The Athletic story : Jim Harbaugh’s new-look Michigan staff: ‘Jim’s got (the right) guys now. They’ll have his back and Michigan’s’
The linked article is behind the paywall at The Athletic, and most of the information is common knowledge. Quite positive on the changes JH made this off-season.
I would mention a couple of things that were new to me:
1)Harbaugh has gone through 31 assistant coaches, compared with 25 for James Franklin, 20 for Brian Kelly and 18 for Ferrentz. That sums up the instability problem There’s a view that there were too many yes men around
2)Saban reached out to Bellamy
https://theathletic.com/2794190/2021/09/01/jim-harbaughs-new-look-michigan-staff-jims-got-the-right-guys-now-theyll-have-his-back-and-michigans/?source=user_shared_article
September 1st, 2021 at 10:28 AM ^
Big if true, and only took about seven years. The Michigan Difference.
September 1st, 2021 at 11:36 AM ^
It has been the 7-year tribulation for M fans.
September 1st, 2021 at 12:45 PM ^
Are you kidding me? We have won 10 games three times, sniffed the playoff, etc. Minus last year we are vastly improved from the 7 years that preceded.
Jim’s assistant woe’s mostly have come from not really having a complete year with a fully instilled Gattis system and Don Brown being a one trick Pony that was figured out by the big dogs after a couple years.
How we forget both how bad 2008-2014 was, the true tribulation, famine even. And how we forget how Jim had OSU on their heels in 2016 and 2017 (with backup QB and young roster) only to have two consecutive years of the worst luck possible in those games. Let’s hope Jim has walked through his own tribulation and will come out like Teflon. I’m expecting good things.
September 1st, 2021 at 1:52 PM ^
Jim's tenure has been better than the previous seven years but it is also fair to lay some blame for his assistant's woes at his feet.
Gattis has been at Michigan 3 seasons, with a full regular off-season, camp and season in '19 before covid. He had enough time to install the deep track RB pass to 5th string walk-on TE. He was hired after one phone call. JH hired Don Brown, he watched the tape and decided that is what he wanted for a defense. So if he really is a one trick pony, JH should have seen that earlier, especially after OSU in '19. (I don't really buy this explanation. The defense out-paced the O during Brown's tenure. I think it was more due to roster mis-mgmt based on a DB's decision to go small inside. JH should have not let that happen.)
And even if you ride with your explanations for Gattis and Brown, that doesn't explain Drevno and Pep and why both got an extra year after it was clear that well wasn't producing water.
This staff does have a different feel to it with more of a focus on recruitment and I hope JH has put together a staff that puts schemes in place to max their talent.
September 1st, 2021 at 10:39 PM ^
I hope the same, but Don’s defense was hopeless verses teams that had elite passing games/speedy receivers, crossing routes all day, took away all the aggression and heavy man to man coverage, also left ample possibility for big momentum shifting plays by opposing teams. You have to admit he was stubborn, however I loved how his D beat up on inferior teams and sometimes equal talent teams.
Jim’s earlier offenses were not exciting always, but they were efficient overall. Sometimes I think we got what we asked for when we kept demanding more speed in space when the first half year of Gattis rolled around, which is probably half the reason that our super trio of receivers never lived up to their full potential.
Also, Michigan scored enough points in 2018 and 2019 to have competitive games with OSU, but the defense was utterly worthless.
Gattis’ offense also truly began to click second half of 2019, but we only remember losing the last two games to two teams good enough to win the National Championship and poo poo on him for it.
Last year is a joke to say Gattis had a full year of preparation, last year was Michigan figuring out how to be Covid compliant and also no Spring practices. Also, Nico was out, new QB, new offensive line, mostly new receivers….I think you get the picture. This year should be much more solid on offense, and I think we will see some of this young staff stick around for a while and recruit well.
…..also, let’s not forget Partridge, our former best recruiter left on his own volition.
I’m with you on Drevno, he had to go I think, I think Pep may have gotten a little too much flack.
September 2nd, 2021 at 10:14 AM ^
I agree with most of what you're saying, I just don't think it alleviates JH from blame. Okay, DB was good against bad teams and got torched vs good ones. JH saw that in '18 and brought him back in '19, saw it in '19 and brought him back again. You can't just say JH has no blame in his assistants woe's, he allowed them to happen and continue. Going small didn't happen over night. It was obvious and JH allowed it to go on.
