Harbaugh vows to evaluate "everything that we're doing"
I find this troubling because while he is admitting that the team's failure rests upon him, in the previous week he said the team was "almost there." Now he is saying the team is "nowhere near where it should be."
I don't understand how you can lose to MSU the way that you do, get drummed by Indiana, then after losing to Wisconsin it finally occurs that this team isn't really good at anything.
November 15th, 2020 at 6:06 AM ^
this team isn't really good at anything.
Hey, come on, be fair. We're at least a top five meme.
November 15th, 2020 at 9:03 AM ^
At least this guy's cardboard cutout was at the game. Whoever did that is a master troll; hats off to ya.
November 15th, 2020 at 6:23 AM ^
if you would've asked me a year ago; after the colossal notre dame beatdown which one of these programs will be undefeated and playing for a potential play-off spot; and one of these teams will be historically putrid; the answer would've been simple. The look on Kelly's face after that game was just...… priceless.
sure, #2020 and all that bullshit; but our team sucks from top to bottom; we could actually end up with two wins and be at the wrong end of a historic rivalry ass-whupping.
Hmmm; maybe we are kinda following in notre dame's footsteps - they had two mega stupid head coaches (Davie and Willingham) followed by the program golden boy ordained savior (Weis) who was arguably even worse than the first two.
Rich-Hoke-Harbaugh; hopefully we get someone better than Kelly.
November 15th, 2020 at 6:26 AM ^
Get out of Michigan then. What a pathetic coach he is at this point.
November 15th, 2020 at 6:27 AM ^
It concerns me he didn’t say this after the Michigan State game. This is what he is supposed to say when we lose big. Unfortunately Jim has lost the fan base.
November 15th, 2020 at 6:33 AM ^
Somewhere, Dylan McCaffrey is quietly sitting; knowing he made the right choice.
November 15th, 2020 at 6:38 AM ^
For sure. It's laughable that he didn't get a shot after patiently waiting for all the years that he did. I don't know how you can look at Milton at practice and say "YEP, definitely starting over McCaffrey". Should have at least tried both QB's out in game time to see outright who would win the job. Obviously this does not fix all the other problems we are experiencing: lack of good corner play, no pass rush. However, this is a common symptom of a whole host of problems that seems to me is just an ineptitude of talent evaluation and confusing game planning.
November 15th, 2020 at 7:06 AM ^
Can we stop with this, please. Dylan McCaffrey is not the savior. This team would be in the exact same place with him as QB.
November 15th, 2020 at 7:16 AM ^
What part of what I wrote made you jump to the conclusion that I said he was a "savior"? I said I don't think he got a fair shake and that it's obvious that this wasn't the only issue. I stand by that the product on the field, all the way around, screams of ineptitude by the coaching staff. What makes you believe after watching Milton play that they put the right QB on the field in week 1? The way McNamara came in and drove the offense down the field in 3 passes for a score before it started to rain hard should have inspired some doubt for everyone watching
November 15th, 2020 at 7:30 AM ^
Not sure we would be in the exact same place. Teams can give up when they have zero faith the coaches have picked the right guy or screwed over one of their teammates.
November 15th, 2020 at 10:48 AM ^
Haven’t we learned not to fall for the “we have the wrong guy at QB” trap? Over and over since Harbaugh‘s arrival we’ve watched our offense perform mediocrely and we clamor for a different guy....then the starter gets hurt after getting nailed for the 1000th time, then someone else comes in and has a promising start (a la McNamara yesterday) but then looks worse over time, then gets a concussion (every recent Wisconsin game) or something, then the starter returns and the process starts anew.
It honestly doesn’t seem to matter who’s at the helm. I know he was an MgoWhippingBoy, but Patterson actually did better than most and still we managed to convince ourselves that if only [name your backup] was playing THEN we’d be good. Remember people swearing if only we started Milton over Shea we’d reach the Promised Land? Seems funny now.
There’s clearly something more systemic going on here and it’s probably bigger than any one person, even including Harbaugh. I have zero answers but I’m pretty sure “the QB argument” isn’t the right conversation to be having.
November 15th, 2020 at 10:23 PM ^
Sadly, Dylan McCaffrey is quietly sitting; knowing he made the right choice. There fixed it. Now M needs to fix what’s broken.
November 15th, 2020 at 6:53 AM ^
Michigan sure seems to ruin coaching careers. They hire good coaches and magically turn them into bad coaches.
perhaps they should hire a really bad coach and see if he turns into really good.
November 15th, 2020 at 7:02 AM ^
November 15th, 2020 at 7:02 AM ^
Already tried that with Hoke. The man could recruit but he could not coach/lead a program.
