Those who stay...

Submitted by Michifornia on December 30th, 2018 at 6:34 PM

Will get a degree and a fantastic education at the BEST public university in the country.  Period.  Until Coach Harbaugh swallows his pride and makes some changes, there's no way a championship (B1G or otherwise) is likely.

Jim Harbaugh is a great recruiter.  Dude can talk a huge game.  When he came back to coach at Michigan, it was one of the greatest moments for me as a diehard fan for 40+ years.  But obviously, something needs to change.  I don't think it's a bad thing attracting kids to a stellar academic institution.  Even promising that you'll be joining an almost guaranteed top 20 program every year.

But I've been buying into the hype every week and every year.  There's so much freakin talk on social media about how great this team is.  How dedicated everyone is.  I am not one to bash any of these student athletes.  They are working hard and doing their best.  It's time to stop trying to convince everyone where this program is.  Enough with all the Twitter hype and all the rhetoric.  It's time to keep it real and shut up until this program can actually win something.  10 wins, nothing to sneeze at.  But 10 wins with all the talk and hype.  Not so great.  Maybe we need to take a more blue collar approach.

Michigan IS a great school.  Heck, we even have a pretty darn good basketball program (doing more with less).  I wear my maize and blue with great pride.  Proud to have earned a degree there.  But enough TALK about how great the football team is.  Harbaugh can bring in some pretty great talent.  But until it starts showing up on the national stage, let's not call it what it isn't.  

Those who stay won't be champions unless Harbaugh changes some things.

Happy New Year!  Be safe and GO BLUE!!

Ron Burgundy

December 30th, 2018 at 10:51 PM ^

That's not what gatekeeping is -- gatekeeping would be if I told you that you can't be a true fan if you didn't go to Michigan. You're welcome for teaching you a new term (and don't tell me I was trying to "gatekeep" who could make a post, that twisting of logic would just be, in your terms, nauseating). There's a "snowflakes" thread filled with the same uninteresting opinions as the OP and he could have put his boring, low effort post right in there and fit right in. However, Mgoblog is the largest Michigan blog by far and its board is a public-facing representation of this fanbase, visible to anyone who cares to google Michigan football. Shitty posts like this just encourage more low-effort whiny front-page board posts, which both lowers the quality of discourse for the board and is a poor representation of Michigan.

Sten Carlson

December 30th, 2018 at 6:56 PM ^

DING DING DING!

I asked below and in another thread, "what happened?!"  We were supposed to be seeing RPO concepts coming into the offense, tempo, and more "modern concepts."  We got zone-read, and it worked well at times, but we saw a bit of tempo vs. ND, some sprinklings of RPO, then nothing.  Maybe, as you suggest, the OL wasn't yet up to the task.  I don't know, I am basically asking rhetorically.

But what I DO know, is that SOMETHING changed and the offense went into a shell.

Dawggoblue

December 30th, 2018 at 6:41 PM ^

Welcome to the internet, where most people who aren't qualified to coach a high school team want to tell a guy who coached a team to a Super Bowl how to do his job...

Sten Carlson

December 30th, 2018 at 6:51 PM ^

This is funny, huh?  I'm fairly confident that Harbaugh has a clear picture of what needs to change.  We heard a lot about the offense working in RPO concepts, tempo, "taking what the defense is giving ... " but only saw glimpses.  The question is why?  What happened that changed the trajectory of the offense?  In the ND we saw quick passes to the perimeter and actually some tempo ... in the first and maybe the second offensive series.  We also saw this in the Northwestern game.  Unfortunately, neither game went the way we wanted to it to offensively. 

Did they need more reps?  Was the OL not able to block it properly?  Was the QB unable to make the reads?  Was the playcaller unsure?  Were the WR's unable to make their reads?  Something changed because we were supposed to be "surprising people" with the offense, and it digressed into a really poor unit.  What gives?

Don

December 30th, 2018 at 7:24 PM ^

"The question is why?  What happened that changed the trajectory of the offense?...What gives?"

I don't have any more of an answer than you do, but I'm not convinced that Harbaugh has a clear picture of what needs to change. The offensive stuttering isn't limited to 2018—it seems to me we're still searching for an offensive identity that's effective against our best opponents, especially away from Michigan Stadium. I don't think the fact that all three of our losses came on the road this year is a coincidence. We still struggle against good teams on the road.

Bluelake

December 30th, 2018 at 8:55 PM ^

Unfortunately we won't know the answer to your questions because the coaches will go into a "submarine" until next September.

I hate the lack communication from Schembechler hall. 

I'm not looking for an apology but it would be nice to hear why Harbaugh did or didn't do this or that.

big john lives on 67

December 30th, 2018 at 6:42 PM ^

Superfluous thread. 

Enjoy the struggle and the journey.  Stop the whining. 

Harbaugh is turning this thing around as quickly as can be done given the current playing field in college athletics today. 

We are truly blessed as an institution to have such great coaches. 

 

Lakeyale13

December 30th, 2018 at 7:05 PM ^

Great coaches?  Great?  I think you might have a different idea of what "great" is.  Great coaches beat their rival at least once in 4 years, especially when they should have done it 2 of 4 years.  Harbaugh should be 2-2 vs OSU with the teams and talent he has had.