There is a lot of cherry picking on your end with Gattis. I didn't say he had a full year last year, but he had one before it. He got hired after the '18 off season. He had that off season, '19 fall camp and all of '19 season to install his offense. And his offense got better except for against the 2 good teams at the end. Isn't that the same as DB? Michigan wasn't the only school dealing with covid, so that doesn't alleviate blame either. MSU beat them and they had less time than UM did with all new schemes, both sides of the ball. No other school needs multiple years to have a cohesive offense. This is college, there are always going to be new guys.
Drevno is Drevno.
Pep deserves more flack in my opinion. Down 14 with 3 minutes to go against ND and they are huddling the whole way down the field. How does that happen? High school teams wouldn't allow that to happen.
My point is every staff under JH has been great while they're here and then the second they leave they were obviously terrible and JH couldn't do anything about it.
September 2nd, 2021 at 7:27 PM ^
I get what you are saying about Gattis with the first year, however, I think it’s a little harder to change offensive philosophy in college football than we as fans see, and I think that’s why the already “head in the clouds” Shea looked like straight doo doo the first 6 games of 2019. I don’t think Gattis coached him to fumble every one of those games like he did.
I agree too that Jim held onto Don for one too many seasons. Shouldn’t have been here last year and fired after Ohio State game 2019. However, I can also see why you would hang onto a guy who statistically gives you top 10 defenses every year, so it’s sort of a wash for me. Just my opinion.
I guess I’m a guy that doesn’t mind a conservative offense as much as others on this board. So while Pep never got me excited, we seemed to be an overall efficient team in 2018 with very good numbers in the efficiency metrics, ones that even had us predicted to beat OSU by 2 scores going into the game (look at archives of SEC fans on YouTube in their their preview) , and you also really cannot blame Pep for the debacle of the 2017 Oline and QB situation. Made the most with what he could.
im with most on the board here that like Jedd Fisch the most though.
Jury still out for me with Gattis, this year make or break.
September 1st, 2021 at 2:00 PM ^
Hmmm Jim was paid $8 million bucks a year for many years Michigan has not gotten its money worth from the head coach.
September 1st, 2021 at 2:49 PM ^
You should ask for your money back because in any job, that is how compensation is handled
September 1st, 2021 at 2:55 PM ^
No I was responding to someone who thinks Jim has done a good job and from what we paid him Michigan surely expected better, at least the fans that know football. And no where did I say ask for money back.
September 1st, 2021 at 7:43 PM ^
Okay, are you forgetting he's been blown out 3 times by them, twice at home, and once on the road where we got practically every call and still lost by 23? You can keep clinging to 2016-17 all you want, the gap has only gotten bigger since then.
Also is Harbaugh not in charge of hiring his own assistants? Because you make it sound like Brown and Gattis were forced on him and that it's all on them.
September 1st, 2021 at 11:12 PM ^
Yes, the gap got bigger, primarily because Don Brown’s defense had no answer once Ohio State became a pass first team that spread the field wide.
Jury still out on Gattis, who did have improvement in 2019, last year was a joke in so many ways other than just our team.
And yes, I know Jim hired Don and Josh. Don worked out GREAT until Dwayne Haskins stepped on the field in 2017 and Ohio State magically evolved into one of the best passing teams in the country for the next 3 years. Jim eventually saw the writing on the wall and also fired him! And I’m sure if Gattis sucks it up this year, Jim will probably fire him too.
Jim has pulled us out of a pit, and has us on life support at the moment (with a few notable blunders 2018 OSU, 2019 Wisconsin, 2020 MSU stick out most) but I believe he will find it in himself to pull us up higher and cement us with a sustainable winning football culture again.
September 2nd, 2021 at 1:58 AM ^
I don't think it was even a scenario where the stars aligned and OSU blindly tripped into landing Dwayne Haskins as a recruit without even knowing what they were going to do with him until the '17 game.
Harbaugh hired Don Brown to stop Urban Meyer's offense, and that was effective (despite losing the '16, '17 games, DB's defense is not why they lost). Urban, in turn, responded by hiring Ryan Day; a guy who ran an offense that didn't really looking anything like the traditional Urban power spread to negate what Don Brown did on defense. And now, as Seth said in his post on the front page "the 5-2 isn't the answer to the spread, it is the answer, to the answer of the spread'.
