The hiring of Jim Harbaugh as head coach of the Michigan Wolverines is arguably among the most impactful in all of sports in recent memory. Not only does Michigan get its beloved prodigal son coming home to hopefully save its failing program, but the much maligned Big Ten also gets a major boost. The thought of Harbaugh turning his back on the NFL is also a proud boast for the college game and strong sign that the money and interest in college football can compete with the league.
A B1G Boost
The Big Ten Conference has been justifiably panned for the past several years due to its miserable bowl game record of 49-64 from 1998-2013 which was the worst of any Power Five Conference. The Big Ten was 2-5 in bowl games last year and just 6-16 in January bowl action the past three seasons.
Even worse, the league itself has degenerated into “The Big One” (Ohio State) and little 13. Ohio State’s 59-0 blowout win over Wisconsin in the 2014 conference championship game with a third-string QB was a testament to the lack of depth in the league.
Harbaugh’s arrival immediately changes all of that. During his four-year run at Stanford, Harbaugh transformed the Cardinal from a 1-11 joke of a program to a 12-1 powerhouse that was ranked fourth in the nation by the time he departed for the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers.
The former Wolverine quarterback brings immeasurable and much needed credibility to the Big Ten. He figures to recruit as good as, or better than, Ohio State’s Urban Meyer, who has taken the Buckeyes talent to a championship level.
Harbaugh was known as a “recruiting machine” while at Stanford. He was celebrated as a charming but straight taking recruiter that would give parents his sweater as well as give them his word that their sons would graduate and compete at the highest levels in college football. He recruited character as much as raw talent, and it worked.
The rest of the Big Ten will now have to follow suit and go to war with Ohio State and Michigan in recruiting, or else get left behind. Harbaugh’s arrival forces the entire Big Ten to improve.
The Perfect Fit
New university president Mark Schlissel has had little interest in sports and has an Ivy League background. This past fall he stated his disappointment with the lack of academic emphasis in big time college sports. Harbaugh’s arrival, which came with an $8 million per year price tag, is just what the doctor ordered.
There are few more academically committed universities than Stanford, and Harbaugh had the brilliance to parlay that into a top sales point when recruiting there. He sold kids and their parents on the value of a Stanford education with great success. Harbaugh also means what he says when it comes to the importance of academics as a top scholar and 1986 Academic All-Big Ten quarterback for Michigan.
The fact that Harbaugh built a top five powerhouse in four years at such an academically prestigious university as Stanford should put Schlissel at ease while giving college football much needed credibility on that issue.
The Michigan Man that Walked the Walk
Harbaugh also fits to absolute perfection the importance of a “Michigan Man” taking over the program. As a QB for the revered and late great Bo Schembechler, Harbaugh epitomizes everything Michigan likes to think of itself as being. He walked the walk as Big Ten Player of the Year in 1986 to go with his great academic prowess. Harbaugh then went on to play in the NFL from 1987 through 2001. It makes for the perfect sales pitch to recruits. Harbaugh can easily make the following pitch to recruits: “You can be the ideal Michigan man, win Big Ten Championships, get your degree at what is the top ranked public university in the nation, and then go on to the NFL were I coached a team to the Super Bowl and have all kinds of connections.”
The League is Not All That
For fans of the college game, Harbaugh proves that there is more to life than coaching in the NFL. Harbaugh has no doubt noticed how respected Nick Saban is as head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide after bolting the NFL’s Miami Dolphins. Another example of a top college coach cutting out on the NFL is Louisville’s Bobby Petrino. Harbaugh will arrive at Ann Arbor as a “Conquering Hero” just as the famed Michigan fight song so reads. No NFL job on earth can replicate the adulation that he will receive in coming home to possibly save Michigan football.
Saban has proven what Lou Holtz did a generation before him which is that college football can be a far more appealing place to coach than in the NFL. Don’t be surprised if other NFL coaches follow Harbaugh’s lead.
Michigan is Michigan Again
Since Rich Rodriguez took over for Lloyd Carr in 2008 and was followed by Brady Hoke in 2011, Michigan has suffered from an identity crisis and has underachieved as a result. College football’s all-time winningest program will now return to the style of football that fans have longed for.
It will be pure Schembechler style football that is based on a punishing physical defense, a power running game, play action passing, high graduation rates and few troubles off the field. Michigan is again in the national conversation the minute Harbaugh steps off the plane in Ann Arbor. For a program that has not won a Big Ten title since 2004, Harbaugh is indeed a savior.
“Harbaugh is the guy who can get Michigan back the fastest,” said Big Ten Network commentator Gerry DiNardo, “That’s why this is so important not only for Michigan but for the Big Ten.”
Rivalry Renewed
The Ohio State vs. Michigan rivalry was recently voted the best in sports, despite the fact that it has been pretty one-sided in recent years. The Buckeyes have won 10 out of their last 11 against the Wolverines with Michigan’s only win coming against interim OSU coach Luke Fickell in 2011. Expect that dominance to end.
“He’s a guy Michigan needs to rival Urban as far as name, coaching ability, and recruiting,” said former Ohio State star and ESPN college football analyst Chris Spielman. “He can probably go toe-to-toe with Urban in recruiting. That’s vital for Michigan to start getting guys on the national level that are highly rated who want to be Michigan guys, and Jim can do that.
“It would be great for Michigan, great for the Big Ten,” added Spielman, “It restores some of the history of the rivalry of two great coaches with two great schools doing battle.”
Matching the Value of the Program
Forbes has consistently had Michigan in the top five of its “Most Valuable College Football Programs” list. Yet, despite unlimited resources and one of the most enormous fan bases in the country, Michigan has suffered through a “lost decade” of underachievement. Harbaugh ends that pretty immediately.
He will most certainly take advantage of the program’s unlimited assets and brand appeal to sell recruits and uplift the expectations and mindset of a program that became entitled and soft. A program that was valued at over $700 million will soon reach $1 billion with Harbaugh as its face. And the string of 100,000 crowds at the Big House will no longer be based on padded figures and Groupon coupons.
Arms Race will Intensify
Harbaugh is expected to get a near $50 million deal, which would make him the highest paid football coach, pro or college. The rest of NFL and college coaching fraternity will be smiling. But this will also lead to further complaints that football outshines academics as a priority on college campuses. Look for top name coaches such as the Philadelphia Eagles’ Chip Kelly to play off Harbaugh’s payday for their own new deals.
A Great Moment for College Football
College football is better when Michigan is good and relevant on the national stage. It is better when the Michigan vs. Ohio State rivalry is at a peak. It is better when the best coach and leader in sports bolts the NFL for a college campus. It is better when the Big Ten can compete toe-to-toe with the SEC and Pac 12 Conference. College football is immeasurably better with Jim Harbaugh and the countless ways that he will impact its future.
