By Jordan Long
The University of Michigan football team sits at 1-3. They face Rutgers on Saturday. Michigan’s Head Coach Jim Harbaugh is on the hot seat and another loss could make it even warmer.
Harbaugh took over the University of Michigan Football program on December 30, 2014. This was after 4 years in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers went 44-19-1 under him, winning the NFC West Division in 2011 and 2012. The 49ers ended up in the playoffs 3 out of the 4 years. The only season they missed it was in 2014. San Francisco made it to Super Bowl 47 but lost to the Baltimore Ravens 34-31.
Michigan thought he was the top coach out there. Harbaugh had experience in the college game with Stanford University from 2007 to 2010. His overall record at Stanford was 29-21 with 2 Bowl appearances. Michigan was hoping for better results. They hadn’t won a National Championship since 1997 when they ended the season ranked #1 in the AP (Associated Press) poll.
Prior to this year, Michigan hadn’t played bad football under Harbaugh. They won 10 games in 2015, 2016, and 2018. They appeared in 5 Bowl Games to this point.
This season there was optimism Harbaugh would help coach this team to a Big 10 title game. They were ranked as high as #13 to start the year. If they played well, they were hoping to end up in the College Football playoff.
Unfortunately, the opposite happened. Michigan beat the University of Minnesota 49-24 to begin the year, but it has been all downhill since. They dropped 3 straight games and didn’t look competitive last Saturday in a blowout loss to Wisconsin. Michigan gave up 28 first half points and lost the game 49-11. Unless something changes, Harbaugh could be on his way out.
Michigan is 48-21 under him, a winning percentage of .696. The old saying in sports is, “what have you done for me lately?” Lately, Michigan is sliding and isn’t looking like a team who is going to make a Bowl Game this year.
Michigan has a decision to make once the season is over. They could keep Harbaugh. He has one year remaining on his contract. Harbaugh would have his chance to prove this year is a fluke.
The other option is to let him go. If Michigan fires him, they would start a coaching search. There could be plenty of coaches interested because Michigan is in a Power 5 conference, the Big 10. The tricky part about letting Harbaugh go is his buyout. It would cost Michigan around $10 million.
Harbaugh would have his pick of jobs. He could go back to the NFL where he was very successful. Right now, two teams have openings, the Atlanta Falcons and the Houston Texans. There may be more once the NFL regular season is over. If not the NFL, another college may want him, but it needs to be in a Power 5 conference.
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