^
Nope, I don't think he'll ever come here. Harbaugh will be back, will flounder for 1 or 2 more years and another team will snatch up Campbell. With any luck Hafley will still be available in a couple years.
December 20th, 2020 at 11:43 AM ^
It'll be a few years from now before more factual info leaks out (if it ever does) about why the JH of today is nowhere like the guy who was freaking out during/after OSU 2016.
What I think is that most of us agree is that any change back to 2016 - if possible - will require some jolting event - like a bad tell all book or expose. Something that so pisses off JH he finally relights the fire.
I've moved on - for now - in acknowledging that JH is back for at 2021. Warde would be wise to start studying possible replacements, their pressers, the feedback (anonymously collected via a 3rd party firm) from former players and opposing coaches, etc. He has the next 12 months to prepare for the exit, if a miracle doesn't happen next year.
December 20th, 2020 at 11:58 AM ^
To the OP: Matt Campbell has a bright future. He is young and the world is his oyster. That being said, so does Jim Harbaugh. Jim will be successful at Michigan and if not, wherever he goes from here.
Damned if you do, damned if you don't. When Harbaugh shows spirit, he is villified and when he doesn't, something must be wrong. As fiery as you think Campbell is, he doesn't come close to what Harbaugh has done in the past in terms of wearing his emotion on his sleeve.
December 20th, 2020 at 12:21 PM ^
I don't think anyone villified him for showing spirit. The problem was all the stuff he was doing like climbing trees, sleeping over at Nordin's house, calling out everyone and their brother on twitter, and organizing overseas trips hasn't benefited the program at all really.
December 20th, 2020 at 12:11 PM ^
Easy to doubt someone less than the current regime, I think. New is good, it’s nice and fresh and flashy. Easy to get behind it and enjoy it. We once felt this way about JH. Whose got it better than us?
December 20th, 2020 at 12:16 PM ^
Culture is a 3 game win streak.
December 20th, 2020 at 12:19 PM ^
Campbell went to a winter workout in 15 degree weather in the early morning hours right after his first daughter was born.
To me, that's early stage psychopathy, which is what you're looking for in a coach.
December 20th, 2020 at 1:48 PM ^
It tells me the guy loves coaching more than almost everything else life has to offer.
That's the guy who beats OSU--someone who lives to win.
December 20th, 2020 at 2:16 PM ^
Ummm no, not psychopathy. Classic workaholism sure, which describes almost all big time coaches.
December 20th, 2020 at 12:44 PM ^
Going back "to the office" hours after your first daughter is born is not the sort of cultural example leaders should be setting.
December 20th, 2020 at 12:45 PM ^
I heard Campbell and Harbaugh speak at the National football foundation award ceremony in back to back years in Toledo. I think it was 2015-16. My son received an award those years. I have always been a big Harbaugh fan, including his playing days. Campbell took time with all the players and my son, a huge UM fan, loved him. Harbaugh didn’t take any time and was in and out very quickly. I understand he could of had pressing issues he had to get to. Campbell was an awesome speaker and I could see him being a great recruiter. Harbaugh, well you have all heard him speak so you can imagine. And this was before his personality changed. I’m still a Harbaugh fan and would love to see him succeed at UM, but if not, Campbell would be my 1st choice to replace him.
December 20th, 2020 at 12:46 PM ^
Campbell looks like a damn good coach but he isn't coming here because Harbaugh isn't leaving and Manuel isn't firing him.
December 20th, 2020 at 1:48 PM ^
Because warde is ok with average. Sad times we are in and sad times ahead of us
December 20th, 2020 at 1:16 PM ^
Campbell is a good coach but I'm not sure why anyone assumes he's an upgrade over Harbaugh. He hasn't accomplished anything Harbaugh hasn't - Harbaugh is perfectly capable of losing to a more talented team as Campbell did yesterday.
December 20th, 2020 at 1:47 PM ^
Harbaugh loses to more talented teams in blowout fashion and loses to teams that we are vastly superior to. Iowa state is less talented than half the big ten schools and is severely less talented than Oklahoma but they fight until the very end. Iowa state beat Oklahoma and Texas this season. When was the last time harbaugh beat a team that was more talented than him? At Michigan never