What's More Important to You? HC or NIL?
This is a question I've been asking myself the last couple of weeks. If you had your choice of Harbaugh returning, or Michigan fully embracing NIL, which would you prefer? (I know the obvious answer is both, but I'd like to take the temp on two big topics this offseason).
My opinion is that it'll be basically impossible to regularly compete for a championship moving forward without going full Texas A&M in regards to NIL. There are a lot of numbers to sift through when researching football revenue, athletic department revenue, and donations -- but it usually comes down to Michigan being in the top 5 somewhere behind the two monsters (Texas A&M and Texas)*. As much as I love Harbaugh and what he's done as a player and coach, I'd have to choose NIL over Harbaugh if I knew Michigan would actually do as much as their resources allow. I'd rather load the cupboard and find a coach, than hope Harbaugh can do more with less every season.
* I know NIL money doesn't come from the school, but UofM clearly has the funds to hire a full NIL department to facilitate the process, like others have done. And there is clearly a link between donations and NIL capability (as seen with Texas and Texas A&M). Michigan is slightly behind the Texas schools, but seem to be in that top tier with schools such as Oregon and ND.
January 24th, 2022 at 9:12 PM ^
Whether we like it or not, NIL is here to stay. If we do not embrace it fully at some point like other schools are, then we will be a disadvantage. So you can have a legendary coach who is handicapped or have the NIL with the "Michigan Money Cannon" and find another good coach - I am picking the latter if push comes to shove.
January 24th, 2022 at 9:21 PM ^
That's my feeling as well. And if NIL is truly a factor in keeping Harbaugh (as some have speculated) than it's a two-birds-one-stone situation in my eyes. I do feel like Michigan will botch it somehow though. Which is disappointing, because what more could you ask for than a "legal bag men" situation at a school with the resources that Michigan has?
January 25th, 2022 at 12:28 PM ^
The legal bag men thing is happening at less than 10 schools right now.
Quit acting like we are going to be miles behind if we don't start offering 1M to each recruit.
Nobody knows where this is headed and most schools are hesitant to play the game at this point.
We just landed back to back excellent classes.
Our bigger issue is accepting transfers.
January 25th, 2022 at 12:39 AM ^
Yeah, this hypothetical is flawed because what's the HC tradeoff? With NIL, I assume it's current state or ramped up best in class NIL. But is the HC hypothetical simply that JH leaves? In which case, it's possible to upgrade (with a little luck) Or is the hypothetical that the tradeoff to getting NIL necessarily means a downgrade in coach, and how much of a downgrade.
If it's just ramp up NIL to best-in-class or keep JH, I'm picking the former all day.
Even if it's top NIL or take a certain downgrade at HC, I'm probably still picking the former
January 25th, 2022 at 1:20 PM ^
No disrespect to the OP or anybody else's opinions in this thread, but I find a majority of the NIL discussions somewhere between uninteresting / uncompelling / irrelevant.
For years there has always been something that UM fans have pointed at as the reason we're at a disadvantage:
- Only recruit high character
- Tougher academic standards
- Don't pay players under the table
- Tougher transfer admissions
- Unwillingness to fully embrace NIL
Do these impact our talent level in a negative way? Probably. Are any / all of these the reason we've had limited success post-Carr? Absolutely not.
Success on the field leads to good recruits. A coach who is a strong recruiter and has success on the field will be able to bring in enough talent to win. NIL opportunities will follow success.
We may not go Texas AM but how has that worked out for them so far? How did it work for Ole Miss? Memphis bball? Bama ain't bringing in all that talent bc of $$ (though it doesn't hurt). They're bringing it in bc of the promise to play in the CFP and make the NFL.
Georgia last year is probably the biggest $$ success story. But they also have other really strong reasons - exceptional coaching, talent base, previous on field success.
January 24th, 2022 at 9:14 PM ^
NIL. No doubt. Plenty of other good coaches in the sea.
January 24th, 2022 at 9:20 PM ^
How. Did. Harbaugh. Hurt. You?
