Great Article on how Harbaugh will Immediately Change the Culture

Submitted by DrWolverine23 on

Great article by Nick Baumgardner, from Mlive, on how Harbaugh right away changed the culture at Stanford from a 1-11 team to a 12-1 team. 

With the talent on our roster, it's going to be exciting to see how much the players develop. 

http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2015/01/jim_harbaugh_will_beg…

Feel free to embed any parts of the article that resonate. 

Loved the part about how Harbaugh charts the results from each drill, and posts the results in the locker room. Makes everything a competition. 

 

Brady Elliott

January 6th, 2015 at 2:41 PM ^

I don't know man. I think you are over simplifying things a little bit by saying any guy in the stands could have done just about the same and that unlike Hoke, RR was an actual coach. Coaching is more than sideline behavior and in game adjustments. It certainly is part of coaching but not the summation of it.

Your interpretation of the passion from RR looked like whining and an inability to control himself at times to me. Just because I wasn't a huge fan of RRod's sideline behavior doesn't mean RR isn't a good coach. I just think us fans can throw around hate much too easily. I think time will prove, just as it has with RR, that Hoke is a good coach but perhaps for a multitude of different reasons (perhaps he's just not head coach material for a big time program) it didn't work out.

CoverZero

January 6th, 2015 at 2:15 PM ^

I dont "hate" Hoke....I just don't understand how the man became so flaccid and passive.  He never seemed to care much about the losses.  He became a "figurehead" as a coach and delegated too much to other people.  He was too stubborn to change his own ways of coaching, for example getting more involved and putting a headset on.  In my opinion, that passive approach rubbed off on the team and they played soft, sloppy and without care or responsibility.

jmblue

January 6th, 2015 at 4:29 PM ^

I don't think that's fair.  There is no doubt in my mind that Hoke cared deeply about Michigan's success and its place in the CFB hierachy.  Nor do I think his sideline demeanor was an issue.  There are many coaches out there who try to remain on an even keel on gameday.  Pete Carroll is always clapping and encouraging his guys, win or lose.

The problem with Hoke was that he just wasn't that good of a head coach.  He cared; he just didn't know how to fix the problems.

Brady Elliott

January 6th, 2015 at 5:22 PM ^

We as fans must be careful not to confuse the ability or inability to win games consistently with other attributes. As long as Hoke won, fans tolerated his lack of answers in pressers as a whole. Once Hoke began losing, suddenly Hoke's pressers were annoying. He became obtuse, ignorant, naive, dismissive, untruthful, etc when in reality that's the way he always had been. From watching Harbaugh's pressers, he possesses many of the same attributes Hoke has in answering questions but as long as Harbaugh wins, fans will tolerate it. If he struggles, he will be portrayed as stubborn, archaic, dismissive, uncaring, etc and by and large it will likely be a result of his W/L record.

Blau

January 6th, 2015 at 1:35 PM ^

Finally have the "winners/losers" accountability mentality teams need to play on Saturdays and win championships. Thanks for posting. Great article.

BIGBLUEWORLD

January 6th, 2015 at 1:36 PM ^

Great article about a great man who teaches a great work ethic to young men who need a coach like that to bring out their own potential for greatness.

Great. 

In reply to by BIGBLUEWORLD

mgoblue0970

January 6th, 2015 at 5:16 PM ^

Amazing?

Sorry... watched "The Bachelor" train wreck last night... everything is amazing on that show.  If you turned it into a drinking game, we'd all be passed out.

True Blue Grit

January 6th, 2015 at 2:06 PM ^

The way the team performed on the field indicated there was little real accountability.  You could see it because they didn't get better - either in the 2nd half of games or as the season progressed.  Changing the culture of the program may be Harbaugh's biggest challenge in the beginning of his tenure here.  But it will be absolutely critical.  Fortunately, he's done it before and it's worked. 

Perkis-Size Me

January 6th, 2015 at 3:30 PM ^

Harbaugh changed the culture of the 49ers in one season. They were a sorry group of sad sacks for over a decade before he showed up, and he made them into bona fide winners.

