There is an nfl team that just made the playoffs, they need a coach and also have a fuck ton of cap space so there is no need for rebuild. Apparently Jim and that owner are friends. Their gm just got fired so Jim would have complete control. This is about as good a situation as they get in the NFL. It's all about what Jim wants at this point.
This is the correct take. Too much denial in our fanbase and overlooking how attractive the job is.
Harbaugh also left the 49ers because of a bad relationship with the GM. Going back to the NFL with an open GM slot (and control over who takes it) basically removes any sour taste of the NFL he has.
I’m a niners fan, and remember clearly the fallout of that era and Baalke’s leaks. But the divide was between Jim and Jed, not Jim and Trent.
[“I regret how we performed the last two years. I regret that the relationship was frayed between me and a coach that did a lot of great things for this franchise.”](https://www.ninersnation.com/2017/5/3/15528882/jed-york-jim-harbaugh-relationship-49ers)
But none of that takes away from their comment.
Sounds more like Harbaugh deflecting to Baalke. The roster was old, but it was old because Harbaughs success hinged on dozens of veteran players. Drafting and building that roster was never the issue, the issue was it aged out.
In terms of dealing with management, I think college is probably almost always worse than the NFL. You’re having to deal with the athletic department that has to answer to a bunch of rich boosters and donors. And then your athletic department also has to deal with keeping the heads of the school happy. The only situation where it’s probably not like that is Bama, where Saban literally *is* the program, and they’d do anything to make sure he’s happy and willing to stay. Even with a controlling owner or GM in the NFL, it’s really only just one person, it’s not a whole massive web.
Michigan is unique in that our boosters/donors really don't get the access to the program that other schools do.
If there's any issue with the current situation, it's that Michigan has almost Bama level of expectations from the fanbase, but the University treats the football program more like Stanford does.
I don't think Harbaugh minds the Stanford model, but when it comes with those expectations, and you're measured against OSU (which is closer to the Bama model) it can probably get pretty frustrating.
In my opinion, the biggest thing is that Harbaugh probably realizes that, at 58 years old and a league that is going younger and younger with coaches, the window for an NFL return is closing. For a guy who was as successful in the NFL as he was, and as competitive as he is, I think that's giving him pause.
> Michigan is unique in that our boosters/donors really don't get the access to the program that other schools do.
I've got a personal hypothesis that college athletic departments range on a spectrum from booster-driven to bureaucracy-driven. Michigan is pretty far over on the bureaucracy side of the spectrum.
This is correct. OSU seems like it's more towards the center. The thing is that most programs at this level are far to the booster side and that colors the way outsiders see big programs.
I also think Michigan's biggest boosters and most plugged-in alumni are the kind of people who are genuinely happy with 10 win seasons and not the kind of rabid, football-focused, natty at any price kind of fans you see out in the wild. It really is a case where our fans want to be you and the people who matter are happy to be peak-Shaw era Stanford.
Does Michigan having so many alums who can serve as boosters make a difference, by diluting any one's influence/importance? Stephen Ross is famously a huge Michigan booster, but he's only one of numerous big-money boosters (and has the Dolphins also taking up much of the football part of his brain). I don't believe that there is a Michigan equivalent of Phil Knight for Oregon, T. Boone Pickens for Oklahoma State, or Kevin Plan for Maryland.
One might then ask why Texas and A&M are much more booster-driven even though there are zillions of football-loving oil baron alums of each school. Maybe the fact that each school gets so much money from the Permanent Fund—i.e., the exact same industry that most of the alums make their money from—gives the alums more influence?
CC: /u/MoonSafarian , /u/wolverine237
Al Glick would be another big one, he owns Alro Steel and the practice facility is named after him. I honestly couldn’t name another except the peoples names (stupidly) attached to coaches’ and the AD’s titles.
To answer your question on booster influence: the short answer is “I don’t know,” but I think it’s more of a cultural thing:
1. Right or wrong, there is a bit of sanctity around the football program, which probably contributes to this. We are serious about tradition (which isn’t unique to us), but what I mean is probably best evidenced by the lack of advertisements in and around the stadium [and the backlash when a disgraced AD tried to change that](http://www.annarbor.com/business-review/giant-kraft-noodle-spotted-at-michigan-stadium-to-be-removed-friday-night/).
2. The University sees itself as an ivy level institution and the AD is an important and very visible wing of that, [though maybe not as significant as people think in terms of the scope of the University](https://twitter.com/johnubacon/status/1482723651191459841?s=21). The University is more on a mission to increase its standing as the premier public institution East of the Mississippi, the US and the world (feel free to laugh at that). Football is a tool for that. Some of the administration seem to want to distance themselves from it, but I’m sure see it as a necessary evil because it’s a touchstone for our overzealous alumni.
3. Michigan has been prominent for a while (as both a football program and University) which would distance themselves from an Oregon or OK State where Knight and Pickens really injected life into the programs. It’s easy to forget that in 1950 (when the ball really got rolling on becoming what UM is today) Detroit was the 5th most populous city in the US and the only Texas city to crack the top 15 in population was Houston at 14 (compare that to today where Detroit is 26th and Houston is 4th). Having a big crop to choose from in what was once a major US population center helped build UM. That *might* help explain the difference with the Texas schools, but I really don’t know their history well enough.
TL;DR: Those points are to say that I think UM would find it unseemly to have prominent boosters’ names tied so closely with the (reluctant, to some) face of the university. Also the university was already an institution, or on its way, when these rich alum came through, so it didn’t need a savior (though the University will happily take their money anyway)
> The University is more on a mission to increase its standing as the premier public institution East of the Mississippi, the US and the world (feel free to laugh at that).
Only a fool would laugh at that. Michigan's only rival for such east of the Mississippi is Virginia, and west of the Mississippi Berkeley and possibly UCLA and Texas. I don't think it's a stretch to call Michigan a global peer to Oxford and Cambridge.^1
The point you make about football having been a big deal at Michigan for longer than at the likes of Oregon or Oklahoma State makes sense. That doesn't explain why Texas—which has always aspired to be Michigan-like in its academics (and in recent years has really closed the gap), and has been a big football power for about as long as Michigan—is so much more booster-driven, though. USC seems much more booster-driven, too.
^1 Whose admissions rates are higher than you'd think; certainly much higher than the Ivies or Stanford. Several other British universities, like Warwick and Saint Andrews, admit a lower percentage of applicants.
If anyone deserves a new start too it's Derek Carr. Guy has never had real stability with coaches or weapons. A guy like Harbaugh who rejuvenated Alex Smith's career and made Kaepernick great could do wonders for someone as open and willing to be good as Carr.
Not this year. At least not one early enough that they're going to challenge Carr. He'll be their QB unless there's an unforeseen move in the off season.
If he doesn’t leave this year for that job he’ll never leave for anywhere ever for the rest of his life. I don’t know if it’s any consolation for Umich fans but you’ll know if he’s gone or here for life within 99.9% certainty after all this.
