Dylan/Joe in 2020 - A Make or Break Year for Harbaugh
Gonna be a lot of "HAWT TAKES" today, and this is one of them. But if you're only here to troll, this ain't for you. Wondering if next year is a make or break year for Harbaugh, as far as developing QB's. Credit to Harbaugh, here's all the things he's succeeded at: Beating MSU consistently, restoring our OLine with depth and quality, upgrading our skill positions, bringing in a DC to beat the speedy spread teams, keeping recruiting as a whole at a Top 15 level, and bringing us to the cusp of the CFP.
But his 1 major failure is QB play. Other than an outlier year of Jake Rudock and his miraculous turnaround into a NFL player, Harbaugh's QB's have seen either regression or lack of improvement now for 4 years. I don't know if he's the main QB coach like he was when he first got here, but something's gotta give. Look at the CFP teams, and it's apparent how important great QB play is. Joe Burrow, Jalen Hurts, Justin Fields, Trevor Lawrence. Even Penn State under Trace McSorley and Minnesota this year with Tanner Morgan have greatly improved their team's trajectories. But we still fall short in the big moments.
I don't want to start the "if not Harbaugh, then who?" argument, because that's ultimately Warde Manuel's job, not ours. But for a former NFL QB with plenty of success stories (Josh Johnson, Andrew Luck, Alex Smith, Colin Kaepernick, Jake Rudock), it's frighteningly apparent that something is wrong lately.
January 1st, 2020 at 4:51 PM ^
Prepare to be disappointed. Neither has looked very good.
January 1st, 2020 at 4:57 PM ^
The fact that neither surpassed Shea tells me we need to be looking for QB transfers in the off season or we’ll see the same kind of results next year.
January 1st, 2020 at 5:10 PM ^
Are we sure about that, or was it more about loyalty to Patterson? You can't tell me that no other coach wouldn't have benched Patterson for McCaffrey/Milton earlier in the season when Patterson was turning the ball over at an alarming rate, even if just to send a message that accountability means something. I think Harbaugh has an upperclassmen favoritism that should have been shelved with leather helmets. Kids coming out nowadays are more athletic, attend more camps, and are flat out more prepared for the college game than 10-20 years ago.
I think Coach Harbaugh has done some good things - this offense under Gattis with McCaffrey/Milton next year should be scary - but keeping Don Brown whose defense falls victim to the same plays year in and year out and his not holding players accountable are his failings.
January 1st, 2020 at 5:17 PM ^
McCaffrey had a pretty serious injury early in the season.
No option to bench Shea for that.
Milton RS So. probably not getting PT ahead of a senior from Harbaugh unless he was blowing the doors off.
January 1st, 2020 at 5:37 PM ^
Granted, but your starting QB had 5 fumbles and 3 interceptions thru 5 games, not to mention was inaccurate all year long on deep balls that should have been the teams greatest weapon with this receiver corps. Coach Harbaugh started the season agreeing this team should be the B10 favorite, so what message are you sending to a team with championship aspirations when you don't bench the starting QB for a game or a series or two who has those numbers to show that's not acceptable for the goals they have - or the players making stupid penalties to end offensive drives or defensive players extending drives - or players not consistently catching the ball, etc.?
January 1st, 2020 at 5:50 PM ^
Seniors limit turnovers to an acceptable level. Between not pulling and overthrowing this one limited the effectiveness of the offense too.
maybe we haven’t seen enough of the back ups, but I think if they gave us a better chance to win they would have been in.
January 1st, 2020 at 5:18 PM ^
It looked like he tried to in Madison until McCaffrey got hurt.
After that, didn’t really seem he was looking to do it. Looked like the right call sticking with him though as Patterson lit up November.
Today though, Patterson was awful throwing past 20 yards downfield.
January 1st, 2020 at 7:40 PM ^
this offense under Gattis with McCaffrey/Milton next year should be scary
We had DM and Gattis this year - couldn’t we have been scary this year? Or ... are you saying the coaches purposely played players with lesser ability over others? I say ... SP was the best option this year, else we would have seen DM or Milton.
January 1st, 2020 at 5:13 PM ^
Right, because that has worked great for us so far. I am excited to see a QB that Harbaugh recruited and brought to the starting job. I think they have both looked good so far and I am excited to see how they do when they are consistently getting the QB1 snaps in practice and the game.
January 1st, 2020 at 5:37 PM ^
Coming in at the end of games cold counts ?
January 1st, 2020 at 4:52 PM ^
This is stupid. Harbaugh is here until he wants to leave. The team has improved from where he inherited it. We just need to take the next step.
January 1st, 2020 at 4:57 PM ^
He improved from Hoke's last year to his first year. Other than that, he has literally never done better than the 10-3 he got in his first year. You can't say as long as we don't go 5-7 again his job is safe. The program is absolutely stagnant
January 1st, 2020 at 5:12 PM ^
Yes, we can. He isn’t getting fired. 10-3 while representing the university well is more than enough to keep his job safe.
January 1st, 2020 at 5:14 PM ^
That's a sad indictment on the state of our program. Imagine Ohio fans being content with 10 wins a year and 1 rivalry win in 15 years.
January 1st, 2020 at 5:34 PM ^
Then don’t follow the program.
January 1st, 2020 at 5:22 PM ^
9-4 is his record, and it’s not great. “10-3” gets thrown around way too much.
January 1st, 2020 at 5:36 PM ^
Michigan is traditionally a 3-4 loss program.
January 1st, 2020 at 8:09 PM ^
This should not be negged as it is 100% true. People think we’ve been dynastic in the recent past like OSU, Bama, Clemson. But it was only true in the pre-war years.
