Jim Harbaugh: PFF’s Coach of the Year

Submitted by Ezekiels Creatures on December 9th, 2021 at 9:21 AM
https://twitter.com/PFF_College/status/1468939774547435523

 

Communist Football

December 9th, 2021 at 9:29 AM ^

Great comments on both Harbaugh and Hutchinson. Harbaugh first (emphasis added):

COACH OF THE YEAR

JIM HARBAUGH, MICHIGAN WOLVERINES

Many thought the contract extension Harbaugh received after last year’s 2-4 shortened season was ludicrous. The public consensus was that it was time for the Harbaugh era to come to a close after years of falling short of Ohio State in the Big Ten.

The market thought that trend would continue in 2021, as their season win total was set at 7.5 wins during the offseason. However, Harbaugh instead got the right leaders in place of the defensive unit and developed the talent he recruited on both sides of the ball into a juggernaut.

The Wolverines surpassed that preseason projection with flying colors, going 11-1 in regular-season play, including a victory over the Buckeyes en route to a blowout Big Ten championship win and the program’s first College Football Playoff appearance. The Blue now sit at 12 wins in 2021, the third time in program history they have reached that mark. They became the first team in the CFP era to go from unranked to making the final four.

No team improved their PFF Power Rating from Week 0 to now than the Michigan Wolverines. They are one of three teams to rank top-10 in both EPA per play generated and EPA allowed per play for the 2021 season. Harbaugh is at the forefront of a rapid, masterful improvement that will be remembered.

The cherry on top is that instead of seeking more money, Harbaugh is giving out any and all bonuses he receives from this season to Michigan athletic department staffers who had their pay cut due to the pandemic.

Hutchinson (emphasis added):

CHUCK BEDNARIK AWARD: DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
BRONKO NAGURSKI AWARD: DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
TED HENDRICKS AWARD: DEFENSIVE END OF THE YEAR AWARD 

AIDAN HUTCHINSON, MICHIGAN WOLVERINES

According to PFF Wins Above Average (WAA), Hutchinson is in the midst of the most valuable season by an FBS edge defender in the PFF College era, surpassing Chase Young, Nick Bosa and Joey Bosa.

The Michigan star has put up an FBS-leading 94.7 PFF grade across his 13 games, and he produced two of the most dominant outings of the PFF College era with his 15-pressure day against the Ohio State Buckeyes (the most by a pass-rusher in a single game in the PFF College era) and his 93.2-graded performance against Iowa in the 2021 Big Ten Championship Game.

The 6-foot-6, 265-pound edge defender is the most advanced pass-rusher in the country and had to deal with double teams, constant chips and missed holding calls all season long. Despite that, he still produced more pressure in the regular season than any Power Five edge defender in the last five years.

If it weren’t for Bryce Young shredding the No. 1 defense in college football this past week, Hutchinson would have been PFF's Heisman winner.

Joined: 09/18/2010

MGoPoints: 18944

lhglrkwg

December 9th, 2021 at 10:13 AM ^

missed holding calls all season long

It feels like holding is broken at both the college and NFL level. Refs know the elite DEs can consistently beat OTs so they chose to stop calling holding so it won't be called constantly. Basically they'll only call it if it's egregious or they'll throw out a token 1 or 2 a game just to show they acknowledge it's happening. Aidan basically won't get a holding call unless he is physically tackled or spun around by the hold, otherwise it's open season

Joined: 07/03/2008

MGoPoints: 87971

Papabearblue2

December 9th, 2021 at 1:28 PM ^

Shorter/Quicker passes and more running. Scores would drop across the board, which probably wouldn't be good for sales.

Longer developing drop-back plays would become more risky, and dominant offensive tackles would become even more valuable. If a team could pass block and throw they would be dominant, which isnt really any different than now, it's just that it's so much easier when everyones OL can cheat.

Joined: 11/24/2018

MGoPoints: 3167

Grog

December 9th, 2021 at 11:52 AM ^

Am I alone in thinking it is time for two Heisman awards?

Offensive and Defensive

Why?

Offensive players have the advantage of having an entire scheme built for their strengths all season long

Defensive players cannot do that--they have to make their own plays

I don't even think the Heisman represents anything other than a beauty contest or a popularity contest

Joined: 12/04/2021

MGoPoints: 163

gweb

December 9th, 2021 at 9:41 AM ^

This is what resolve looks like! Harbaugh everything against him, BUT he had that locker room. He believed in himself, the coaches, and the players staying the course and believing. Couldn’t be happier for him!

Joined: 01/10/2010

MGoPoints: 3011

iMBlue2

December 9th, 2021 at 9:47 AM ^

Is this an actual award or a projection on who PFf thinks should win?   Hutch was ridiculously left out of the final group for the Nagurski and Bednarick awards.  

Joined: 11/24/2017

MGoPoints: 15879

xgojim

December 9th, 2021 at 9:51 AM ^

Congrats to one of a kind!  Few other coaches would reset like Coach Harbaugh did this year, and restart their program with almost all new assistants then rise from the ashes to the top.  Few even Wolverine enthusiasts expected the results this year, though everyone always hopes for them. 

Of course, not many other coaches would have even been given the opportunity, so kudos to Warde Manuel for his patience as well.

Go Blue!

Joined: 11/03/2012

MGoPoints: 2326

Grog

December 9th, 2021 at 12:00 PM ^

Not many coaches would do a reset????