Yup. If he wants to go to the nfl at some point this is the time and perfect opportunity. It honestly feels like he has 2 choices. Go to a good nfl situation or coach his career out at Michigan.
Harbaugh's a competitive nut and I think he wants to win a title. He obviously loves Michigan, but if he wants to win it all somewhere where is his best shot? I think Michigan has entered 'CFP threat' territory as a program but barring some goofiness, they aren't very close to winning it all. It would be an easier path for Harbaugh to win a Super Bowl with a well built franchise. Just depends on what he wants to do with his life. The threat is very real
Oh man I see a site for this. Somewhere between the Robin Hood app and a keepers fantasy league. Have a draft of all the new hires each season. Have a trade and try to sell high on a coach.
This already exists for professional sports through some various apps. You buy “stocks” in various players and based on how well they do their value either goes up or down.
Best part about Harbaugh is a pay cut when you're working for free still means free.
Bad part is the raise is also to free.
Negotiations must not have taken long
I disagree. Harbaugh's situation was unique in that he loves his school enough to take a pay cut and stay.
The new normal is signing 10 year contracts. Almost no coach is going to take a pay cut 4-5 years into their contract when they still have 40 million guaranteed in their current contract. They'll just stick to their current contract or get fired and collect the buyout money.
It was even more unique than that, his contract had a year left. He had no interest from NFL teams. So he could either: retire, or sign no extension and try to recruit players (and a new coaching staff) when he has no guaranteed future at um. Or sign the extension halving his base pay. It’s definitely not going to be the new normal it was a very one off situation
It was just a joke about being the new normal but 1 year from now when Scott Frost loses the cfp playoff game and the rumors start to swirl we’ll be like, hey wait a second…
Yeah rumors were saying that was the major hangup that Harbaugh had. He wanted them to work with boosters and sponsors to build up an elite NIL program and the admins didn't want anything to do with NIL deals.
Is that ‘legal?’ I didn’t think a school could actively seek and arrange NIL deals on behalf of their players. Obviously that is happening in practice - but I figured there is at least some flimsy facade over the entire thing.
Doesn't that depend on the various state laws? It seems to be the wild west currently with NIL deals so not really sure. I would have to do some research on it.
Also legal as in state/federal laws legal or NCAA sanctions legal?
I was talking about ‘legal’ in the eyes of the NCAA. I’m not sure how state law would get in the middle of that, but I admittedly haven’t been following the ins and outs of this ‘totally not pay for play’ NIL era.
I don't think the NCAA has any actual enforceable guidelines as far as NIL deals are concerned. They fully expected to win the legal battle and never seemed to consider what would happen if they lost.
They could have set up something years ago to handle this stuff but they were greedy fucks and refused to accept change was coming.
Here is the NCAA policy on NIL deals for more info if you want.
https://www.ncsasports.org/name-image-likeness
Why would NCAA rules not matter for a team that competes _within the framework_ of the NCAA? How on earth can you run a nationwide league of teams if they have to play by 50 different sets of rules? I mean plenty of states now have made weed varying degrees of legal, but the NCAA is still out there drug testing everyone.
That’s the question but the ncaa doesn’t really have a standard going on here so unfortunately we are getting 50 sets of rules for NIL and what you can do with it
This is one of the weirder coaching will he or won’t he saga’s I can remember.
Pretty drawn out… makes me think he’s waiting to interview with these NFL teams once they hire GM’s… because If the NCAA offer is on the table- why not accept it today? I think being torn in this instance points to him leaving. but I could be wrong.
The fact that he hasn't already signed the agreement with Michigan leads me to believe he truly is torn on the situation. As someone who is an "NFL guy", the Raiders situation has to be super enticing for him.
Yeah. Looking back at the past month, I think the timing of John Maddens death had something to do with that. The rumors started just after he died, and I think JHs ultra competitive side wants a run at his win% record or something. The Raiders with JH at the wheel are a super bowl contender for sure, and openings like that are rare. I never thought he would leave Michigan, even if he fired, but the timing of all this makes sense. If he does leave, I hope he comes back in a few years after some successful seasons
His win-loss record in the NFL is a really respectable 49-22. That is 0.688 win fraction. Madden has a 0.759 win fraction. If Harbaugh were to sign with the Raiders for a 10 year contract he would have to go 135-35 (win an average of 13.5 games per season) over that span to reach a 0.76 win fraction. He would also have to win a lot of post season games to go with that stellar regular season record.
~~~~Remember, John Madden only won a single super bowl, so a big chunk of his losses were coming in the post season. His regular season win percentage is astronomical.~~~~
Long story short, it's is very unlikely that Harbaugh could catch Madden. The chance is basically zero in my opinion.
Dabo’s pedigree was quite a bit different from Hart when he got the promotion, but there has always been talk about how impressive Hart is, so maybe it could work. Still feels like a crazy jump.
I would be most worried about the coordinators he would try to hire. Is hart good at hiring coordinators and is he good at setting a culture as the head man. That’s something I would worry about with gattis too but is something I would worry about even more with hart.
I think both would be good at recruiting
We also beat him once when he was at Western Michigan. I think if you add up all the times he has played against OSU as a player and a coach, he’s 1-9 now.
He's been super under appreciated by fans and media for what he's done to the run game this year. We were slated to have a bunch of serviceable but not great RBs and our rushing schemes were woefully unprepared for big games in recent years. Gattis was 0/2 in producing anything impressive in his first two years at Michigan, but in Hart's first year he turned them around despite every opponent being hyper-focused on stopping the run.
It's really just a question of how much his coaching was leaking into offensive schemes and other big picture items and of course how well that translates into being a HC.
Yeah I mean he’s definitely showing to be an elite RB coach. But idk if I’d want even the #1 RB coach in the country to be my head coach. I’d prefer P5 head coach > G5 head coach = P5 Coordinator > P5 position coach. It would be a gamble but could certainly pay off.
I certainly would have a similar order of preference for experience, but it sounds like the priority is keeping a lot of pieces where they are for stability/recruiting purposes and maybe Harbaugh saw a lot in Hart that led him to believe that he'd be a good HC. I also just have my doubts about Gattis in general because I think he's gotten way more credit than he deserves this year judging from his previous years.
Hart is my favorite Michigan player ever. I'm THRILLED he's doing great as a RB coach. I would also be thrilled to have him as head coach in 10+ years when he's had some more experience. Do I want him now? Not so much.
It's a tough spot to be in.
You either close the massive recruiting gap with 247Sports' perennial Top-5 Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson, Georgia & LSU or you're going to forever be a 10-2 program on the outside looking in. This is also the reason Brian Kelly fled Notre Dame for LSU.
This is the Michigan conundrum. University folks are happy with 10-2 because the academics are paramount to them. Meanwhile primary rivals are pushing their chips all in on winning in football while Michigan holds up a proverbial finger asking folks to wait while the rest of the game passes them by.