January 1st, 2020 at 5:16 PM ^
Who says it's stagnant? Yes, results are similar this year but he brought in Gattis and the offense seems to be developing into something really nice. Hopefully we can get to a point where both are top 10-20 units and that's good enough to win a lot of games
January 1st, 2020 at 4:59 PM ^
Actually since his first season I think we’ve gone backwards
January 1st, 2020 at 5:10 PM ^
It hasn’t really.
January 1st, 2020 at 4:53 PM ^
Oh I see so a coach deserves 6 years of mediocrity prove themselves wow how silly of us your right next year. Please do yourself a favor stop drinking put down the phone/computer and go out for a long walk
January 1st, 2020 at 4:55 PM ^
Michigan is what it always was. Except now the competition has gotten much tougher.
Harbaugh wins. He does so without compromising the university's image. That is good enough for Michigan.
If that isn't good enough for you..well, tough shit.
January 1st, 2020 at 5:12 PM ^
Yup. This is what Michigan was when they were at their best. They're just not on the level of where the elite programs have elevated themselves. People that keep thinking Michigan is about to enter a golden era are just dreaming. They might get a win over Ohio State at some point. Hell, maybe even a conference championship but the hierarchy isn't about to change or nothing. Michigan's not going to get to that level.
January 1st, 2020 at 5:14 PM ^
Michigan isn’t going to do what is needed to be elite consistently. Michigan isn’t going to be a football factory especially now that the future of the sport is in some doubt.
UM football is a PR tool for the university. Nothing more.
January 1st, 2020 at 5:48 PM ^
Best take on the year right here. I wish we could just close on this. This should be the defacto response post for all controversial posts going forward.
January 1st, 2020 at 5:13 PM ^
This is exactly right. Michigan plays by the rules and will absolutely not cut corners to be (or compete with) OSU or other "elite" programs. The fact is, with a few notable outliers, 2-4 loses per season is the statistical average going back several decades.
January 1st, 2020 at 5:21 PM ^
Your wife clearly wears the pants in the relationship..What a loser
January 1st, 2020 at 5:25 PM ^
That you think this is an insult is indicative of much of a fucking idiot you are.
January 1st, 2020 at 6:02 PM ^
Dude is a janitor. No need to pile on.
January 2nd, 2020 at 6:29 PM ^
Cool. So if we’re going to be mediocre can we start accepting the lowest bowl that invites us? Perhaps go independent and play BYU every year? Hire a coach for about 3 mil a year? We can replace the Michigan decal on helmets with one that say “tries hard does the right things”
January 1st, 2020 at 4:54 PM ^
Speight was solid for a year. Then regressed. This is a very real issue that needs to be figured out.
January 1st, 2020 at 4:59 PM ^
That broken vertebrae was a factor
January 1st, 2020 at 5:01 PM ^
Certainly, but he wasn't playing great before that.
I think Harbaugh jumped shipped on QBs a little too soon. Speight should have started his senior season here and then stayed with Peters.
Peters looks noticeably better than Patterson.
January 1st, 2020 at 5:35 PM ^
Jumping ship with QBs... good point. I had a similar thought; i.e. that picking up grad student transfers strikes me as a bit of free agency play. That's not how a long-term winning franchise gets built in the NFL or in college. At best, it plugs a short-term gap. Under Harbaugh, it has felt less like a deliberate strategy than a shot in the dark.
January 1st, 2020 at 9:16 PM ^
Russell Wilson, Kyler Murray, and Jalen Hurts might disagree with your sentiment.
January 1st, 2020 at 4:54 PM ^
January 1st, 2020 at 4:55 PM ^
I still say the largest turning point of this year was the, seemingly, purposeful taking out of McCaffrey by Wisconsin in that 2nd half. It.had that feel that McCaffrey would be able to take the reigns at that point and not look back
January 1st, 2020 at 4:56 PM ^
Other than an outlier year of Jake Rudock and his miraculous turnaround into a NFL player, Harbaugh's QB's have seen either regression or lack of improvement now for 4 years.
I would nuance this: Speight had a good year in 2016, and Patterson was solid in '18. But it seems like our best years of QB play have come with first-year starters. In their second years, Speight and Patterson seemed to take a step back, and O'Korn never developed.
January 1st, 2020 at 5:17 PM ^
That's what worries me most. Our QB's develop into mediocre starters, then stall. The fact that some have outright regressed is terrifying from a coaching standpoint
January 1st, 2020 at 4:57 PM ^
I’ve been saying since about 2013 we are a basketball school and nothing has changed that. I go into every football game with low expectations and I also remember what we once had.
January 1st, 2020 at 4:57 PM ^
3rd nominee
January 1st, 2020 at 4:58 PM ^
Let Gattis pick the QB.
January 1st, 2020 at 4:58 PM ^
McNamara? Even if we have to give away next year. It’s a long term move?
January 1st, 2020 at 4:58 PM ^
Harbaugh will be here as long as he wants. Milton and Mccafrey will split next season.
January 1st, 2020 at 5:00 PM ^
I'm OK with Harbaugh. Just for the love of God take down the Lovie Beard before it infects the BB team too.
January 1st, 2020 at 5:05 PM ^
You know how I know this JH experiment has failed? I don't feel even 1% more confident going into big games as I did when Hoke was here. That's failure.
January 1st, 2020 at 5:27 PM ^
Michigan has been bad in big games since 1948.
You either haven’t watched Michigan football or are just making shit up as you go.
January 1st, 2020 at 5:39 PM ^
What shit am I making up?