Jay Harbaugh as RB coach: why?
Can anyone else think of someone who never played college football much less the position they were coaching who jumped right into a college assistant coaching job?
Better yet, has anyone ever heard of a guy who never played the position of RB replacing a former NFL RB and All-American at the position with a proven track record?
I’ll hang up and listen go blue
January 3rd, 2019 at 9:52 AM ^
wow, that's a new one
January 3rd, 2019 at 12:33 PM ^
julesh making things up now.
January 3rd, 2019 at 9:54 AM ^
TVG_2.0 is correct. No one else not named "Harbaugh" would have even been considered for the job when Jay got it. That fact alone pretty much nukes JH's "meritocracy" meme and is a big reason why he shouldn't have been hired. Can he coach RBs? If you've watched our RBs block and catch passes during the past few years, you can answer the question yourself. Can he recruit? That's a secondary responsibility but I would maintain practically anyone on the staff with half an interest could do a "good" job because hell, it's "Michigan". That has a lot more to do with it than the person themselves.
January 2nd, 2019 at 8:21 PM ^
Yes, running backs were the problem this year. This is stupid, stop it.
January 2nd, 2019 at 8:29 PM ^
Get used to this. It's going to be a long offseason of depressive soul-searching and apoplectic hawt takes.
January 2nd, 2019 at 8:51 PM ^
I am so glad that my wine consumption and this blog are inexorably tied only because when I pass, the cause will be immediately apparent when someone reads the first January existential musing....
January 2nd, 2019 at 9:30 PM ^
They were total ball hogs 62.5% of the time.
January 2nd, 2019 at 10:04 PM ^
Yes that’s right it’s “Something went wrong during the season so let’s revisit every idiotic argument that’s already been beaten to death so we can soothe our aching wounds” season. Didn’t think we’d get to the Jay Harbaugh is an underqualified shitty RB coach who is just benefitting from nepotism one just two days into the new year though. Might be a record. Can we revisit if Brady Hoke would have won more games had he worn a headset tomorrow guys?
January 2nd, 2019 at 10:04 PM ^
Double.
January 2nd, 2019 at 8:23 PM ^
Many coaches in college and the nfl did not play football at the highest level. I’m sure Michigan could find a better RB coach, but this notion that you had to play the position you coach is ridiculous.
January 2nd, 2019 at 8:29 PM ^
It could be a detriment. Someone who played the position at a really high level might think things are obvious or intuitive, when to the player being coached they're not.
Some of the best basketball coaches played college ball but weren't stars. Same effect- they know through experience what needs to be learned.
January 2nd, 2019 at 8:34 PM ^
January 2nd, 2019 at 8:42 PM ^
So that was actually "GOOD LET, JEDD."
Now I get it.
January 2nd, 2019 at 8:47 PM ^
"Good hit Jedd!!"
January 3rd, 2019 at 4:13 AM ^
christ
Good SHOT, Jedd
January 2nd, 2019 at 8:42 PM ^
Belichick is a good example. Played div. 3 offensive line, but became successful defensive coordinator and then yeah. Playing the position may help you teach some of the nuances, but as DonAZ noted success on the field doesn’t always translate to good teaching. I’m a case in point. .400 hitter in high school, but I have a hell of a time putting my knowledge into words for my daughter in softball. So, it’s off to the hitting coach we go.
January 2nd, 2019 at 8:54 PM ^
John Beilein played college basketball, but it was at a school (Wheeling Jesuit) that had an undergraduate enrollment of 945 students (as of two years ago).
January 2nd, 2019 at 9:13 PM ^
I don’t care about the not playing part, it’s the lack of experience combined with not playing that’s a problem. There isn’t a single guy on Clemson or bamas staff that didn’t have multiple years of college football coaching experience prior to Clemson. Same with osu outside of hartline who was with the program as a qc coach for multiple years a long nfl career and only an interim that got a job due to extreme circumstances
January 2nd, 2019 at 9:25 PM ^
Even if you don't count what he did at Oregon State and the Baltimore Ravens, he's now an experienced assistant coach, having been here four seasons. We should judge him based on what he's done here.
