Even in this semi-meaningless pandemic-stricken season, we were hoping that the product wouldn't be this bad. Harbaugh is a zombie on the sidelines, a shell of his former self. He either got fat and lazy from getting a mega contract, or he might be suffering from CTE (which is not something I want to make light about, but this "source" is a guy I know who knows a guy). Regardless I do not think he is fit for the job and hasn't been since the 2018 loss at Ohio State.
In 2015, I wasn't overly-happy, but I suspended any doubts I had about the trajectory knowing that it would be a building year; I saw some flaws, but left open the possibility that I would be very very wrong. 2016, those same flaws continued, but I couldn't argue with the W/L record and NFL-caliber players. 2017 was when it really hit the fan with injuries and horrendous QB play; I complained a lot but also knew in the back of my head that it had the potential to be a lost season as most of the new starters would have been guys who Michigan settled for in the 2015 recruiting dead period between coaching changes. 2018, again I saw serious issues and a down B1G, but it was another shot for Harbaugh to get over the hump. 2019 saw the ridiculous haphazard hire of Josh Gattis when there were 40 other coordinators out there in the country with a proven, unassailable track record that he should have gotten instead and it cost us an entire year of player development. Now, the crap we're seeing in 2020 where guys don't even want to play for this man.
Harbaugh's biggest structural problems:
- Lack of QB development. Rudock -> Speight -> Peters -> Patterson -> Milton. Michigan's QB play has been dreadful, and honestly some of the worst sustained QB play at a major college football powerhouse since 2015. Give me a blueblood who has been worse during that span. Maybe Tennessee or Miami.
- Gameplanning. From 15-18 it was the offense that wouldn't modernize. Since 2018 in their matchups against elite offenses, the defense gets completely shredded. Harbaugh's staff is one of the worst at making halftime adjustments in the NCAA.
- Recruiting. Michigan has been getting a lot of low-hanging fruit from the Northeast. Maybe it's a negative stereotype, but the Northeast has a reputation for producing soft football players and there is certainly not a very large football culture out there. Recruiting services tend to inflate the pedigree of guys if blue blood start chasing them, but the problem is Michigan and Penn State are oftentimes the only schools making a hard push to get these guys. You don't see Clemson, A&M, Georgia, Bama, USC, Ohio State, or Oklahoma really go hard for them. Worse yet, Michigan "casts a wide net" and tries to figure out the details later. Harbaugh is not invested in finding guys who fit a scheme or have personality types. He is picking up whoever he can find and arrogantly thinking he can mold a well-rounded football team out of whoever he gets. Lloyd Carr's path to stocking his rosters full of NFL-caliber potential was cutting into Ohio. Michigan has for all intents and purposes abandoned Ohio recruiting, which is also where you find guys who have a chip on their shoulders against the Buckeyes. No wonder we have lost that edge in that "rivalry" game. Now Ohio guys who don't end up at OSU are going to MSU, Cincinnati, Kentucky, Notre Dame, and Penn State, or sometimes even the other SEC schools. Michigan needs a slice of that action in order to get better.
- Pushing people away. Many of his best recruits and players either leave the team or transfer out, leaving the cupboard bare in the process. They either don't like his style, don't like him, or feel they're not getting their due with playing time. We had a top 10 receiving unit in America in 2018 in terms of skill and potential, and it was left untapped because we couldn't open up the offense. Peoples-Jones left for the pros because he said Michigan was hurting his draft stock, Black is playing for Texas, and Collins sat this year out. Ambry Thomas quit on the team. Aubrey Soloman left to Tennessee. Duwumfor went to Rutgers (plays Michigan next week). It's a terrible look. McCaffery, who would be better than Milton if given playing time, left the team.
Bottom line is Michigan needs a change and Harbaugh needs a change of scenery (provided that rumor isn't true, otherwise he should focus on staying healthy). Harbaugh would be better off for a short stint in the NFL. My favorite candidates to replace Harbaugh: Meyer, Petersen, Stoops, Whittingham, Campbell, Fickell, Joe Brady, Jeff Hafley, Gary Patterson, Billy Napier, Pat Fitzgerald. Any one of them could do better or at least equal Harbaugh's tenure. The reason being, outside of a decent winning %, Harbaugh has brought zero division titles, one semi-important bowl victory, zero playoff appearances, zero Heismans, one practice squad NFL QB, a .500 record against Michigan State, and zero victories against Ohio State in 6 years.
Anyway, it was fun venting about Michigan football one more time here! How has this year been treating you guys?
![Mr. Green :mrgreen:](./images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif)