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INDIANAPOLIS — 2020 was a tumultuous year for Michigan football. Not only did the season get a super late start due to COVID-19, but the Wolverines went just 2-4, and the last few games of the season got canceled due to COVID-19 within the program. It was disastrous, and so many people were calling for Jim Harbaugh’s head.
People said that change was needed, and it needed to start with the head coach — well instead of parting ways, Harbaugh took an unprecedented pay cut to coach at Michigan. To be fair, going into this season, Harbaugh had never defeated Ohio State and Michigan had never reached a Big Ten Championship Game. At a program like Michigan, expectations are sky-high.
What some people seemed to forget going into the season, was that the Wolverines were in a bad, bad place before Jim Harbaugh came back to Michigan. Since Harbaugh has been back, the Wolverines have had three 10-win seasons, and we all know what’s happening now.
So how did Michigan go from 2-4 to 11-1, and win a Big Ten Championship — along with making the College Football Playoff?
The former Michigan player did some deep thinking and decided it was time to get a youth infusion in his coaching staff. Harbaugh did a difficult thing in letting his older assistant coaches go, and he brought in young coaches that were hungry — like Mike Macdonald, Ron Bellamy, Mike Hart, and Steve Clinkscale.
That was just step one. Step two was to change the culture at Michigan. Harbaugh, along with his new assistants, made it a priority to be better and to practice for Ohio State daily. They installed signs in the locker room about beating Ohio State, they now do a ‘beat Ohio’ drill in practices, and the Wolverines appeared to finally take the rivalry as serious as the Buckeyes take it — they became hungry.
Once the culture was instilled, then it needed to be shown on the field. It definitely had to be shown, because no one gave Jim Harbaugh and his team a chance. The Wolverines started unranked this year, and ESPN FPI gave the Wolverines a 2% chance to win the Big Ten.
Well, I think they proved people wrong. Michigan ran its way through the schedule, with only one hiccup against the Spartans, and even dismantled its arch-rival, Ohio State. If that wasn’t fun enough, Michigan made its first-ever Big Ten Championship Game on Saturday and decimated Iowa, 42-3. The Wolverines were the most physical team in every contest they played in, and the confidence has been as high as we have seen it in a long time.
Who else is more deserving than Jim Harbaugh to win National Coach of the Year? There are plenty of great coaches out there, and plenty of deserving, But what this man has done, has sacrificed, for this program — it’s noteworthy.
Paul Finebaum is a huge critic of Jim Harbaugh, and he is never afraid to bite his tongue when asking about Harbaugh. But Finebaum is now a believer. After Michigan throttled Iowa, Finebaum had this to say about the Michigan coach on ESPN.
“I would never rule out this team again, Nicole,” Finebaum said. “This has been an extraordinary journey for Michigan and Jim Harbaugh. And I think they’ll end up playing Georgia in the first-round game and I think they stack up pretty well. We don’t know what Georgia is going to look like after yesterday and really what the quarterback situation will be, but as far as Michigan is concerned, they have proven everyone wrong. Especially people like me, who did not think they could get to this point. But I genuinely believe that Jim Harbaugh has done the best coaching jobs in the country. I would vote for him today as National Coach of the Year and I think the momentum from last night in Indianapolis will carry them potentially pretty far in this tournament.”
What a statement from someone like Paul Finebaum who has been the biggest Jim Harbaugh critic in the world.
After the Big Ten Championship Game on Saturday, Cade McNamara said that the first person he thought about was his coach. He said what Harbaugh has been through, and then to beat Ohio State and win the Big Ten — it meant a lot.
“Yeah. I actually — one of the first things I thought of after we won was Coach Harbaugh,” said McNamara. “And I think, you know, that happened against Ohio State. That happened here today again.”
“It’s just, you know — after last season it was so tough and not just for us players but for Coach Harbaugh as well. And we know that there’s not one person who cares about Michigan more than Coach Harbaugh. And, you know, this team — we came together. And we want to win for Coach Harbaugh too. We’re just so happy that we were able to give him that joy because he deserves it.”
The players absolutely love Jim Harbaugh, and that in its own right speaks volumes. Every player in press conferences speaks very highly of the coach, and they all say how he is the best coach for Michigan and there couldn’t be a better one.
Regardless of what happens, Jim Harbaugh deserves that award, and if he doesn’t win it, he did everything right this season. Michigan is in a great place moving forward and the Wolverines are on a hot streak in terms of recruiting.
Hats off to Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan Wolverines on one incredible journey.
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