Unfortunately what Michigan came to tragically understand from the '17 game is not that OSU magically signed Dwayne Haskins when they didn't know what to do with him.. rather, they unleashed their response to the Don Brown hire before it was fully weaponized when Barrett went out, out of necessity and ultimately it was effective enough to win them the game late in the second half. Michigan never saw that coming.
September 2nd, 2021 at 4:30 PM ^
I said it took seven years for Harbaugh to supposedly get the right staff. I never said anything about the prior seven years. Just because they sucked too doesn’t mean Jim’s been a success. If we’re still talking about getting the right assistants in place after seven goddamn years, looking down the barrel of a total “rebuild” season after seven goddamn years, then the guy in charge hasn’t done a very good job in his seven years. He’s coming off a sub .500 season in year six. That’s not success. He may have had more success than Hoke, but down the program is trending downward again. The guy who couldn’t seem to coach anywhere for more than, what, four seasons, has shown us why. If he fixed something within the program earlier, then he damn sure broken something within it recently.
September 1st, 2021 at 10:29 AM ^
I don't have a subscription, so I couldn't read more than the teaser paragraphs. Just curious if they say when Saban approached Bellamy. Was it when he was still at WB, and maybe an attempt to get Edwards as well? Or was it after he already started at Michigan?
September 1st, 2021 at 10:31 AM ^
Saban contacted Bellamy while he was at WB
September 1st, 2021 at 2:04 PM ^
I'm glad I spotted you, Blue@LSU, was wondering if you were in Louisiana in the middle of Ida a few days ago.
September 1st, 2021 at 3:44 PM ^
Thanks for asking. Yes, I was here. Luckily (for us in this area anyway), the storm shifted just enough and took a more northern track to keep Baton Rouge on the western (usually less destructive) side. So there wasn't as much damage in the area as they were expecting. I lost power at 6pm on Sunday and still waiting to get it back. I have a generator to run a window AC unit (and keep my Miracle Whip cold! Sorry, I'll stop with the MW bit now.) and have been lucky enough to find gas so far, but waited in line at the station for about 1.5 hours yesterday.
I'm really feeling for the people that got hit with most of the damage and/or people without generators. Temps here are 90 with a heat index at 100 and many of them do not have running water. Just a horrible situation to be in.
My neighbor had a whole home generator installed about a month ago, so he thought he'd have no problems after the storm. But it turns out that so many people have them in the area (all sharing the same natural gas) that there isn't enough natural gas flowing to power the AC units. I didn't know this was a problem...
September 1st, 2021 at 10:31 AM ^
FWIW I've posted in multiple threads that I predict we'll go 10-3 with losses to Wisconsin, PSU and OSU. Part of the reason for my optimism is the believe that we have a re-energized HC again coupled with a young and hungry staff.
I have no idea what was going on with Harbaugh over the past few years but it was clear the guy on the sidelines was not the same dude we all were excited to get back in 2015. But based on multiple reports during this off-season (including this one) he seems to be getting back to his old self. And the Stanford-49ers-Michigan 2015-16 Harbaugh was one hell of a football coach.
I think we got that guy back. And that's a very good thing!
September 1st, 2021 at 10:46 AM ^
I hope so. I miss the old Jim
September 1st, 2021 at 10:48 AM ^
Nothing would make me happier than to see him lose his shit at a terrible call while UM is up 30 in the first game. I'm on the train already, but if this were to happen, holy shit.
September 1st, 2021 at 11:06 AM ^
I wanna be on that train too, and co-conductor. My wife was just giving me shit for how excited I was when Harbaugh first came here compared to now. If we get that guy back... CHOOOO CHOOO MOTHER FUCKERS!
September 1st, 2021 at 10:53 AM ^
I don't think we'll ever get that Harbaugh back, but having younger assistants can only help.
There will be growing pains, especially against Washington and Wisconsin, but I'd be perfectly happy with a team that gets better as the season goes along, is at least competitive vs OSU and actually wins a bowl game.
September 1st, 2021 at 12:49 PM ^
It can only help?
September 1st, 2021 at 11:04 AM ^
I really appreciate the positivity, or at least the benefit of the doubt. You have also shown that you know what you are talking about and could never be accused of bing pollyanna-ish. Keep it coming!