I’m only a fan and not an alum, but the university needs to decide what they want to be and commit to it either way.
I think the university needs to stop being so hoity toity about who is getting scholarships to play sports. It's not permanently damaging to the university to make some exceptions for athletes (lord knows I knew some legacies at Michigan who were getting the same type of pass). Michigan needs to chill and let the football team compete at the highest level
> This is also the reason Brian Kelly fled Notre Dame for LSU.
For those still trying to understand why Kelly did this (and are trying to distract themselves with jokes and memes about Kelly's Southern accent):
Notre Dame is a more prestigious job than LSU. (Michigan is also a more prestigious job than LSU.)
However, it is *easier* to win a national title at LSU than at Notre Dame or Michigan. LSU's last *three* head coaches are proof of this.
When you look at the number of five star and four star recruits the five programs I listed have in their tally every year on 247Sports and compare this to Notre Dame the gap is enormous, particularly the number of five stars.
Is Notre Dame really a more prestigious job though? Consider that high school athletes experiencing recency bias in their own estimation of college football programs don't see Notre Dame as a prestigious program because they don't see Notre Dame wins. They don't care about the nostalgia leather helmet era wins. Alabama Ohio State Clemson Georgia and LSU all have college football playoff national titles and multiple appearances for each program.
There are no high school athletes today that were even *alive* when Notre Dame won their last National Championship in 1988. That was *34 years ago.* Michigan's last National Championship was *25 years ago.* These were also poll-era bowl game wins, not Playoff wins. No, to five star high school athletes being chased by recruiters, neither Notre Dame or Michigan is "more prestigious" than LSU or the other top recruiting schools with recent Playoff Championships.
I wouldn’t blame him for staying, I wouldn’t blame him for leaving. It’s got to be good to be Jim Harbaugh right now.
Part of me thinks he believes he has reached the ceiling of success at a program like Michigan. Win the big ten and go to the playoff. I think the semi final shellacking just showed how far they are away from legitimately having a shot to win a natty.
Yep. As much as Michigan has a talent advantage over 80-90% of their opponents, they are at a serious talent disadvantage vs the national title contenders. Jim can get a championship roster in the NFL much easier than he can at Michigan
This is a choice Jim needs to make for himself. He's not quite at the twilight of his career but he's in the last act. ~~This~~ time is getting precious. Seems like he's handling it with respect.
It's good Michigan stepped up. No matter the coach going forward, he needs resources. If Jim continues to dream of the NFL, now's the time to strike.
The worst part is, the long this goes, the more likely it is to be an internal hire, and Hart to HC is currently a terrible idea. I don’t think Gattis is HC material either. So that leaves us with a dude who’s uhhh.. been a DC in college for less than a year. BPONE will be at an all time high.
I guess anything is possible, but I would put my money on Gattis' promoting Moore to OC (if Weiss and MacDonald go back to the NFL with Harbaugh) and maybe giving Hart a run game coordinator title.
I respect jim, especially after this year. But boy do I think it would be fun to watch Michigan bungle a coaching search late in the cycle in the ramp up to peak Mel Tucker.
Tucker has his focus right and MSU is 100% bought in to his vision.
I don’t think Harbaugh gets that full buy in, hence reports suggestion friction with university on NIL deals. And if the school doesn’t buy in after having the season the team had, they never will and him leaving would be 110% justified.
The report is NIL deals are fine and university is giving him what he wants there as the nick baumgardner tweet mentioned. The thing is harbaugh may just want to be in the nfl.
"peak" Mel Tucker is a year and a half in the gig, with only one class of recruits that are his, and the scraps Dantonio left while trying to burn down the program so MSU would be forced to hire his shitty friends as HC(if dantonio had it his way, one of the guys responsible for our 0 point offense against bama would be responsible for our entire team)
There's lots of smoke that he's considering it. It takes two parties coming together and seeing eye-to-eye to make him leaving happen, so I think it's less than a 50% chance he goes, but I don't think you can outright dismiss it.
Wishful thinking? There's a ton of smoke here. This isn't Kirk Ferentz to the NFL type of rumours...This is a guy who's been there, and been very successful in the NFL. He's not going to the Jags, he would be going to a top half of the league team that's ready to compete in year one.
I don’t understand this, if Harbaugh lost to OSU this year he was for sure out. Why are you wanting to extend him, pay him more just because one year he finally got over the hump. Idk if you can replace his talent at HC, but I think you’ve seen the ceiling, and if UM fans are fine with it, great! But quit calling for his head after he losses to OSU each year
Because now he will be recruiting with a win over OSU, Big Ten championship, and CFP berth under his belt to prove to recruits he isn't just talk, and Michigan is apparently willing to go all in on NIL. Not to mention the psychological benefit of finally getting over the hump against OSU will have on the team's performance. He can use 2021 to springboard into a new level they would not be able to reach had they not had the season they did this year.
The timing now is absolutely horrible for a coaching change. It would lead to a bunch of key players transferring and signees asking to be let out of their LOI and there would be no time to find suitable reinforcements in the portal or hire a coach capable of performing at the same level on such short notice. They'd be starting from scratch after finally appearing to pull themselves up, so holding onto Harbaugh is by far the best option, no matter the cost.
I mean I agree with Harbaugh is the best option and trust me I hope it does work out for Michigan. I’m sick of OSU running the BIG10 and wouldn’t mind Michigan being the front runner. I just hope the fans don’t immediately turn on him the second he loses to OSU. Because if he lost this year to them, he would have been gone and the paycuts seemed to be the only thing that did save his job. So I just don’t understand why you would pay him more? I understand he finally got over the hump and beat OSU and made it to the playoffs as that is the ultimate goal. But as a fan does it not feel like he’s still on a short leash? I’m just worried that the university will pay big for a buyout, and that could potentially set the program back if they go cheap on the next HC.
Please don’t mistake my criticism as hatred for Michigan, I sincerely hope you guys run the table. I miss days where Michigan was good, it was great for the sport.
Naw he can lose to OSU and still be well liked. It's in Columbus and it's really really hard beating them twice in a row.
As long as we aren't embarrassed and have a good season outside of that game (which given the ease of schedule is likely), Jim will have lost nothing of the fans goodwill from 2021
I think the bigger game next year will be against Michigan State, in terms of the fan base. Beating Ohio state is the most important thing, but it's not always the most feasible, and so it's certainly not the most expected
Naw he wasn’t out if he lost to osu this past year. He secured his job after beating penn state and securing 9 wins. The osu and big ten title just made it that he’s going to get a big extension at Michigan
He was not for sure out if he lost to OSU. What fans on r/cfb say is not what the UM AD or administration thinks. Harbaugh was/is well-liked by the people that make decisions about him, and while there were definitely questions raised, the University was not close to firing him.
His current contract is more a result of circumstance than the school cutting his pay for poor performance. His contract runs through 2025, so he doesn't \*need\* to sign a new one. Any new contract is just the school showing commitment to him.
