Long before the Los Angeles Chargers offered him millions of dollars to return to the NFL and potential power levels limited only by the imagination, Jim Harbaughand#039’s legacy was already etched into the bricks and stones of Michigan Stadium..
Harbaugh is a legend, and not just because he became the first coach in history to miss half of a team’s regular-season games and still win a national championship. Heand is a legend who endured the nine years it took to complete the mission. Head#039; is a legend to lead one of the most traditional programs in existence back to the top..
At times, Harbaughand’s tenure has been clumsy, clumsy and perhaps even embarrassing. But it was also done in its own way..
The same coach who hired Connor Stallions also won 10 games with Jake Rudock at quarterback. In an era of spectacular offensive development, Michigan won with a punishing rushing attack and a defense that would make a boa blush. Sure, it was boring at times, but it was also pretty impressive..
Head#039; is a legend who almost went from a city led by rival Ohio State to Buckeyes country. The legend of surpassing his mentor Bo Schembechler (possible). A legend for repeating worn out clichés like player loyalty and daily training that mattered. (Michigan quarterbacks were tackled to the ground in his first spring game in 2015.).
Never mind questions about how Harbaugh led his alma mater back into the limelight. Coach Khaki leaves town with two ongoing NCAA investigations into the program. But if you look through all the layers of Jim Harbaugh, one thing becomes clear: he’s better at leaving places than finding them. San Diego, Stanford, the San Francisco 49ers, Michigan — they all improved when they met Harbaugh. They would all kill to have him back, which can be a benchmark to measure a truly legendary coach..
Never mind that Harbaugh may be an acquired taste. When he accepted the Michigan job, I asked a former Stanford administrator about the nasty Harbaugh anecdote. This person was satisfied and had a hard time finding a positive quote to use on the record.The bigger story is that Harbaugh bends the program, the school and the sport to his will. The man denied the equality and appeal of college football, the spread of crime and the powerful SEC..
In Ann Arbor, Michigan, little else matters. If time and countless NCAA investigations into other programs have taught us anything, it’s that other things ultimately didn’t win and don’t really matter. The NCAA can’t take the Wolverines and#039; 2023 championships out; Please note that the association does not sponsor championships at the FBS level. That would leave the decision in the hands of the College Football Playoff, which frankly would not have the balls to take such action.The Stallions were able to hand out Big Ten playbooks in the football building. Michigan didn’t have to cheat; The Wolverines went 15-0 and outscored opponents by nearly 30 points per game.
Harbaugh is a long way off before the NCAA potentially loses wins. When and if the sentence is given, they can still publish his name on State Street in Ann Arbor.During Harbaughand#039’s nearly ten years in office, rebuilding Michigan’s football program took longer than expected. It was doubly difficult because the only standard is to win Ohio State, win the Big Ten and win the national championship – in that order. It wasn’t too long that Harbaugh was a big part of the problem because his teams were responsible for an eight-game losing streak in the final half of the game andquot;The Team Down South.andquot;.
When Harbaugh hit his bottom came a season affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Wolverines went 2-4 in 2020 and his job was in jeopardy. He accepted a 50 percent pay cut in a revised contract to help repair the ship and keep the mission on track.andquot;Those were dark days, because you play in Michigan and you and you should be on the biggest stage,andquot; offensive lineman Trevor Keegan told CBS Sports.In the depths of this frustrating 2020 season, Harbaugh sent an email to his players. The details are still unclear years later, but the show described how Michigan planned to dig its way out.Since then, Michigan has lost three times in three seasons. That number also matches Ohio State’s streak of Big Ten titles, CFP appearances and wins.It must have been some kind of email. Only one coach could write that.You also get Jim World with Harbaugh. In Jim World, the coach is/was a man followed by loyal players as well as… hand-raised chickens. His press conferences can reach the stratosphere.He climbed trees to impress the recruiters. After hearing of his love for the restaurant chain, Cracker Barrel sent Harbaugh a rocking chair engraved with his name. That spring, the coach kept the gift closer to the table than the TV.After returning to his alma mater in 2015, Harbaugh hired the Jacksonville Jaguars offensive coordinator as his first QB coach. That man was Jedd Fisch, who recently accepted the head coaching job in Washington after an impressive turnaround of Arizona’s program.It’s fine, the man himself could carve his name on the side of the Big House with a plastic spoon and a dentist’s drill. His way worked – for him.Oh, he can crush China (figuratively), confuse his athletic director (really), deflate his ego and put the program on probation, but college football has always been a zero-sum game. Either you achieve or you don’t.andquot;Heand#039;s not perfect,andquot; Schembechlerand Shemy’s son once said about Harbaugh, but the head is the closest we have here. andquot;Harbaugh has done this to such an extent that one day – maybe soon – he will be considered the greatest coach in Michigan history. heresy? Schembechler never won the title. Lloyd Carr shared his. Fritz Crislerand’s 1947 championship — Michigan’s last back-to-back before the previous season — came in 10 games. The 2023 Michigan team won all 15 and no opponent scored more than 24 points. This boa never gave up.It would be hard to remember that Harbaugh was the first 300-yard passer as a Michiganand. His career passing efficiency topped the NCAA record list for 12 years. The Big Ten MVP, he was third in the 1986 Heisman Trophy voting. He was more Michigan than Great Lakes.It bears repeating that Harbaugh can dress you. With San Diego, Stanford and the 49ers, Harbaugh did not last more than four years. During his run in San Francisco, he led the Niners to three NFC Championship games and a Super Bowl.Anyway, Harbaugh took these programs to unprecedented heights. In the 68-year history of San Diego football, no coach has accomplished the 11-1 seasons that Harbaugh did in 2005 and 2006. He started the longest streak in Stanford football history. The 49ers haven’t been back to the Super Bowl since Harbaughand’s senior year in 2012, when he lost to his brother John Harbaugh and the Baltimore Ravens.Now Jim and John Harbaugh can win a sports championship within 34 days of each other. John will coach Baltimore in the AFC Championship game on Sunday. Meanwhile, Jim will return to the pros, where he could become only the fourth coach ever to win a national championship and a Super Bowl.At CBS Sports headquarters, I was asked if Harbaugh could ever return to Michigan. The way? After the national championship, there is a parade.Reaching the national championship milestone had to factor into Harbaughand#039’s decision on Wednesday. He did it all at Michigan. When Harbaugh left Houston’s NRG Stadium just before midnight after his final on-camera interview following the CFP National Championship, it turned out to be quite an emotion, literally and figuratively.Can you blame him?andquot;No. Heand’s competitor, andquot; Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy said before the Rose Bowl. andquot;The year of the national championship and [another shot at] the Super Bowl, I saw him trying to get there. End your career at sunset.andquot;.
