It’s no secret that Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh hasn’t quite fulfilled the lofty expectations that came in the same package as his hat, khakis, and awkward press conferences. Do we really need to go through the numbers?
Okay, yeah.
The Ohio State Problem
He’s only won one bowl game, has yet to make it to the Big Ten Championship Game, let alone finish higher than third in the Big Ten East, and hasn’t gotten his squad invited to the College Football Playoff either. And … lest anyone forgets, he is 0-5 against his biggest arch-rival, Ohio State.
It’s that last stat that is the biggest stumbling block for Harbaugh. No matter how far he can bring the Wolverine program to (and yes, he has made it back into a top ten program almost yearly), if he can’t be better than Ohio State, it’s going to be like punching above your weight every single year.
And that’s without an ability to move down in weight class.
Next … Harbaugh’s optimism
But Harbaugh’s khakis are half full
Never fear Michigan fans, according to Harbaugh, he thinks the program is knocking on the door to breaking through some of those hurdles he has yet to clear. When speaking on the TK Show podcast with Tim Kawakami of The Athletic (subscription may be required), Harbaugh went all in.
When asked about falling short of expectations, Harbaugh agreed that it’s been a little tougher to break through more than anyone has wanted, but feels something is brewing.
“We’ve been to the New Year’s bowl games and we’ve had success on the field. But you’re right, winning that championship, making the playoffs, that’s something our players and our coaches are pouring our hearts and souls into. We’re determined to get there.”
“Always want to do better,” Harbaugh continued. “Striving to be the best. Right now, I think our team, we’re kind of on the cusp. We haven’t gotten over the top and into the playoffs and the championships, and that’s what drives us, what motivates us every day on the field. Every day working toward that goal.”
Next … It all comes back to one thing
But back to that Ohio State problem
Okay. Again, there’s just one problem. Ohio State doesn’t seem to be going away into the night anytime soon. And while a competitor never shies away from going toe-to-toe and working to beat the best, the Buckeyes are just on a totally different level right now.
Michigan’s recruiting is good, but not great. It’ll get enough talent on the field to compete with Wisconsin, Iowa, and Michigan State — maybe even Penn State — but it’s not close enough to the goods Ohio State is pulling in. There was a thought that recruiting might tail-off a little with the departure of Urban Meyer, but new head coach Ryan Day is currently assembling one of the best recruiting classes in the history of the program. The 2021 class has a great shot at finishing No. 1 in the entire country.
On top of that, the players being churned out to the NFL are ungodly. Ohio State just popped three more first-rounders to the next level last April, and there’s more in the pipeline. The Buckeye program has been able to hit the sweet spot of not hitting on recruits and then developing them to be the best they can be. So much so that you can field an entire squad full of former OSU players on NFL rosters today.
And yeah, it would be an extremely competitive one, not just a bunch of warm bodies filling out uniforms.
Next … what the rivalry means to both
It just means more at Ohio State
But while all of that matters, perhaps the one thing that makes the Ohio State problem the biggest for Harbaugh is that the Buckeye culture embraces the rivalry over Michigan more than he and the Wolverine program does.
It’s not that Jim Harbaugh doesn’t want to beat “Ohio,” it’s just OSU lives and breathe beating “That Team Up North” 365 days of the year in Columbus. There are countdown signs, reminders of the rivalry, pictures of the Block-M on punching bags, and more. Heck, the OSU coaches even devote time in every single practice to Michigan.
Is anything REALLY going to change under Harbaugh?
Things only change if “things” change
It all sounds like an obsession because it is. Things just aren’t that way in Ann Arbor.
Talk all you want about the gap in recruiting and development. Discuss facilities and support all you want. It all matters. But until Jim Harbaugh and Michigan live, eat, and breathe scarlet and gray, the rivalry’s not likely to turn around anytime soon.
And if it doesn’t, Michigan isn’t really on the cusp of more than the same “success” it’s enjoyed since Jim Tressel put on the sweater vest in 2001 until now.
