CC: Rumor: Harbaugh-to-Michigan falls apart over weekend
I've never heard of this blog before, so I don't know if it's any more believable than any other source. Count me skeptical right now.
January 3rd, 2011 at 8:33 AM ^
i'm not going to get worked up yet, but the Big Lead has broken some stories correctly in the past. I also have more faith in Adam Schefter's reporting, and he is still reporting Harbaugh to Michigan
January 3rd, 2011 at 9:07 AM ^
Adam Shefter just said on Sportscenter that Harbaugh is going NFL. Insert explicitive here____!!!!
January 3rd, 2011 at 9:07 AM ^
Schefter just said on ESPN that coaching college football is not in his future.
January 3rd, 2011 at 10:49 AM ^
Sportscenter than you. I just watched Schefter say pretty much what he has said all along. He said that Harbaugh is unlikely to stay at Stanford and that a decision will probably be made by Wednesday of this week. He said that all along he felt that if an NFL team can make a compelling enough argument for Harbaugh to leave college football than he will move to the NFL. The question is can
January 3rd, 2011 at 10:56 AM ^
He said less than an hour later the complete opposite, that he expects Harbaugh to go to the NFL. He's tweeting this now too.
January 3rd, 2011 at 11:01 AM ^
I personally think that Harbaugh will chose the NFL. If the NFL truly wants him than they will likely make him an offer he cannot refuse.
January 3rd, 2011 at 11:12 AM ^
He's tweeting this now too
No he's not. All he has said on twitter is JH still remains a target for SF as does Marvin Lewis. link
January 3rd, 2011 at 12:19 PM ^
Not to fuel the speculative fire, but I just saw Schefter on sportscenter (11am) say what JewofM said. He hinted that JH has been an M lean, and that it would be up to an NFL team to convince him otherwise. He even went so far as to say that it is obviously in JH's best interest to keep all options publicly open to play the sides against each other for a contract.
I don't want to hang on every word from Adam Schefter, but what did he say that was any different from what he has always said?
January 3rd, 2011 at 2:18 PM ^
This is exactly what I heard, this is exactly what I read, and this is exactly what Angelique wrote about what Schefter and Herbie were saying on the issue.
I guess people have selective hearing and only hear what they want to hear.
January 3rd, 2011 at 10:40 AM ^
Go, Jim, Go! Follow your destiny to the NFL!
January 3rd, 2011 at 11:30 AM ^
Huh, I never pegged you for a Brady Hoke fan.
January 3rd, 2011 at 11:36 AM ^
January 3rd, 2011 at 8:33 AM ^
Any article that speculates that a possible reason for not wanting to come to Michigan is that he would be paid a lot of money in a depressed state is automatically dismissed.
January 3rd, 2011 at 10:01 AM ^
Indeed. As the guy said "... while living in one of the most distressed states in the country..."
Is he familiar with California's recent history of bond ratings?
January 3rd, 2011 at 10:15 AM ^
Stanford and the NFL are not public institutions. I am guessing that is what the writer was trying to compare.
January 3rd, 2011 at 10:21 AM ^
Agreed, that was absolute dumbassery.
It's true that U-M takes heat for being a wealthy institution with highly-paid administrators, but that's been true for years and it doesn't matter how healthy the rest of the state is financially.
Does the author honestly think that Harbaugh isn't already in that position, being in Palo Alto while CA's budget is in shambles? And if he's losing sleep over that, how ever would he live with himself getting NFL-level money in CA, or anywhere else?
Boggles the mind, sounds like a pet theory he came up with and threw it out there without passing it by the logic center of his brain.
January 3rd, 2011 at 8:34 AM ^
Brian might need to be sedated for several months.
January 3rd, 2011 at 8:36 AM ^
I know I will need to be for damn sure.
He seems like a decent coach, but I don't think he is ready for this stage yet. I could be wrong, but I have my doubts.
January 3rd, 2011 at 10:22 AM ^
Not at all!