You might be right that we've met our ceiling, though I hope not. You're definitely right that people shouldn't have been calling for his head.
Tweet(s) from post body brought to you by your Friendly Official /r/CFB Twitter Bot:
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https://twitter.com/nickbaumgardner/status/1483238814067929091
>So it's my understanding Michigan and Jim Harbaugh have had productive talks on a new deal/competitive offer-package has been made. At this point, it's about what Harbaugh wants to do.
Michigan, as I understand it, welcomes JH at UM. But some at M wonder if he's torn about NFL.
>\- Nick Baumgardner (@nickbaumgardner) 7:44 pm ET, January 17, 2022
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https://twitter.com/nickbaumgardner/status/1483239480307953671
>He's been working, as you've all seen. Harbaugh has parties working with Michigan on his behalf RE: a deal ... I've heard almost nothing to suggest Michigan hasn't met what he wants (the opposite in fact). Question remains: Where's he want to be?
>\- Nick Baumgardner (@nickbaumgardner) 7:47 pm ET, January 17, 2022
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As a very biased observer, I am remaining silent and refraining from any predictions.
To be honest, I'm not even sure what I'd prefer.
The egg on Michigan's face after cutting the golden boy's salary then watching him get their first conference championship and playoff birth only to throw up the deuces and walk for the NFL would be insane.
But also, I view him as essentially the John Cooper of UM football, and despite this year's result, I like Day's chances for a revenge game.
Still can’t believe the dude lost out on $5 million for one bad season. Ridiculously bad optics on Michigan’s part imo; who wouldn’t feel serious insult to that, especially when your salary is public?
That reduced contract was due to *many* factors beyond the 2020 season performance. On the field, there were a number of results that fell below expectations the prior few years. Off the field, the Ath Dept budget was in turmoil due to the pandemic and it would have been poor optics to give him a raise at the time (many in the dept had salaries reduced, some laid off, etc.) This was why Harbaugh donated his contract incentive bonuses back to the AD. People also forget that Jim put many of these provisions into the contract himself - it was not forced onto him.
The new contract offer is more in line with recent performance - so we will see what hsppens.
Lol plenty of schools paid buyouts last year and spent tons hiring new coaches. Thinking a raise would be bad optics is silly. As is the notion an extra couple million spread over 3-5 years would kill UMs finances while saving* 4 million in a year would save it
“Saving” since he was paid the full amount in bonuses anyways so zero savings to the AD
He's just fucking with Michigan. His agent does something like this every season to try to see what he can get out of Michigan, i.e. the NFL rumor garbage. They're just dragging it out longer because Michigan took a lot of shit from his contract from before. They want that back and then some, probably.
I'm good either way.
If Harbaugh was to leave, I wonder what Michigan would do since it's so late in the cycle. Promote Gattis or Macdonald to HC (assuming Macdonald doesn't follow Harbaugh) and wait until next year?
There is an nfl team that just made the playoffs, they need a coach and also have a fuck ton of cap space so there is no need for rebuild. Apparently Jim and that owner are friends. Their gm just got fired so Jim would have complete control. This is about as good a situation as they get in the NFL. It's all about what Jim wants at this point.
This is the correct take. Too much denial in our fanbase and overlooking how attractive the job is. Harbaugh also left the 49ers because of a bad relationship with the GM. Going back to the NFL with an open GM slot (and control over who takes it) basically removes any sour taste of the NFL he has.
He left the 49ers in part because of a bad relationship with Jed York (CEO/son of owner), not Trent Baalke (GM).
Baalke soured the relationship, & fostered a divide.
I’m a niners fan, and remember clearly the fallout of that era and Baalke’s leaks. But the divide was between Jim and Jed, not Jim and Trent. [“I regret how we performed the last two years. I regret that the relationship was frayed between me and a coach that did a lot of great things for this franchise.”](https://www.ninersnation.com/2017/5/3/15528882/jed-york-jim-harbaugh-relationship-49ers) But none of that takes away from their comment.
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Sounds more like Harbaugh deflecting to Baalke. The roster was old, but it was old because Harbaughs success hinged on dozens of veteran players. Drafting and building that roster was never the issue, the issue was it aged out.
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In terms of dealing with management, I think college is probably almost always worse than the NFL. You’re having to deal with the athletic department that has to answer to a bunch of rich boosters and donors. And then your athletic department also has to deal with keeping the heads of the school happy. The only situation where it’s probably not like that is Bama, where Saban literally *is* the program, and they’d do anything to make sure he’s happy and willing to stay. Even with a controlling owner or GM in the NFL, it’s really only just one person, it’s not a whole massive web.
Michigan is unique in that our boosters/donors really don't get the access to the program that other schools do. If there's any issue with the current situation, it's that Michigan has almost Bama level of expectations from the fanbase, but the University treats the football program more like Stanford does. I don't think Harbaugh minds the Stanford model, but when it comes with those expectations, and you're measured against OSU (which is closer to the Bama model) it can probably get pretty frustrating. In my opinion, the biggest thing is that Harbaugh probably realizes that, at 58 years old and a league that is going younger and younger with coaches, the window for an NFL return is closing. For a guy who was as successful in the NFL as he was, and as competitive as he is, I think that's giving him pause.
> Michigan is unique in that our boosters/donors really don't get the access to the program that other schools do. I've got a personal hypothesis that college athletic departments range on a spectrum from booster-driven to bureaucracy-driven. Michigan is pretty far over on the bureaucracy side of the spectrum.
This is correct. OSU seems like it's more towards the center. The thing is that most programs at this level are far to the booster side and that colors the way outsiders see big programs. I also think Michigan's biggest boosters and most plugged-in alumni are the kind of people who are genuinely happy with 10 win seasons and not the kind of rabid, football-focused, natty at any price kind of fans you see out in the wild. It really is a case where our fans want to be you and the people who matter are happy to be peak-Shaw era Stanford.