January 24th, 2022 at 9:50 PM ^
It's not about liking or not liking JH, it's about being realistic and realizing that NIL will be the driving force behind a dominant CF program in the future. Coaches come and go but the NIL is here to stay.
January 24th, 2022 at 10:12 PM ^
Actually it’s not. “Kolesar” has been bitching about Harbaugh for weeks now.
While there may be “plenty of other good coaches” around, it’s also a risk. Not even saying NIL isn’t more important. Just saying Kolesar has an axe to grind with JH.
January 24th, 2022 at 10:28 PM ^
By “for weeks now” it implies since his late November creation. Troll. Obvious troll.
January 24th, 2022 at 10:33 PM ^
I have an axe to grind with anyone who treats UM the way Harbaugh has treated it for the last 30 days. Its arrogant and selfish. If you think he's in the right and shouldn't have made his decision yet, then you are free to disagree
January 24th, 2022 at 10:57 PM ^
How exactly is he treating UM? He's not talking publicly. We have no clue to what's exactly going within the walls of SH. Everything is pure speculation and rumor mill. For all we know, the players and coaching staff could know exactly what his stance is , and that's all that matters really.
January 25th, 2022 at 12:31 AM ^
JH is treating UM OK. He is trying realize his NFL dream again as a HC to win the SB while creating leverage for NIL from WM and the AD if it falls through. He could go to coach in the NFL for LV, CHI, MIA or MIN but never JAX since TB is there as GM. SW, BF, AS, JUB, CB and others are all speculating where JH will be the HC in '22. JH and WM in the AD may have been waiting until MS was fired by the BoR and now that MSC is President she can hopefully approve NIL changes, and JH can sign his CE. Personally I am LFMAO at the speculation, and wish some people would GFTOH with their lame BS clickbait.
TBH IMHO the TL;DR take is NVM I'm just rambling and IDK much I'm just SMH, and at the EOD I wish JMFH would sign the CE from WM ASAP so we can all LOL about it afterward and we can pursue a NC. TTYL.
January 25th, 2022 at 5:06 AM ^
I think I just had a seizure
January 25th, 2022 at 9:45 AM ^
R U DOA?
January 25th, 2022 at 8:02 AM ^
Started reading this, hovered over the down vote button, then laughed and upvoted.
January 25th, 2022 at 7:52 AM ^
Yeah! How dare he… *checks notes*… hire staff and go on a nationwide recruiting trip with the rest of the coaches. How terrible selfish and arrogant of him to do his job extremely well. What an asshat.
January 25th, 2022 at 8:31 AM ^
The idea that coaches are plug and play, that just anyone come in and deal with a huge political apparatus, hundreds of employees, local and school politics--at a school like Michigan--AND win at the very highest level. . . good luck with that.
January 25th, 2022 at 3:27 PM ^
It's especially odd that someone would argue this when our two coaches prior to Harbaugh were disasters.
January 25th, 2022 at 2:26 AM ^
You can have the best NIL department in America, but if you do not have a coach that can win you games…what good is it? We’ve seen plenty of coaches get top classes and not capitalize on it.
January 24th, 2022 at 10:13 PM ^
Plenty of good coaches? You must have missed Richrod and Hoke. And I would wager a lot of other guys who look good from afar would not succeed at Michigan.
January 24th, 2022 at 10:36 PM ^
Are you saying that Richrod and Hoke are reflective of the coaching acumen that's available? They are not. They are reflective of the poor coaching searches conducted by past UM ADs, who were plagued by incompetence and arrogance, respectively, in those two coaching examples. Do I have faith in Warde to conduct a more effective search? Not if his search is limited to current AD candidates.
January 24th, 2022 at 11:32 PM ^
Alabama tried to hire Rich Rod. He would have disappointed them, as well, but it's worth noting that at the time many thought that we had snagged a great coach who was on the forefront of an offensive revolution. It might even had worked if someone had clued Rich Rod into the fact that defense, special teams, and recruiting were all important parts of football, too.
