OT: Nation's Hottest Coach

Definitely THIS is the nation's hottest coach

with anything that has to do with Jim Harbaugh.

Enough with the stupid "fear" of who Notre Dame or anyone else might hire for their next coach. We are the Michigan Wolverines, we will soon rise again from these troubled times, and we will fear NO ONE.

He's got pretty much the same setup Davidson has for basketball. Play in a (relatively) weak division and punch the BCS ticket as long as they win. His last contract had a bunch of stuff about building the program and everything I've read says the school is doing just that. I think he stays there until the NFL comes calling.

Everyone knew it when we hired him...nothing has changed. Let him do his job Those who stay will be champions

When I was glancing over the list of threads, I thought this thread title said "Nation's Hottest Couch" and expected to find news of riots in East Lansing when I clicked on it.

Bob Davie Ty Willingham Charlie Weis Let's just say I'm not concerned.

Harbaugh's coaching job at Stanford has been impressive. Yes, the overall record isn't outstanding, but lets first consider Stanford football before his arrival. Buddy Teevens took over for Ty Willingham and promptly won 10 games in three seasons, marked by a 2 win and 4 win seasons back to back. Then Walt Harris came in, and promptly put a dagger into the program, winning a whopping 6 games in two seasons, 5 of which came in season one. I don't think you can argue that the improvement has been marked. In the 2 plus seasons, he's 2-1 against Pete Carroll and USC (both wins on the road), 2-1 against Arizona, 1-1 against rival Cal, and beat Oregon this year after they crushed USC. If you've watched their games, they are a good strong, physical team and manhandled both USC and Oregon, the class of the Pac 10 this year and over the past few years. It's also safe to say that outside of Washington State and Washington, it's hard to imagine Stanford having more talent than other Pac10 schools. Which leads me to Michigan football .... Michigan is tied for last in the Big Ten. A loss on Saturday, and an Indiana win, and we finish dead last in the league. Even a win means we could be at best tied for 9th, or at worst tied for last, with Indiana. Now, I understand all the attrition on defense - I've written about it and the decline since the 98 campaign. But do we honestly believe that Michigan has less talent that Illinois, Northwestern, Minnesota (just 1 win two years ago), and Michigan State, and the same as Indiana? Well, if we have the same or more talent, why are we losing the game? It's either Zookster, Hope, and Dantonio are outcoaching us or we just don't have the talent. Seriously, we have the talent. We might have two walk on's on defense, but at critical moments, our offense isn't making first downs to sustain drives and score. I think at this point we are getting outcoached, consistently. Yes, we made a huge transition, and yes Rich Rodriguez might turn things around, but you can't hide the fact that right now, this team isn't much better than last year, and if so, it's still tied for LAST in the Big Ten. I know he's only had two recruiting classes, and the first one is always hard, but hey, isn't that why AD's hire coaches early, to save a recruiting class? Maybe to improve it? Perhaps running for Pryor was a mistake, and another DB would have been nice? Harbaugh is a former Michigan player. He's a former NFL quarterback with a decent career. He commands attention and respect from recruits. He's won at two programs that have high academic standards and are at a disadvantage in recruiting (do your own research on San Diego and what type of school they are in FCS). And most importantly, with two big wins this year and the USC upset in 07, schools will come calling, including some potential NFL teams (especially with the success his brother is experiencing with Baltimore). It might be a reality that when you see an opportunity, you take it. Dumars saw an opportunity to get Larry Brown, and he fired his coach to get someone he thought was too good to pass up. And Brown did lead the Pistons to one championship, and nearly a second. Rodriguez will get another chance soon, and at a good school too. However, in reality, this will not happen, so Rich will get at least another season. Why? Because Martin cannot hire a quality new coach this year, nor will Michigan get their ideal AD if they hire Harbaugh now. Martin is out after September, so the new AD would have a coach in his first year at Michigan when he starts. If he hates the coach, he probably has to stick with him at least one or two more years, depending on contracts and buy-outs. Conversely, would a coach take over Michigan right now, with the NCAA inquiry, the past two disappointing seasons, and the prospect of a new boss in nine months. You'd almost have to announce the new AD now and have him involved in any football decisions. I want Rodriguez to succeed, and still believe he can, but I just wonder if we might miss a great opportunity to bring a former, outstanding player back to Michigan to coach who is demonstrating he knows how to win. And as for the remarks Harbaugh has made about academics and Michigan, I like that fire! He expects the best on and off the field (even if he fails to live up to it himself - see drunk driving while at San Diego and fights in SQ as a student). I'll be rooting and cheering hard until the bitter end this Saturday at the Big House, regardless of the outcome.