September 1st, 2021 at 11:05 AM ^
I must be crazy because I'm thinking the same thing: 9 or 10 wins. I think they'll be somewhat good - they have talented players and Harbaugh is a born, natural coach. If he can focus up and get back to what he was, Michigan will compete again. Michigan was a decent team the last two years but they shot themselves in the foot with stupid mistakes and unmotivated play. If they can cut that out they'll win some games. I hope the old Harbaugh is back and brings some mental toughness to this team, something they've been sorely lacking. And while I think 9-10 wins is possible - that means they'll have to pull a few upsets, another thing that's been lacking from this team.
For me- this team needs to lose differently. They can't have game-long waking nightmares anymore; they have to lose hard-fought, hard-luck games for me to believe the program is moving in the right direction.
September 1st, 2021 at 11:14 AM ^
"And while I think 9-10 wins is possible - that means they'll have to pull a few upsets, another thing that's been lacking from this team."
Nope. https://www.bovada.lv/sports/football/college-football/ncaaf
According to the good folks at Bovada Michigan is currently FAVORED in every game they play this season except three: Wisconsin, Penn State and OSU. They just need to win the games they're suppose to win and they'll get there.
But hey if we're being optimistic there's absolutely no reason we cant beat Penn State. They were just as bad as we were last year and have Franklin as their HC. The old Harbaugh runs circles around that guy.
September 1st, 2021 at 11:40 AM ^
Hmmm, interesting. I just figured they'd be dogs against new-look Indiana and even Washington. And I forgot Penn State stunk it up last year. Sky's the limit!
September 1st, 2021 at 12:48 PM ^
Not to be overly technical, but lines are based on betting traffic, which is why lines change.
September 1st, 2021 at 1:34 PM ^
Exactly, but it also isn't considered an upset if you beat a team that the line has you favored against.
September 1st, 2021 at 1:23 PM ^
If we go 9-0 straight up in games we are favored that will be a magical season. Give me an OSU game where they have shit luck and complain about how the refs are out for them FOR FUCKING ONCE and all bets are off.
And please for the love of god just go .500 in our last two games of the season. What is our record in the last two games of the season the last 20 years. 3-37?
September 2nd, 2021 at 11:41 AM ^
I'm another optimist but that's not really how things work. If you have 9 games that you're a huge (80%) favorite to win the odds of winning all 9 aren't fantastic...
Sorry my poker brain always takes over.
Otoh even if we're only 30% in the other three games the probability of winning at least one are higher than most folks think...
Cheers.
September 1st, 2021 at 11:16 AM ^
I agree that there is something different from the Coach Harbaugh we saw in 2015-16 vs. the years that followed (I think the 2016 OSU game broke him a little somehow but....who knows).
Whatever their specific strengths/weaknesses as people and coaches - I don't think of coaches like Don Brown or Ed Warriner or Mike Zorich as yes-men (maybe Pep or Drevno, not sure about Gattis). I sure HOPE that the staff changes have positive impacts but some of this feels like positive pre-season spin.
I also think that the low expectations is likely helping the team be both pissed off and a little more focused in their preparation. We'll know soon enougn.
September 1st, 2021 at 11:31 AM ^
All due respect to a knowledgable, experienced and high quality poster, I'll believe it when I see it.
September 1st, 2021 at 11:41 AM ^
For the record, those losses are not predicted (by vegas or most) to be particularly close. There is maybe a 33% chance they go 1-2 and a 65% chance they go 0-3. So I'll call it 2.3 losses. I think you see where I'm going with this (I haven't seen the win expectation data just yet but I'm sure it's around 40 probability for 7-5, 30% for 8-4 and 15% for 6-6, with 15% for the rest, 9-3 taking at least a plurality of the balance there if not the majority.
there's a reason Vegas has the O/U at 7.5 Ws in spite of "predicting" 9 Ws based on point spread favorites.
September 1st, 2021 at 12:07 PM ^
I'm inclined to agree...with a good chance of beating either PSU or Wisconsin. Sometimes good things happen when least expected.
September 1st, 2021 at 2:22 PM ^
Harbaugh is 5-17 against top 25 teams. So, although unexpected things might happen, they haven't happened very often. That's below 30%. We play 5 top 25 teams. If that pattern holds we win one of those games. That gets us to 8-4 with no missteps.
I'm more sold on Wisconsin than PSU. The Badgers are more consistent, I think Chryst > Franklin and Sean Clifford is average at best.
