What "if" Harbaugh did become Michigan's coach?

A little bit of 'what if'...

How do you think Michigan would be today if Jimmy H. did accept the UofM coaching job? Would the program be better or worse? Would he have been a better recruiter than Hoke?

Worse. He probably wouldn't be around long, and would not have assembled to same staff, which has been a big part of Hoke's success, esp Mattison. I don't see how he could have been any better of a recruiter since Hoke has scored big again and again, and nobody is worried about where he will be coaching in four years.

Well, it depends. I think he would be in about the same place record wise, but like dwoody said, he wouldn't have been around long, and may have an eye toward the NFL.

Even with that, he has to much personal pride and work ethic to have been a failure at any coaching stop.

fishgoblue22 wrote:

Well, it depends.  I think he would be in about the same place record wise, but like dwoody said, he wouldn't have been around long, and may have an eye toward the NFL.  

Even with that, he has to much personal pride and work ethic to have been a failure at any coaching stop.

+2 exactly what I think

I think JH would have been a lot more outspoken about O$U though. Urban is saying and doing things in the rivalry to stoke the fire. Hoke is not so brash. He just seems to be an old school guy that is resurrecting a lot of Bo-isms. That's about the only difference I could see.

The key is who would JH have hired for his staff? Hard to imagine him landing anyone better at DC than Matty.

I think he'd be a win or two lower than Brady at this point. And not as far advanced in the area of recruiting. And I doubt he'd have gotten as good a DC as Matty, but perhaps a better OC than Borges (although, in fairness, maybe Borges will change our minds this year and beyond, given he now has his offense and tools to work with).

I list those opinions only to answer the original question.

To a man, I'm very glad JH never did become our head coach. Maybe I put too much stock in what I've read and heard about him (deeply disliked by former NFL teammates and opponents alike, shady "off the field" goings-in while at Stanford, police blotter at U-M, etc.). But a better reason for my happiness over not having JH is who we do have, and the job BH has done in every facet of his head coaching job.

I think he would have been excellent. The guy was terrific at Stanford with fewer advantages. He would have assembled his own great staff and been a great recruiter.

I'm happy with how it all turned out but don't see this as an "either or" situation.

The issue in a few years is that our key guys have some age on them and we need to be developing the bright young guys to have a good succession.

'shoes

sandyeggo_blue wrote:

I think JH would have been a lot more outspoken about O$U though. Urban is saying and doing things in the rivalry to stoke the fire. Hoke is not so brash. He just seems to be an old school guy that is resurrecting a lot of Bo-isms.

I wouldn't say that urban is stoking the fire of the rivalry intentionally, rather he is doing it to avert attention to his teams discipline issues as well as the Aaron Hernandez thing...

michmike wrote:

I think he'd be a win or two lower than Brady at this point. And not as far advanced in the area of recruiting. And I doubt he'd have gotten as good a DC as Matty, but perhaps a better OC than Borges (although, in fairness, maybe Borges will change our minds this year and beyond, given he now has his offense and tools to work with).

I list those opinions only to answer the original question.

To a man, I'm very glad JH never did become our head coach. Maybe I put too much stock in what I've read and heard about him (deeply disliked by former NFL teammates and opponents alike, shady "off the field" goings-in while at Stanford, police blotter at U-M, etc.). But a better reason for my happiness over not having JH is who we do have, and the job BH has done in every facet of his head coaching job.

Mike I'd have JH at about the same win total but I'd also have him with better recruits (if that is possible). Brady Hoke was a "Who is that guy" hire. Harbaugh would have brought cred with him out of the gate (think Urban Meyer) and that would have translated to a few better recruits, see Urban Meyer's first class.

You are right about one thing though, I'm very happy about who we do have. To date, BH has exceeded my every expectation on the recruiting trail. He's right where I think we should be transitioning from the spread to the pro and he's right where I thought we'd be in the win category. From here on out I fully expect to win the B1G. If we aren't at least in the B1G Championship game this year I will be very disappointed.