January 3rd, 2011 at 8:48 AM ^
In the unlikely event that Brady Hoke ends up in Ann Arbor, Rich Godriguez might also need to be sedated for several months.
I also may have to fight to secure an alteration to my username, and it's not going to be Brady-God-Hoke-anything.
January 3rd, 2011 at 10:19 AM ^
If JH falls through, would you rather have Miles or Hoke???
January 3rd, 2011 at 10:28 AM ^
Serious question. What has RR done in his three years here to merit another year? Certainly his on the field record has been horrific. His B10 record is worse. His record against our 2 main rivals - 0-6. He got blown out by a good but not great team in the Gator Bowl. Our defense is a laughing stock. Our special teams may be worse than our defense. Our offense - #6 in the history of the world - was pretty stoppable against every good defense that we faced. We had NCAA violations for the first time EVER. Recruiting has not been great, at all. There has been a ton of attirtion. Why, exectly, do you want RR back? What has he shown you that I am not seeing?
If no JH, bring on Hoke. I don't want the Hat.
January 3rd, 2011 at 10:44 AM ^
What has Hoke done to prove he's ready? His resume is way weaker than RR's was when he came from WVU.
January 3rd, 2011 at 1:42 PM ^
Hoke's resume is short. He does not have enough HC experience for Michigan.
Also, are you one of those RR detractors who said "Well, he sucks against our rivals" and then when he goes up 2-1 against Notre Dame, change your statement to "Well, he sucks against our main rivals."
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't MSU a lesser rivalry (to Michigan) than Notre Dame is? Of course not, because it weakens your argument... so, moving along.
I'm not saying RR should stay, I'm saying I would rather have RR than Hoke.
January 3rd, 2011 at 10:35 AM ^
and Dick Bumpas is the next best scenario in my mind.
January 3rd, 2011 at 11:19 AM ^
You all don't think he'd go off the board and chase the guy from TCU do you?
I just hope Brandon has been pursuing Plan B and C and that we're not where we were in 2007. I guess this delay and keeping RR on hold gives us that insurance policy.
January 3rd, 2011 at 10:56 AM ^
FWIW, gun to my head I'd take Miles. He always has good defenses, can recruit the South, and I believe he could better utilize Denard and Devin better. He recruited Russell Shepard in the past. He was supposed to be a really good QB but I'm not sure what happened to him. He's shown he can adapt. Then again, he's also certifiably nuts.
January 3rd, 2011 at 11:09 AM ^
But Miles' recent oversigning issues have left me cold.
January 3rd, 2011 at 11:25 AM ^
True. I imagine the adminstration would put their foot down on this practice though. It's an unsavory practice to be sure, but to the best of my knowledge it's not breaking rules. If I'm wrong feel free to correct me. Hey, won with Saban's players, why can't he do it with RR's?
January 3rd, 2011 at 11:51 AM ^
On pure coaching and past performance and adaptability to our personnel, I probably don't disagree to you.
That said, whatever was inhibiting the hire in 2007 is still likely there.
January 3rd, 2011 at 8:51 AM ^
In the unlikely event that someone links The Big Lead on this board, Brian might need to be sedated for several months.
Oh, wait...
January 3rd, 2011 at 9:11 AM ^
Brian, can we start a thread on medications?
January 3rd, 2011 at 9:28 AM ^
his preference for Laphroaig.
January 3rd, 2011 at 10:20 AM ^
Really? That makes me like Brian even more. My current favorite scotch.
January 3rd, 2011 at 9:03 AM ^
Certainly the program will be sedated.
January 3rd, 2011 at 9:22 AM ^
That would be a good time for me to use that $50 gift certificate for The Alcor Foundation.
January 3rd, 2011 at 8:35 AM ^
...I humbly suggest Brandon announce he's keeping RR, and FAST. We'll end up scrambling to find a coach, which -- I dunno -- sounds vaguely familiar.
January 3rd, 2011 at 8:41 AM ^
I don't care if we need to go through another protracted coaching search. RR has shown one thing consistently over his tenure-he won't succeed at Michigan.
