What if Harbaugh Goes to Mich?

Even if they play well the rest of the season, too many UM fans just can't stand RR. Kind of like Iowa fans not liking Alford. He divides the fan base. The decision to keep RR or get rid of him has more to do with who they can get than how he finishes the year. Les Miles or bust for UM.
 
We need rich rod gone. He WILL bring michigan back as soon as he gets a non Horrible D. I dont normally do this, but I have to agree with Kaldenberg on this one.
 
We need rich rod gone. He WILL bring michigan back as soon as he gets a non Horrible D. I dont normally do this, but I have to agree with Kaldenberg on this one.

Yeah let hope he doesnt find out what those other guys are doing out there when the offense isnt on the field.
 
Michigan's offensive philosophy is one of the most productive schemes currently in college football. They get no help from their defense. Their offense earns almost everything on their own.

They don't need a top 10 defense. They recruit well enough. I don't see any reason why they won't be able to eventually develop at least a top 40-50ish defenses. And if Rich Rod gets to stay around long enough for that to happen then cross your fingers and hope for a flurry of fluke turnovers or scoring in the 40's if you want to win.

How do you not see any reason that Rich Rod won't have a decent defense at Michigan? He doesn't need time to recruit better, their defense is already full of top level talent. The guy has never had a decent defense and never will....what you see at Michigan will always be what you see at Michigan with their current staff.
 
There is bad blood between UM and Harbaugh. Now can they get over that? Maybe. But why would Harbaugh want that? He lives in freaking Palo Alto. Why move to Detroit? He has been able to recruit great players for his system and that will just get better. He is at a very rich private institution that does not have to justify it's budget with politicians.

People say UM should break the bank. They don't do that. They will help with a one time buyout, but they don't pay their coaches all that well. What I have heard mist recently is that Harbaugh's next move is most likely to the pros.
 
I have heard the same as far as Harbaugh's ambition for the NFL.

There haven't been a whole lot of teams that have fielded offenses that can score 60+ points, and also keep their opposition to under 20 with any kind of great regularity. I don't think UM is a danger in this way either. RR wasn't a danger in this way at UWV.

He now has them bowl eligible in year 3. One more win and he has the same record that KF had in year 3. If they beat Wisconsin or Ohio State, he keeps his job. If they don't, he still might but it will be a debate during the offseason.
 
A 7-5 season isn't going to get Rich Rod fired. He will clean house on the defensive side of the ball and he will get at least two more years. Hiring Harbaugh is going to require putting up with another couple down years as he gets rid of Rich Rod's midgets and goes to a pro style attack. Plus Harbaugh has a good thing going at Stanford and I think the 49ers job will be real tempting to him this offseason.
 
If you think the NFL has a thing for Ferentz, they have it twice as bad for Harbaugh. He doesn't need to go rebuild UM, a school he has had a falling out with, when he can stay at a school he already built or cash in at the pro level.
 
Very, very educated guess

There will not be a coaching change at Michigan in the next two years except to hire Jim Harbaugh -- period. There will not be a search or names leaked. It's either stick it out with Rodriguez or switch to Harbaugh, no ifs ands or buts.

Michigan is very aware of what's happened at Notre Dame with the lack of continuity. So David Brandon will give Rodriguez every chance to develop a defense that has 18 freshmen and sophomores on its two deep and against Illinois at one point in the game had four freshmen in the secondary, because it's pretty clear that most Big Ten defenses -- even good ones -- can't stop this offense when it's executed properly.

Illinois went from 15th in the nation in total defense to something like 43rd in one week. Michigan also had 522 yards of offense against Iowa. Those are the best defenses Michigan has played thus far, and probably the two best other than Ohio State's they'll play the rest of the way.

I certainly don't think it's a done deal that Rodriguez is back quite yet, but I also don't think it's a done deal that he's gone, either. However, I do think that the only man that will be hired to replace him if that is deemed necessary is Jim Harbaugh.
 
I was actually thinking of this last night on my way home from work. To be honest, it terrifies me. And frankly, I'd like to go to at least one Rose Bowl before Michigan rises up again.
 