Not saying he'll accomplish that overnight while he's here, but if he can do that there, he can do it here.




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Danwillhor

January 6th, 2015 at 1:42 PM ^

but I grew up with a kid that played under Jim at Stanford. It was his Senior year & Jim's first. I mentioned some of the things he said to me when I ran into him a few years ago after graduation. It's in the "What will our record be" thread from 3 days ago if you care to read. Likely in line with the article.

UofM626

January 6th, 2015 at 1:42 PM ^

BOTH WAYS MR. PEPPERS!



Can't wait till he lines up on both sides of the ball. Some guys choose USC because they playboys best players no matter what. They had 2-3 guys play both ways this year as freshman. Peppers is gonna be a absolute monster for Harbaugh if he stays healthy

Vote_Crisler_1937

January 6th, 2015 at 1:44 PM ^

Brady Hoke always made a point to talk about competing hard in practice every day. People sometimes wondered on this board if that had a lot to do with some seemingly bizarre changes to the starting lineup. I don't believe that the concept of competing more in practice is a winner all by itself. Clearly Harbaugh takes it up several levels from what Hoke & co referred to as "competing" in practice. This article reminds me a lot more of what Randy Walker did at NU with his "Winning Edge" program. Coach Walker didn't just post who lost or didn't complete reps he made those guys come in on Saturdays early am and make up every rep they didn't give their best on. The result was a high tempo Jet offense that allowed Damien Anderson to run all over worn out opponents. I always wondered what that kind of hyper competitiveness would do to Michigan caliber athletes with a smart head coach. Now it looks like I will get to see that.




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Willis

January 6th, 2015 at 1:46 PM ^

Love this. It reminds me of wrestling in high school. I wrestled at New Lothrop, arguably the best wrestling program in the state regardless of class or division. We were always told, you're only as good as your workout partner. Meaning if he wasn't pushing himself and you, making you work and struggle for everything, neither of you would get better and the team didn't get better. This stuff definitely works and leads to continual improvement. HARBAUGH.

Maize and Blue…

January 6th, 2015 at 4:21 PM ^

D4 state titles are one thing but programs like St. Johns, Dundee, and Richmond wouldn't even struggle with NL.  I would think that in the local area Swan Valley and Birch Run would also have a say in the matter.  FWIW NL is currently 7th in the Power 15 in Michigan and I do respect the program, but definitely not the best in the state.

stephenrjking

January 6th, 2015 at 1:48 PM ^

You see the phrase "great article" posted a lot, and I've become skeptical of it. But this is a legit great article--the insight provided is fabulous. The headline reads like a throwaway opinion piece, but the content overdelivers on the premise.

Nick Baumgardner really does a good job. I have to believe he'll be poached before too long--he is producing great stuff for mlive. Best Ann Arbor M football beat writing since Jim Cnockaert, IMO, except hopefully he won't follow the same path to disaster.

UMaD

January 6th, 2015 at 1:53 PM ^

Most posts titled "great" article have nothing remotely informative to them.  It seems like titleing your post with that (rather than letting the content speak for itself) is a red flag that screams fluff.  There are exceptions though...

Will read this one based on your recognition of the poor title and recommendation, in spite of the "great article" tag.

LSAClassOf2000

January 6th, 2015 at 1:48 PM ^

"He wants players to compete. He singles out winners, and he singles out losers. He keeps detailed lists of how much each player has improved year-over-year in specific drills, exercises and random non-game statistics. So if a player comes to him upset he's not playing more, Harbaugh simply points to his chart let's it talk for him."

It will sound dorky, but we do this in my office too (and it was inspired in part by some of the things that I knew Harbaugh did at Stanford strangely enough), except it pertains to various task completions and not drills. The funny part about creating an environment like this is that it works professionally - people want to do more and they want to do their best as a result and it is a great thing to see if you channel other things about the approach correctly. I am no football coach, but when you create a lively environment where most people want to succeed and give 100%, you've done something special by that alone.