I feel all the praise of Harbaugh is warranted--he was a stand up guy when things didn't go so well and turned it around

But to keep hyping the kind of praise that borders on silly and being totally unfounded is a bit over the top.

I mean, not many coaches are ASKED to do a reset. They're usually fired before that.

Joined: 12/04/2021

MGoPoints: 163

King Tot

December 9th, 2021 at 3:27 PM ^

Harbaugh has constantly shown that he is willing to adapt. We needed to stop Urban's spread defense and we brought in Don Brown. The offense was outdated so we brought it Gattis. The recruiting was a problem so he replaced position coaches and revamped the department. He needed to stop Day's offense and he brought in Macdonald.

And sure, many coaches do not get the chance to adapt but not many have the record that Harbaugh does. He won 11 games twice with San Diego, 12 games with Stanford, went to the Superbowl with the 49er, and averaged 9.4 wins here prior to 2020. 

Joined: 11/29/2016

MGoPoints: 19281

vondonation

December 9th, 2021 at 9:56 AM ^

With the volatility in the coaching carousel stability and longevity are going to be at a premium. 
M is blessed with elite and stable programs  with excellent coaches in football, basketball, baseball, and hockey. 
Warde Manuel deserves plenty of credit for hiring Juwan and retaining Harbaugh. 

Joined: 11/22/2021

MGoPoints: 675

Mgopioneer

December 9th, 2021 at 9:56 AM ^

Love it, Congrats coach!  A man that takes all the criticism on the chin and make sure everyone everyone else is recognized for the success. You have mentioned on several occasions how your team never flinched and it's safe to say neither did you. 

GO BLUE

 

 

Joined: 03/02/2021

MGoPoints: 9250

1VaBlue1

December 9th, 2021 at 9:57 AM ^

Well earned!  He should be the national coach of the year - and there shouldn't be any question about that.  Tucker/MSU?  Baylor?  Pitt?  They didn't deal with what Harbaugh went through last year.  The CoY award is as much about 2020 as it is 2021.

Harbaugh didn't just go 12-1, win the B1G, and get into the playoffs this year.  He rebuilt this program from the ashes of 2020 - he started over, built it fresh from the ground up.  And he did it in ONE year.  The place he started from was the bottom.  He was almost fired, the team was in disarray, there was zero hope for anything other than 3rd place in the East at best, there was no momentum whatsoever in this program.

There should be zero questions about this in anyone's mind.

Joined: 01/31/2016

MGoPoints: 127232

Blue Vet

December 9th, 2021 at 10:12 AM ^

Others have said similar things—maybe the same thing—but your words hit me: he started from the bottom.

That's easy to miss because of the assumption that Michigan football has been and should be an elite program. That's certainly my assumption.

But you're right. More than a blue chip program reasserting itself—though it definitely was that—it was also a major effort to rebuild from the bottom. A Harbaugh-led effort.

And, as others have noted, a Warde-supported effort.

Proud to be a Michigan Wolverine.

Joined: 05/08/2012

MGoPoints: 71284

MGoStrength

December 9th, 2021 at 11:24 AM ^

Oh David Dawson.  It still blows my mind how many elite offensive line recruits in those few years never panned out.  Kalis, Kugler, Bosch, Dawson, Fox, & LTT were all top 200 recruits and several of them were top 100 and none really lived up to expectations and three didn't finish their careers at UM.  I thought that was going to turn into such a dominant o-line and it never materialized.  

Joined: 07/29/2010

MGoPoints: 20002

Beat Rutgerland

December 9th, 2021 at 10:20 AM ^

You know, I really like Joel Klatt (hold on, I'll get to a point eventually) he's been high on Michigan for quite awhile, maybe even when we didn't fully deserve it, he gets the OSU rivalry, and he seems a lot more honest than other analyst.

But talking about the coaching carousel this year, and specifically Brian Kelly, he said something that really bothered me: "everyone is for sale." I understand this is a big money business, that you can look at how crazy coach salaries are, and also how little players have been cut into the revenue and get cynical about it.

But I don't know about you guys, but money is not my primary motivator in life. It sucks to have too little of it, but my integrity and my goals are more important to me than money.

So to see Harbaugh donate what's going to be a multi-million dollar bonus back to the athletic department, coming right on the heels of Klatt's statement, really made me feel good.

I don't know if Harbaugh will choose to stay at Michigan forever, I don't know if he can replicate this success year-over-year, but I think he made it perfectly clear that his motivation goes beyond how big of a check he gets, and it's just a little extra contribution to how special this season has been. 

Joined: 11/29/2015

MGoPoints: 4626

The Mad Hatter

December 9th, 2021 at 11:37 AM ^

No matter what happens with the rest of this season, I think we have the pieces in place to become an absolute juggernaut, on par with what OSU has done since they hired Tressel.  From now on we are going to be one of those teams expected to be in the playoffs most years, with the Rose Bowl as a consolation prize in "down" years.

Joined: 02/17/2015

MGoPoints: 112109

Vote_Crisler_1937

December 9th, 2021 at 11:59 AM ^

Money is the most powerful secular force on the planet. It is of critical life and death importance. Our society is becoming more and more dependent on wealth for security of all kinds. 

However once you stack tens of millions like Harbaugh has you don’t need any more to achieve all manner of security or opportunity and thus can elect to make different choices. 

Joined: 11/07/2011

MGoPoints: 15520