SIAP: Chris Balas reports Harbaugh extension official Monday
“We reported this morning (Friday) that the assistant coaches would meet with head coach Jim Harbaugh Monday, at which point it was expected (strongly) that he’d be announcing his extension and sorting out his staff.”
January 2nd, 2021 at 3:17 PM ^
Me thinks those will be short meetings.
January 2nd, 2021 at 3:48 PM ^
Me thinks Harbaugh being retained is a bummer.
With all the crap going on with the program right now, he decides to spend a couple of weeks in San Diego on vacation?
Me also thinks the Chargers told him they're not interested after all, that last part is pure speculation on my part.
January 2nd, 2021 at 4:19 PM ^
I’ve been completely in favor of getting rid of JH for a while now. But, I am really underwhelmed with the options to replace him. There isn’t anyone even close to a sure fire replacement out there, and after three failed coaching changes, a fourth failure would put the final nail into our program. Again, I really want to see Harbaugh gone, as well, but if there is no great option, with a great incoming class or two, I am not completely against keeping him this year off with some upgraded assistance.
January 2nd, 2021 at 4:30 PM ^
Final nail in the coffin? Where do you think it would go?
Michigan will keep firing and hiring until they find *the* guy.
January 2nd, 2021 at 4:35 PM ^
The argument for keeping Harbaugh is worse than the OSU argument for keeping Cooper. Yet, OSU had the stones to fire Cooper and gamble on Tressel and look where they are today.
Lesson: You cannot attain great success without taking great risks.
January 2nd, 2021 at 4:46 PM ^
I agree with this assessment! If Jim had a better record against OSU, MSU, PSU and top 25 teams, on the road or in bowl games one could argue that his 9-10 win seasons are sufficient. Not one win as an underdog either.
At this point if an extension is signed we are settling for spinning our wheels for another 1-4 years depending on if its a 3 or 5 year contract. Will he be able to hire a good DC with the thought that he is on the hot seat? If the new DC isn't an upgrade and they're not able to get some DT's in the pipeline how much will actually change? What if they lose 6+ games next year? If this team doesn't improve dramatically thats a real possibility.
January 2nd, 2021 at 8:15 PM ^
An extension doesn't necessarily mean he is here for most of the term. If Warde negotiates a low buy out, JH could be let go at any time.
January 2nd, 2021 at 4:51 PM ^
Not even close to the same thing. OSU has lost 5 games in the last 5 years. Nobody is beating them right now. Harbaugh will right the ship. He hasn’t all the sudden forgot how to coach.
January 2nd, 2021 at 4:55 PM ^
You're right. Cooper had far more success at OSU than Harbaugh had at Michigan, actually beat Michigan before, and still got fired and replaced with Youngstown University's Jim Tressel.
January 2nd, 2021 at 5:16 PM ^
Completely different era of football.
January 2nd, 2021 at 5:03 PM ^
You haven't been watching for the last 6 years have you!
January 2nd, 2021 at 5:07 PM ^
I remember Rodriguez saying "I haven't forgot how to coach football!" his last year too.
January 2nd, 2021 at 5:44 PM ^
Do you realize that John Cooper coached at OSU for 13 years?
They didn’t even fire him for job performance. They fired him because of an academic scandal.
January 3rd, 2021 at 8:54 AM ^
Actually it was a combination if memory serves me correctly. He did have major player infighting and had a player or two playing with a gpa below what they were allowed to have. He had also clearly lost the locker room. However, he was 2-10-1 vs us, never won a Big Ten Championship, - I think he may have tied for one or two - and had a horrible bowl record - even worse than his record against us I believe. He also was .500 or barely .500 his last two years. He was a great recruiter and always underachieved with the talent he had. Fans were fed up. They were not happy with the choice of Tressel - they wanted Glen Mason. I remember a lot of this because I was living near Columbus at the time.
January 3rd, 2021 at 9:22 PM ^
So you are saying we should hire someone who is more open to paying players under the table like Tressel? Didn’t he essentially get banned from D1 coaching because of what he was doing? That is how he got his “competitive advantage.” Honestly that is probably the only way anyone is going to compete with OSU, Clemson and Bama right now...and as an alum, I don’t want to see Michigan adopt a win at all costs mentality.
