Breaking down Harbaugh’s losses
I guess the result of Saturday shouldn’t have surprised anyone. JH has lost 4 times at home and the teams he has lost to have a combined end of season record of 46-8. The 12 losses outside of Ann Arbor had a combined record of 97-26. The “worst” loss in the Harbaugh era was a road loss to 8-5 Iowa. That was a night game in Kinnick and we all know how difficult it is to play there. The point is, through nearly 5 seasons, he hasn’t lost a game to a team even close to being average. We all want to win more “big games”, but we sure have come a long way from where we were before he got here.
November 18th, 2019 at 11:41 PM ^
It's not fair, but Michigan coaches will always be measured against Ohio State. OSU's recent level of success would be on par with Alabama's if they didn't have the occasional stinker during big ten play where they just didn't show up. They always show up for the Michigan game and that means the margin of error for Harbaugh to win those games is even smaller. I feel like Harbaugh needs to win at least once every four years against Ohio State in the near future to keep his job. If he can't do that then his tenure will be considered a disappointment.
Last year's game aside, the losses to OSU have mostly been based on talent. They have done a good job of isolating UMs worst players on the field and putting them in tough spots. If Harbaugh wants to beat OSU more consistently he needs to close the recruiting gap. Given the geographical and recent historical advantage OSU has in relation to Michigan, I am not sure if that's possible. A scandal or Clay Helton like coaching hire would help, but unlikely.
One thing that Michigan should be able to do is recruit at least on the level of Notre Dame. It's upsetting to see the number of top 100 players Notre Dame has in the 2020 class compared to Michigan.