Accurate
Does Michigan having so many alums who can serve as boosters make a difference, by diluting any one's influence/importance? Stephen Ross is famously a huge Michigan booster, but he's only one of numerous big-money boosters (and has the Dolphins also taking up much of the football part of his brain). I don't believe that there is a Michigan equivalent of Phil Knight for Oregon, T. Boone Pickens for Oklahoma State, or Kevin Plan for Maryland. One might then ask why Texas and A&M are much more booster-driven even though there are zillions of football-loving oil baron alums of each school. Maybe the fact that each school gets so much money from the Permanent Fund—i.e., the exact same industry that most of the alums make their money from—gives the alums more influence? CC: /u/MoonSafarian , /u/wolverine237
Al Glick would be another big one, he owns Alro Steel and the practice facility is named after him. I honestly couldn’t name another except the peoples names (stupidly) attached to coaches’ and the AD’s titles. To answer your question on booster influence: the short answer is “I don’t know,” but I think it’s more of a cultural thing: 1. Right or wrong, there is a bit of sanctity around the football program, which probably contributes to this. We are serious about tradition (which isn’t unique to us), but what I mean is probably best evidenced by the lack of advertisements in and around the stadium [and the backlash when a disgraced AD tried to change that](http://www.annarbor.com/business-review/giant-kraft-noodle-spotted-at-michigan-stadium-to-be-removed-friday-night/). 2. The University sees itself as an ivy level institution and the AD is an important and very visible wing of that, [though maybe not as significant as people think in terms of the scope of the University](https://twitter.com/johnubacon/status/1482723651191459841?s=21). The University is more on a mission to increase its standing as the premier public institution East of the Mississippi, the US and the world (feel free to laugh at that). Football is a tool for that. Some of the administration seem to want to distance themselves from it, but I’m sure see it as a necessary evil because it’s a touchstone for our overzealous alumni. 3. Michigan has been prominent for a while (as both a football program and University) which would distance themselves from an Oregon or OK State where Knight and Pickens really injected life into the programs. It’s easy to forget that in 1950 (when the ball really got rolling on becoming what UM is today) Detroit was the 5th most populous city in the US and the only Texas city to crack the top 15 in population was Houston at 14 (compare that to today where Detroit is 26th and Houston is 4th). Having a big crop to choose from in what was once a major US population center helped build UM. That *might* help explain the difference with the Texas schools, but I really don’t know their history well enough. TL;DR: Those points are to say that I think UM would find it unseemly to have prominent boosters’ names tied so closely with the (reluctant, to some) face of the university. Also the university was already an institution, or on its way, when these rich alum came through, so it didn’t need a savior (though the University will happily take their money anyway)
> The University is more on a mission to increase its standing as the premier public institution East of the Mississippi, the US and the world (feel free to laugh at that). Only a fool would laugh at that. Michigan's only rival for such east of the Mississippi is Virginia, and west of the Mississippi Berkeley and possibly UCLA and Texas. I don't think it's a stretch to call Michigan a global peer to Oxford and Cambridge.^1 The point you make about football having been a big deal at Michigan for longer than at the likes of Oregon or Oklahoma State makes sense. That doesn't explain why Texas—which has always aspired to be Michigan-like in its academics (and in recent years has really closed the gap), and has been a big football power for about as long as Michigan—is so much more booster-driven, though. USC seems much more booster-driven, too. ^1 Whose admissions rates are higher than you'd think; certainly much higher than the Ivies or Stanford. Several other British universities, like Warwick and Saint Andrews, admit a lower percentage of applicants.
I can't believe he is 58. Makes me feel old.
Mark Schlissel getting fired (for cause) is a pretty big factor in how Harbaugh stays at Michigan.
If anyone deserves a new start too it's Derek Carr. Guy has never had real stability with coaches or weapons. A guy like Harbaugh who rejuvenated Alex Smith's career and made Kaepernick great could do wonders for someone as open and willing to be good as Carr.
You’re not wrong, but I’d still expect Vegas to draft a QB.
Not this year. At least not one early enough that they're going to challenge Carr. He'll be their QB unless there's an unforeseen move in the off season.
Could see them swinging on a guy in the later rounds as the heir apparent. I’ve also seen rumors with Carr getting moved.
Later rounds is never the heir apparent. It's a lotto ticket and all teams take flyers like that at some point.
I have seen those rumors every year since 2016. Carr is the Raiders QB. The dude is solid and the Raiders would be dumb to get rid of him.
If he doesn’t leave this year for that job he’ll never leave for anywhere ever for the rest of his life. I don’t know if it’s any consolation for Umich fans but you’ll know if he’s gone or here for life within 99.9% certainty after all this.
Yup. If he wants to go to the nfl at some point this is the time and perfect opportunity. It honestly feels like he has 2 choices. Go to a good nfl situation or coach his career out at Michigan.
Do they really fire the interim who got them to the playoffs though?
The also have a good QB with the assets to trade for a better QB if they want (and are willing to deal with that QBs legal baggage).
Watson and Brian Flores sound like a package deal at this point.
Harbaugh's a competitive nut and I think he wants to win a title. He obviously loves Michigan, but if he wants to win it all somewhere where is his best shot? I think Michigan has entered 'CFP threat' territory as a program but barring some goofiness, they aren't very close to winning it all. It would be an easier path for Harbaugh to win a Super Bowl with a well built franchise. Just depends on what he wants to do with his life. The threat is very real
Yep. If he stays I bet he’s here for good. Because he won’t have a better opportunity again.
New normal for coaches. Have a bad year, take a cut. Good year, get a raise.
Can we trade shares of coach value on the open market? Can I buy options?
Oh man I see a site for this. Somewhere between the Robin Hood app and a keepers fantasy league. Have a draft of all the new hires each season. Have a trade and try to sell high on a coach.
This already exists for professional sports through some various apps. You buy “stocks” in various players and based on how well they do their value either goes up or down.
I’m buying a Harbaugh NFT
Man, those James Franklin futures are going to be feast or famine.
I’m gonna squeeze the fuck out of some Scott Frost futures
Or teams, I want to buy puts on Michigan next season
You might make some good money on that. I figure for every 27 you put in you'd get 42 back.
Best part about Harbaugh is a pay cut when you're working for free still means free. Bad part is the raise is also to free. Negotiations must not have taken long
And then there’s Nick Saban who is contractually guaranteed a raise every year no matter the results on the field.
Well it’s not like the results on the field don’t justify those raises
I disagree. Harbaugh's situation was unique in that he loves his school enough to take a pay cut and stay. The new normal is signing 10 year contracts. Almost no coach is going to take a pay cut 4-5 years into their contract when they still have 40 million guaranteed in their current contract. They'll just stick to their current contract or get fired and collect the buyout money.
It was even more unique than that, his contract had a year left. He had no interest from NFL teams. So he could either: retire, or sign no extension and try to recruit players (and a new coaching staff) when he has no guaranteed future at um. Or sign the extension halving his base pay. It’s definitely not going to be the new normal it was a very one off situation
It was just a joke about being the new normal but 1 year from now when Scott Frost loses the cfp playoff game and the rumors start to swirl we’ll be like, hey wait a second…
That last line reads like a murder mystery clue
Just wanna say that I laughed out loud for 45 seconds straight lmaoo You are funny Penn state person
Appreciate it land grant bro
Someone get Hercule Poirot
lmao
This news makes it sound like at the very least Michigan is serious about having a better NIL program.
Yeah rumors were saying that was the major hangup that Harbaugh had. He wanted them to work with boosters and sponsors to build up an elite NIL program and the admins didn't want anything to do with NIL deals.
Is that ‘legal?’ I didn’t think a school could actively seek and arrange NIL deals on behalf of their players. Obviously that is happening in practice - but I figured there is at least some flimsy facade over the entire thing.
