Harbaugh's Career: "Woulda, coulda, shoulda"
Jim Harbaugh's career has had it's fair share of heartbreakers. How would you feel differently if these games were WON?
2015: vs. MSU "punt" game (did not include Utah, Michigan was breaking in a new QB, that had only been there a month, on the road, with a new offense and a new head coach).
Note: for that heartbreaking loss, we did actually have two nailbitting wins at Minnesota and at Indiana that year. I know it doesn't help much.
2016: at Iowa, at OSU (2 OT) (FSU game doesn't count because Michigan would've been in the playoff...but let's say Michigan WINS the B1G championship but LOSES the first semifinal game and finishes 13-1).
2017: vs. South Carolina (finishes 9-4).
2018: n/a (loss at ND seems fair, Shea's first game, we didn't play great, and the comeback win at Northwestern evens it out...moving on).
2019: at Penn State (this one is the weakest of the arguments, but it should've been a great comeback win in OT...no question in my mind).
How is Harbaugh viewed in your eyes if we when all of these games?
Bonus Question: Aside from at OSU 2016, if you could only turn one of these into a win...which one would you choose? (Fictional semifinal playoff loss doesn't count...say we got blown out in that game).
A Fool's errand
Sorry, OT: best childhood memory
...have at it.
Edit: I see you mentioned "other than"...still, it always goes to this. I guess Iowa that year with a gun to my dome.
It's Thanksgiving weekend 2016 and it's not even a question. Not sure it'll be some forever haunting result but...right now it's painful (still). And those zebra fucks truly push that game over the top. Haven't viewed CFB the same since and probably won't ever. Getting older and wiser and spending less time with this hobby already has already distanced me. Games like that push(ed) me further.
I was at a Japanese Steakhouse for dinner at Beaches Turks and Caicos and was refreshing my phone frantically. I was celebrating a for sure victory only to have my night ruined.
I was at a Skyline Chili finishing up dinner when IT happened, and while this probably sounds like the worst humblebrag ever because it is... I was proud of myself for the composure I showed in finding the willpower to not fling my plate at the TV and storm out.
After reading Skyline Chili and then “IT happened” I thought you meant the guaranteed bowel movement that comes shortly after their chili
Skyline is really quite terrible - I love Cincinnati style chili so it sucks that its most famous purveyor is its worst ambassador.
The silver lining is that I didn't have a splatter poop afterwards, punt notwithstanding. I live in Columbus though, so it was still irresponsible of me to go to a Skyline's without a cooler handy.
Shame on you.
All I can think of is how it must be exhausting to live your life pondering stuff like this.
I don't. But the 2019 Michigan/PSU game was just on ESPNU and I thought about it for maybe 10 minutes.
Want to make any other judgements about me on the internet?
10 minutes is a lot of life to spend on a pointless question
Without 3 hours to waste watching a regular season baseball game, I've got 10 minutes to spare, too. Ya'll are harshing the OP
He didn’t even include the would, coulda, shoulda stuff from the NFL, like a PI call in the end zone, or several things in the NFC Championship against Seattle.
And we won’t even get into his playing days.
Coach seems unlucky in a lot of games.
Give me a break. No one would have given a shit if we went 9-4 in 2017 because we just went 9-4 and people went emo.
That's not the point. The point is we should've won the game. It is games that we should have or could have or would have won. That's literally the title of the thread.
Are you 25 years old now or something?
July 26th
OSU ‘16 followed closely by MSU ‘15
This is the correct answer.
Although, it really would have been something if we beat PSU last year. A comeback win for the ages.
Yes, this is absolutely the only answer.
The fact Dantonio's smug face got to come back out and celebrate. The fact their fans got the enjoyment of this and we were punched in the gut. The fact they ended up winning the conference but had we won the game the OSU game would have been for the division and then who knows if Durkin mails it in...so many levels to this game that make it a no brainer.
And 4-1 for Harbaugh v Dantonio is what he deserved to be. 3-2 is on paper more of a tossup.
None of the other games on this list were even close. And no, we would not have made the playoffs in 2016 with a win over Iowa and loss to OSU. That Iowa game was rendered meaningless when Washington crushed the Colorado team that Michigan had more difficulty with at home.
'16 Iowa would have to be the other one. Good chance that an 11-1 Michigan whose only loss is a 3 point double OT loss @OSU gets into the playoff still.
LOL
That would have never happened. We're a nationally hated program. No way they put us in the playoff in this situation. They would have done every conceivable mental gymnastic in the book to justify any other team getting in over us.
And yes, I'm still salty over what happened at the end of the 2006 season. NO, I probably won't ever get over it.
We're nationally hated because we can't back up the talk we constantly talk.
Oh I don't disagree there. We've been a program full of hot air and nothing else for a LONG time. BUT, that being said, when we get snubbed in 2006 and then the year or two after the SEC puts the same two programs into the national title game (literally the exact same situation as us in 2006) that's when I call BS.
Honestly, I'd argue none of those games outside of 2016 Ohio State matters much in the big picture.
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2015 - I don't think that alternate history is that different. And honestly I'd be cautious of this alternate history. U-M had a good team in 2015, but I think no matter what they were going to lose to Ohio State. And U-M is likely in a Florida Bowl regardless - Iowa still has one less loss than Michigan and is likely going to the Rose Bowl.
But if that play hadn't happened, OSU then wins the B1G East and likely goes to the college football playoff. It's theoretically possible OSU then defends their National Championship!
OSU might have truly been the best team in the country that year.
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2016 - Some may disagree, but the Iowa loss didn't really matter IMO. Even at 11-1 U-M gets left out of the college football playoff - Washington still has 2 "trump cards": they are a conference champion and they have the political argument (unfair to keep the Pac-12 from the playoff a 2nd straight year).
