Personal Story to Verify Harbaugh to Michigan

Submitted by UMClassOf2018 on

I had a little encounter today that, to me, says Harbaugh to Michigan is happening.

So, I am from Youngstown, OH. This morning, I went to my gym for a little early morning workout, and another member of my gym is the father of Chris Durkin (the QB who was committed to MSU, flipped to VT, is a freshman there now). This is significant because they are close cousins with D.J. Durkin. I know Chris' father a little bit (not saying his name for privacy reasons), and saw him there this morning. We were talking a little bit, and asked about my freshman year at Michigan. It then turned into a conversation about Michigan football, and he said he would starting rooting for Michigan football next season (after giving me shit for wearing Michigan shirts in the past). I asked why, and he said he has a cousin who would be coaching there next season, and when I asked if it was D.J. Durkin, he said it was.

Conversation stopped there, but basically we can infer from this that Harbuagh is coming, and D.J. Durkin knows it and will be joining him. 

Wee-Bey Brice

December 26th, 2014 at 11:52 AM ^

"PERSONAL: Born Feb. 15, 1995, in Youngstown, OH … Son of Chris Durkin, Sr., and Doreen Durkin"

The fact that his dad's name is also Chris and OP tried to hide it cracks me up 

Reader71

December 26th, 2014 at 12:04 PM ^

To be fair, he might be wary of that job because their defense is poor.

If the recent coaching searches have taught us anything, it is that a "big name" job is less important to a lot of coaches than whatever their definition of a "good" job is. Turning A&M's defense around might be a task that Durkin doesn't want to take on.

If he wasn't coming to Michigan, of course.

The Reeve

December 26th, 2014 at 11:59 AM ^

I understand the PTSD that some Michigan fans have, but the tsumani of little bits like this is not "cool story bro" or "it's anonymous," but reflective of the precise way big news that people are attempting to keep quiet breaks out. Do you expect Schlissel to accidentally let it slip? You think that the Allies were worried about Ike and Bradley letting the Normandy invasion slip? No, their concern was the boyfriend of the telegraph operator who spoke to someone...at the gym. News of this kind, like a dammed stream finding it's way, will eventually via six degrees of separation, get from JH and Hackett via a Youngstown gym to you.

Brady Elliott

December 26th, 2014 at 11:59 AM ^

I've said it several times in other posts but to me, Durkin's dragging of his feet to decide on the A&M job is very indicative of things. To me it's the proverbial canary in the coal mine and I believe Brian has referred to him as such several times. 

mGrowOld

December 26th, 2014 at 11:59 AM ^

Speaking of random, teenage insiders - has anyone heard anything about "Thosewhostay7" since the tweet deletions?

If anything that confirms to me that he actually WAS for real.  We knew he was a kid who was allegedly connected somehow.  The fact that he tried to wipe out evidence of the tweets sure as hell sounds to me like a kid who got busted and was trying to cover it up.  Somebody just making shit up wouldn't have a reason to do that IMO.

LSAClassOf2000

December 26th, 2014 at 12:12 PM ^

As far as I am aware, in the process of the tweets being deleted, it seems someone decided that this was not sufficient and the entire account ended up going the way of the dodo. It was very sudden and very intriguing at the same time, I will admit. I personally am still not sure what exactly to make of it, but the way this went down made me wonder if in fact he was hearing things that were indeed happening. 

JZ

December 26th, 2014 at 12:08 PM ^

This is interesting because I didn't know potential coaches move that quickly to find coordinators. This rumor would assume that Jim has not only accepted the job while coaching the Niners, but he already reached out and assembled his staff...all while preparing for the Cardinals!

schreibee

December 26th, 2014 at 12:36 PM ^

Holy Crap, for all the people on this board were saying they were rooting against the 49ers to assure they and JH would part ways - was anyone outside of the Bay Area actually watching them?

I don't think Jim has really been "preparing" a game plan since the Thanksgiving tweet-fest by York and Miss Baalke. To be fair, it didn't look like he had a plan that night either!

As evidence I submit the varied reactions by Richard Sherman to the two Seattle wins over SF: throat-slicing and animated verbal banter after the 1st game; bored resignation that his enemy had quit the fight by 2 weeks later.

No one can say with 100% certainty that Harbaugh's coming to M until it happens, but whatever his plans he's most definitely already working on it now!

mishler3

December 26th, 2014 at 12:25 PM ^

Finished watching the 30 for 30 on the University of Miami (Fl) football program and that club invented swagger. Lots of questionable things happened on and off the field for them but they intimidated most teams. I want that type of swagger for our UM team and I hope JH can bring it to AA. Go Blue.

schreibee

December 26th, 2014 at 12:50 PM ^

Really? That's what you take from a show about a rogue program side - stepping (Hell stepping all over) the rules, pushing kids through school without preparing them for anything but football, and flaunting that that's the way they do things as a recruiting tool?

That how you want Michigan to be? Not I...

With the coach we're pursuing, look instead to how Stanford's been doing it for about a decade now. And if you think you can't have "swag" doing things that way, just keep repeating "What's your deal? "

Reader71

December 26th, 2014 at 1:28 PM ^

We had our own "The U" here. They even did a 30 for 30 on it: The Fab Five.

It didn't end well. Neither did The U.

I'll take my Michigan over-Harbaugh. Or hard-Harbaugh. Or sunny-Harbaugh-up. Enough stilted egg metaphors.

infinti34

December 26th, 2014 at 12:30 PM ^

We all have a disease and it can be quite serious: Confirmation Bias: a tendency for people to favor information that confirms their preconceptions or hypotheses regardless of whether the information is true.

The Reeve

December 26th, 2014 at 1:11 PM ^

This was initially true and is now ridiculous. One actively needs to pass over contrary sources in favor of positive sources to demonstrate bias. What "he's not coming" sources exist now? We have some folks still offering an opinion that JH must surely like the NFL more, but even they are backtracking. Bias picks only what we want from countless viable options. Common sense recognizes that all the viable options are one thing.

EGD

December 26th, 2014 at 1:15 PM ^

I agree that confirmation bias is insidious and good thinkers must constantly guard against it. But what information has come out recently to cast any genuine doubt on JH-to-M? A couple of NFL pundits claiming Harbaugh would never leave the League isn't really evidence. The thing about John Harbaugh denying that the relatives were pushing Jim to A2 is really the closest to a negative--and that wasn't even really negative.