Where are you with Jim Harbaugh?

In late November of 2014, we had just had 3 straight seasons of less wins than the previous year.  Hoke was fired, we didn't have a clear coach lined up, we had concussion gate, we had the Gibbons fiasco, and etc...

5 wins in an ugly season in 2014 and 20 wins in the previous 3 seasons before Harbaugh got here.

Harbaugh turned the team around quick.  10 wins and a blow out over the SEC East Champ.  10 wins the following year and we were inches away from a chance for a BigTen title.  2017 the defense was solid...the offense needed a lot of work.  With that said we were an average QB away another 10 win season easy.

Heading into 2018 there is highly likely we are a better team.  The core of the defense is back with solid depth.  We added a starting transfer safety from Utah (safety was probably the weakest link in the defense).

The offense has Warriner to improve the line play.  We have Shea Patterson who is hard to believe won't be a nice step up from O'Korn (no offense, seems like a great person).  McCaffrey has talent.  Peters is either better or benched.  Milton is likely to redshirt, but holds promise for future years.  We have a WR coach this year and lots of WR talent.  We return 2 extremely good RBs and rumblings of good RBs in the wings.

The schedule is very tough.  @ND, Neb, PSU, @NW, @MSU, Wis, @OSU are all tough games.  But we have the talent to win any of those and barring against any bad luck - which we've had our fair share against us under Harbaugh...we'll win most of those 7 games and win the other 5 games - we'll push for the BigTen title.

It is hard to say that we aren't on the right track at the present moment. 

The clock for winning starts this year for me.  He’s had three years to repair a train wreck and all of the support imaginable.  If he doesn’t  deliver a Big Ten title in the next three years it will then be fair to wonder if he’s the guy for the job.  

Wouldn't want anyone else.  Class guy.  Has program geared for consistent top 10 teams for the foreseeable future. 

Schedule is brutal this year.  Will be a number of very, very good football games this year. 

Wishing he had basically any luck.

Michigan decided to slit their own wrists when they signed Rich Rod then followed that disaster by bringing in a good imitation of Chris Farley. Hoke could at least recruit yet he couldn't coach himself out of a paper bag with or without a headset.

Jimmy Ballgame is the best thing that's happened to Michigan since Charles Woodson. He f'ed up royally trying to push Peppers against Ohio instead of letting the offense roll one year and was jacked by a fluke punt against little brother. Change either of those and this question is never raised. 

My only irritation is the Frey debacle and the blind loyalty to Tim Drevno. Watching Michigan completely act like they have no idea how to recruit or bring in OL is unthinkable but I'll never waiver on Coach Harbaugh. 

Besides Bo he'll go down as my favorite Michigan coach of all time regardless of what happens.

We've got a really strong had going into this year. I think we go 10-2, beat ND and split OSU/MSU. Not a bad result for this schedule.

He recruits guys who can play and who fit the culture of the program and there are less guys who can do both than people understand. He's already established a program that we can all be proud of in terms of culture and character. As a coach he is a proven winner wherever he's been and he's already had a lot of success at Michigan, though obviously a B1G title and/or trip to the playoffs would be nice and soon please. He "gets" Michigan as well as anyone possibly could. Despite some things not happening soon enough, I have seen enough to say that there is absolutely no one else even close to being the better man for the job at this time. I'd sign him for life right now if it was up to me.

Can you demonstrate that you're really Dennis? What nickname did you give the old hockey fan Steve from Scio Township?

Where I'm at: He's doing fine, but this is the year. If Michigan is to rise to the level of a team that can compete for national titles, this season will be an important and large step in that direction.

I'm all in.  We were spoiled in year 1 and 2 and forgot how bad the previous decade was.  If we get good QB play we can beat anyone.  He made us relevant again.

feel like the day he was hired. Relieved and content.

This IS THE YEAR.

GO BLUE.

I still love Harbaugh. I have no doubt that with time we will get everything we hoped out of him and his teams. As long as we keep winning 9/10 games a year, special seasons will happen and so will wins over rivals. I think as soon as we get the monkey off our back and beat both in the same year, you'll see a different trajectory in terms of how the team responds in those games moving forward. 

Give me a 7. Since Speight got blown up in Iowa City (2016) this program has aggressively and repeatedly shot itself in the foot. The crootin' and staff changes of late have pushed us back in the right direction (hello, Ed Warriner + Shea Patterson) but a ways to go.

I’ll make the decision after this season. He has plenty of talent to win the conference and certainly contend for the national title. Except injuries to key players, there is no excuse to not win a lot this year. Tough schedule? Sure as shit. Good teams find ways to win tough road games.

I believe it's easy to strongly appreciate Harbaugh if his Michigan tenure is separated from the previous coaches'(?).

For example, Harbaugh is responsible for 0-3 against OSU. But there's extra anxiety and pressure from the fanbase and media because of how the rivalry has gone with previous coaches. The same with MSU, and B1G Championships.

Dude's a great coach and I'm glad we have him. 

I'd go with a 9.  I'ce got a lot of patience with him after seeing Hoke and RichRod.  We could do MUCH worse in a coaching carousel.

My friend in Pac10 country told me during the Harbaugh hire: be prepared for 1 WTF loss every year.  He felt Harbaugh always lost 1 game he shouldn't have.  So far, I feel that's pretty true.

I’d grade it B+.  Other than the QB disaster and some late game mistakes, the team has been highly competitive and the program has rebounded.

Transforming an organization, and especially a complacent culture, is incredibly difficult. Plus, these guys appear to exemplify good student-athletes.  JH deserves a lot of credit.

Just need to win some close, big games.

I'm great with Harbaugh. I dig the man and love the changes he's made. I believe the offense will return to the juggernaut ways of the "Good Shit, Jedd" years.

1900 miles away.

Oh, and he's a better coach than Bo Schembechler. That's where I am.

Don Brown, Ed Warinner, Al Washington, Chris Partridge, Jim McElwain are excellent hires. Harbaugh is a brilliant football mind.

I'd give him a 9 out of 10 so far. He's done a fine job with mostly Brady Hoke's leftovers. No more excuses now that the roster is basically all his.

Status quo. Good coach, waiting to break through. Even good coaches have bad seasons, this realization will make life easier on a lot of fans. The standard of "by year 3" for every coach, everywhere is ridiculous. Beilein is a perfect example. He had been a successful coach for 20 yrs before the 15-16' seasons where he supposedly couldn't coach his way out of a paper bag. Now he's apparently the greatest again. Like Beilein, Harbaugh will breakthrough in due time and these threads won't exist. 

I’m good with him until he wants to retire. He’s too competitive to “mail it in” when he gets too old.

If you want another coach your opinion holds no weight 

i'm sitting right around 8 due to a bit of hype. Probably 7 after the season but the coaching changes have me excited. At this point I still really don't think anybody has a feel for what this team is going to be. Which, is now 3 years where the team feels like a complete unknown.

The defense should be good, I think eventually they are going to regress a bit but probably not this year.

But, pretty much the entire offense is going to be an unknown this year. HIgdon will probably be higdon, but you've also got a new QB or will peters resurge? Will any of them be good? What about WR, can black return to early last season form or even improve? Can DPJ improve? Anyone else stepping up? OL, how's the new coaching going to affect things? TE? FB? And, what about our special teams, apart from kickoff coverage it was pretty subpar last year.

So, it's almost hard to rate him almost because we have zero idea what this team is going to look like.

Probably a 7.5 or 8 out of 10. He’s done a lot of things right, but not beating OSU is a glaring hole on his resume. No way around that. I don’t care about the circumstances surrounding two of those losses. Losses are losses however you slice it.