November 15th, 2020 at 7:11 AM ^
Could he? This revisionist history is killing me. They are both horrible coaches, but at this point I think Harbaugh has done less with more. It may seem like those players were better, bit OSU wasn't rolling then like they are now. Hoke didn't recruit a big time skill player his whole time here, unless you count Butt.
November 15th, 2020 at 7:44 AM ^
Devin Funchess would like a word with you
November 15th, 2020 at 10:40 AM ^
I'm not sure if this is serious?
1715 career receiving yds and 15 TD's with more than his fair amount of untimely drops. If that's elite, I guess we have different ideas on what we want or expect from the skill position.
November 15th, 2020 at 3:29 PM ^
Are you? You referenced Butt as "maybe" but Funchess had more TDs and similiar yards as Butt. Funchess also played 1 less year than Butt. He was also drafted in the 2nd round compared to Butt in the fifth round.
I mean all you have to do is look at his past recruiting profile and Funchess was a 4 star by every outlet. How is it his fault we've had historically bad o-lines and poor accuracy QB's in the past decade? Sort of affects how often you get the ball and would skew your career statistics so it's only part of the equation in a metric of talent.
I think they were both fantastic mind you but what you are saying isn't entirely correct. It just comes off as argumentative.
November 15th, 2020 at 3:51 PM ^
Butt was a TE and Mackey award winner.Funchess was a TE who played WR and dropped as many as he caught. TE isn't typically considered "skill position".
November 15th, 2020 at 4:28 PM ^
Are you trolling? You mentioned Butt as the best skilled position player Hoke has had but in the same breath say it isn't a skill position. Yes. Funchess was a TE who played WR. WR is considered more of a "skill position" than TE. Funchess had better statistics, which is the metric you chose to go by, not me. He dropped as many as he caught but was somehow valuable enough to be picked in the 2nd round by an NFL team...
November 16th, 2020 at 8:53 AM ^
Are you high? Hoke didn't recruit a big time skill player his whole time here, unless you count Butt. Butt played TE, Funchess played WR, he should have better stats, and they weren't that much better. Butt was an All America, Funchess wasn't All B1G. Just because you get drafted high doesn't mean you are a great player. The Lions drafted Jahlani Tavai in the 2nd round, and he sucks. Besides, you are misrepresenting my argument. They recruited Funchess as a TE who didn't want to play TE (he didn't want to, or couldn't block) so they made him a receiver. TE is not a skilled position, but I'm willing to make an exception for Butt.
November 15th, 2020 at 8:24 AM ^
Derrick Green?
November 15th, 2020 at 7:21 AM ^
“Who knows what next Saturday has? We might be in a dogfight. We might be winning by a lot, might be losing by a lot. Nobody knows.”
Ffs that’s a Michigan captain talking about a game against Rutgers.
November 15th, 2020 at 7:26 AM ^
When you’re flailing and out of answers there isn’t going to be a satisfying response no matter what.
November 15th, 2020 at 7:27 AM ^
We can talk about it until our faces turn blue and we should because we enjoy talking Michigan sports. None of it matters because this team has quit on Jim, and once that happens there is no fixing it.
November 15th, 2020 at 7:35 AM ^
I am sold on the good pastor's idea from the Gamer of firing Harbaugh now and giving the interim tag to Gattis. See how the team responds to him and then evaluate the future coaching staff from there. There is no helping the defense this year but at least we can see how the players respond and see how a Gattis offense looks without Harbaugh's influence.
The downside to cleaning house (while it is necessary at this point) is maybe losing a bright star in Gattis. We don't know yet if he is or isn't, but I hate to take that chance away and for him to move on to somewhere else and become that star.
November 15th, 2020 at 8:51 AM ^
I don't see a down side to it. There is going to be collateral damage to any coaching change and you might as well see what chops Gattis is before we lose him for good. If they did do this (which they won't) it should come with an order to do 100% on offense what HE wants to do. I remain convinced he would actually press the issue with tempo and that would be at least a step in the right direction.
November 15th, 2020 at 9:06 AM ^
There clearly could be a downside. He may be mediocre but the players rally - they are young, they probably will - and win a few games. The season ending beatdown by OSU might end up just a hare closer than expected. And then, suddenly, the pressure to hire Gattis.
We should want the best damn coach out there. Is that Gattis? Somehow, if he were that great, I'd suspect that we'd see an offense that doesn't look like a pile of shit (except against Minnesota).
Honestly, the only good news that this year brings in football is that we won't hire PJ Fleck. That guy is a douche canoe. Row row row.
