WHAT IMPACT JIM HARBAUGH’S LEAVING MICHIGAN COULD HAVE ON THE OHIO STATE WOLVERINES AND THE REST OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL
On Wednesday, an apparent months-long process finally came to pass.
Jim Harbaugh decided to return to the NFL after nine seasons at Michigan, and he and the Los Angeles Chargers came to an agreement for Harbaugh to become their head coach.
In Ann Arbor, the majority of supporters wished Harbaugh well and expressed gratitude for their first title since 1997. Similarly, Ohio State fans in Columbus bid Harbaugh farewell by reminding him of Michigan’s three-season sign-stealing scandal and the fact that no head coach of the Wolverines has ended his tenure with a winning record against the Buckeyes since 1994. Considering Ohio State has now fallen to, all while conducting their hisses into a melody that most likely resembled the tune of “Ding Dong the Witch is Dead,”
Given the significance of the biggest rivalry in college football, Harbaugh’s exit will probably have an effect on both teams moving forward. We examined the potential effects of Nick Saban’s sudden retirement from Alabama on Ohio State and the college football landscape. Caleb Downs and Julian Sayin, two transfer additions later, did it ever.
Now let’s examine the potential effects of Harbaugh’s spectacular flight to Los Angeles on Ohio State, Michigan, and the United States.
If the Wolverines did anything other than elevate offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore, it would be shocking. Coaches like Chris Klieman, Lance Leipold, and Brian Kelly have all been linked to the position if Michigan decides to go outside for the hire.
Nonetheless, Moore’s promotion is most likely a matter of when rather than if.
For the purpose of letting you release any deep-seated third-base jokes, we’ll pause for a short while.
However, the University’s Standard Practice Guide for employment stipulates that a position must remain unfilled for at least seven days before being filled, unless a waiver is granted for “legitimate business needs,” so Michigan may have to wait a week before formally naming Moore its next head coach. You would think that rule would apply given the urgency of needing to find a replacement fast in order to prevent players from being poached, much like Alabama did, but alas. We’ll discuss that later.
Harbaugh has been extremely complimentary of Moore throughout his time at Michigan. To his credit, Moore demonstrated that he was worthy of such acclaim by leading Michigan through his brief interim coaching stint wit
However, a devil’s advocate would counter that Moore has never held the position of head coach at a college in his coaching career and that he benefited from Harbaugh’s assistance with game planning for each of the three games for which he was suspended. Moore’s ability to call plays is another one of his greatest assets as a coach, but there don’t seem to be many successful college head coaches who are also full-time playcallers these days. Ryan Day gave up on that as well.
The Wolverines will still be without a sizable number of important players on both sides of the ball who contributed, even if Michigan doesn’t lose a single player to the transfer portal between now and the end of the spring window. hout incident while Harbaugh was suspended by theBig Ten for three games after the
Is Moore going to be able to thrive in Ann Arbor? Of course. Is it assured? Not at all.
