Does anyone remember Harbaugh wanting the MSU job??
I'm not making a CC post, I just found this part of the column interesting.
per Lynn Henning
http://detnews.com/article/20101214/OPINION03/12140411/1361/Even-if-Mic…?To underscore how much Harbaugh appreciates the Big Ten, it's important to remember how impassioned he became four years ago at the thought of becoming head coach at another Big Ten university: Michigan State, just after John L. Smith had been fired.
Granted, this was in the days before Stanford hired him away from the University of San Diego, but Harbaugh was so exhilarated by the thought of coaching a major program in a conference, and within a recruiting region, he knew intimately, that he would have crawled to East Lansing to put his imprint on a team waiting for its potential to be exploited. Even if it was his alma mater's hated rival.
Does anyone remember this?
December 14th, 2010 at 12:54 PM ^
then is Northwestern also a major program?
or Minnesota?
etc...
December 14th, 2010 at 1:06 PM ^
Northwestern is not a major program, they're a legend along with Minnesota.
Michigan State is also a legend in correctional facilities.
December 14th, 2010 at 12:58 PM ^
Can you post a link so we can see the entire story? I'm sure there have to be Harbaugh comments in there and I don't like basing an opinion off of one excerpt. Especially when it's written by Lynn Henning
December 14th, 2010 at 1:02 PM ^
I posted the link, but there is not one quote in the column
December 14th, 2010 at 1:05 PM ^
I thought it was an article from 4 years ago, not today. Thanks for adding it.
December 14th, 2010 at 1:44 PM ^
Why are we giving clicks to this moron? Shouldn't he be given the freep treatment?
December 14th, 2010 at 12:57 PM ^
I thought revisionist history ended with the bolsheviks.
December 14th, 2010 at 1:33 PM ^
Communist Football on that one...
December 14th, 2010 at 1:00 PM ^
December 14th, 2010 at 1:02 PM ^
December 14th, 2010 at 1:28 PM ^
You lose! etc...
Can someone put the graphic up here? I don't know how to do it.
December 14th, 2010 at 1:08 PM ^
I don't think MSU is a great job (or even all that good of one) but I can't imagine any coach at the FCS level that would turn them down if they offered, no matter where they played their college ball.
December 14th, 2010 at 1:12 PM ^
how many coaches have retired as MSU head coach in the past 25 yrs versus being fired or moving on? MSU may be a quality football program but until it retains a quality coach for a duration, it's not a destination.
December 14th, 2010 at 1:27 PM ^
How is that inconsistent with Purple's assessment? I think we all agree MSU is at best a stepping stone.
December 14th, 2010 at 2:51 PM ^
This says it all. Major programs aren't used solely as stepping stones to bigger and better things.
December 14th, 2010 at 3:37 PM ^
Definitely not saying it is a "destination" job, just that it is a way better gig than any 1-AA program. As such, Harbaugh being willing to move from USD to MSU makes complete sense. In fact, you could say the same things you did about the job he ended up taking at Stanford (Walsh, Green, and Willingham all moved on to bigger/better things after their success there).
December 14th, 2010 at 4:33 PM ^
San Diego is a D-II school that doesn't even give out athletic scholarships. (How an NFL QB came out of there, I have no idea.) From there to a BCS conference is a huge leap.
December 14th, 2010 at 1:14 PM ^
Seriously, I have no memory of Harbaugh ever being interested or considered for the MSU job. A couple of friends are decently connected with the MSU program and I don't recall his name ever coming up.
That said, Harbaugh's name came up with nearly any Div. 1 coaching position after he had some success at San Diego and subsequently at Stanford. Part of that could be a calculated effort to get both his name out there to raise both his profile and that of Stanford. (Semi shameless promotion of self and school)
December 14th, 2010 at 1:20 PM ^
I have short term memory loss, did Jh said he would crawl to East Lansing 4 years ago to be caoch at MSU? Am I missing something.
December 14th, 2010 at 1:21 PM ^
Yeah, the "crawl" comment is bizarre. If it were accurate, I'm sure Lynn would've included a quote to back up her bold statement. Crawl. Right....
December 14th, 2010 at 1:25 PM ^
I can't believe he has a job. He's just blindly making things up. He's mental. What's next Sean Payton and Urban Meyer are fighting to be the QB coach at MSU. Forget about writing, I am worried about this guy driving a car.