January 25th, 2022 at 8:38 AM ^
and to be fair, his teams records improved every year..... Brady took over, starting with RR's most talented roster, had one good season and then declined every year.
January 25th, 2022 at 10:29 AM ^
Not hard to improve on 3-9.
Even in RichRod's last OSU game Tressel was just trying to get the game over with and not embarrass us too badly.
January 25th, 2022 at 12:27 PM ^
Brady could have had a 3-9 season, he just needed another year or two.
January 24th, 2022 at 9:19 PM ^
College football is about the Jimmy and the Joes, give me the top NIL in the country
January 24th, 2022 at 11:52 PM ^
I disagree. For example, for this past season we matched up comparably to Penn State. The game against them was even pretty tough. But look at their record compared to ours. Another great example is LSU. It's just incredible how much talent has gone through that school. They have won 3 championships in the last twenty years, but they also have had a lot of bad years with amazing talent.
USC might be the best example. Even after Pete Carroll left they still brought in great classes. It took years of under-performing before they faced a recruiting drop-off. They were routinely bringing in several 5* athletes a year and they didn't make a playoff appearance despite playing in the PAC-12. There are many other examples. Miami when the wheels fell off, Texas when the wheels fell off, Florida State, etc. Good programs tank when bad coaching squanders good recruits. Good coaches are made when they outperform their recruiting rankings.
Having better Jimmys and Joes and worse coaching is a recipe for getting upset. Losing sucks no matter what, but I find losses more frustrating when they're the result of bad coaching than a talent discrepancy. That's why I loved watching Beilein's basketball teams.
January 25th, 2022 at 6:52 AM ^
Having good coaching and not very good players works the exact same way. Do you honestly believe Dabo Sweeney is a better coach than Harbaugh??
January 25th, 2022 at 9:02 AM ^
I agree, but my point is that the saying, "it's Jimmys and Joes not Xs and Os" is very short sighted. Without Xs and Os the Jimmys and Joes will under-perform and it won't be long before you are left without Xs and Os or Jimmys and Joes.
Great programs are built by great coaches, usually by getting a team to punch above its weight.
Do I think Dabo Swinney is a better coach than Harbaugh? I think he's a better college coach. He's effectively leveraged religion as both a recruiting and motivational tool. I find it distasteful but it's effective. He's also leveraged good coordinators to win multiple national championships. If I had to pick one for an offensive coordinator it would be Harbaugh, though.
Fit also matters. Dabo Swinney wouldn't be a better coach at Michigan than Harbaugh. He wouldn't be able to turn our program into an Evangelical cult (thank god!) and that's his whole shtick. Swinney only works in the south.
January 25th, 2022 at 8:11 AM ^
Nobody said coaching had to be bad! Yes, bad coaches will lose with good players. Bad coaches will also lose to good coaches, even with good players. If I'm reading your post correctly, you're saying there's no way Michigan can win without a good coach. And you are correct!
But that doesn't mean that Harbaugh is the only good coach Michigan can hire. The right hire is a crap shoot, regardless of who the guy is. We thought Harbaugh was a slam dunk homerun in 2015 (and he was, by any stretch of imagination), but even he had some down years. Fact is, you hire the best guy you can find, and then hope like hell it works out. That's really all you can do...
January 24th, 2022 at 9:22 PM ^
HC. There are still major boundaries in the NIL rules and Michigan will not cross them. Other teams already have and that’s not going to change. As much as it sucks that’s the reality until they change the rules again.
January 24th, 2022 at 9:45 PM ^
Then what happened this year is the peak of success.
January 24th, 2022 at 10:05 PM ^
Well finishing in the top four is pretty fucking good. 75% of this board was adamant that we couldnt even do that and that 3 loss seasons were the best we could do and shouldnt ever expect to beat OSU.
January 24th, 2022 at 10:54 PM ^
I think you are wrong because I think JH can recruit a team that has more overall talent. The current team still had holes as a result of some lackluster years/staff turnover and "not being able to beat Ohio State." Maybe Michigan will never be at OSU/Bama/UGA talent levels but Michigan with JH can recruit at a higher level than it has over the past 4 years. It's not hard to imagine this team, plus more talent at LB and CB being competitive in the playoff.