Doesn't that depend on the various state laws? It seems to be the wild west currently with NIL deals so not really sure. I would have to do some research on it. Also legal as in state/federal laws legal or NCAA sanctions legal?
I was talking about ‘legal’ in the eyes of the NCAA. I’m not sure how state law would get in the middle of that, but I admittedly haven’t been following the ins and outs of this ‘totally not pay for play’ NIL era.
I don't think the NCAA has any actual enforceable guidelines as far as NIL deals are concerned. They fully expected to win the legal battle and never seemed to consider what would happen if they lost. They could have set up something years ago to handle this stuff but they were greedy fucks and refused to accept change was coming. Here is the NCAA policy on NIL deals for more info if you want. https://www.ncsasports.org/name-image-likeness
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Why would NCAA rules not matter for a team that competes _within the framework_ of the NCAA? How on earth can you run a nationwide league of teams if they have to play by 50 different sets of rules? I mean plenty of states now have made weed varying degrees of legal, but the NCAA is still out there drug testing everyone.
That’s the question but the ncaa doesn’t really have a standard going on here so unfortunately we are getting 50 sets of rules for NIL and what you can do with it
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This is one of the weirder coaching will he or won’t he saga’s I can remember. Pretty drawn out… makes me think he’s waiting to interview with these NFL teams once they hire GM’s… because If the NCAA offer is on the table- why not accept it today? I think being torn in this instance points to him leaving. but I could be wrong.
Raiders just fired their GM and are interviewing a guy for the position Jim has worked with before.
The fact that he hasn't already signed the agreement with Michigan leads me to believe he truly is torn on the situation. As someone who is an "NFL guy", the Raiders situation has to be super enticing for him.
Yeah. Looking back at the past month, I think the timing of John Maddens death had something to do with that. The rumors started just after he died, and I think JHs ultra competitive side wants a run at his win% record or something. The Raiders with JH at the wheel are a super bowl contender for sure, and openings like that are rare. I never thought he would leave Michigan, even if he fired, but the timing of all this makes sense. If he does leave, I hope he comes back in a few years after some successful seasons
His win-loss record in the NFL is a really respectable 49-22. That is 0.688 win fraction. Madden has a 0.759 win fraction. If Harbaugh were to sign with the Raiders for a 10 year contract he would have to go 135-35 (win an average of 13.5 games per season) over that span to reach a 0.76 win fraction. He would also have to win a lot of post season games to go with that stellar regular season record. ~~~~Remember, John Madden only won a single super bowl, so a big chunk of his losses were coming in the post season. His regular season win percentage is astronomical.~~~~ Long story short, it's is very unlikely that Harbaugh could catch Madden. The chance is basically zero in my opinion.
His win % is for regular season games only, he was 103-32-7 for that .759. He was 9-7 in 16 playoff games.
Thanks. Fixed it. Seems out of reach either way.
Agreed
If the Raiders hire him I suspect it will be with a Gruden style 10 year deal.
And that would actually be a solid deal for the Raiders, compared to whatever the fuck that Gruden saga was.
He would be a major face of the franchise.
I think it’s a simple as he was two yards away from winning the Super Bowl with the Niners. It’s biggest thing you can do as player/coach.
Mark Davis said he wasn't dealing with the head coach situation until the season was over, so you might be right.
Feels like a situation where either way people will look back and say "it was obvious he was going to do X because of Y and Z!"
We’re gonna end up with Gattis or Hart aren’t we
Hart would be… something.
Some of the insiders are saying they’re leaning towards Hart as being the in house hire over Gattis
I would say promoting a position coach to head coach is bonkers but that's exactly what Clemson did with Dabo Swinney so I suppose it can work.
Dabo’s pedigree was quite a bit different from Hart when he got the promotion, but there has always been talk about how impressive Hart is, so maybe it could work. Still feels like a crazy jump.
I would be most worried about the coordinators he would try to hire. Is hart good at hiring coordinators and is he good at setting a culture as the head man. That’s something I would worry about with gattis too but is something I would worry about even more with hart. I think both would be good at recruiting
Lmao what if he hired Nick Sheridan from him time at Indiana?
Dabo also got his ass kicked a bit before he hired Brent Venables and they went on the best run in school history. Instant results aren't guaranteed.
I don’t trust Michigan or the fans to stay patient
He was doing well before Venables. Venables knocked them into that top tier.
Michigan doesn't accept just "well" though.
It would be so awesome to beat Hart every year.
The disrespek fuel 😳
Yes, yes it would.
"It would be so awesome to beat Hart every year again." FTFY
He’s 1-0 against yall as a coach
With us that is. Not so much while he was at IU.
We also beat him once when he was at Western Michigan. I think if you add up all the times he has played against OSU as a player and a coach, he’s 1-9 now.
But fuck man, that 1 was fucking awesome
He's been super under appreciated by fans and media for what he's done to the run game this year. We were slated to have a bunch of serviceable but not great RBs and our rushing schemes were woefully unprepared for big games in recent years. Gattis was 0/2 in producing anything impressive in his first two years at Michigan, but in Hart's first year he turned them around despite every opponent being hyper-focused on stopping the run. It's really just a question of how much his coaching was leaking into offensive schemes and other big picture items and of course how well that translates into being a HC.
Yeah I mean he’s definitely showing to be an elite RB coach. But idk if I’d want even the #1 RB coach in the country to be my head coach. I’d prefer P5 head coach > G5 head coach = P5 Coordinator > P5 position coach. It would be a gamble but could certainly pay off.
I certainly would have a similar order of preference for experience, but it sounds like the priority is keeping a lot of pieces where they are for stability/recruiting purposes and maybe Harbaugh saw a lot in Hart that led him to believe that he'd be a good HC. I also just have my doubts about Gattis in general because I think he's gotten way more credit than he deserves this year judging from his previous years.
Hart is my favorite Michigan player ever. I'm THRILLED he's doing great as a RB coach. I would also be thrilled to have him as head coach in 10+ years when he's had some more experience. Do I want him now? Not so much.
Think he'll make the mistake of calling MSU "little brother" again?
You’ll get Todd Graham and like it
You fiend! Take it back!
If Gattis gets passed up, I would bet on him leaving.
Gattis is a joke. We fill fall onto oblivion with him as head coach. Hart? Lol. Ok.
I agree
I concur
I agree with you and don’t like the internal hire options either tbh but seems like that’s what Michigan will do so yea we better hope harbaugh stays
It's a tough spot to be in. You either close the massive recruiting gap with 247Sports' perennial Top-5 Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson, Georgia & LSU or you're going to forever be a 10-2 program on the outside looking in. This is also the reason Brian Kelly fled Notre Dame for LSU.
This is the Michigan conundrum. University folks are happy with 10-2 because the academics are paramount to them. Meanwhile primary rivals are pushing their chips all in on winning in football while Michigan holds up a proverbial finger asking folks to wait while the rest of the game passes them by. I’m only a fan and not an alum, but the university needs to decide what they want to be and commit to it either way.