January 2nd, 2021 at 5:40 PM ^
The next move will be canning Manuel.
A contract extension like this one, Warde is staking his career at Michigan on it.
January 2nd, 2021 at 4:44 PM ^
@michgoblue
Was Tressel a sure fire hire at the time?
If the AD does his homework and does a good job, you can find someone, there's a lot of talented guys out there...you just have to be willing to do the work.
January 2nd, 2021 at 4:52 PM ^
How the Michigan AD works: "Who's the best available Michigan Man for this job?"
January 2nd, 2021 at 5:22 PM ^
Hey Mick, got a question if you cannot read a playbook could you play QB, at Michigan?
January 2nd, 2021 at 6:31 PM ^
Hi Bo, I thought Jim did just fine as QB, in fact he was my favorite M QB of all time, it would have been Henson if he had stayed for his senior season.
As a coach for M, he has done a couple of nice things but generally has left a lot to be desired.
Not sure what you're trying to get at?
January 2nd, 2021 at 8:06 PM ^
Sorry I was so vague. There are some Qb’s that play, or played at other universities that seemingly go to play football and not school. Therefore, they should be looked at as semi-pro entities. So there’s a certain QB that was waived this week who was a starter in the NFL and I wonder how can a student athlete go to an university for more than two years, and not be able to read. It’s an easy answer. Some schools literally don’t give a flying $&:/ whether they can read just as long as they compete for championships. It’s reality. There are states where they only care about football and that’s it! I’ll give you one guess. Sorry about the rambling.
January 2nd, 2021 at 5:29 PM ^
I believe Tressel was their third choice.
January 2nd, 2021 at 4:52 PM ^
I am really underwhelmed with the options to replace him. There isn’t anyone even close to a sure fire replacement out there
We don't need a sure fire replacement. The reality is there are only a very few of those...Meyer, Saban, Smart, and maybe Fisher and that's about it. You don't need sure fire. You need a good fit and preferably a younger guy. I'd much prefer a guy in his 40s like Campbell or Hafley than an older more established guy who is on a downward trajectory. Guys like Ryan Day & Lincoln Riley were young and unproven HCs. It helps to get mentored by a great at the place you're already at, but we don't have that luxury.
January 2nd, 2021 at 4:58 PM ^
Here's the thing: there is no sure fire replacement available to us any year. Nick Saban isn't walking through that door, but Jim Harbaugh was supposed to be about as close to a guarantee as you could get. And on paper he was, much more so than Bo, Tressel, Swinney, or Day were when they were hired.
We have to accept that there is going to be a decent amount of uncertainty with any hire. I am ok with that. Take an informed gamble on a guy who can recruit and seems to have a high ceiling--preferably a relatively young dude--and see if it works.
January 2nd, 2021 at 5:15 PM ^
Was Bo Schembechler even a sure thing by the standards of all the Matt Campbell and Luke Fickell haters? Except for 1 year, he had at least 3 losses each year at Miami (OH), yes a MAC school.
January 2nd, 2021 at 5:06 PM ^
Nobody is a sure replacement as shown by the Harbaugh tenure.
I don't get this argument anyway. People keep saying "there aren't many good candidates this year".
So if next year Harbaugh has another shitty season and gets fired who's gonna be out there as a candidate that wasn't there this year?
January 2nd, 2021 at 5:11 PM ^
How is this up voted? What's wrong with you all ? Careful what you wish for.
Hatbaugh got the program back to a strong position. He staved off Sparty and we are on top of the state again. The next step hasn't happened yet, but don't talk nonsense.
January 2nd, 2021 at 5:30 PM ^
Were you in a coma during the MSU game this year or something? How is 3-3 against them "on top of the state"?
January 2nd, 2021 at 5:36 PM ^
Ever heard of recruiting?
January 2nd, 2021 at 6:04 PM ^
I'm not interested in recruiting championships and why would you be? What's it gotten us? We've always out recruited MSU. They're still 3-3 against us.
