The Athletic on Michigan Football; Muschamp Firing
If you subscribed to The Athletic and haven’t checked it out recently, it has two articles of note today. One is specifically on Michigan football and focuses on the direction, or lack thereof, of Michigan football and notes, “The body language . . . was abysmal — every bit as bad as, if not worse than, the stuff displayed at the end of the Brady Hoke era.” The other discusses the Muschamp firing, but in doing so discusses Harbaugh and gives him a back-handed compliment for not seeking to renegotiate his contract after his first couple of years at Michigan. The thrust, however, is that the lack of that renegotiated contract makes it easier for Michigan to part ways at the end of the 2020 season.
November 16th, 2020 at 9:03 PM ^
1-3 doesn't feel like a particularly high floor.
November 17th, 2020 at 9:33 AM ^
When you are 1-3 and walking into a game against Rutgers that you are praying you can win, I'd say Harbaughs floor hit the stockroom button on the elevator and a cable just broke above him. At this point (and I know this is an overreaction), the floor for Harbaugh is the never ending black abyss below.
November 16th, 2020 at 6:43 PM ^
Watch them touching the banner. I knew they were going to loose. I said to myself, they are going to need more energy than that. No confidence!
November 16th, 2020 at 6:54 PM ^
Harbaugh’s departure comes with a gigantic “Who?”. There is not a sure fire coach out there who doesn’t guarantee we won’t be in the same predicament in 3-5 years again.
Michigan has gone through three coaches since Carr left. Before that they went through three coaches in 40 years.
This program has been adrift for quite some time.
November 16th, 2020 at 7:02 PM ^
Michigan fans just expect greatness due to our historic program. I do think it's crazy how much we've underperformed with multiple top ten recruiting classes. How have Michigan State and Penn State beat Ohio State in the last 7 years, but we have not?
November 16th, 2020 at 7:05 PM ^
Michigan is 3-17 vs OSU since 2000. They have not won at OSU since 2000.
The gap has been there for over a decade. It is an institutional problem.
November 16th, 2020 at 7:09 PM ^
We have no problem beating them in other sports.
So why football? the talent has definitely been there at times. Auburn has beaten Alabama 11 times in the last 20 years even though Alabama has routinely brought in higher rated classes, and had Nick Saban as their head coach for at least half of those years.
November 16th, 2020 at 7:26 PM ^
Can't disagree with that. Harbaugh's underachievement here is a symptom of institutional issues at Michigan. It isn't just him.
November 16th, 2020 at 7:46 PM ^
I personally think it comes down to quarterback play. Who have we had since 2006 besides for a senior Jake Ruddddddock, and a year of Denard Robinson and Devin Gardner?
November 16th, 2020 at 8:59 PM ^
Not trying to be a dick, but what are the “institutional issues?”
November 17th, 2020 at 8:51 AM ^
The only possible thing is the asinine insistence on the improper use of the term 'Michigan Man'. People - fans, alumni, students, media - incorrectly use it like it's some religious ode to a person with deep roots to the university itself, and devotion to the form of Bo-styled football in particular.
Nothing could be further from the truth! Bo said that because he wanted a coach with a contract to coach at Michigan. Not some schmuck that just took another job elsewhere, that was some other schools coach.
Michigan arrogance has put 'Michigan Man' on a pedestal - and that pedestal needs to be burned to ash, and the ash buried in concrete.
November 17th, 2020 at 11:44 AM ^
Entitlement is one.
November 16th, 2020 at 7:21 PM ^
It does feel a lot like the end of the Hoke era did where things just fell apart and everyone seemed so apathetic and we couldn't beat anyone.
November 16th, 2020 at 7:26 PM ^
I just read through most of the posts on this subject, and something just struck me. Bo loved Michigan, so did Mo and Lloyd. Hoke and Harbaugh certainly do. Maybe that's the problem, the University keeps hiring coaches that love Michigan and have a "passion" for it.
Maybe, it's time to hire someone with a passion to succeed, not because of their love for Michigan, but because they want to shape the lives of young men AND win football games and that it just happens to be at Michigan, not because it is Michigan.