Harbaugh isn't a crap coach at all, but he is far from great.  Harbaugh is a good coach.  Great coaches prepare their teams.  Great coaches don't lay horrific eggs in bowl games vs. SC and FL.

big john lives on 67

December 30th, 2018 at 7:13 PM ^

Yes. Great.  Not even close.  The man has revived two college programs and coached in a Super Bowl.

His current record against rivals is viewed with the perspective of how those rivals conduct their programs. This is a reality of present day college athletics. 

Harbaugh does not have license to skirt the rules in any way, shape or form. 

Lakeyale13

December 30th, 2018 at 7:17 PM ^

Your avatar reveals what decade you are living in.

JH has been great at SD, Stanford and SF.  His past "greatness" does not bleed into what his current tenure at Michigan has been.  Harbaugh has objectively not been "great" at Michigan.  Again, I am not saying he has been a bad coach...he has been a good coach.  But he is absolutely positively anything but "great" at Michigan.

Also, explain how this "great" Coach had this year's team and last year's team COMPLETELY unprepared for their Bowl games.  How does a "great" coach do that?

big john lives on 67

December 30th, 2018 at 11:54 PM ^

This bowl game was meaningless and everybody knew that going in. All of the hand wringing and broad proclamations after the fact are ridiculous.  Last year’s bowl game loss was not solely due to preparation by any stretch. 

I live in a decade where Michigan always plays by the rules and runs its programs with high integrity. Show me the NC program that has done so within the rules, emerging from a ten year reclamation project, and less than four years. 

Given how OSU conducts their program, the endless spouting of Harbaugh’s record against them is meaningless in terms of the assessment of the job he is doing at Michigan. You can throw in the rest of our division rivals, and the SEC into that equation as well. 

 

JPC

December 30th, 2018 at 7:42 PM ^

If our coaches are great what the hell are OSU and Florida’s coaches?

Harbaugh and Brown where utterly exposed in those games. It wasn’t a “less talent” or “our guys don’t give a shit” situation. It was that the opposing coaches were much much much better than Michigan’s coaches. 

Who would I replace Harbaugh with? Nobody now, but I’d force him to fire Pep and his kid and then hire a real OC. I’d also force Brown to practice a zone scheme until they’re good at it. 

If that didn’t work I’d replace Harbaugh with ISU’s coach, or possibly Moorhead depending on how he does next year.  Most above average coaches could win 10 here while getting blown out by OSU. The fact that Michigan managed to fuck up two coaching searches is unusual. 

Michgisn has great players. We also have an awful scheme on offense, and possibly now on defense as well. 

BlueMk1690

December 30th, 2018 at 6:51 PM ^

This "No championship in 4 years? Let's tear it all down again." mentality among college football fans is one of the most retarded things I've ever seen. Yes, there is a point where you gotta pull the plug,..10-3 isn't that point. Not even close. If we had lost some of those other games (which now suddenly don't count as big games anymore to many of the idiots here), yeah another 8-5 would have been pretty bad and would have put Harbaugh on the hot seat for real. 10-3 doesn't.

10-3 is disappointing given we were 10-1 in mid-November and everyone here was drunk on their dreams of playoff glory..but it's also pretty acceptable for pretty much any football team out there. Disappointing and acceptable only seem like contradictions to those with a toxic, childish 'all or nothing' mentality. If I hope for an iPhone XS Max for Christmas but end up getting a Samsung Galaxy S9 I might think that's disappointing..but in reality a Samsung Galaxy S9 is a fine phone and will do a solid job for you. If you throw the Samsung Galaxy S9 in the trash and cut ties with the person who got you that 'disappointing' gift, you're a moron.

Not getting what you wish for, not being in the position you dreamed of doesn't mean what you have has no value and should be discarded. If people lived their lives the way people seem to think football programs should be run, there'd be about one murder suicide per week in every subdivision in the country.

Lakeyale13

December 30th, 2018 at 7:15 PM ^

The biggest indictment on JH has been his record vs. OSU (with the talent he has had he should absolutely be 1-3 or 2-2 vs. OSU) and his horrific team preparation and execution in the last two Bowl games.  He failed as a Coach to last year's team and this year's team with how they played against SC and FL.

BlueMk1690

December 30th, 2018 at 7:23 PM ^

No you don't. The talent is very good, but they are not at the level of the super teams like Bama, Clemson and yes OSU under Meyer. 38 wins in 4 years isn't 'mediocre' in a P5 conference either. Purdue is mediocrity.

Have we played well above our talent level under JH? No. Have we played well below it (like we did under Hoke)? Nope. We're basically at a decent baseline of being a good team in a P5 conference.

Do I wish it was more? Sure. Do I think that tearing it all down and starting over makes that any more likely to happen? Hell no. Do I think that Jim Harbaugh deserves to be given the long-term chance to elevate the program from this baseline of historic Michigan success to levels not seen in a long time? Yes. Absolutely.

JPC

December 30th, 2018 at 7:45 PM ^

Purdue is dogshit. 

Also, good coaching allows an inferior team to beat someone with more talent. If you’re suggesting that Michigan won’t beat osu without equal talent, you’re admitting that Harbaugh isn’t a good coach. 

This year’s gameplan wouldn’t have beaten OSU with alabama’s talent, so it’s somewhat of a moot point.