December 14th, 2010 at 1:25 PM ^
I checked the RCMB for evidence of Harbaugh being mentioned as a head coach candidate post-JLS. I found a 5 page thread that makes mention of Lynn Henning slobbering on the idea of JH to MSU on Staudt's radio show. So I'm just going with 2010 Lynn Henning's source is the wishful thinking of 2006 Lynn Henning.
There are some pretty funny comments in the thread though.
http://www.spartantailgate.com/forums/msu-red-cedar-message-board/21722…
December 14th, 2010 at 1:55 PM ^
December 14th, 2010 at 1:30 PM ^
he is pulling yet another green-and-white turd out of his ass and calling it journalism.
I just spent 5 minute googling and haven't come up with a single reference to Harbaugh in the wake of Smith's firing. The only name that came up was Steve Mariucci, who was a popular choice for Spartoons at the time.
*Edit as per Brumski's find: Henning isn't pulling stuff out of his ass. He's diving deep into the Detroit Department of Sanitation Solid Waste Treatment Plant and pulling his four-year-old turd out of the muck, shining it up nice and pretty, and calling it new info. And all without scuba gear.
December 14th, 2010 at 1:29 PM ^
December 14th, 2010 at 1:43 PM ^
I'm confused. I thought we were disregarding everything from Lynn Henning.
Even if this is true, so what? Does this mean JH = NOT MICHIGAN MAN ENUFF?
December 14th, 2010 at 1:44 PM ^
I wrote a story for Brian's 2007 HTTV annual about Jim Harbaugh's coaching career. Talking to a significant number of his associates and family, I never once encountered so much as a rumor he was interested in the Michigan State job.
Henning may be confused with JH's attempts to get the Eastern Michigan job, which was way back in 2004. I remember it being discussed on the radio the week of UM-OSU 2003. JH was then on the Raiders staff as a QC or somesuch low-rent position. He didn't get the EMU gig and took the USD job.
December 14th, 2010 at 2:11 PM ^
Here's a list : Charlie Baggett, G Chizik, N Chow, B Cubit, M Dantonio, B Davis, T Grantham, Jim Harbaugh, B Kelly, S Kragthorpe S Mariucci, T OBrian, Bo Pelini, J Raye, G Schianio, P Shurmur, C Strong, J Tenuta, T Willingham.
December 14th, 2010 at 2:18 PM ^
BULLSHIT.
Harbaugh only wanted to be CONSIDERED by MSU as a validation, and b/c he was pissed at Carr for choosing Loeffler over him. But make NO mistake, Harbaugh would NEVER sell out the program and go to a rival.
December 14th, 2010 at 2:58 PM ^
A guy who would throw Bo under the bus would go to MSU.
December 14th, 2010 at 3:39 PM ^
Is THIS sarcasm? He never threw Bo under the bus.
December 14th, 2010 at 4:40 PM ^
Harbaugh claimed that Michigan's coaches forced players to take classes for an easy major. (I guess Kirk Lewis never got the memo.) Harbaugh waited until Bo was dead to make the claim.
December 14th, 2010 at 4:09 PM ^
Harbaugh has true integrity. Not like that asshole Gary Moeller.
December 14th, 2010 at 2:22 PM ^
I think Henning was probably just drooling over the idea of Harbaugh leading an MSU squad into the Big House. Much like when Steve Spurrier first took South Carolina into the Swamp a couple years ago. He has no credibility. Crawling to East Lansing my ass.
But hey, at least we now know that MSU is a major program. 2 whole 10+ win seasons in 118 years of existence. Now THAT'S what I call a major program.
December 14th, 2010 at 10:25 PM ^
Henning's quickly becoming the News' version of Rosenberg/Snyder with the negative slants on all things Michigan. Granted Lynn's a Sparty, but please, Harbaugh "...would have crawled to East Lansing..."? LOL!!!!!! Even if they gave him keys to the city, the AD role, school president, 1000 State coeds, and a year's supply of burning couches, Jim H wouldn't go anywhere near that school unless it's on the visitor's sideline in Spartan Stadium. Lynn, you've become a joke, and after how many years? Shameful, dude.
December 15th, 2010 at 12:35 AM ^
December 15th, 2010 at 11:31 AM ^
... I asked him about his source. He said he has known JH for 25 years and this but of information is from a December 2006 phone call he had with JH. He said he reported about it and repeatedly mentioned it, but everyone seems to have forgotten about it.
I wonder why. (Because it is not really credible?)
December 15th, 2010 at 2:01 PM ^
was to himself. But if he closed his eyes, he sounded exactly like Harbaugh.
December 15th, 2010 at 2:06 PM ^
I hope someone ask JH about this, other than Lynn.