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After No. 23 Michigan lost to No. 13 Indiana on Saturday, there became a clear narrative of where the Wolverines are:
Not good. Unacceptably bad.
Yes, there are bright spots, but given the nature of things in Ann Arbor, it’s hard to see how the current regime survives this shortened season.
The national media ranged from looking for successors to posting with more refrain, noting that it’s not quite inevitable that Jim Harbaugh doesn’t survive the season. After all, Penn State’s James Franklin was thought to be a dead man walking a few weeks into the 2016 season and turned things around in spectacular fashion.
While that seems like a pipe dream at Michigan, in the world of college football, we react to the here and now, at what’s six inches in front of our face. So given that the maize and blue are 1-2 on the young season, here’s what the CFB world has to say about the Wolverines from a national perspective.
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Who could replace Jim Harbaugh?
There’s not much left to say about Jim Harbaugh’s faceplant at Michigan. The embattled Michigan head coach continued a season of astounding hopelessness on Saturday with a blowout loss to Indiana. And the biggest takeaway was that there was nothing surprising about it.
Michigan was the inferior program in a 38-21 loss, falling to Indiana for the first time since 1987. While Indiana coach Tom Allen is the heavy favorite for Big Ten coach of the year, the intrigue surrounding how Michigan would handle Harbaugh’s potential exit only increased.
Earlier in the week, we did a deep dive on the NFL’s potential interest in Harbaugh. It was split, as some folks in front offices and in the industry thought he’d have no chance. Others felt like some big-ego’d NFL owner would be desperate enough to gamble on Harbaugh, hoping he could rekindle his 70% win percentage.
But every loss like the one to Indiana on Saturday decreases Harbaugh’s chances to land in the NFL. Those franchises would want a guy who played for the NFC title three straight years, not the scraps from a team lodged in the lower tier of the Big Ten East.
Who could Michigan go after? This is the tricky part. As hiring a coach in the COVID-19 world is hard, just like just about anything in this world. Iowa State’s Matt Campbell would be a popular name. Minnesota’s P.J. Fleck won historically big at Western Michigan and could resuscitate Michigan’s haphazard recruiting operation. Oregon’s Mario Cristobal would be able to energize the recruiting as well. As would Cincinnati’s Luke Fickell, although it’s hard to think of a born-and-bred Buckeye willingly wearing maize and blue. Wake Forest’s Dave Clawson is a proven winner and would fit the school’s academic leanings. Boise State’s Bryan Harsin has won big, but he’s got no local ties.
It’d be hard to imagine Michigan hiring a coordinator, and there are few coaches with Michigan ties that jump out.
So Michigan finds itself where it was entering the weekend — stuck with no easy answers. But they added a historic loss that only compounds the urgency for some kind of answer.
Michigan: Not much else needs to be said about the current state of things at Michigan, but we’ll give it a shot anyway. They officially stink. We’ve never had to reckon with that reality before about a Jim Harbaugh team, but here it is: Indiana 38, Michigan 21, in a game that made the Wolverines appear pretty lifeless. How does a program like Michigan run the ball for just 13 yards on 18 attempts? That isn’t acceptable, and it’s not who they should be. Harbaugh has to know that, but there is just no clarity at all about the core identity of what Michigan wants its team to look like.
Cheers to Jim Harbaugh
Just think, most years, Michigan fans have to wait all the way until an inevitable and yet still gut-wrenching loss to Ohio State before they want their coach fired. Harbaugh has conveniently cut to the chase this time around, following an embarrassing loss to Michigan State with an even more atrocious performance against Indiana in which the Wolverines rushed for only 13 yards, turned the ball over twice, and were never within 14 in the second half.
Associated Press’ Ralph D. Russo:
Firing Harbaugh after a truncated and odd season does not seem like the Michigan way. The more interesting question at this point: Does Harbaugh want to do this anymore? His contract situation is unheard of in college football, where schools are more likely to rush into a bad extension than let a winning coach get close to walk year.
It’s difficult to forecast where this could be going, but a scenario in which Harbaugh decides he has done all he can do with the job and moves on without hurting Michigan financially seems plausible.
If the Michigan job opens up, it is liable to knock over a few dominos.
Is an Ohio State man what Michigan needs? Former Buckeyes player and assistant coach Luke Fickell has No. 6 Cincinnati looking like a legitimate playoff contender. He turned down the Michigan State job when it opened unusually late in the cycle. The better question is: Would Fickell betray his roots to coach the School up North?
The most obvious solution for Michigan might be in the Big 12. Iowa State’s Matt Campbell’s overall record (30-27 with the Cyclones) might not be enough to impress Michigan fans, but he is having uncommon success in Ames.
Michigan moved to No. 13 after dismantling Minnesota in their opener. Now the Wolverines are 1-2. At no point in their 38-21 loss to No. 13 Indiana did it seem like Jim Harbaugh’s squad was on the verge of taking over this game and rallying back. Don Brown’s defense, once considered one of the most efficient in college football, got shredded by Michael Penix Jr. and a Hoosier offense that showed no fear. It’s hard to justify performances like this in Year 6 under Harbaugh, especially when you have 40 former four-stars on your roster and your opponent has five. And with No. 10 Wisconsin up next, this team is going to need to make a ton of improvement in a short period of time. The hot seat chatter surrounding Harbaugh is about to get louder.