Which past Michigan QB would you liked to see Harbaugh coach?

Submitted by chad on
Considering he's the best QB coach in all football and what he's done with everything QB he's ever coached. I'm interested in what he would've done had Carr hired him as a QB coach and worked his way up or Brandon would've had his head out of his rear and hired him. Some of the more interesting choices... Devin Gardner - possibly the most talented and undercoached. He went from looking like a 1st round draft pick his first yr to a confused senior under Hoke. Denard Robinson - interesting to see how he would've been used under Harbaugh. Drew Henson - sky would've been the limit with his talent. Tom Brady - very obviously held back under Carr splitting his time with freshmen. Would've been interesting to see Harbaugh fully unleash him like the Patriots did. Any others?

michgoblue2005

May 6th, 2017 at 1:43 PM ^

Would be my pick too and maybe Jim can talk him out of taking 98 as a jersey number. If you look back it was the beginning of the end when he came out with that number on he was never the same .

I am being sarcastic about the jersey number not Devin Gardner as the pick.

lhglrkwg

May 6th, 2017 at 9:32 AM ^

Harbaugh has Luck, Kaep, Alex Smith, and Rudock under his belt, plus probably some guys from San Diego and Stanford I can't think of.

Keep in mind that Kaep, Alex Smith, and Rudock weren't exactly regarded as great QBs when Harbaugh started with them

JetFuelForBreakfast

May 6th, 2017 at 11:16 AM ^

...for their development acumen. Armed with an arsenal of weapons and an actual UM-calibre line, Brady was so well highlighted that the entire NFL passed on him (5+ times) before Pats took a flier with a 6th round pick. They had a great run with Grbac, Collins, Griese, Henson (what could have been), Brady, etc.--no arguing that. I would put Gardner up in the "what could have been under Harbaugh" category for the pure mercy of such a good kid, but I would put Brady up there betting that he would have been the #1 pick if he had been armed with Harbaugh's current QB guru status. JH has done this with SAN DIEGO level programs, rebuilding Stanford programs, rebuilding NFL programs then year 1 at collapsed UM with an Iowa cast-off... Moeller and Carr for the hand-off from Bo...that's a different starting point...

grumbler

May 6th, 2017 at 12:08 PM ^

No way rady goes #1 or even #1 QB, even with Harbaugh.  Brady had mediocre measurables, and the NFL drafts at least as much based on measurables as performance.  Brady would have been better earlier with Harbaugh coaching, but, while his draft status would improve, he wouldn't be even a first-rounder because of the measurable.  You just cannot measure what makes him great.

M Ascending

May 7th, 2017 at 5:26 PM ^

For my money, it's Dennis Franklin. From 1972-74 we went 30-2-1 and never went to a bowl game. That included the 10-10 tie that led to "The Vote." Franklin had enormous talent but rudimentary QB skills. With Harbaugh's coaching those teams don't lose a game and might have won a couple of NCs.

Ecky Pting

May 6th, 2017 at 4:13 PM ^

This - above all others. The impact on the program as far as potentially averting the ensuing course it followed would have been enormous.

BluePhins

May 5th, 2017 at 11:02 PM ^

Henne or Navarre. Two Players with all the physical tools and surrounding talent in the world and with better decision making from coaching could've gone higher. 

I see a lot of comments about how this past years team was so talented and we should've done better than 10-3. Maybe. More likely that Harbaugh and co. got the absolute most out of a team that probaby had no business going 10-3. 

Stringer Bell

May 5th, 2017 at 11:08 PM ^

Eh, we had 11 NFL draft picks.  We had a lot of talent, and quite frankly we lost 3 games by a total of 5 points.  We were awfully close.  Probably a bit unlucky to lose 3 coin flip games like that, but also simply lacking at key positions.  A mediocre OL and Speight's late season struggles ended any possibility of a playoff appearance for a team that certainly looked playoff caliber.

BluePhins

May 5th, 2017 at 11:15 PM ^

I mean I agree, I loved watching this team this past season. All I'm saying is, try to imagine your expectations of the team right before the Utah game with Rudock starting.

The next year we were the second best team in the nation for most of the season according to advanced stats. 

grumbler

May 5th, 2017 at 11:51 PM ^

Yep.  He is the player Michigan failed the most.  He deserved better.  Playig the second half against OSU with a broken foot was maybe the gutsiest Michigan Man moment ever in football.

4yearsofhoke

May 6th, 2017 at 1:26 AM ^

I was going to post this too. The dude looked like a phenom as a frosh. If Carr/Harbaugh coached him throughout college his baggage occurred later may have never happened.