January 2nd, 2019 at 10:33 PM ^
He was an undergrad assistant at oregon state and quality control coach at the Ravens. Its not a compelling resume. Something being a neptism hire doesn't mean it can't work out. Its just that the hire happened for reasons unrelated to his qualifications and related to his last name.
January 2nd, 2019 at 11:27 PM ^
OK, but we're now in 2019 and he's been here four years. Now what?
January 3rd, 2019 at 9:31 AM ^
I still think we could do better. Look at the running backs, being a running back is a natural position, its why freshman can come in and have an impact, you can either see holes or you can't, you can either make cuts or you can't. So what impact can coaching have on a running back? Blitz pickup, blocking technique, route running in the passing game. What are the things none of our running backs have seemed to improve on? Blitz pickup, effective blocking, participation in the passing game (that is probably more gameplan issues). It just doesn't seem like he has any impact as an actual coach.
The question then becomes is he a good enough recruiter to have a below replacement level coach? That I have no idea on because I don't follow recruiting closely enough.
January 3rd, 2019 at 9:43 AM ^
So is the problem with Jay being the RB coach
1) RBs are not playing at the level they are capable of and Michigan needs a better coach
or 2) RBs are playing okay-to-well BUT Michigan is capable of getting a better RB coach (resume, experience, name value wise) than Jay.
January 2nd, 2019 at 9:26 PM ^
I think your point applies to Jim Harbaugh. There's so much talk about Nick Saban winning a National Championship in just 4 years at LSU. But he actually coached in college football for 26 years before he won that National Championship. Jim Harbaugh has been coaching college football for 11 years. I think he's doing pretty good. If he sticks with it, how good could he be after 26 years?>
January 2nd, 2019 at 11:12 PM ^
The OC who turned around Clemson did not have multiple years of college football coaching experience prior to joining Clemson.
Chad Morris had been a high school coach for all of his career except for one year at Tulsa when Clemson named him OC (not a position coach) in 2011. Clemson had gone 15-12 in the two years prior to the hire of Morris. They went 42-11 over the four seasons that Morris was the OC. Morris brought in an uptempo spread (i.e., modern college offense).
January 3rd, 2019 at 8:25 AM ^
And how many of them were the sons of Heisman finalists, long-time NFL quarterbacks, and then high-level college and NFL coaches? And the nephew of another NFL coach? And the grandson of another high-level college coach?
You can be immersed in the game or have a knack for doing something even if you don't play that game at a high level.
January 3rd, 2019 at 1:37 PM ^
only an interim that got a job due to extreme circumstances
Curious about the extreme circumstances. Did that intern have pictures of Meyer blowing a goat or something?
January 2nd, 2019 at 9:29 PM ^
Luke Yaklich didn't play basketball at the highest level.
January 2nd, 2019 at 8:25 PM ^
This collective self-flagellation has gone beyond pathetic and has crossed over into pathological.
January 2nd, 2019 at 8:53 PM ^
Yep, and no way he steps back into this thread to take his downvotes.
January 2nd, 2019 at 9:20 PM ^
At least we can downvote all of his alternate identities who have shown up to agree/disagree with him. This shit is pathetic and WD should be ashamed, but I don’t think that’s consistent with his personality disorder.
January 3rd, 2019 at 8:43 AM ^
That’s hilarious. A diagnosis in a sports blog.
January 2nd, 2019 at 8:25 PM ^
Not sure why people care? Have the RB or TE not performed well under him? Jays groups have been the least of our worries. Maybe he can tell his dad to open up the offense, I don’t get the hate for Jay.
January 2nd, 2019 at 8:40 PM ^
Yeah, my question for the OP is when has Jay's position group regressed from the previous coach? Did our RBs run better or pass blocked better under Wheatley. Have the TEs looked better since Jay moved to RBs?
