Just the facts...and a little perspective

Submitted by MGolem on

Jim Harbaugh played in the AFC Championship, and came one dropped hail mary from playing in the Super Bowl; he was also a pro-bowler the same year.

Jim Harbaugh gave birth to Stanford football as we know it today.

Jim Harbaugh resurrected a moribund 49ers team and came one muffed punt from coaching in back-to-back Super Bowls.

In Jim Harbaugh’s time as the coach at Michigan he has not gone a full season without losing at least one quarterback at some point during the year.

Michigan is one of only two teams in the current top 25 starting a backup quarterback due to injury (Georgia is the other); no other team is starting their third stringer. Michigan is the only team in the top 25 who has played, and won, a game with three different starting quarterbacks.

Now...for a little perspective: In 2013 Jimbo Fisher’s Florida State team was crowned National Champions; they also went 13-1 the next year. His current team, who was in the top 2 to start the season, is 4-6, with a backup quarterback. Two years ago Mark Richt was run out of town at Georgia. This year his Miami team is 10-0 and ranked number 3. Does anyone think Jimbo Fisher forgot how to coach? Does anyone now think Mark Richt is one of the three best coaches in the country?

Anyone who suggests Harbaugh doesn’t know what he is doing, is somehow overrated, or better yet is the “fourth best coach in his own division” is ridiculous.

 

 

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RobM_24

November 18th, 2017 at 10:27 PM ^

He's a proven coach. He needs his hand-picked recruits to fit his style. You have to give him time to stock the program. This is all assuming that he continues to recruit at an elite level. I'm sick of the excuse of "the cupboard was empty, he didn't get a fair chance" or "he was playing with RichRods guys" or "he was trying to manball with spread recruits" etc etc... Let him get a program full of his guys, frosh through 5th years, and let's see what he's got. He made it work at every other stop he's coached at. If it doesn't work here, then maybe we are cursed.

Joined: 01/27/2014

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skegemogpoint

November 18th, 2017 at 9:58 PM ^

Jim Harbaugh is not the problem. The poor OL and RB play are key contributors to a sluggish, boring offense. No improvement in 3 yrs. If there is a meritocracy among coaches, then Drevno and Jay have not earned the right to return.

Joined: 07/08/2008

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MGolem

November 18th, 2017 at 10:03 PM ^

Was not great today, they have improved. And its not like we weren't having our way with Wisconsin's offensive line in the first half. Great defenses make even good offenses look pedestrian at times. I thought in the first half at least our offensive line was doing enough to move the ball. 

Joined: 10/14/2010

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MGolem

November 18th, 2017 at 10:35 PM ^

In college football. What were you expecting? Seriously.

And I agree about Evans, he is the worst option against a penetrating defense like that. Higdon's directness would have been much preferred but as he was obviously less than 100% and Isaac essentially exploded trying to block someone so he was the only real option.

It seemed like we understood we couldn't run and Peters made some nice throws, coupled with some that were not so nice. Redshirt freshman behind a not so great offensive line, against arguably the top defense in the county, seems like the result was about right. 

Joined: 10/14/2010

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Squash34

November 18th, 2017 at 10:41 PM ^

Have any of you guys saying the offense looked good the last few weeks actually looked at the advanced stats for the Defense they are calling super shitty? Or do you consider Minnesota at 30 and Rutgers at 41 in s&p+ super shitty? Wisconsin is the number one defense and a top run Defense and sold out to stop the run. They did but it cost them in the passing game before Peters got hurt.

Joined: 09/13/2016

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You Only Live Twice

November 19th, 2017 at 12:22 AM ^

From Bama on down.  Bama has played shitty teams, OSU played shitty teams, MSU had 3 shitty games to open, Wisconsin has played shitty teams....  MSU and PSU finishing their schedules with tomato cans now...

Do you offer the same criticism of Bama's numbers improving tonight, over Mercer?

In your eyes Michigan gets no credit at all, no matter what.  

Joined: 09/14/2013

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bo_lives

November 19th, 2017 at 12:36 AM ^

These teams are perennial doormats and we shouldn't even be playing 2 of them because they shouldn't be in the Big Ten. I guess Habaugh gets a gold star for not losing to Rutgers and Maryland like Hoke did. Hoo-ray.

Joined: 04/10/2011

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ThirdVanGundy

November 18th, 2017 at 9:59 PM ^

Harbaugh knows how to coach. We all are. We're just all dissappointed because we thought he'd have done a bit more up to this point. Going 8-4 in a rebuilding year is fine. But the fact we have shown very little to no progress on offense(Which is the main problem) is frightening. It's even more scary considering Harbaugh is an offensive guy. Every year our offense has deteriorated. All of this combined with completely inept play calling, people have a reason to be upset.

Joined: 10/25/2014

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MGolem

November 18th, 2017 at 10:08 PM ^

But I think we led the Big Ten in scoring last year. One down year does not make a trend. We improved on offense from Harbaugh's first year to his second and this year we went down, in large part due to the fact that our quarterbacks have been injured, terrible, or both. 

And I may be in the minority but I thought the playcaling was creative enough, at least at some points, today to make a game of it. It is not ideal that our TEs are basically playing WR because our WRs suck, are young, or are injured, but you can see the foundation of a solid offense among all the injuries, youth, and general shit we have endured this year.

Joined: 10/14/2010

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The Krusty Kra…

November 18th, 2017 at 10:55 PM ^

Leading the Big Ten in scoring is a red herring - sure we piled up 78 on Buttgers, 60 on Maryland, 41 on Illinois, that is what happens when you are beating bad teams. We put up 32 against a bad MSU team in a rivalry game (could've been more if they had kept their foot on the gas) 24 in Columbus and a pithy 11 at Kinnick. In the important games or going up against good defenses, the offense wasn't full of world beaters, they just beat up on lesser competition, and struggled against better teams. All this is null in that Penn State game though. Hanging 49 on the eventual Big Ten Champion is pretty amazing.

