Harbaugh ahead of the game

[lostleader]

So watching all those portal transfers, I appears that the Harbaugh administration has decided to seek transfers compared to commitments. The NCAA portal option leads me to believe that the elite programs will start to poach transfer players compared to HS recruits.

Why waste time recruiting HS students when you can pick a player that is 2-3 deep in the college process with tons of film and data, compared to a HS student with questionable completion.

EDIT: I'm deep on the bourbon and reading about Michigan. Its still great to be a Michigan Wolverine, even know my money and diploma says BoilerMaker. Little Lost is determine to be a Wolverine and was accepted to FBU Indiana this year, so there is a glimpse of hope. He's being "recruited" By 6A schools and private schools now. This Dad is hopeful he gets into a D1 school to play. Even if is green or scarlet, Ill have to root for a different team for 1 game a year. (maybe)

 

[Michchamp]

My biggest concern is that taking too many transfers hurts recruiting (why commit to UM when they might take a transfer in 2-3 years that gets your PT?)

Also taking too many transfers leads to a lack of cohesion and team morale... just a bunch of guys that are looking to have a big year and springboard to the NFL draft, not a bunch of guys that have had eachothers back for season after season.

But I have faith that Harbaugh can manage this well, and knows what he's doing

 

[lostleader]

My biggest concern is that taking too many transfers hurts recruiting (why commit to UM when they might take a transfer in 2-3 years that gets your PT?)

Also taking too many transfers leads to a lack of cohesion and team morale... just a bunch of guys that are looking to have a big year and springboard to the NFL draft, not a bunch of guys that have had eachothers back for season after season.

But I have faith that Harbaugh can manage this well, and knows what he's doing

It may backfire and see us back to the RichRod years, but I thing Harbaugh and Crew and gonna be pioneers and UM will see a decade +/- of success before the USC, OSU, Bama, catch up.

We are not there yet, but it's coming.

In 20 or so years, we will all be here bitching as college football turns into what the NFL was 5 years ago. Unfortunately some teams will be left way behind. Sorry IU, PU, MSU, UI, and countless others. Its a arms race and cash will be king, one way or another.

 

[byco42]

It the portal is there to fill wide gaps that underclassmen can't fill, (which is usually always interior lineman) then I support this.

 

[jever4321]

I?ve said it on other platforms. I think Harbaugh is playing chess and all the other coaches are playing checkers

 

[Michchamp]

I?ve said it on other platforms. I think Harbaugh is playing chess and all the other coaches are playing checkers

I remember Jim Hackett relating a story of someone telling him he just hired the best football coach in the country when he hired Harbaugh, and I think that's true.



If you scrambled all the FBS players in the country and randomly assigned coaches to rosters, I would bet Harbaugh would have the best record in CFB over any long enough timeframe to eliminate random chance.

 

[mhughes0021]

Is no one allowed to mention the possibility of a Michigan vs OSU championship game? There hasn't been a peep. Is the national media that high on Georgia?

 

[Michchamp]

Is no one allowed to mention the possibility of a Michigan vs OSU championship game? There hasn't been a peep. Is the national media that high on Georgia?

I've seen it mentioned in passing, but yeah, a majority of people consider Georgia unbeatable

 

[Michchamp]

Yesterday was Jim Harbaugh's birthday!

 

[tinselwolverine]

So watching all those portal transfers, I appears that the Harbaugh administration has decided to seek transfers compared to commitments. The NCAA portal option leads me to believe that the elite programs will start to poach transfer players compared to HS recruits.

Why waste time recruiting HS students when you can pick a player that is 2-3 deep in the college process with tons of film and data, compared to a HS student with questionable completion.

EDIT: I'm deep on the bourbon and reading about Michigan. It?s still great to be a Michigan Wolverine, even know my money and diploma says BoilerMaker. Little Lost is determine to be a Wolverine and was accepted to FBU Indiana this year, so there is a glimpse of hope. He's being "recruited" By 6A schools and private schools now. This Dad is hopeful he gets into a D1 school to play. Even if is green or scarlet, Ill have to root for a different team for 1 game a year. (maybe)

That?s funny.

Get it?

Bourbon?

BoilerMaker?

Get it?

Get it?

 

[tinselwolverine]

I?ve said it on other platforms. I think Harbaugh is playing chess and all the other coaches are playing checkers

Who knows?

Two conferences championships/CFP appearances in, I?m still on the fire Coach Jim Bandwagon.

Okay, that?s a joke.

It?s possible the two have zero to do with each other, but this one thing is inarguable - two seasons into the new reality of NIL and the portal, Michigan is the most improved team in the country.

It isn?t even close.

 

[wlvrnstlr4life]

I said, "fire the motherfucker." I said it, I own it. Looking back on the 2019 and 2020 seasons I was beyond pissed at the games we lost, especially to State in 2020. But more than the losses, Harbaugh didn't look like Harbaugh anymore. He looked and acted like he was somewhere else and didn't care about the game anymore. Remember last year some of us were asking, "is he on some sort of new medication?" He came across more invigorated, more in tune with the team. That was beginning of season to the end. We all noticed it. Whatever happened to him over the course of the off-season after 2020, we will never know. But he came back for the 2021 season as a head coach again.

