If the reports are true, 2022 will have Michigan looking for both a new coach and a new AD at the same time, which is the equivalent of a death sentence for a program.
I like Jim Harbaugh as a person and as a representative of the values of Michigan. I wish he could have succeeded. There is no personal animus. Rather, the opposite. It is extremely sad to see him fail. However, Michigan football is a business, and it has be operated as such. And, logically, detached from emotion, there is no justification for extending Jim Harbaugh for the following reasons:
1. 6 years of bad clock management, inconsistent play calling, negligent roster management, constantly shifting offensive identities, zero quarterback development, late season collapses, emotionally flat road games, lack of mid-game adjustments and the failure to win games as an underdog is not a COVID problem. Any mulligan arising from the unusual circumstances of 2020 shouldn’t grant immunity for prior problems. The 2020 football team is a mess, but not altogether different from the issues that plagued JH’s earlier teams. The issues have just been amplified.
2. It is the definition of insanity to believe that things will be different next year. That all of the sudden, the old Jim Harbaugh will return with a renewed focus and energy and better coaching acumen. There are only 2 possibilities. He is capable of better and is going to try harder and he will improve his energy and focus, or he will be same. If the former, then he should be terminated for not previously trying his best and bringing his best energy and focus while being paid an exorbitant salary. If the latter, then there is no hope for a better result, and he should also be let go.
3. JH made the staff decisions that haunt this program. Choosing Drevno or Jedd. Hiring Schoop. Employing Jay. A reluctance to terminate underperforming assistance coaches, and letting Drevno and Pep hang on for years. Not finding a way to keep Mattison (and, conjecture here, but possibly throwing his lot behind Don Brown in a Brown v. Mattison power struggle) and replacing him with Nua. There needs to be accountability for mistakes. JH was given the authority to make these decisions, and, as is the case for any decision maker, should suffer the ramifications for them.
4. The roster in 2021 (especially with the anticipated mass exit of players through the transfer portal) will be worse than the roster he started with in 2015. From purely a personnel perspective, after 6 years under his watch, the program is on worse footing than when he started.
5. The 2021 Michigan football season is going to be rough for whomever is at the helm. No coach will be able to produce what the Michigan fan base would deem to be a successful season for at least the next couple of years. But, unlike a new coach, an extended Harbaugh will receive no patience or tolerance from the fanbase. The degree of negative noise surrounding the program next year will be many decibels higher that it is now. All of the problems we are seeing today will be magnified next year, and we will be having this same discussion, but from an even worse place.
6. Really, the only hope for success under Harbaugh that the fanbase is clinging to is based on the reconstruction and replacement of his coaching staff. But the likelihood of him assembling an all-staff staff of stud assistants, or even a meaningful upgrade, is remote. Regardless of an extension, Harbaugh will be on a very hot seat next year. That is not an appealing situation to tether oneself to and it will not attract first rate candidates, who have a plethora of better options. Added to this is the growing belief that coaches don’t like working under Harbaugh and his well of connections has dried up.
7. Between the cultural issues, the quality of the roster and the national perception, the football program is in such state that Harbaugh would essentially have to burn it down and build it back up again. That takes a few years, especially when it looks like we might be resetting the offensive philosophy for what would be the 3rd time in 4 years. So, even assuming that, against all odds, everything went perfectly to plan, the earliest time we would be looking at a rebirth would not be until the 2023 season. No coach in today’s world deserves a 9 year grace period.
The choice to move on is so painfully obvious, that for Warde to agree to an extension under these circumstances and despite all of the evidence smacking him in the face, to then end up having to fire Harbaugh within a couple of years, which really is where this is assuredly heading, would be deserving of his own termination.
I fear we are heading towards a dark place.
I like Jim Harbaugh as a person and as a representative of the values of Michigan. I wish he could have succeeded. There is no personal animus. Rather, the opposite. It is extremely sad to see him fail. However, Michigan football is a business, and it has be operated as such. And, logically, detached from emotion, there is no justification for extending Jim Harbaugh for the following reasons:
1. 6 years of bad clock management, inconsistent play calling, negligent roster management, constantly shifting offensive identities, zero quarterback development, late season collapses, emotionally flat road games, lack of mid-game adjustments and the failure to win games as an underdog is not a COVID problem. Any mulligan arising from the unusual circumstances of 2020 shouldn’t grant immunity for prior problems. The 2020 football team is a mess, but not altogether different from the issues that plagued JH’s earlier teams. The issues have just been amplified.
2. It is the definition of insanity to believe that things will be different next year. That all of the sudden, the old Jim Harbaugh will return with a renewed focus and energy and better coaching acumen. There are only 2 possibilities. He is capable of better and is going to try harder and he will improve his energy and focus, or he will be same. If the former, then he should be terminated for not previously trying his best and bringing his best energy and focus while being paid an exorbitant salary. If the latter, then there is no hope for a better result, and he should also be let go.
3. JH made the staff decisions that haunt this program. Choosing Drevno or Jedd. Hiring Schoop. Employing Jay. A reluctance to terminate underperforming assistance coaches, and letting Drevno and Pep hang on for years. Not finding a way to keep Mattison (and, conjecture here, but possibly throwing his lot behind Don Brown in a Brown v. Mattison power struggle) and replacing him with Nua. There needs to be accountability for mistakes. JH was given the authority to make these decisions, and, as is the case for any decision maker, should suffer the ramifications for them.
4. The roster in 2021 (especially with the anticipated mass exit of players through the transfer portal) will be worse than the roster he started with in 2015. From purely a personnel perspective, after 6 years under his watch, the program is on worse footing than when he started.
5. The 2021 Michigan football season is going to be rough for whomever is at the helm. No coach will be able to produce what the Michigan fan base would deem to be a successful season for at least the next couple of years. But, unlike a new coach, an extended Harbaugh will receive no patience or tolerance from the fanbase. The degree of negative noise surrounding the program next year will be many decibels higher that it is now. All of the problems we are seeing today will be magnified next year, and we will be having this same discussion, but from an even worse place.
6. Really, the only hope for success under Harbaugh that the fanbase is clinging to is based on the reconstruction and replacement of his coaching staff. But the likelihood of him assembling an all-staff staff of stud assistants, or even a meaningful upgrade, is remote. Regardless of an extension, Harbaugh will be on a very hot seat next year. That is not an appealing situation to tether oneself to and it will not attract first rate candidates, who have a plethora of better options. Added to this is the growing belief that coaches don’t like working under Harbaugh and his well of connections has dried up.
7. Between the cultural issues, the quality of the roster and the national perception, the football program is in such state that Harbaugh would essentially have to burn it down and build it back up again. That takes a few years, especially when it looks like we might be resetting the offensive philosophy for what would be the 3rd time in 4 years. So, even assuming that, against all odds, everything went perfectly to plan, the earliest time we would be looking at a rebirth would not be until the 2023 season. No coach in today’s world deserves a 9 year grace period.
The choice to move on is so painfully obvious, that for Warde to agree to an extension under these circumstances and despite all of the evidence smacking him in the face, to then end up having to fire Harbaugh within a couple of years, which really is where this is assuredly heading, would be deserving of his own termination.
I fear we are heading towards a dark place.
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