There a lot of inaccuracies in this thread. First of all Les Miles will not be Michigans next coach. It will not happen. Second of all, RR has not neglected the defensive side of the ball. Let's look at there defensive starters and who recruited them:

Roh (so.)-RR
Martin(jr)-LC
Van Bergen(Jr)-LC
Mouton(5Sr.)-LC
Demens(RSSo)-LC
T. Gordon (RFr.)-RR
C. Gordon (RFr.)-RR
Avery (Fr.)-RR
Rogers/Talbott (5Sr./Fr.)- LC/RR
Vinopal (Fr)-RR
Kovacs (RSo.)-Walk on

So, RR has 5-6 out of 10 of the defensive starters in just two full classes. Where are ll the 3rd and 4th year players in the secondary you may ask. Well, Warren went pro, Woolfolk got hurt. A 5 star CB that seemingly everyone wanted decided he didn't want to work in the offseason so he got no PT and thereofr transferred. Cissoko ruined his life and was booted. Vlad Emilian(sp) left after he had a seriousness knee injury last year and wasn't the same. JT Floyd was then hurt. FWIW he is a RS So. Out of all those guys, only 3 were LC guys. I loved Lloyd Carr but he didn't leave much in the secondary.

Having said all of that, I believe next year is the year RR has to compete for a Big Ten championship. He will lose, at most 3 starters and IMO, he will not lose a very significant starter unless Martin goes pro. He will lose next to nothing on the Oline. He will have every skill position player back. It has to be done next year. When he was hired, I said that he needed to be given 4 years. The drastic change made in schemes and everything else needed four years. We all knew the first year and second year offenses would be somewhat bad. They were. Now the offense is pretty damn good. Thye turned it over 5 times and still managed 45 points in regulations. Offense isn't the problem. Greg Robinson needs to be let go and every play needs to be made for Jeff Casteel if RR is intent on the 3-3-5. If not, he needs to go get the best coordinator out there and let him rebuild the defensive staff.

Then we come to the violations. IMO, the violations were things done by probably 90% of the NCAA. Does that make it right? No. However, the only reason there was this hubub is because of a Michigan newspaper grossly exaggerating what actually went down. Those exagerrations started the investigation and when all was said and done, there was a lot less there than they initially claimed. The NCAA agreed.

I think that if you asked the Michigan players they would very strongly tell you that they want RR back. They believe in him and they believe in this team. The ones that don't aren't here anymore. People talk about a "Michigan Man." That term seems to be used a lot in relation to Bo. I think RR is much more like Bo than Moeller and LC were. They seemed to be much easier on players and much less judgemental. RR is hard on guys, but he is hard on them in a way that they come to expect and admire.

In the end, most of what I typed doesn't matter. Winning matters. He has to win next year and yes I am saying with positivity he will be back next year. If he doesn't win next year he is gone. By winning I mean 9 games with a shot at the Big 10.
 
....it will be a very good thing.

For the Big-10 to be nationally pertinent and respected, (I dare say on the level of the SEC), Michigan, a historical blue-blood and "name program" needs to be relevant.

IMO, the current gimmick-laden, freak-show of a program (all offense, absolutely no defense or special teams it appears) just isn't what Michigan is all about. It certainly isn't what the Big-10 is all about. Winning 67-65 isn't being relevant. It's entertaining but little else.

Harbaugh's name alone will give Michigan an instant boost in credibility. His long-term plan to bring defense and a sense of reason to the once-proud Michigan program will provide a long-term boost in program stature.

Does this mean Iowa, and other not-so-blue-bloods, will have a harder time with them? Yes. Absolutely. And that's the rub.

But, I'm a league supporter for sure and this is what the Big-10 needs. Let RRod go coach FB at UNLV.
 
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....it will be a very good thing.

For the Big-10 to be nationally pertinent and respected, (I dare say on the level of the SEC), Michigan, a historical blue-blood and "name program" needs to be relevant.