I get people questioning Jay's hire at the time. Finding reasons that he shouldn't be on the staff now is not so easy. He didn't just start as an assistant coach here. He learned from John Harbaugh in Baltimore. He was also a student assistant at Oregon State for a few years. He was obviously working for a career in coaching from a younger age than someone who played football at a high level.
January 3rd, 2019 at 2:30 PM ^
Good point about the TE's. You could argue McKeon has regressed a little without Jay.
January 2nd, 2019 at 8:25 PM ^
Pep is a way bigger issue than Jay. Jesus he’s been an TE coach and RB coach, people just love to find someone blame and bitch at.
January 2nd, 2019 at 8:33 PM ^
"People love to find someone to blame"
Blames Pep
January 2nd, 2019 at 8:43 PM ^
I can see how you think I’m blaming Pep, but I don’t think there is one clear answer to all our offensive issues. Removing Pep would just help the most, though he shouldn’t be responsible for all the ineptitude.
January 2nd, 2019 at 8:25 PM ^
Wait until the big guy taps him as his successor in 10 - 15 years.
He will learn a lot over that time frame, hopefully we will be successful in that time frame.
I'm being serious
January 2nd, 2019 at 8:27 PM ^
Great post. Great job. Proud of you.
January 2nd, 2019 at 8:27 PM ^
Why? Because he is an intelligent, hard-working, personable coach with the knowledge, personality, and drive to do an excellent job. Guess who has the first 1000 yard rusher since toussiant?
January 2nd, 2019 at 8:31 PM ^
January 2nd, 2019 at 9:21 PM ^
He helped implement the train formation. I enjoyed watching that when they had it working.
January 2nd, 2019 at 8:29 PM ^
Why do you even bring this up? We finally had a RB get over 1000 yds and he is going to be a NFL draft pick. Also we just signed one of the best RBs in the nation and the number one target on Michigan's board. I dont think Jay coaching the RBs is a problem.
January 2nd, 2019 at 8:31 PM ^
Balls summed up what I was going to post - I second it.
Move along, there is nothing to see here folks: )
January 2nd, 2019 at 8:32 PM ^
Sometimes I think posts are created just for the sake of stirring the pot. This original post sure seems like one of those.
January 2nd, 2019 at 8:37 PM ^
He brings this up because much of the Michigan fanbase has developed an obsessive, pathological need to find fault with our coach. He's got to be doing something wrong, right? It can't just be that Michigan, but for a few years since leather helmets were in vogue, isn't really elite and is trying to get there. Nope, it's that guy, he's stubborn, stupid, arrogant, it's his nepotism that is causing the issues. His wins all suck, his loses are all the highest degree of malfeasance, players are leaving at an unprecedented rate .... UNACCEPTABLE!
People talk about other fanbases laughing at Michigan. They're neither laughing at the players nor the coaches, they're laughing at the fans who are delusional and actually believe that we are something we're not, and are shitting on the guy trying to make us what we (erroneously) believe we are. It would be funny to see, but being part of it is completely befuddling.
January 2nd, 2019 at 8:45 PM ^
This is one of the biggest doses of truth that I have seen on here and I commend you for it. Outside of 97 and 06 (one win from playing for a national title) Michigan has not fielded any elite teams in the modern era. There have been so so many 4 loss seasons. No championships in almost 15 years. The program is good at best and thats it. People act like Michigan should be an Alabama OSU or modern Clemson when they never have been and the way things look never will be.
January 2nd, 2019 at 9:24 PM ^
Bo Schembechlar - 11-9-1 vs Ohio State, 13 big ten titles, 17 top 10 finishes, 5 top 5 finishes
Gary Moeller - 3-1 vs Ohio State, 3 Big Ten titles, 3 top 10 finishes, 1 top 5 finish
Lloyd Carr - 6-7 vs Ohio State, 5 Big Ten titles, 5 top 10 finishes, 2 top 5 finishes
Jim Harbaugh - 0-4 vs Ohio State, 0 Big Ten titles, 1 top 10 finish(10 2016)
Come again?