November 15th, 2020 at 9:49 AM ^
Can someone explain this love for Gattis to me? It's like everyone has this vision that if Harbaugh left, Gattis would magically unlock the 50 point a game offense.
And even if Gattis turned out to be a great OC (which, you are 100% correct about, we're not going to know that in 4 games the rest of the season if Harbaugh left today), that's not what the team needs. They need a great head coach--organized, detail oriented, able to hire talented coaches and staff, recruit at an extremely high level, etc.
November 15th, 2020 at 9:51 AM ^
Okay, if you don't think Fleck is a good coach, I disagree with you but won't argue the point. But how in the hell did this rep get out (mostly by a loud few on this board) that he's a docuhe canoe? Because he's emotional? That he uses a cliché that he had to help himself get over the death of his own child? I'll never understand, especially when Harbaugh is probably one of the 5 biggest douche canoes in college football.
November 15th, 2020 at 11:01 AM ^
Gattis is terrible
November 15th, 2020 at 7:46 AM ^
Harbaugh is making me not care about this team the same way Brady Hoke did............
(sung with a low volume trailing voice)
Hail to the apathetic !
Hail to the "wait till next year" !
Hail! Hail! (to the sound of a trumpets "wah-wah")
November 15th, 2020 at 7:56 AM ^
If....um....well....sigh, Someone needs to evaluate the coach
November 15th, 2020 at 8:15 AM ^
There are a lot of reasons to excuse a bad season this year: Pandemic, absurd loss of players to The League (basically the entire offense), the really strange offseason, the 11th hour QB transfer, the lack of tune-up games, and so on. You could also look around at the BIG 10 and see that Penn State (another program that fancies itself Blue Chip and has an established HC) they just lost to Nebraska to stand WINLESS on the season. I have found myself reaching for each of these at times this season to explain away what is happening here. After living through the Rich Rod years and Hoke years and seeing the Turn around in 15 and 16 I knew in my bones that Jim just needed a little more time to get it done. I don't think he's a bad coach, I don't think he has bad coaches around him, I don't think we have bad players currently, but this is not working.
We are not an Elite program. We should be subject to down years. I can excuse an occasional 3 or 4 loss season when player attrition is high from one year to the next. But this isn't a good team having a down year. This is a young but talented team that is regressing from week to week. Some of that is just tape getting out and opponents adjusting but the problem is we don't seem to be adjusting too. We don't seem to know which way we are going on either side of the ball. Maybe guys are just trying too hard and trying to play hero ball out there (best possible case), or maybe they just aren't that prepared.
I don't see many possible wins on the schedule left and I don't see how we can justify bringing Jim and the rest of the staff back if this doesn't improve quickly.
To all those who said they would trade X number of losses for a win against OSU... This is what that feels like before the win at the end of the season (which granted we won't get). I for one prefer the winning season and loss to OSU if given the choice. Just wanted to point out how absurdly stupid that take is every year.
go blue.
November 15th, 2020 at 8:50 AM ^
Maybe you should have evaluated after you got your ass beat by a shitty MSU squad you fraud. Just keep collecting them checks Jimmy. Thanks for making us Illinois.
November 15th, 2020 at 9:01 AM ^
Just an $8 million man trying to sound like he knows what he’s doing to keep his job, simply he’s got no clue what to do and I’m sure there will be no evaluation just BS from Jim.
November 15th, 2020 at 11:08 AM ^
The emperor has no clothes. He’s spewing cliches and vague promises to “evaluate.” The evaluation ship has long since sailed Jim. You have no answers, no clue and no hope of changing the direction of where this is heading.
November 15th, 2020 at 11:14 AM ^
I’m as disappointed about this as any fan, but I think it’s absurd to try to dissect media quotes. Those press conferences are just traps reporters like to spring. If you are losing there is literally nothing you can say that won’t get blasted. Besides, there are plenty of other valid things to be critical about. Press quotes should be low on the list.
November 15th, 2020 at 1:04 PM ^
Did you listen to the post game press conference? Only one reporter asked the legitimate question of how do you turn this around? And even that was phrased respectfully. Everyone else sounded embarrassed to be in the roll of having to ask a question. They were all very polite and tried to give Harbaugh easy things to answer.
November 15th, 2020 at 11:21 AM ^
How is our canvases going to react when Harbaugh gets a 10 year contract extension after the season?
November 15th, 2020 at 12:15 PM ^
Apparently, they are killers on the practice field...
November 15th, 2020 at 9:10 PM ^
I've already evaluated it and it sucks.