Michigan Football After Winning it All

 

Harbaugh and Moore

My last post about MichiganFootball was a celebration of the  National Championship.  It was an amazing run from a solid team.  The key players and coach of this team are already in the Wolverine Pantheon.  The fan base was ecstatic, and it was something quite special given the tough times of the Rich Rodriquez and Brady Hoke coaching eras.

We celebrated and basked in the glow of the National Championship for about a week.  It became evident by the end of that week that Jim Harbaugh was going to return to the NFL.  He did just that.  With Harbaugh’s departure, the best players who still had eligibility, e.g. quarterback J.J. McCarthy, opted for the NFL draft.  Large segments of the fan base went and, allow me to use a technical term here, nuts.  They blamed the Michigan AD for not signing Harbaugh to a new contract and called for his job.  Many dissed Harbaugh for not being a true ‘Michigan man’ and abandoning the program.

First, many of the fans are all emotion.  We live and die with their team.  Losses can be really tough to take.  When it comes to a rivalry game like Michigan-Ohio State, a loss is agonizing with a depression that lasts for months.  String a few losses together?  Then you have fanbase apoplexy.  We experienced that earlier this century, Ohio State fans are experiencing it right now.

There are certainly emotional components for coaches and players as well.  Team spirit, alignment, and cohesiveness is necessary for a football team to commit to a system to prepare well and play at a high level.  Emotion is component but only a component. For players and coaches on elite teams, college football is their job and potentially their career and livelihoods.  There is money involved and lots of it, more so with NIL for the players.  Who can blame any coach or any player acting in their own self-interest, when millions of dollars are involved?

Harbaugh brought a National Championship to Michigan, his alma mater.  I wished he had stayed and created a dynasty.  I cannot disparage him for making a move that allows him to pursue becoming a Super Bowl Championship coach at a significantly higher salary.   I love where I teach, but for an opportunity to make anywhere north of 20% more… I am gone. 

Michigan took a few days and named their offensive coordinator, Sherrone Moore, as their new head coach.  Moore was a popular and obvious choice to the fan base as was the head coach of four games this season while Harbaugh was out due to the alleged cheating scandal.  While I am happy with the selection of Moore, only time will tell how well he does.  He has said the right things about continuing to be a hard-hitting tough football team that wants to continue a winning tradition… especially over the big rivals.

In the next few weeks after his departure, as is common in football, Harbaugh took several key assistants to San Diego including the defensive coordinator and the strength coach.  Running backs coach, Mike Hart, left presumably because he didn’t the top job.  A few more players hit the portal and a key recruit backed out of his commitment.  Moore had to work hard fill his coaching staff and solidify the roster.   

While all of this was happening with Michigan, Ohio State spent like crazy securing transfer quarterbacks and other players.  They also opened up the purse strings and hired UCLA head coach, Chip Kelly, to be their offensive coordinator.  Ryan Day is fighting for his job and doesn’t want to lose to Michigan for a fourth year in a row.  Beyond even that, they want to win a National Championship and re-establish their dynasty (which of select number of teams doesn’t want the same).  The rivalry has certainly revved up.

The 2024 season will feature two major changes for Michigan and the Big Ten.  It will be the first season for UCLA, USC, Washington, and Oregon in the Big Ten which now numbers 18 team.  New conference members USC, Oregon, and Washington are on Michigan’s schedule along with Texas and, of course, the big rivalries of Michigan State and Ohio State.  Michigan will have one of the toughest schedules in the country.  Will we go undefeated and win a back-to-back National Championship?  That would be an unbelievable feat given the changes in personnel in the program.  In February, six months before the season starts and trying to digest all of these changes, I have more hopes for next season than anything definitive.  Given our schedule one to three losses is not out of the question.  My guess is that if we are undefeated or have one loss, we should get in the playoffs which are now expanded to 12 teams.  Two or more losses, probably not.

Bravo to winning the Natty last year.  Best wishes to the coaches and players that moved on.  Wishing Coach Moore and the team success moving forward.  Go Blue!