January 25th, 2022 at 9:42 AM ^
and it doesn't happen if we don't beat OSU. The purpose for getting a strong NIL program is to beat OSU. That is the main goal. Beat OSU, win the Big.
It is that simple.
January 24th, 2022 at 9:24 PM ^
If one, I would take HC.Many teams who recruit at elite levels still see limited results. The real answer is of course both.
January 25th, 2022 at 10:20 AM ^
While I agree with your PC answer of both, no coach going forward - even Bo / Rockne / Bryant rolled into one - will succeed at the highest levels (playoffs - NCs) without the players - and that will start with the new NIL stuff. It's a whole new CF world and to keep up with the huge NIL cash cows of Texas A&M and Texas, we'll need to adapt.
January 25th, 2022 at 2:22 PM ^
Texas and Texas A & M were already out recruiting us and have less success than us. The same could be LSU (outside of Joe Burrow year), Florida, Oregon, USC, and Auburn who all are also ahead of us in recruiting (using 247 team composite score. I would rather be consistently competitive than turn into what USC/Texas have been lately.
January 24th, 2022 at 9:35 PM ^
You answered your own question. As things stand, you will have to keep up with the Joneses on NIL, or it ain't gonna matter who your head coach is!
January 24th, 2022 at 9:46 PM ^
I did answer my own question I suppose. I just found myself less invested in the Harbaugh-watch bc it seems like a moot point (if Championships are your goal) if it's not accompanied by pro-NIL decisions. Maybe that's part of his negotiation, in which case we could have the best of both worlds. And if Michigan throws up roadblocks, then I can't blame Harbaugh for looking around for a new gig. Who wants to compete at a disadvantage -- especially when the employer has the resources but chooses not to utilize them?
January 24th, 2022 at 11:24 PM ^
I totally agree with you
January 24th, 2022 at 10:04 PM ^
Jimmys and Joes who are not well-coached don't win many games and are no fun to watch.
January 24th, 2022 at 11:23 PM ^
And I say there are about 20 HCs who could have won the title with Georgia's roster this year!
January 25th, 2022 at 7:11 AM ^
And, to your point, Kirby Smart barley squeaks into a top 20 list-wouldn't except for his top-notch recruiting. Otherwise, there are a lot more than 20 in the ranks who qualify as "good coaches".
My life experience definitively declares that coaching is the single most important component to a winning program because they know both who to play and how to employ them.
January 25th, 2022 at 8:20 AM ^
"...Kirby Smart barley squeaks into a top 20 list-wouldn't except for his top-notch recruiting."
Did you happen to notice that Georgia was far more prepared to play Michigan, than Michigan was prepared to play Georgia? They were ready for everything we threw at them, on both sides of the ball. They did stuff that Michigan wasn't prepared one teeny bit for.
We all agree prior to the game that Harbaugh was a far better coach, and would coach circles around Smart. It didn't work out that way (as Seth, Alex, and Ian Boyd have all pointed out in post-game articles). Maybe Harbaugh saw the talent discrepancy and opted to save his team some embarrassment by not prepping them for new stuff? That's certainly a possibility I like to cling to. I've seen Harbaugh produce games plans that were dynamic and awesome. The Orange Bowl wasn't one of them...
January 25th, 2022 at 9:37 AM ^
I view things very differently from you...and your second paragraph contains some mind-numbing "thoughts".
January 25th, 2022 at 12:36 PM ^
I dont understand this notion that Kirby Smart is somehow not a good X's and O's coach...he's one of the best defensive minds in the country.
January 24th, 2022 at 9:44 PM ^
I mean its clearly NIL. I think everyone here wants Michigan to win a national championship.
January 24th, 2022 at 10:15 PM ^
Everybody does. But some are dense about what it takes to win a National Championship. There are examples in some responses in this post. You can see who they are.