January 2nd, 2021 at 5:50 PM ^
Sure fire replacements don't exist
Harbaugh was supposed to be one. Failure. Herman was supposed to be one. Failure.
Day wasn't on anyone's radar. Huge success. Same with Dabo. You gotta take risks and keep trying. If you stick with the same mediocre coach for decades, you become Iowa. I reject the idea that Michigan should only exist to win seven games a year and graduate players, and you should too
January 2nd, 2021 at 6:11 PM ^
What he said!
January 2nd, 2021 at 6:43 PM ^
Take another look at Dabo’s first 5 years at Clemson.... 40-21.
Day took over a top 4 program and did not screw it up. Not the same as building up a program.
January 2nd, 2021 at 3:18 PM ^
So am I supposed to believe this one? Or is this another post that we just make fun of?
January 2nd, 2021 at 3:23 PM ^
Balas has a track record, as opposed to that guy who worked at a fast food restaurant. It’s probably legit.
January 2nd, 2021 at 3:33 PM ^
Except that Balas also reported this a month ago. I’m not saying it’s not happening, just that all of these insiders are hedging their bets to be the first one to report the story without being the idiot who promised something that never happens. Warde must have watched the OSU game last night and thought, “yup I think Harbaugh can beat them, send him the contract”.
January 2nd, 2021 at 4:18 PM ^
Probably possibly legit, except for a couple of seemingly important details about the link itself:
1) It's from a "Fansided" Michigan website (I don't particularly trust anything I see from Fansided-associated websites, a generally-clickbaity place to go for actual information);
and 2) All it is is a rehash and personal interpretation of what GBM columnist Chris Peterson read from a duly-accredited paywalled site and their writer, Chris Balas of Rivals. No new real information whatsoever involved, from what I see.
January 2nd, 2021 at 4:34 PM ^
So you’re saying there’s a chance(it doesn’t happen)?! I’ll bet Warde has us all fooled and is going to fire Harbaugh and hire Campbell tomorrow since ISU’s season will be over. Warde you’re so clever, I can’t believe we doubted you!
January 2nd, 2021 at 7:00 PM ^
LOL.
I'm guessing it is happening, but NOT based upon anything from Fansided, The Spun, or any number of other questionable "sources" on the interwebs.
January 2nd, 2021 at 3:23 PM ^
Don Brown told me that if he's running late to the meeting on Monday, don't wait up for him.
January 2nd, 2021 at 3:24 PM ^
Dude. This is a Michigan sports but predominantly football, blogsite. So if you have to put SIAP before a story about the head coach of the football team actually getting an extension you can be pretty sure it's been up already.
Odd thing that all 600,000 other posters didn't miss that one.
Mods-can we make this a sticky so we don't get a new post on this subject every two hours from the infrequent visitors here?
January 2nd, 2021 at 3:32 PM ^
It’s new news. The last Balas board post was 12/29. This is from a story yesterday, 1/1. Don’t rag on the guy for being polite.
January 2nd, 2021 at 4:00 PM ^
You forgot to tell him to get off your lawn.
January 2nd, 2021 at 4:05 PM ^
Is it? Because these boards primary purpose seems to be bitching whenever anybody posts anything.
January 2nd, 2021 at 4:18 PM ^
If people would stop posting such dumb stuff, people would bitch a lot less.
January 2nd, 2021 at 4:30 PM ^
Uptight much?
January 2nd, 2021 at 4:59 PM ^
I can’t wait for the day mgrowold leaves this site. I’m surprised he wasn’t banned after what he said about Ace.
January 2nd, 2021 at 5:22 PM ^
Was what he said about Ace that offensive? People on here treat Ace like he’s a kid, you realize he is in his mid 30s and can speak for himself.
January 2nd, 2021 at 6:00 PM ^
Yeah I'm kinda wondering about that one too.
And FWIW, this is not "new news". The post is from a fansided article published yesterday that basically took the Ballas tweet published three or four days ago and restated it.
And there have been at least 6 or 7 posts on the Ballas article that im aware of (maybe more) that have been pulled down this week.
January 2nd, 2021 at 6:16 PM ^
Yet we live in a world where cancel culture is trendy and cool. The world is turning soft.