Michigan

[Eric]

Not that anybody should care about this irrelevant football team, but I wanted to hear some of your takes on the state of Michigan football.

On my end, it's kind of brutal. Sick of the hype and the apologists. Anything that can go wrong has gone wrong and any inkling of hope you might have had 3 years ago is totally gone. Just seeing the vibe around the program, and the momentum is totally lost. I expect that to reflect itself in the recruiting soon. The issue is the offensive coaching staff and it won't get any better until Harbaugh changes that. But that would require rocking the boat and letting go of some of his friends, so I only expect him to double down.

Michigan was about to deliver the death blow for a 23-3 lead and Higdon fumbles at the 5 yard line. South Carolina on the second following possession puts up a score, then Michigan hands off to a TIGHT END lined up at fullback! Genius! Apparently it was a personnel mistake, but pay attention. Fumble. Touchdown. Wow, we've got a game on our hands!

Have you guys seen the schedule next year? Aside from Penn State, Ohio State, and Michigan State, we draw Northwestern, Nebraska, and Wisconsin from the West. And Maryland is getting dangerous. And we play Notre Dame in non-conference. And Sonny Dykes will field a better offense than Michigan's at SMU. Next year won't be any better, even if Patterson becomes eligible. If he does, they will force him to stay inside the pocket and it will mess with him and he'll be a broken QB. He made a bad decision coming to Michigan.

[Spence]

I really think that Harbaugh tries to hard to be a "genius" At the end of the game going for the 4th and 9 and saying it's all or nothing now was stupid. Why not punt with 8:00 left and let your strength have a shot to give you the ball back or better get a turnover. Instead Harbaugh opts for the all or nothing option. If Georgia would have done stupid crap like that in the first half they wouldn't be in a good position to win now. Harbaugh is a good recruiter, a good developer of coaches and players, but he doesn't seem to be a good game day coach. Michigan was a better team today and lost. How many times have you seen Michigan be the best team and lose? I have seen it lots under Harbaugh.

[Derek]

Didn't Mich have some QB injuries this year??

[Eric]

I really think that Harbaugh tries to hard to be a "genius" At the end of the game going for the 4th and 9 and saying it's all or nothing now was stupid. Why not punt with 8:00 left and let your strength have a shot to give you the ball back or better get a turnover. Instead Harbaugh opts for the all or nothing option. If Georgia would have done stupid crap like that in the first half they wouldn't be in a good position to win now. Harbaugh is a good recruiter, a good developer of coaches and players, but he doesn't seem to be a good game day coach. Michigan was a better team today and lost. How many times have you seen Michigan be the best team and lose? I have seen it lots under Harbaugh.

It depends, I've seen them do lots of stupid things week in and week out. Can you make more stupid plays and be the more talented team?

I'm not seeing the development angle yet. It might just be this crop of players, I have no idea. But he's not really getting anything out of these guys that some random coach couldn't get. Look at somebody like Scott Frost, that guy is a way better coach than Jim Harbaugh and he will have Nebraska rocking next year. They'll probably go 8-4 which isn't amazing, but they'll look good doing it, and they'll be excited for 2019. Meanwhile Michigan going 7-5 next season is very likely with a huge downward trend moving forward.

[Eric]

Didn't Mich have some QB injuries this year??

Yes, but that shouldn't be a big issue. Brandon Peters is just as talented physically as Wilton Speight, although Speight played the game smarter (as a redshirt junior vs a redshirt freshman). And Peters was technically the #3 behind O'Korn, but he is much better than O'Korn. So we were basically down to our 3rd QB who is roughly just as good as our starter was, so it's not as devastating as it sounds on paper. Harbaugh should have beaten one team with a winning record with this squad, but he went 0-5.

[Eric]

Harbaugh should probably just leave for the NFL. I probably would bail on this sinking ship while I still have some cachet. The talent level of coaching in the B1G is starting to hit ridiculous levels, and the trend at my program is a big arrow pointing downward. The two jobs that everybody talks about with Harbaugh, Chicago and Indianapolis, are open. He'd be a perfect fit there.

[Old Ducker]

Harbaugh should probably just leave for the NFL. I probably would bail on this sinking ship while I still have some cachet. The talent level of coaching in the B1G is starting to hit ridiculous levels, and the trend at my program is a big arrow pointing downward. The two jobs that everybody talks about with Harbaugh, Chicago and Indianapolis, are open. He'd be a perfect fit there.

Les Miles is available.

[Derek]

I hope Les ends up somewhere. He's a good coach IMO.

[collegefbfan-8898]

I really thought he was gonna do something. Losing to rivals like this and then this season. About done with this.

[Spence]

I really think that Harbaugh tries to hard to be a "genius" At the end of the game going for the 4th and 9 and saying it's all or nothing now was stupid. Why not punt with 8:00 left and let your strength have a shot to give you the ball back or better get a turnover. Instead Harbaugh opts for the all or nothing option. If Georgia would have done stupid crap like that in the first half they wouldn't be in a good position to win now. Harbaugh is a good recruiter, a good developer of coaches and players, but he doesn't seem to be a good game day coach. Michigan was a better team today and lost. How many times have you seen Michigan be the best team and lose? I have seen it lots under Harbaugh.