IMO, the current gimmick-laden, freak-show of a program (all offense, absolutely no defense or special teams it appears) just isn't what Michigan is all about. It certainly isn't what the Big-10 is all about. Winning 67-65 isn't being relevant. It's entertaining but little else.

Harbaugh's name alone will give Michigan an instant boost in credibility. His long-term plan to bring defense and a sense of reason to the once-proud Michigan program will provide a long-term boost in program stature.

Does this mean Iowa, and other not-so-blue-bloods will have a harder time with them? Yes. Absolutely. And that's the rub.

But, I'm a league supporter for sure and this is what the Big-10 needs. Let RRod go coach FB at UNLV.

I would just ask where all these gimmicks are. They never run trick plays. They run out of the shotgun and they throw out of the shotgun. They don't do anything freakish. The argument was first that this offense cannot work in the Big Ten. That has pretty obviously been proven false. So know you're going to resort to calling it a gimmick offense? DO whatever you need to to make yourself feel comfortable. Also remember this offense is doing what it's doing without getting the ball in opponents territory from the ND game all the way until the Illinois game. Once their defense can get them a short field and help cause 14 point swings, they will be dangerous. Very dangerous. Some just people just seem to have this idea that RR doesn't care about the defense and isn't even trying to fix it. In the words of Mike Gundy, "That ain't true." The guy played defense. He does need to back off his DCs though and let them do what they have done to get where they are at.
 
Re: Very, very educated guess

There will not be a coaching change at Michigan in the next two years except to hire Jim Harbaugh -- period. There will not be a search or names leaked. It's either stick it out with Rodriguez or switch to Harbaugh, no ifs ands or buts.

Michigan is very aware of what's happened at Notre Dame with the lack of continuity. So David Brandon will give Rodriguez every chance to develop a defense that has 18 freshmen and sophomores on its two deep and against Illinois at one point in the game had four freshmen in the secondary, because it's pretty clear that most Big Ten defenses -- even good ones -- can't stop this offense when it's executed properly.

Illinois went from 15th in the nation in total defense to something like 43rd in one week. Michigan also had 522 yards of offense against Iowa. Those are the best defenses Michigan has played thus far, and probably the two best other than Ohio State's they'll play the rest of the way.

I certainly don't think it's a done deal that Rodriguez is back quite yet, but I also don't think it's a done deal that he's gone, either. However, I do think that the only man that will be hired to replace him if that is deemed necessary is Jim Harbaugh.

This.... And with a better defense (doesn't need to be super) they'll be afforded the luxury of winning more games even if their offense doesn't execute perfectly. I.E. only scoring in the low 30's...

It isn't a gimmick offense. It is a we're going to run the ball down your throat offense that is more than capable of throwing the football. It's a type of offense that maximizes the field's real estate and puts the defense in disadvantaged situations much more than the pro style.
 
Rich Rod isn't going to be gone after this year. The offense is crazy good enough that it's given him some more time, as has the excuse that he's got a young defense and his veteran players are all injured/gone (seriously, I don't think there are any more than one or two players above the sophomore class in that defense).
 
To Yaman,

OK....fair question about what constitutes a gimmick offense.

I'm 52 and have been watching college FB since the mid 60s.

What scUM runs is a sleight-of-hand variation of the flex/wishbone/run-n-shoot. Hide and sneak...razzle dazzle...QB getting 95% of the eventual touches. It comes and goes in and out of style. When it comes into a league, its a hit for awhile until people figure it out, then it goes away. I've seen this evolution over and over and over. The 190LB-QB's will eventually get pummeled and hurt. It's already happened. This type of offense simply cannot sustain itself.

GT found success with it last year, until, a team like Iowa could study it for awhile, prepare for it and execute. You saw what happened.

Iowa's offense, in comparison, is a pro-set, which doesn't and won't be changed for years and years. They do what they do well and basically challenge people to stop it. Same with Wisconsin. Same with OSU.

I'm not convinced scUM's defense will ever be factor under RRod. RRod's on his 3rd year with no improvement whasoever.

People don't fear scUM anymore. Whatever offense they're running simply won't last IMO...like any other gimmick. That's my bottom line.
 

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