Michigan Football Is Back

Michigan is looking like the team that we would expect them to be under Jim Harbaugh and frankly, we should not be surprised. His track record speaks for itself and despite popular opinion, he had already elevated Michigan prior to this season.

Much discussion has been made of whether Harbaugh’s salary of $7 million is too much especially regarding his results thus far at Michigan. The talking, the Jordan brand deal, and the trips to France have all been talking points of criticism. No Big Ten titles, no wins against Ohio State, and a 3-8 record against AP top 15 teams are also frequent talking points for criticism. These results are underwhelming when you classify Michigan among the likes of Alabama or Ohio State, but looking at the past fifteen years, that is not a good benchmark.

The last Big Ten title they won came in 2004, a 9-3 season that included losses to two of their biggest rivals, both Ohio State and Notre Dame. The last time they beat a ranked Ohio State team came in 2003 and have carried a 2-15 record against the Buckeyes dating back to 2001. They have won only two BCS games dating back to the 1999 season (1999 and 2011). Even before Saturday’s 21-7 win in East Lansing, they had lost the last eight out of ten against Michigan State or as Michigan calls them “Little Brother.” In 2014, the year before Harbaugh returned to Ann Arbor, Michigan was 5-7 and failed to make it to a bowl game.

Unfortunately, for Harbaugh and Michigan, they’ve dealt with a discrepancy between expectation and reality in their performance since the mid-2000s. The fans and alumni still see Michigan as one of the elite programs in the country and rely on tradition and past performance as evidence of this status. The reality is that Harbaugh took over a slightly above-average program dominated in recent years by their rivals and completely void of championships. It was his job to bring them back to glory and most expected that to happen overnight. He has not. However, he has come very close to bringing them back to winning Big Ten championships and a chance to play for the National Championship.

Jim Harbaugh’s record thus far at Michigan is 32-12. Their defense can stop anyone and they are bringing better recruits to campus. Over the last couple of seasons, their teams have been a few plays from winning big games and playing for the Big Ten championship in 2016. A fumbled snap on a punt against Michigan State in 2015 leading to a game-winning touchdown and a 50-50 first down call against Ohio State that could have been a turnover on downs and a Michigan win in Columbus in 2016 are the best examples.

A win there and you could have possibly had a Big Ten title and a CFB Playoff berth. Michigan is not competitive in these mentioned games without the work of Jim Harbaugh.

Those who want to criticize his 2017 season are misguided. His team used three different quarterbacks and went 8-5. They had a down year, a down year that is significantly better than previous down years like 5-7 in 2014 and 2009 and even 3-9 in 2008.

A year where the offense was completely out of solutions on how to move the ball and score points, and he was still able to draw 8 wins. Now, with a good quarterback in Shea Patterson and what has happened thus far this season, it is safe to say 2017 is what a down year looks like for Michigan. Harbaugh has effectively raised the floor for Michigan.

Now after two big wins against ranked opponents Wisconsin and Michigan State, Michigan is the sole leader of the Big Ten East and on a collision course with Ohio State for a trip to the Big Ten Championship game.

They have now made an appearance in the top five of the AP Poll in the second half of the season for the second season of the last three and are competing in meaningful games again. Jim Harbaugh has brought Michigan back to national relevance.