They vegas lines are also not the best measure. Their over-under is 8.5. They tip toward the money. Michigan has a large supportive fan base that skews the numbers.
September 1st, 2021 at 3:31 PM ^
That's all true. There could be a surprise on the upside if in fact Harbaugh is rejuvenated and the rest of the staff has been upgraded. We'll find out soon enough.
They better look good Saturday.
September 1st, 2021 at 9:19 PM ^
I feel like the Harbaugh vs Top 25 teams stat is skewed. At what point are we counting whether or not the other team is Top 25? Preseason? When they played? At the end of the season?
I just did a couple quick Wikipedia searches, and this is a list of teams that were in the top 25 during the season that Harbaugh has played and beaten. Again, this was a quick and hasty lookup, so I may have missed something here or there... but here are 17 wins in opposed to 5:
2015
22 BYU
13 Northwestern
@ 19 Florida
2016
Colorado (high: 7, ended: 9)
Penn State (high:5, ended: 7)
8 Wisconsin
Michigan State (high: 8 week 3)
2017
17 Florida
2018
@Northwestern (high: 20, ended: 21)
15 Wisconsin
@ 24 Michigan State
14 Penn State
2019
14 Iowa
8 Notre Dame
@Maryland (high: 21 week 2)
Michigan State (high: 18 week 2)
@Indiana (high: 24 week 11)
September 1st, 2021 at 11:19 PM ^
Only statistics that fit the narrative here please
/s
September 1st, 2021 at 11:28 PM ^
My apologies, I'll defer to whatever story the SEC, I mean ESPN announcer tells.
September 1st, 2021 at 1:09 PM ^
No season in which we lose to OSU (or at least lose to OSU in humiliating fashion like in 2018 and 2019) can be considered a success. Our chronic futility in The Game has gotten to the point that I would prefer a 1-11 season in which the one win came over OSU to a 14-1 season with a B1G Championship and a National Championship if the one loss was to OSU (both are contrived scenarios, I know). I feel like we have to get this monkey off our backs if we're going to make any progress as a program.
Also, we heard similar reports after the 2017 season about Harbaugh supposedly having been re-energized and hungry for redemption... and then we got steamrolled by OSU and Florida in 2018. So I'll believe it when I see it. I refuse to indulge any optimism until after The Game, even if we're 11-0 and have destroyed every opponent by eight touchdowns (another contrived scenario, I know).
September 1st, 2021 at 1:42 PM ^
Our chronic futility in The Game has gotten to the point that I would prefer a 1-11 season in which the one win came over OSU to a 14-1 season with a B1G Championship and a National Championship if the one loss was to OSU (both are contrived scenarios, I know).
You have lost your mind. I would lose to OSU every year until I died if it meant we regularly won B1G titles and National titles. My issue with losing to them so much is that often, it's that very game that kills the chance to win the B1G or the national title. Those are the two things they play the game for. Those two titles. Who cares how you got there?
This is like saying "nah, I hit a bad drive so I don't care I holed out from 157 yards from the other fairway for eagle, I'd rather hit perfect drives get a par."
September 1st, 2021 at 1:57 PM ^
I think 10-3 or 9-4 is a real possibility. Though I have PSU as a win.
September 1st, 2021 at 2:04 PM ^
Man I hope you’re right.
September 1st, 2021 at 10:31 AM ^
I'd still like to know why he hired the last crew in the first place. Some of them were great, at least short-term. But the last few guys he'd hired were terrible.
September 1st, 2021 at 11:34 AM ^
Exactly, *now* we're supposed to believe he hired a top 5 staff? If he were capable of doing so 5 years ago, it would have been done 5 years ago.
I appreciate a younger staff with renewed energy. But after the last 2-3 years, that's the bare minimum, step zero on the way to turning around this program.
September 1st, 2021 at 1:09 PM ^
Remember the rules of assistant coach changes.
1. All assistant coach hires are good hires.
2. The guy that we fired/left for a worse job couldn't recruit or coach.
3. The guy that left for a better job is a sign of our program's ability to develop coaching talent.
September 1st, 2021 at 10:39 PM ^
I wish I could upvote this twice.
September 1st, 2021 at 3:15 PM ^
Brian Kelly went 3-9 at ND and basically cleaned house in terms of assistants. How have they been doing lately?