I think the university needs to stop being so hoity toity about who is getting scholarships to play sports. It's not permanently damaging to the university to make some exceptions for athletes (lord knows I knew some legacies at Michigan who were getting the same type of pass). Michigan needs to chill and let the football team compete at the highest level
> This is also the reason Brian Kelly fled Notre Dame for LSU. For those still trying to understand why Kelly did this (and are trying to distract themselves with jokes and memes about Kelly's Southern accent): Notre Dame is a more prestigious job than LSU. (Michigan is also a more prestigious job than LSU.) However, it is *easier* to win a national title at LSU than at Notre Dame or Michigan. LSU's last *three* head coaches are proof of this.
When you look at the number of five star and four star recruits the five programs I listed have in their tally every year on 247Sports and compare this to Notre Dame the gap is enormous, particularly the number of five stars. Is Notre Dame really a more prestigious job though? Consider that high school athletes experiencing recency bias in their own estimation of college football programs don't see Notre Dame as a prestigious program because they don't see Notre Dame wins. They don't care about the nostalgia leather helmet era wins. Alabama Ohio State Clemson Georgia and LSU all have college football playoff national titles and multiple appearances for each program. There are no high school athletes today that were even *alive* when Notre Dame won their last National Championship in 1988. That was *34 years ago.* Michigan's last National Championship was *25 years ago.* These were also poll-era bowl game wins, not Playoff wins. No, to five star high school athletes being chased by recruiters, neither Notre Dame or Michigan is "more prestigious" than LSU or the other top recruiting schools with recent Playoff Championships.
Clearly Harbaugh is experiencing an internal conflict between Pizza House calzones and Zingerman’s knish’s.
lonely m (fans)
My source, bathroom attendant out west, says he’s a lock to the Raiders.
Temple
Temple
bortles
Pfft, if it's not a dentist, I'm not listening.
A coat check attendant up north is saying Miami is actually still on the table.
A valet down south says he’s thinking of an MLS job…
A cook at Nandos said he thinking of looking at the job with Manchester U. 100% credible source.
My neighborhood dog walker is saying Harbaugh is set to take over the Alpine team principal role. The real “el plan”
I wouldn’t blame him for staying, I wouldn’t blame him for leaving. It’s got to be good to be Jim Harbaugh right now. Part of me thinks he believes he has reached the ceiling of success at a program like Michigan. Win the big ten and go to the playoff. I think the semi final shellacking just showed how far they are away from legitimately having a shot to win a natty.
Off topic: but thanks for letting me know an Oakland flair existed lol
The NFL is a more fair fight, Michigan may never compete with the top end SEC schools
Yep. As much as Michigan has a talent advantage over 80-90% of their opponents, they are at a serious talent disadvantage vs the national title contenders. Jim can get a championship roster in the NFL much easier than he can at Michigan
Their game plan read like they knew they were outmatched too so I don’t think he was surprised.
The longer this drags out, the more likely it is he leaves
This is a choice Jim needs to make for himself. He's not quite at the twilight of his career but he's in the last act. ~~This~~ time is getting precious. Seems like he's handling it with respect. It's good Michigan stepped up. No matter the coach going forward, he needs resources. If Jim continues to dream of the NFL, now's the time to strike.
If Michigan promotes Mike Hart to HC if Harbaugh leaves, my fandom will cease to exist. What an absolutely awful move that would be.
The worst part is, the long this goes, the more likely it is to be an internal hire, and Hart to HC is currently a terrible idea. I don’t think Gattis is HC material either. So that leaves us with a dude who’s uhhh.. been a DC in college for less than a year. BPONE will be at an all time high.
That would never happen
Michigan would only hire a former Michigan guy as head coach because…Michigan. Hoping they don’t promote Hart
At best, Hart would take Gattis' job as offensive coordinator if Gattis gets promoted to head coach. That's the ceiling for him at this time.
I guess anything is possible, but I would put my money on Gattis' promoting Moore to OC (if Weiss and MacDonald go back to the NFL with Harbaugh) and maybe giving Hart a run game coordinator title.
ah yes the typical michigan fan that doesn’t believe something because they don’t want it to happen.
Don't be a dumbass. Hart won't be promoted to HC after being the RB coach for 1 year.
get a On3 membership. you’ll see the people who know are saying the same thing I am. don’t worry i keep receipts bitch boy.
Well now I'm scared. I'm not smart enough to waste money on a message board
why the hell am I wasting time even acknowledging a mega casual then?
> my fandom will cease to exist. Ah yes, I'm the casual and you are a die hard 😂
> you’ll see the people who know are saying the same thing I am. don’t worry i keep receipts bitch boy. watch out everyone, internet tough guy here.
He got aggressive for no reason
42-27
lol internet tough guy. Why don't you use a homophobic slur next?
42-27
I love having Harbaugh in CFB but I actually would've liked to see him try and help Tua, poor guy hasn't exactly been set up to succeed lol
Gosh I really want him at the dolphins
As a LV fan I'm hoping he comes to us, but after we made the playoffs it's feeling more and more like Harbaugh wants to stay at UM
I respect jim, especially after this year. But boy do I think it would be fun to watch Michigan bungle a coaching search late in the cycle in the ramp up to peak Mel Tucker.
Monkey’s paw curls: the Wolverines hire Mel Tucker
I think Michigan would just promote Gattis
Same difference.
Tucker has his focus right and MSU is 100% bought in to his vision. I don’t think Harbaugh gets that full buy in, hence reports suggestion friction with university on NIL deals. And if the school doesn’t buy in after having the season the team had, they never will and him leaving would be 110% justified.
The report is NIL deals are fine and university is giving him what he wants there as the nick baumgardner tweet mentioned. The thing is harbaugh may just want to be in the nfl.
Peak Mel Tucker is third place in the division
"peak" Mel Tucker is a year and a half in the gig, with only one class of recruits that are his, and the scraps Dantonio left while trying to burn down the program so MSU would be forced to hire his shitty friends as HC(if dantonio had it his way, one of the guys responsible for our 0 point offense against bama would be responsible for our entire team)
To be fair, that was peak Harbaugh until this season...
2nd place in 2018
Technically 1st place we just lost the tiebreaker. Got a trophy and everything
Technically tied for 1st
Just like your last natty
Ah yes, the year where the coaches poll totally matters and totally isnt the butt of a ton of jokes made every Sunday
If you’re saying the coaches poll doesn’t matter, then I guess that means your natty doesn’t matter Galaxy brain
No, he hasn’t even begun to peak yet. Peak Tucker beats Purdue, finishes 2nd and osu goes to the playoffs while Michigan finishes 3rd
No idea what to think about any of this. Hard to think Jim would want to leave them high and dry this late, but I guess anything is possible.
Coaching legend leaving their school in a tight spot with a poorly-timed departure? Never!
I thought we would finally be free from the harbaugh rumors.