January 3rd, 2011 at 8:57 AM ^
The only thing RR has consistently shown is that he can struggle when given little talent and youth. And that he can be extremely good when given talent.
So... like pretty much any other coach anywhere.
January 3rd, 2011 at 9:42 AM ^
When, exactly, during his Michigan tenure has RR shown that he can be extremely good? Yes, the offense piles up yards - against crap competition, but even his extremely good, exciting, wacko-ninja, #6 in the world offense crumbles against every decent defense. When has RR shown that he can be extremely good at M?
January 3rd, 2011 at 10:36 AM ^
Nobody's arguing that RR has been extremely good at Michigan. The argument is that he has been good everywhere else and should be given upperclassmen here to replicate that.
Maybe the argument holds water and maybe not, but there's not a single Michigan fan claiming his tenure has been extremely good here.
January 3rd, 2011 at 11:55 AM ^
Some clarification is in order here: RR has been a head coach at exactly two I-A programs, West Virginia and Michigan. At one he was successful; at the other he hasn't been. And at WVU, he didn't actually win big until after Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College left the conference, leaving it in its current weakened state. The idea that this track record clearly presages great success at Michigan is a stretch.
January 3rd, 2011 at 12:48 PM ^
To further your point.....bowl games are a good litmus test for how your program stacks up against teams from around the country.
RR's track record in bowl games:
01-no bowl
02-lost 48 - 22 to Virginia in Continental Tire Bowl
03-lost 41-7 to Maryland in Gator Bowl
04-lost 30-18 to Florida State in Gator Bowl
05-won 38-35 over Georgia in Sugar Bowl
06-won 38-35 over Georgia Tech in Gator Bowl
07-technically not his bowl victory but, 48-28 win over Oklahoma in Fiesta Bowl
08-no bowl
09-no bowl
10-lost 52-14 to Mississippi St. in Gator Bowl.
Note: Up until I did this research just now, I didn't realize how shitty his bowl record was.
January 3rd, 2011 at 3:09 PM ^
Personally I would go back and say that his experience as an offensive coordinator, combined with the success he had in the (yes, depleted) Big East would say that he was much more likely to be successful than not.
January 3rd, 2011 at 12:53 PM ^
The #1 offense in the Big 10 and #6 in the country, even if we did struggle mightly against some teams, is extremely good in my ever so humble opinion.
If you feel it isn't, well that's your choice. I personally think that view is slanted and not really looking at things logically or fairly... but it's still your choice.
January 3rd, 2011 at 1:58 PM ^
1. You're cherry-picking the data. We're only ranked that highly in terms of yards gained, not points scored. Yards do not win games. In terms of points we're ranked #26, which I'd call merely good, not exceptional. And our ppg steadily dropped as the year went on, and we faced better teams.
2. Rich Rodriguez is not the offensive coordinator. He's responsible for all three phases of the game, plus recruiting. It isn't looking good on most of those fronts.
January 3rd, 2011 at 3:05 PM ^
1.) True, and you do make a good point. But looking at any one stat you can say "well they are really good here, but just above average over here." And I would also agree the PPG is a big deal and a major stat. And I also haven't, nor will I, disagree that our offense had issues wihen facing good defenses either.
BUT, going from where we were a few years ago to now is an obvious dramatic improvement. He has some talent on that side of the ball and experience as well and very good things have happened already. I don't think it's a stretch at all to make the statement I did.
2.) And that has anything what so ever to do with the point I made how? I'm not saying anything about if RR should still be the coach, or that he's done good things on the defensive side of the ball, or that he is ripping things up in recurting. So... not really following why you'd point this one out.
January 3rd, 2011 at 8:35 AM ^
I don't know about this. It is all speculation, IMO, as it has been for weeks now. We will see in the next couple days I'm sure.
January 3rd, 2011 at 8:35 AM ^
All lies! They don't really seem like the kind of source that would have inside information.