LOS ANGELES — As Jim Harbaugh took to the podium at Rose Bowl media day, there was a pressing issue. The black leather chairs on stage were too low. He was aiming higher.
While Michigan officials scrambled to find something they could use to prop up the chairs, Harbaugh stood to the side and chatted with a reporter about the chickens he keeps in his garden. It’s a topic Harbaugh is always happy to discuss.
He used his time at Michigan in front of the media to put off uncomfortable questions about sign stealing, a double suspension that forced him to miss six games this season, and potential interest in the NFL. Was he just trying to accomplish something? Or was it really just uncomfortable to sit on a normal sized chair?
In Harbaugh’s case, we really don’t know.
There’s only one coach in college football who can create such an ordinary and bizarre moment 48 hours before the biggest game of his career at the University of Michigan.
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There’s only one coach who can take a question from a religious publication at media day and generate a soundbite like, “If it had been yes, he would definitely have been a five-star player.”
There’s only one coach who can so easily dispel controversy with just a few words — “one-track thinking” — he said again and again Saturday about this chaotic situation. He kept saying it to the point where it irritated us as we tried to elicit something meaningful from him. It really is this season.
And let’s hope the sport doesn’t lose him forever after Monday’s Rose Bowl.
Because as strange, opaque and calculating as Harbaugh may seem, his nine years at Michigan weren’t all good for the Wolverines. They have been active in college football.
A sport in dire need of characters and villains has coincidentally been given a great gift this season. From a battle with the NCAA over a minor recruiting violation to America learning Conor Stallions’ name and making it to the College Football Playoff, Michigan and Harbaugh State are officially the best in the sport .
And whether or not Harbaugh wins a national championship in the coming days, it all ends when he sneaks out of Ann Arbor and returns to the NFL.
“The Rose Bowl is 48 hours away,” he said, ending a question about his future. “That’s what it’s all about. That’s our complete focus.”
It’s easy to see why this run at Michigan feels like a last hurray for Harbaugh. After consecutive playoff failures, this is the team he spent nearly a decade building. This is the season in which college football’s traditional championship-winning bluebloods have diminished enough to open the door to programs like the University of Michigan. It requires (and I’m being real here) that the stars align in a certain way to get into that mix. There’s a reason the Wolverines, despite their tradition, have only owned half of the national titles since 1950.
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However, this season was also a season of great hardship. Harbaugh has been on the NCAA’s radar for the past year and has given the agency more than enough material to even question what his tenure would look like if he returned next season. He has interviewed with his NFL team over the past two offseasons, and his interest in returning to that league is undeniable. His relationship with Michigan State athletics director Ward Manuel has had its ups and downs throughout his tenure.
It makes sense for Harbaugh to take his last shot at a title and then return to a league where he doesn’t have to worry about answering to pencil-wielding NCAA investigators.
But here’s Harbaugh’s case: You never know what he’s thinking. No one does. Even people who work with him, people who are related to him, people who see a side of him that the public doesn’t know, I’m shouting questions that I know he won’t answer. Like others, I don’t have any insight into his future.
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No matter what happens against Alabama, or perhaps next Monday against Houston, there’s no way to speculate. Harbaugh is reportedly on the verge of a contract extension that would make him one of the highest-paid players in the sport.
There were also recent reports that he had not agreed to all the terms of his contract, including one that would prevent him from signing with an NFL team for at least the next year. There are also some debatable issues, including whether the University of Michigan can terminate the contract if more serious NCAA violations are found.
There seems to be a bit of negotiation going on through the media, but it could get awkward for both sides. It also suggests that everything isn’t so dour, with Harbaugh always maintaining a positive attitude about everything going on around his program.
“This was a spiritual journey. It was a mission,” he said. “Every day, every week, every month. He’s been here for a year now. This is his first year working on this mission with this team. It’s been a happy mission.”
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It was also a mission to show what a great coach he truly is. There is no doubt that Mr. Harbaugh is living on the edge of the rules. He’s been doing that since coming to Michigan, and was disciplined by the NCAA for the Stallions’ actions and his own refusal to tell NCAA investigators the truth about what appeared to be minor recruiting violations. However, it’s all self-inflicted.
With an anvil like that hanging over a program, most teams would fall apart. The University of Michigan’s season could be derailed multiple times, especially when Harbaugh learned on Nov. 10 upon his arrival in State College, Pennsylvania, that he had been suspended for the remainder of the regular season by the Big Ten. there were.
Yet, week after week, Michigan continued to perform consistently, regardless of the circumstances and the fear of what accusations would be thrown at the program next. Despite so many possibilities for failure, everything went smoothly, thanks not only to Harbaugh’s organization but also to the players he recruited.
“In the two years since I’ve been here to this year, no matter what’s happened, I’ve never seen him as happy as he is this year,” quarterback JJ McCarthy said. “He’s a special guy, a special, special guy.
“You know, he’s a human being. So obviously I feel like he feels a little bit more than he says. He has this iron gut that nothing really shakes him. We’re talking about being there. There’s no emotion that really breaks him down.” It’s taken him out of his speed to just do what he can do every day. ”
In an industry where you often wonder what they’re doing and whether they really care about their players, Harbaugh is someone who never questions them. He has his flaws and is often irritated by his high-maintenance, aloof demeanor in public, but he only needs to watch a few minutes of Michigan’s program to see what his peers see in what he brings to the table. You can see how much I support everything.
“He’s definitely a player’s coach,” linebacker Michael Barrett said. “He’s always going to fight for his guys.”
He’s also one of the few coaches to publicly stand up and say college athletes should be paid, which is why Harbaugh has made such an impact as the sport undergoes such major changes. He has become a valuable voice of reason.
If this is Harbaugh, he’s done everything he was supposed to do, and then some. He restored Michigan’s reputation on the field. He upset a rivalry with Ohio State and won three consecutive Big Ten titles. If he wins a national title, it’s pure gravy.
It’s also true, fair or not, that Harbaugh has become the most polarizing figure in sports this season. If Michigan wins on Monday, the cheating accusations will continue all the way to Houston. If the Wolverines lose, there will be tell-alls and schadenfreude from Columbus, Ohio to Pasadena and probably many places in between.
But for all his shortcomings and the accusations of cheating that surrounded Michigan this season, college football is better off with him than without him. Let’s hope Monday isn’t the last time we see him with the Block M on his chest.