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It’s the year 2020, and things haven’t gone right for many people around the world. Many things aren’t what they used to be, and things will have to change everywhere. Sometimes the change will be permanent instead of temporary. Michigan football is one of those things that needs to make a permanent change.
In Ann Arbor, problems are brewing as the Wolverines are 1-3 this season and are on a three-game losing streak. In year six of head coach Jim Harbaugh’s program, this isn’t what it should be. Harbaugh was brought in to fix the issues that the previous two head coaches left him. It turns out those problems haven’t left the program despite a third coaching change since former head coach Lloyd Carr retired.
While Harbaugh has brought Michigan back up from the trenches they were in under Rich Rodriguez and Brady Hoke, he hasn’t elevated them to that next level; he just brought them back to relevance. His first season was expected to be strong, but not as strong as a 10-3 finish. That finish pushed expectations up sooner. In 2016, Harbaugh and Michigan were as high as number two in the rankings. They were a Collge Football Playoff team before crumbling against Iowa and being a controversial call away from beating Ohio State.
Michigan came close to being that next level team in 2018 before they got embarrassed in the 62-39 loss to Ohio State. Since that loss, Michigan hasn’t recovered from it, and they even repeated the 2018 beatdown from the Buckeyes, and they lost 56-27 in 2019. Now the 2020 matchup with the Buckeyes is looking even worse, and it could be the nail in the coffin for what Michigan football is.
No, that doesn’t mean the end for Harbaugh.
Michigan football changing its head coach would be a band-aid fix for the bigger problems with the program. Getting rid of defensive coordinator Don Brown would be a band-aid fix for the bigger problems with the program. Firing offensive coordinator Josh Gattis would be a band-aid fix for the bigger problems with the program.
Yes, coaches matter, and the right coach with the right team and program can turn into a perfect fit. Players matters as the right players fit the right coaching scheme and can make the team better. A team of five-stars should be better than a team of three-stars, but coaching helps make that different as players need to develop well, and if a three-star is coached and taught better than a five-star, the rankings are thrown out the window.
What matters more than coaching and the players, though? The program they play for.
Now, nobody knows what the exact issue is for the Michigan football team. There isn’t a clear-cut answer as the coaches have had success in the past. They’ve recruited talented players that are doing their best to win football games. One thing is clear though, Michigan is in rebuild mode.
2017 was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Wolverines, and it was, as Michigan finished 8-5 as they lost a lot of talent. Still, the rebuild was quick as 2018 was another team that was one game away from a Big Ten Championship appearance and possibly a playoff appearance.
This type of rebuild, though for the Wolverines, has to be different. Michigan needs to change who they are, what they stand for, and how they treat this program. Michigan pushes for academics first and football second, while other schools tend to flip those roles. That would be a huge difference, but that won’t ever happen in Ann Arbor.
But what can change is how the players think, how they are taught, how they practice, and how they are recruited. Michigan, for over 13 years, has struggled to get back to what it used to be. They have struggled to beat Ohio State, they have struggled to win a Big Ten Championship, they have struggled to beat the tough teams on its schedule.
Three coaches have brought in three different types of coaching styles, different types of offenses, and different types of defenses, and three different types of recruiting. Bringing in a fourth coach is just that, a different type of the same thing.
Michigan needs a new identity.
The identity of Michigan football hasn’t changed. “The team, the team, the team” is a quote that most likely won’t ever leave the program, but maybe it’s time to find a new one. Being known for being a smash-mouth football team that pounds the rock up the gut with multiple big offensive linemen and a defense that is nasty, gritty, and makes you earn every yard, that is what Michigan is supposed to be for the past 13 years, and it has failed to be all of that.
That identity used to work, and now it’s time to change it all. Football has changed over those 13 years, and it’s changed before that, but Michigan was still able to get away with its old practices and thinking. The jig is up, and while others have adjusted to it and benefitted from it, Michigan is still stuck in its old ways of thinking.
Alabama’s head coach Nick Saban made a change to the program as they went 7-6 in 2007, to 12-2 in 2008, before going 14-0 in 2009 and winning a national championship, and that program has continued to be the final boss for a lot of teams around the country.
Clemson is another top team, but its head coach Dabo Swinney took time for Clemson to become what it is today, as it took four seasons before Swinney got double-digit wins, but since then, they haven’t looked back. They had four seasons of 10-11 wins before they took that next step and had five straight seasons of at least 12 wins, that had four College Football Playoff appearances and two championships.
Ohio State is the best example for this, though, as, through three different head coaches, they still are one of the top teams in the country. Jim Tressel got the Buckeyes one championship and only lost 22 games in 10 years before resigning. Urban Meyer would be the next official head coach for the Buckeyes, and he did better than Tressel as he would win a championship as well, and while he won fewer games, he only lost six games in seven years as the head coach.
When Meyer resigned, Ryan Day took over and so far is 16-1 as the official head coach, 3-0 as the interim 2018 when Meyer was suspended. That school went through three different coaches, two of them resigning after controversial exits, yet the Buckeyes continue to be a championship program. They continue to be a school that gets the best of the best players, and they develop them into being the best of the best. They have an identity that continues to work year after year, and no matter who they lose on the field or the coaching staff, they continue to win football games.
Those three schools have something inside those programs that make them different. Michigan needs to create that something in this rebuild that the 2020 season has created. For Michigan to take that next step as an elite program, it’s more than just coaching and more than just players.
Michigan needs to change who they are and what they stand for as a team and as a program to move up and win championships. What they once were was great back then, but in 2020 it just won’t work anymore. The way the players prepare for games, the way the coaches coach, teach and recruit, the way the player’s train, watch the film and practice, the way Michigan is right now all needs to be burnt down, and the rebuilding pieces can’t be the ashes the past leftover.
Times have changed, and if Michigan wants to be a successful winning team, they need to start everything from scratch and be different. Being the same hasn’t worked for three different coaches, so it’s time for Michigan to be different and start a new chapter in the program that shifts the tide and changes the program forever.
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