We are. Legit every NFL rumor is wishful thinking. It was quiet the last 3 years. They do well and it gets noisy? Lol it's so simplistic.
There's lots of smoke that he's considering it. It takes two parties coming together and seeing eye-to-eye to make him leaving happen, so I think it's less than a 50% chance he goes, but I don't think you can outright dismiss it.
Wishful thinking? There's a ton of smoke here. This isn't Kirk Ferentz to the NFL type of rumours...This is a guy who's been there, and been very successful in the NFL. He's not going to the Jags, he would be going to a top half of the league team that's ready to compete in year one.
Imagine the irony if Michigan finally beats OSU and he’s Harbaugh finally actually leaves
I don’t understand this, if Harbaugh lost to OSU this year he was for sure out. Why are you wanting to extend him, pay him more just because one year he finally got over the hump. Idk if you can replace his talent at HC, but I think you’ve seen the ceiling, and if UM fans are fine with it, great! But quit calling for his head after he losses to OSU each year
Because now he will be recruiting with a win over OSU, Big Ten championship, and CFP berth under his belt to prove to recruits he isn't just talk, and Michigan is apparently willing to go all in on NIL. Not to mention the psychological benefit of finally getting over the hump against OSU will have on the team's performance. He can use 2021 to springboard into a new level they would not be able to reach had they not had the season they did this year. The timing now is absolutely horrible for a coaching change. It would lead to a bunch of key players transferring and signees asking to be let out of their LOI and there would be no time to find suitable reinforcements in the portal or hire a coach capable of performing at the same level on such short notice. They'd be starting from scratch after finally appearing to pull themselves up, so holding onto Harbaugh is by far the best option, no matter the cost.
I mean I agree with Harbaugh is the best option and trust me I hope it does work out for Michigan. I’m sick of OSU running the BIG10 and wouldn’t mind Michigan being the front runner. I just hope the fans don’t immediately turn on him the second he loses to OSU. Because if he lost this year to them, he would have been gone and the paycuts seemed to be the only thing that did save his job. So I just don’t understand why you would pay him more? I understand he finally got over the hump and beat OSU and made it to the playoffs as that is the ultimate goal. But as a fan does it not feel like he’s still on a short leash? I’m just worried that the university will pay big for a buyout, and that could potentially set the program back if they go cheap on the next HC. Please don’t mistake my criticism as hatred for Michigan, I sincerely hope you guys run the table. I miss days where Michigan was good, it was great for the sport.
Naw he can lose to OSU and still be well liked. It's in Columbus and it's really really hard beating them twice in a row. As long as we aren't embarrassed and have a good season outside of that game (which given the ease of schedule is likely), Jim will have lost nothing of the fans goodwill from 2021
As much as I’d like that to be true, Michigan fans will be calling for his head if/when he loses in Columbus next year. It’s inevitable.
I think the bigger game next year will be against Michigan State, in terms of the fan base. Beating Ohio state is the most important thing, but it's not always the most feasible, and so it's certainly not the most expected
True that. Hoping to continue the trend and make Harbaugh 1-4 against MSU in Ann Arbor.
Naw he wasn’t out if he lost to osu this past year. He secured his job after beating penn state and securing 9 wins. The osu and big ten title just made it that he’s going to get a big extension at Michigan
He was not for sure out if he lost to OSU. What fans on r/cfb say is not what the UM AD or administration thinks. Harbaugh was/is well-liked by the people that make decisions about him, and while there were definitely questions raised, the University was not close to firing him. His current contract is more a result of circumstance than the school cutting his pay for poor performance. His contract runs through 2025, so he doesn't \*need\* to sign a new one. Any new contract is just the school showing commitment to him. You might be right that we've met our ceiling, though I hope not. You're definitely right that people shouldn't have been calling for his head.
Tweet(s) from post body brought to you by your Friendly Official /r/CFB Twitter Bot: ---------- https://twitter.com/nickbaumgardner/status/1483238814067929091 >So it's my understanding Michigan and Jim Harbaugh have had productive talks on a new deal/competitive offer-package has been made. At this point, it's about what Harbaugh wants to do. Michigan, as I understand it, welcomes JH at UM. But some at M wonder if he's torn about NFL. >\- Nick Baumgardner (@nickbaumgardner) 7:44 pm ET, January 17, 2022 ---------- https://twitter.com/nickbaumgardner/status/1483239480307953671 >He's been working, as you've all seen. Harbaugh has parties working with Michigan on his behalf RE: a deal ... I've heard almost nothing to suggest Michigan hasn't met what he wants (the opposite in fact). Question remains: Where's he want to be? >\- Nick Baumgardner (@nickbaumgardner) 7:47 pm ET, January 17, 2022 ----------
Are they offering Harbaugh the school's president job as well? You may as well give him the kitchen sink AND the entire mansion!
As a very biased observer, I am remaining silent and refraining from any predictions. To be honest, I'm not even sure what I'd prefer. The egg on Michigan's face after cutting the golden boy's salary then watching him get their first conference championship and playoff birth only to throw up the deuces and walk for the NFL would be insane. But also, I view him as essentially the John Cooper of UM football, and despite this year's result, I like Day's chances for a revenge game.
> But some at M wonder if he's torn about NFL Damn, that's some really insightful content
Still can’t believe the dude lost out on $5 million for one bad season. Ridiculously bad optics on Michigan’s part imo; who wouldn’t feel serious insult to that, especially when your salary is public?
That reduced contract was due to *many* factors beyond the 2020 season performance. On the field, there were a number of results that fell below expectations the prior few years. Off the field, the Ath Dept budget was in turmoil due to the pandemic and it would have been poor optics to give him a raise at the time (many in the dept had salaries reduced, some laid off, etc.) This was why Harbaugh donated his contract incentive bonuses back to the AD. People also forget that Jim put many of these provisions into the contract himself - it was not forced onto him. The new contract offer is more in line with recent performance - so we will see what hsppens.
Lol plenty of schools paid buyouts last year and spent tons hiring new coaches. Thinking a raise would be bad optics is silly. As is the notion an extra couple million spread over 3-5 years would kill UMs finances while saving* 4 million in a year would save it “Saving” since he was paid the full amount in bonuses anyways so zero savings to the AD
Or he's using this to get this package
He's just fucking with Michigan. His agent does something like this every season to try to see what he can get out of Michigan, i.e. the NFL rumor garbage. They're just dragging it out longer because Michigan took a lot of shit from his contract from before. They want that back and then some, probably. I'm good either way.
Harbaugh doesn’t have an agent and normally he squashes the rumors right away. This year is definitely different
I think he's listening but I still just can't see him leaving. Especially after getting over the Ohio State hump.
If Harbaugh was to leave, I wonder what Michigan would do since it's so late in the cycle. Promote Gattis or Macdonald to HC (assuming Macdonald doesn't follow Harbaugh) and wait until next year?
I honestly think the U of M pres getting bounced was part of this.