Joined: 02/22/2017

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Squash34

November 18th, 2017 at 11:21 PM ^

They scored 45 on number 17 Colo, 27 on OSU and 32 on FSU. The Iowa was the only game where the offense looked bad verse a good defense. OSU also played rutgers, Maryland and several other very weak teams and kept their starters in pretty late while still passing in blowouts. Yet, Michigan still had a higher scoring Offense. It is not a red herring.

Joined: 09/13/2016

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Squash34

November 18th, 2017 at 11:21 PM ^

They scored 45 on number 17 Colo, 27 on OSU and 32 on FSU. The Iowa was the only game where the offense looked bad verse a good defense. OSU also played rutgers, Maryland and several other very weak teams and kept their starters in pretty late while still passing in blowouts. Yet, Michigan still had a higher scoring Offense. It is not a red herring.

Joined: 09/13/2016

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MonkeyMan

November 18th, 2017 at 10:11 PM ^

"Harbaugh knows how to coach. ""

 

saying this actually makes it worse- it can only mean he doesn't care any more

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Sideline

November 18th, 2017 at 10:28 PM ^

I think the offense actually has gotten better. The team has grown. We all seem to forget how young this team is. The upper class men that are out there are still Hoke’s last guys that are still good, but they aren’t the guys picked for those positions by this staff other than gap fillers. Look at the QB position alone. Harbaugh’s first real QB is Peters (which I still consider one of Hoke’s), a RS Fr. The Offense to me is a Frankenstein puzzle. I honestly believe we see a huge jump from 2017 to 2018.

Joined: 12/09/2009

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UM Griff

November 18th, 2017 at 10:01 PM ^

Reading this is a nice change from all the understandable frustration many are feeling just now. Taking a step back and looking at the long term is very helpful to me after a loss - I am already missing football when January comes. The season is short, and during this week of Thanksgiving I am grateful for the team and university known as Michigan.

Joined: 12/03/2016

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Bodogblog

November 18th, 2017 at 10:04 PM ^

Too many butt hurt internet tough guys out today to make a difference. You see they are hurting, so they want to blame someone for that hurt, and once they've blamed, they want to make that person or persons feel bad. Because making someone else feel bad makes weak people feel better.

Joined: 06/08/2010

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Maynard

November 18th, 2017 at 10:05 PM ^

Copied from the coaching snowflakes where someone else had the balls to compare Harbaugh and Fisher:

Are you talking about Jimbo Fisher who has 3 conference titles and a national championship in the seven years prior to this season? The guy who before this season has only one season under 10 wins (9-4 in 2011)? The same Jimbo Fisher who has never finished outside of the Top 25 in the AP until this season? The one who has only finshed worse than 2nd in the division once prior to this season? The one who is 5-2 in bowl games?

The one who in a span from 2012-2014 went 39-3 with one league loss?

Just stop if that is who you are talking about. It's not helping any argument you can bring.

Joined: 02/19/2016

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SpilledMilk

November 18th, 2017 at 10:22 PM ^

To put JH in the elite (Saban, Fisher, Meyer) category just yet. Those who insist on doing that are not thinking rationally. If Jim wins a few conference titles and a National championship in the next few years, we can finally say that he is an elite college coach

Joined: 10/15/2017

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bo_lives

November 19th, 2017 at 12:41 AM ^

If Jim wins a few conference titles and a National championship in the next few years, we can finally say that he is an elite college coach
That applies to literally everyone. Pretty sure we could "finally" say Brady Hoke is an elite coach if the dude won multiple conference titles and a national championship in the next few years, lol

Joined: 04/10/2011

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bamf16

November 18th, 2017 at 10:33 PM ^

All that, and he can't overcome the loss of his starting QB. But it's Harbaugh's fault that the youngest team in the power 5 playing its third (at best) best quarterback. Harbaugh. The guy who's succeeded everywhere he's coached. For as much as people on this board like to celebrate the greatness that is the University of Michigan, it really has produced some fucking morons.

Joined: 01/05/2014

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MGolem

November 18th, 2017 at 10:43 PM ^

I wasn't comparing Fisher to Harbaugh, only noting that Fisher, for all his obvious coaching ability, cannot overcome the loss of his quarterback. Winning games with backup qbs, multiple backup qbs, is impressive. 

And man the last part of your comment deserves a thousand upvotes. I spent the time writing this piece because I read some of these comments and my faith in humanity evaporates.

Joined: 10/14/2010

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Fezzik

November 18th, 2017 at 11:38 PM ^

What are you suggesting our record would be if Speight was healthy all year? We looked like we probably lose Purdue with him. We might beat msu with him but I doubt it due to that play calling that game.

Joined: 09/11/2015

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Maynard

November 18th, 2017 at 10:44 PM ^

I don't disagree with you for the most part. I was simply pointing out the absurdity of comparing Fisher and Harbaugh at this point. It's not close. Fisher is better in every single category in college football. I've seen multiple people on here tonight try to compare the two since FSU is struggling this season. Not a smart comparison when trying to argue for Jim.

 

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Squash34

November 18th, 2017 at 11:06 PM ^

Is Fisher better in the category of taking of programs that are doormats or on a death spiral to being a doormat? Fisher is clearly a good coach. But you can't say he is clearly better because he only has 2 seasons with less than 10 wins. He took over a stable program, in a recruiting hot bed, and played in a very weak conference for the first half dozen years. The situations they walked into are simply vastly different.

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