 

[bphillips4gg]

I said, "fire the motherfucker." I said it, I own it. Looking back on the 2019 and 2020 seasons I was beyond pissed at the games we lost, especially to State in 2020. But more than the losses, Harbaugh didn't look like Harbaugh anymore. He looked and acted like he was somewhere else and didn't care about the game anymore. Remember last year some of us were asking, "is he on some sort of new medication?" He came across more invigorated, more in tune with the team. That was beginning of season to the end. We all noticed it. Whatever happened to him over the course of the off-season after 2020, we will never know. But he came back for the 2021 season as a head coach again.

I was in the same boat. 2020 was such a train wreck that I had no faith it could be turned around with the same head coach. And I'm very happy to have been wrong. I don't know what changed but he did seem to be changed last season and it started at Big Ten media day in Indy when he said the "Beat OSU or die trying".

Last season the team had the right mix of player leadership and coaching to change the culture. The players weren't playing scared anymore, the team had an actual identity on offense for the first time in years and of course the change in defensive scheme was a breath of fresh air that was probably the single most important change in Jim's tenure here.

 

[thewolverines24]

I was in the same boat. 2020 was such a train wreck that I had no faith it could be turned around with the same head coach. And I'm very happy to have been wrong. I don't know what changed but he did seem to be changed last season and it started at Big Ten media day in Indy when he said the "Beat OSU or die trying".

Last season the team had the right mix of player leadership and coaching to change the culture. The players weren't playing scared anymore, the team had an actual identity on offense for the first time in years and of course the change in defensive scheme was a breath of fresh air that was probably the single most important change in Jim's tenure here.

The player leadership council really helped change the culture and Harbaugh deserves a lot of credit for allowing them to help change it. No more selfishness. It was all about Michigan and not individual goals. I'm going to post a little excerpt from The Athletic because it sums what changed really well:

?I don?t think I?ve changed one bit,? said Harbaugh, who turned 59 on Dec. 23. ?I?m the same as I was before. When you get to this age, you?re not going to change. I really think it?s the players. I think the players really appreciated that as well, that there was no change. We made it about the guys on the team getting good at football.?

People close to the program paint a more nuanced picture. It?s true that Harbaugh didn?t deviate from his core philosophies. In many ways, he doubled down in his determination to make Michigan a tough, rugged program built on old-school values. Harbaugh also evolved in subtle ways: how he structured his staff and expressed affection toward his players, and by empowering Michigan?s leadership council to set the direction of the program.

It showed at one point during 2021 preseason camp. Harbaugh, as The Athletic previously detailed, acknowledged to associate head coach Biff Poggi: ?Yeah, I?m really proud of ?em. I really like coaching this team.?

At Poggi?s urging, he shared that sentiment with the players.

?Oh, yeah, everybody could notice it,? said Josh Ross, a former two-time Wolverines captain in the 2020 and 2021 seasons, when asked if Harbaugh had shown the team a different side emotionally. ?He was just more vulnerable. Of course, he was always passionate, but he was more open to the players and more raw, which was a beautiful sight to see.?

Multiple players have alluded to the 2020 season and the roster purge that followed as a turning point. Coming out of that season, the program ?didn?t really have a good culture,? left guard Trevor Keegan said, with personal agendas overshadowing team goals. Twelve players transferred out that offseason, including quarterback Joe Milton (Tennessee), wide receiver Giles Jackson (Washington) and running back Zach Charbonnet (UCLA). The players and coaches who stayed made a commitment to rebuild from the ground up.

?A team?s never going to be great with a few outliers,? said Sainristil, who played three seasons at wide receiver before moving to defense this year. ?The saying, ?You?re only as strong as your weakest link,? I feel that?s very true. It takes one person to expose weaknesses. You get that one person to say one thing to some other person, and then that person says another thing, and it just trickles down.?

 

[Spartanmack]

It may backfire and see us back to the RichRod years, but I thing Harbaugh and Crew and gonna be pioneers and UM will see a decade +/- of success before the USC, OSU, Bama, catch up.

We are not there yet, but it's coming.

In 20 or so years, we will all be here bitching as college football turns into what the NFL was 5 years ago. Unfortunately some teams will be left way behind. Sorry IU, PU, MSU, UI, and countless others. Its a arms race and cash will be king, one way or another.

This is cute...2 years after Tucker turns a 2 win squad into an 11 win team through the transfer portal, Harbaugh with the 4th ranked transfer class (his previous transfer classes ranked 57th, 39th, 82nd and 79th), is a "pioneer" taking a decade+ lead over everyone else. How are all the other coaches missing this? Simple, they're not Jim Harbaugh. They're simply playing checkers while Jim is playing 4d chess.

 

[Spartanmack]

This is cute...2 years after Tucker turns a 2 win squad into an 11 win team through the transfer portal, Harbaugh with the 4th ranked transfer class (his previous transfer classes ranked 57th, 39th, 82nd and 79th), is a "pioneer" taking a decade+ lead over everyone else. How are all the other coaches missing this? Simple, they're not Jim Harbaugh. They're simply playing checkers while Jim is playing 4d chess.

After barely eking out a 58 pt win over the team that out-played and out-coached harbaugh, I?m guessing Smart and the rest of the CFB elite are hoping Jim leaves and takes his 4d chess game to the NFL.