A U-M win over Iowa changes PSU's history (doesn't win the B1G), but not for U-M or OSU. OSU is still in the CFP, perhaps a #2 seed instead of a #3 because they do win the B1G, but they are still murdered by Clemson. The uniform colors are just different.
A U-M win vs. OSU obviously changes history dramatically.
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2017 - Outback Bowls are irrelevant in nearly all circumstances.
Actually, I'm trying to think of one Outback Bowl that changed history. 2001? Ohio State loses to South Carolina and they fired Cooper afterwards. Though he was arguably out the door regardless. 2-10-1 was an anchor around his neck.
Anyway, U-M lost an Outback Bowl on January 1, 1997. Some folk were ready to put Lloyd Carr on the hot seat afterwards. We saw what happened in the following 12 months.
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2019 - I suppose this changes the narrative of "Harbaugh can't win road games against good teams."
But there would still be the narrative of "Harbaugh can't beat OSU." That's honestly the more important narrative - and OSU likely wins in 2019 in any alternate history.
Also, switch this result and it's likely U-M in the Cotton Bowl vs. Memphis, and PSU in the Citrus Bowl vs. Alabama. OK. U-M beats Memphis, but that's not an event that really registers much. It's an 11-2 season but still feels disappointing.
The 2015 loss to staee propelled them to the BIG10 Championship and CFP
I don't think the politics would have mattered that much but the other trump card is that in the PAC12 title game, Washington crushed the Colorado team that Michigan had more trouble with at home.
Conf title, 12-1 record and a better performance against the common opponent. Washington definitely would have leap-frogged Michigan for 4th after that.
If Bell holds on to that 4th down pass, and UM somehow beats PSU last fall, then 2019 PSU is immediately disqualified from being a good team and a whiteout at night in Happy Valley is no longer considered a big game.
But UM lost, so Harbaugh can't beat good teams on the road or win big games. Or something.
Why the exaggeration? The fact is Harbaugh's most impressive road wins so far are 2015 at Penn State, 2015 at Minnesota, and 2018 vs Northwestern, and 2018 vs MSU.
Not exactly juggernauts.
Meh. The only real narrative is we cant be OSU, but Harbaugh does take care of business more than he's given credit for.
It's more of a college football problem than a Michigan problem, IMO. Parity is worse than ever.
WRONG. Under harbaugh, Michigan has not won a road game against a good opponent excpet his first bowl game, and please do not include a win at ped valley when ped state went 7-6 that year. This is damning on top of the 0-5 record against THEEEEEEEE ohio.
That Iowa loss was meaningless in the big picture. We were still in the top-3 and controlled our own destiny regardless.
In fact, that Iowa loss hurt one team and one team only: Ohio State. Had we beaten Iowa (and everything played out as it had), OSU would have gone to the Big Ten Championship Game over Penn State. So, at least those pricks didn’t get a conference title out of the whole ordeal.
Without the 2015 MSU, a lot of the stupid questions don't happen.
On the other hand, beating Dantonio sooner means he implodes sooner and we're still figuring out MSU's "next".
If it's only one, I think the obvious is Iowa. Win there and we're playing OSU for the B1G - does it mean we win? Not necessarily, but yeah, yeah it means we win.
The ‘16 game is the only one that matters. Win that game and the entire trajectory of Harbaugh’s tenure here is different. You make the playoff, recruiting skyrockets and brings Michigan to right about even with OSU’s talent, and I guarantee more victories follow against OSU. Not that Michigan starts dominating the series, but it gets close to 50/50. OSU’s psychological advantage over Michigan goes away overnight. At least half of what makes OSU beat Michigan every year is knowing they have twenty years of dominance behind them. They go in not just expecting to win, but knowing they will.
Agree. And the QB guru had to play an INJURED 3 star QB because he had no on else able or ready. Coaching.
At this point, I'm pretty sure the whole "QB Guru" / "QB Whisperer" mantra needs to die. It's crystal clear that Harbaugh is no better at developing QBs than anyone else in CFB. So why bother pretending that he is? Just to have something to complain about?
I have made it known throughout the time I have been here, and I will continue to do so until this day.
He was brought here to win championships. Anyone who pretends otherwise is silly. If we were all told that Jim Harbaugh was being brought back to Michigan to win games they are supposed to, and lose games they should, we would all say get bent.
He has not done so. There are no excuses this year. If he can't win a Big Ten championship THIS YEAR, then it's time to look elsewhere.
Leo. Love your coney islands and you are dead on. Love facts.
He shouldn't have taken the job.
Maybe, maybe not.
But, he did. And the expectations were championships. He's failed as of now.
I'm not saying he can't do it. But the evidence is not positive.
I don't disagree that he was brought here to win championships. I 100% disagree if he doesn't do it this year he's gone.
This year, if you aren't aware, is a very weird year. Between Covid making this season what it is, the BLM movement, etc., this will be the year of stability. Recruiting is in a weird/difficult spot. Stability will be key here, IMO, in a lot of places around the country. Jim has shown time and time again that he is in the players corner, supporting them in a lot of different aspects. If that were ever to help in recruiting, that time is now.
Excuses, excuses, excuses.
If Harbaugh struggles this year again a bunch of people will blame COVID and not being able to practice as a team as much, I guarantee it. As if the rest of college football isn't in the same boat.
Do Franklin and Orgeron get to use this excuse too? We make fun of them regularly on the board and they've achieved more success.
Harbaugh will be gone after this season. It is what it is.
I don’t even remotely believe this. I think he could go 7-5 and still be coach in 2021.
And you don't see anything wrong with that?
Love him
Jim’s fired tomorrow, who are you hiring?