It depends, I've seen them do lots of stupid things week in and week out. Can you make more stupid plays and be the more talented team?

I'm not seeing the development angle yet. It might just be this crop of players, I have no idea. But he's not really getting anything out of these guys that some random coach couldn't get. Look at somebody like Scott Frost, that guy is a way better coach than Jim Harbaugh and he will have Nebraska rocking next year. They'll probably go 8-4 which isn't amazing, but they'll look good doing it, and they'll be excited for 2019. Meanwhile Michigan going 7-5 next season is very likely with a huge downward trend moving forward.

There is no question that the B1G is getting tougher next year. That is good IMO.

[Eric]

Harbaugh should probably just leave for the NFL. I probably would bail on this sinking ship while I still have some cachet. The talent level of coaching in the B1G is starting to hit ridiculous levels, and the trend at my program is a big arrow pointing downward. The two jobs that everybody talks about with Harbaugh, Chicago and Indianapolis, are open. He'd be a perfect fit there.

Les Miles is available.

Les Miles has a soft spot for Bo Schembechler, but he doesn't really care about Michigan anymore.

I'm not really on the FIRE HARBAUGH!!!! bandwagon (yet, although I'm closer now than ever before), but we were really sold a bill of goods that will never materialize. And the attitude around the program right now is toxic. The fans are extremely sour and people around the program just have an empty feeling, and it's to the point where you know how much pressure will be on the team next year. Nobody is happy from the fans to the alumni to the coaches to the players, and they're going to have an entire offseason of negativity to deal with along with everybody knowing deep down how make-or-break this year is for the future of the program.

[Eric]

It'd be something completely different if Michigan had upset a Penn State or an Ohio State and got upset by a Purdue or a Minnesota. That would have people feel less sour about this season by a wide margin, because Michigan would have displayed an ability to beat a quality football team. There's nothing worse than being a fan of a team who beats everybody they're supposed to and loses to everybody they're supposed to. There's no suspense and no hope heading into big games.

[Old Ducker]

Harbaugh should probably just leave for the NFL. I probably would bail on this sinking ship while I still have some cachet. The talent level of coaching in the B1G is starting to hit ridiculous levels, and the trend at my program is a big arrow pointing downward. The two jobs that everybody talks about with Harbaugh, Chicago and Indianapolis, are open. He'd be a perfect fit there.

Les Miles is available.

Les Miles has a soft spot for Bo Schembechler, but he doesn't really care about Michigan anymore.

I'm not really on the FIRE HARBAUGH!!!! bandwagon (yet, although I'm closer now than ever before), but we were really sold a bill of goods that will never materialize. And the attitude around the program right now is toxic. The fans are extremely sour and people around the program just have an empty feeling, and it's to the point where you know how much pressure will be on the team next year. Nobody is happy from the fans to the alumni to the coaches to the players, and they're going to have an entire offseason of negativity to deal with along with everybody knowing deep down how make-or-break this year is for the future of the program.

I like Les Miles a lot. His enthusiasm for the game is infectious. He comes across as genuine and a likable person as well. I have never liked Harbaugh, but I do remember how bad Stanford was before he took over.

[Eric]

Harbaugh should probably just leave for the NFL. I probably would bail on this sinking ship while I still have some cachet. The talent level of coaching in the B1G is starting to hit ridiculous levels, and the trend at my program is a big arrow pointing downward. The two jobs that everybody talks about with Harbaugh, Chicago and Indianapolis, are open. He'd be a perfect fit there.

Les Miles is available.

Les Miles has a soft spot for Bo Schembechler, but he doesn't really care about Michigan anymore.

I'm not really on the FIRE HARBAUGH!!!! bandwagon (yet, although I'm closer now than ever before), but we were really sold a bill of goods that will never materialize. And the attitude around the program right now is toxic. The fans are extremely sour and people around the program just have an empty feeling, and it's to the point where you know how much pressure will be on the team next year. Nobody is happy from the fans to the alumni to the coaches to the players, and they're going to have an entire offseason of negativity to deal with along with everybody knowing deep down how make-or-break this year is for the future of the program.

I like Les Miles a lot. His enthusiasm for the game is infectious. He comes across as genuine and a likable person as well. I have never liked Harbaugh, but I do remember how bad Stanford was before he took over.

I don't know if Miles would be better than Harbaugh in this situation, but we've seen Miles win at the highest level possible. So there's that. He could actually bring real attitude and personality to the program. Michigan's attitude is fake confidence, it's a façade. The players act cocky when they make a big play, but it's a joke because there's something in the back of their head because they know they're choke artists who are uncomfortable with winning. And that nagging voice in everybody's head won't go away until they accidentally win a couple of big games thanks to variance and random happenstance. Confidence needs to be justified by results, you can't fake it until you make it.

[Spence]

I do think you underestimate how well Harbaugh has done. The cupboards weren't completely bare when he came, but they were close. The state of Michigan isn't exactly a hotbed of recruiting talent so a Michigan coach has to recruit mostly out of state. When you don't have a reputation developing players or being a national contender it is very hard to get players. Harbaugh has done that part well. I think he is a head case, but he has proven he can coach.

That is my honest opinion about them. They were better last year than this year.