Jim Harbaugh B1G Coach of the Year (Coaches and Media)

Submitted by Brown Bear on November 29th, 2022 at 12:27 PM
https://twitter.com/b1gfootball/status/1597638019019841536?s=46&t=gc3DP0h1Ge1iKWBT2FkJbQ

 

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rice4114

November 29th, 2022 at 1:02 PM ^

As a fan covid season was just the worst thing Ive seen since Rich Rod year 1. I absolutely was of the belief coach wasnt getting it done and probably needed to go. Now if I was the AD and it was my job I wouldnt of let him go until someone better was ready to sign on the dotted line. After some thinking I also said if Harbaugh cant get it done really who can. When he came back I was actually ready for a turn around. Sure as shit wasnt expecting this. There wasnt one second where I thought Harbaugh wasnt our best option, but I also thought our best option was a ceiling of 10-3, 3rd in the east, and another 2 game losing streak to end every season. 

In the moment our program was in chaos and disarray and I think its ok to admit that. Before 2021 I said "I have a really good feeling that Harbaugh can Harbaugh Harbaugh" and somehow most of us knew what that meant. And Boy did he ever!

Joined: 08/26/2010

MGoPoints: 47270

1408

November 29th, 2022 at 1:15 PM ^

I am very hopeful that most people on this thing are not in a position of authority or management.

That people on here vociferously wanted to run Harbaugh out of town after a make-believe, black swan pandemic season (that featured Northwestern(!) in the B1G championship) is forever a black eye on this place.

Joined: 01/28/2015

MGoPoints: 4333

fishgoblue1

November 29th, 2022 at 1:21 PM ^

My take was if not Harbaugh then who? I never wanted him gone.  Did I see this coming, no, but I also figured that he would win 10-11 games most years and that's pretty good.

Lot's of talk about Matt Campbell and some about Tom Allen.  But I kept saying that it's a covid year, nothing is right about this year.  Look at where they both are today.  

Campbell other that the covid year is a .500 coach at ISU.

Allen other than the covid year is even worse than .500 at IU.  

Never understood why some many people put so much stock into a year that was a disaster for everyone.

 

Joined: 11/16/2015

MGoPoints: 14763

Lou MacAdoo

November 29th, 2022 at 1:59 PM ^

Hindsight is 20/20. When you're going through that shit show as a fan, at a time when you're hoping for Michigan Football to be an escape that brings you some joy, it's a little different. That was a depressing year and it was hard to see this as the future. I think you'd be in the extreme minority to have unflinching confidence in Harbaugh doing what he did after that season. Sure we had the hope of JJ and Walker as the prized recruits, but we had just watched Patterson, McCaffery, and Milton poop the bed under his guidance. Not to mention two of the worst OSU game performances I've ever seen leading up to that year. Forever glad we stuck it out with him though. He was still doing better that the two previous coaches, so I was hesitant to make a change just based on that.  

Joined: 10/16/2011

MGoPoints: 6398

jmblue

November 29th, 2022 at 2:39 PM ^

Hindsight is certainly 20-20, but didn't it seem a little odd that a whole bunch of programs (including Michigan and PSU) fell off a cliff that year, while teams like Indiana - and Iowa State - were good?  The sheer number of outlier outcomes that season should have given fans pause.

That said, I thought it was clear after the 2019 OSU game that Don Brown was not going to be the answer against the Buckeyes (not after they hired Day, anyway), and I was glad Harbaugh parted ways with him a year later.  

Joined: 11/07/2008

MGoPoints: 102810

Vote_Crisler_1937

November 29th, 2022 at 1:27 PM ^

I was one of those who wanted Harbaugh gone. I didn’t have an idea who to replace him with and had huge concerns about Campbell, Fickel, etc.

It wasn’t because of a pandemic season, though there was a bit of a circus around it that Harbaugh very much helped to create. It was more that we had seen 6 seasons and didn’t feel close to beating OSU or having a great staff or getting recruiting going. It felt in many ways like Harbaugh had burned through all his ideas and didn’t have the spirit he arrived with. 
 

Im so glad he’s still here and I’m beyond thrilled with what he’s done since. 

Joined: 11/07/2011

MGoPoints: 15506

Blue In NC

November 29th, 2022 at 2:09 PM ^

Agreed.  We all were suffering but acting rationally and reasonably under tough circumstances is part of what makes a good decision maker.  Harbaugh had the proven resume and background and the affinity for Michigan that made him the near-perfect candidate even in difficult times.  That's what I hung my hat on, although it certainly turned around faster and more efficiently than I could have expected.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 8576

HighBeta

November 29th, 2022 at 5:02 PM ^

I completely discounted the 2020 season as a lost one. It just didn't count.

Yes, I was frustrated with JH but my frustration was that he didn't yet seem mature and/or comfortable enough to make the team run completely in his image/style. He seemed too willing to give his coordinators too much free reign.

When a BOD (read: AD) hires a CEO (read: HC), they expect the CEO to put his stamp on the company, including the personnel and the plans of attack.

I was frustrated but wasn't yet ready to throw him out. Glad he finally found his courage. Probably took his Dad and brother to get him thinking boldly and clearly. 

Joined: 10/20/2019

MGoPoints: 15644

Vote_Crisler_1937

November 29th, 2022 at 1:34 PM ^

Serious question: 

which Big Ten coaches voted for Harbaugh? You have to believe Day, Tucker, Franklin, Bielema at the very least would all put Harbaugh last given all of their whining about the tunnel and refs. 
 

I would hope Harbaugh still won by a huge majority but I can’t recall a year where so many coaches seemed so childish towards M in the same year. 

Joined: 11/07/2011

MGoPoints: 15506

Peter Parker

November 29th, 2022 at 2:07 PM ^

Did you see the video of Michigan coaches/players saying nice things about OSU and Ryan day refusing to each time he was given the chance? Remember when he acted like a child and promised to hand 100 on Harbaugh? Seems like a dick to me, but not actually a bad person. definitely a huge improvement over the previous guy though. 

Joined: 11/09/2014

MGoPoints: 2364

Blue In NC

November 29th, 2022 at 2:13 PM ^

OK, but Harbaugh has certainly made more statements.  I have no problem with Day and I think he is a good coach.  OSU would be silly to overreact (and I don't think they will).

I also tend to think that you could replay that game 10 times (including the injuries) and OSU wins at least half of them.  We definitely deserved to win but there were plenty of ways for that game to go the other direction.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 8576

mGo Go Gadget Play

November 29th, 2022 at 3:46 PM ^

I think Schiano and Ferentz would have voted for Harbaugh. Also, maybe Fleck and Leonhard -- it may be easier to vote for a guy you're not still recovering from an on-field evisceration.  

Other than that, I'd say that Day, Bert, and Brohm are the only other candidates in the running to get multiple votes, and I'd say that Day looked pretty bad in direct comparison. My money would be on Bert coming in second, but he may have lost the Brohm vote with his snippy "neutral field" tweet.

BTW, looked at the history of this award -- it doesn't go to the best team very often.  A lot of 3 and 4 loss teams on this list. Urban Meyer never won the award, and I'd wager there were a few years when he was far and away the best coach in this conference.

Joined: 12/16/2021

MGoPoints: 2126

ShadowStorm33

November 29th, 2022 at 12:34 PM ^

Not that he isn't deserving (he absolutely is), but I honestly figured it would be Bielema given the turnaround Illinois had this year. Wonder if Bielema would have won it had they not choked against Sparty and Purdue late in the year...

Regardless, congrats to Harbaugh!

Joined: 07/22/2008

MGoPoints: 23063