November 17th, 2020 at 12:11 AM ^
Bo came from Ohio, I'm pretty sure he didn't step foot on campus with his heart already full of love for M. It's something that came over time. That seems like a perfectly good way to evolve. Get someone with reasonable integrity and excellent coaching acumen, let him decide to be a Michigan Man if he chooses to.
November 16th, 2020 at 7:45 PM ^
So Muschamp for defensive coordinator? Fine
November 16th, 2020 at 8:22 PM ^
Just like saving plays for The Game is a thing we wished but not a thing that actually happens, Warde will not look at potential new coaches until there’s a vacancy even if we wish he did.
November 16th, 2020 at 8:47 PM ^
He has to resign. If he thought he knew how to turn it around he would stay but he has no idea how modern football is played. He keeps trying to figure out how we can get more fullbacks on the field.
November 17th, 2020 at 9:33 AM ^
Would you resign if you met sales goals for a few years but didn’t hit your bonus? Or your annual budget got wrecked by covid? Fucking no.
He won’t resign. Nobody just resigns, especially in sports. He was one of the best athletes on earth for 30 years and then transitioned to coaching being his entire life. Oh and what, $7M dollars on the line. Anecdotal observation... I was a server for various football coaches several times early in Harbaugh’s tenure and their wives ran every aspect of the meal. The coaches secretively talked football every second I saw at the table. Mattison spoke to me once over 3-4 meals, Durkin just always looked pissed they didn’t have a white board for diagramming plays. Harbaugh was too famous for that but during the pictures and handshakes you could sense the Rocky IV training montage emanating from his presence. They aren’t regular people.
Maybe it’s gone, competitiveness can get ground down, age brings perspective, etc but short of a health or a family event, he’s not going to just throw in the towel on the only life he’s ever known. Maybe in some unlikely world he hits rock bottom; he admits he needs to set the program tone as CEO and fully delegates which turns things around. He absolutely isn’t just going to quit on Michigan football without it being forced upon him by the AD in one way or another.
He’s only resigning in one very specific scenario; if he becomes coach for the Lions.
November 17th, 2020 at 12:57 AM ^
I have no doubt that Coach will resign, but rather than jump to the NFL, I sincerely hope he takes some time off to spend with his family. I’ve said this in another thread, but I think he’s really suffering from all that he’s been through here, in the NFL, and his family.
People crassly say, “I don’t feel sorry for a guy who’s made $48M in 6 years ...” and while I agree, to an extent, but Jim Harbaugh was a hero of mine growing up, and I wanted him to succeed more than any other coach at Michigan, and I’m most disappointed he didn’t. We can, have, and should go into the whys and wherefores, but most of all (at least to me) Michigan’s AD needs to take a long hard look at itself and ask the right questions and seek brutally honest opinions as to why it’s been on a skid — with the exception of a fews seasons — for 20 years.
Were the AD to do this, I would hope whomever they consult says one word loud and clear to them: ARROGANCE. Michigan’s arrogance, despite what many characterize it as, isn’t an in your face, we’re better than you sort; it’s aloof and somewhat cold, like the most popular girl in school who feels it’s beneath her station to pursue and strive to impress. This arrogance is why Carr fell behind Tressel, why Martin assumed he’d have the pick of the litter, go snubbed, hired RR, and started this long slide.
In 1997 Michigan, arrogantly, put the program into a sort of autopilot; it’s facilities, schemes, and developmental methods fell behind the times. It’s Michigan, after all. They seek us out. The AD has no plan, no innovation, no vision except to keep doing things the “Michigan Way” because that, of course, was the best way. Once Carr lost his ability to beat OSU, he should have retired or been fired. But he stayed because he was a Michigan Man, Bo’s guy, and he did things the right way, the Michigan way. Michigan wasn’t going to seek out some young upstart, no way. You can’t coach at a place like Michigan with a resume like that. Even our favored son, Jim Harbaugh, was overlooked because he hadn’t been an HC at a big enough place yet.
Michigan is a special place, but almost ALL alums feel their school is special, and has a unique culture. Michigan, from my 40+ year life as a child of faculty, student, alumnus and fan, takes that to a level that seems excessive. Nobody could blame Michigan for hiring Harbaugh — he is both OUR guy, and an elite coach ... right?! But in a way, that’s that old aloof arrogance showing up again. Hoke was the anti-RR because he was one of us, and Harbaugh was captain fanatic our guy, but seemingly nobody of any consequence asked if Harbaugh wasn’t a Michigan Man would he have been the “best guy”?
It appears that answer is a negative. It appears that many known (or rumored) liabilities were overlooked ... out of arrogance. He’s the best guy, he has to be ... there ... you see.
Michigan needs to find the best (realistic) guy in today’s college football environment — the best in terms of a combination of recruiting organization and prowess, schematically, roster management, development and motivation — regardless of his affiliation with, or his passion for, Michigan. Michigan needs to accept that it is going to have to work exceedingly hard to be great again, and that it’s not a sign of weakness to pursue and that Michigan doesn’t “sell itself” because it’s not had even a modicum of success in the lifetime of today recruits. Start from square one and act as if you’re just building a football program. Stop acting like games won 100 years is meaningful today. Find players that are hungry, who want to win, not because of all the teams before them, but for themselves and the team today. Nostalgic reverence and repeated glorification of past success is just another expression of arrogance.
If Michigan can find a guy who’s willing to — and allows him to — let the past be in the past and build for a new future, it will win again.
November 17th, 2020 at 8:57 AM ^
This is an excellent post and the entire country also sees Michigan as the ultimate arrogant program with very little hardware in the trophy case to back up the arrogance. If there is any truth to the talk of Harbaugh not being backed backed up due to a "Leftist" anti sport mentality then Michigan deserves the athletic crash. I, however, have strong doubts about this. Mark Schissel came on board in 2014. The basketball program under Beilien never missed a beat in recruiting or competition and the baseball team even played for a national championship. Harbaugh's leadership has been his problem and his attitude which had been well documented and on display everywhere he had been before flying into AA in 2015. He was handed the keys by everyone and had ZERO accountability along the way. He operates unchallenged in AA and he will be back next year even with a contract extension. In the end it will be the Michigan ARROGANCE keeping their man in AA. A significant portion of the fanbase is ok with what Harbaugh has done and boy do the excuses come out. Ohio State cheats, the SEC cheats, we are superior in the classroom blah blah blah. This stuff is EXACTLY why Michigan is hated so much in college football. It's the poor us victimhood mentality and the rest of the nation from Appalachian State, Toledo, to East Lansing roars with laughter.
November 17th, 2020 at 4:09 AM ^
Inforlinks sucks donkey balls.
November 17th, 2020 at 10:35 AM ^
Just want someone young, hungry, and has a resume of success where he’s been. They don’t even have to be a head coach at those past places.
Wishes:
-Someone who simply has half the fire of a 2015-16 Harbaugh. Not necessarily the on field craziness, but someone who’s clearly energized.
-Someone who has been around successful programs as an assistant and who has had some time to see how Saban/Urban/Dabo etc. approach their job.
-Someone who isn’t completely system dominant. Basically, you don’t want someone who can’t adjust their system to their players aka RichRod. You want someone who can make it work.
-Understands that modern football is about scoring. Players love it, fans love it, and more important - recruits love it.
November 17th, 2020 at 11:55 AM ^
And along with all that, a coach with flexibility and creativity, not exactly hallmarks of the Harbaugh era (or personality).
November 17th, 2020 at 10:35 AM ^
Just want someone young, hungry, and has a resume of success where he’s been. They don’t even have to be a head coach at those past places.
Wishes:
-Someone who simply has half the fire of a 2015-16 Harbaugh. Not necessarily the on field craziness, but someone who’s clearly energized.
-Someone who has been around successful programs as an assistant and who has had some time to see how Saban/Urban/Dabo etc. approach their job.
-Someone who isn’t completely system dominant. Basically, you don’t want someone who can’t adjust their system to their players aka RichRod. You want someone who can make it work.
-Understands that modern football is about scoring. Players love it, fans love it, and more important - recruits love it.
November 17th, 2020 at 1:31 PM ^
If Michigan can't get someone like Urban (and they can't) it makes sense to play out the contract.