What Is Wrong With U-M, Harbaugh? Davis & Herbstreit Give Their Takes
ESPN college football experts Rece Davis and Kirk Herbstreit recently appeared on a conference call to field questions about hosting College GameDay from the Masters this weekend, while also discussing several other topics.
Much of the discussion inevitably wound up revolving around the Michigan Wolverines’ football program and head coach Jim Harbaugh, and the disarray they're in. Davis and Herbstreit each tried to diagnose what’s going on in Ann Arbor, with the latter even being asked straight-up at one point if he still thinks Harbaugh “should still be the guy” in charge.
“I’d like to think they can turn it around and [Harbaugh] proves to be the guy we all think thought he could be when he first came in,” Herbstreit said. “Anybody who thinks he can’t coach is crazy.
“They’ve got to continue to go out and get elite players. When I think of Michigan back in the heyday of Bo [Schembechler] and Gary [Moeller] and Lloyd [Carr], I think of recruiting.
“I think of Ohio State and Michigan, and how 60 percent of them would go to Columbus, and the other 40 percent would go to Ann Arbor. I’m asking our guys this week to go back and look at the Michigan roster and their two-deep back then.
“When those coaches were rolling, they had Ohio players. I’m looking at the roster now and I’m seeing Connecticut, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. I’m not saying they don’t play good football, but there’s just a very different roster.
“I like to think he’s the guy [Harbaugh]. I’d like to think they can turn it around and I continue to remain hopeful.”
Herbstreit has been a vocal supporter of Harbaugh’s in recent years, and has made it clear on numerous occasions how much he’d like to see Michigan and the head coach succeed.
He reiterated that once again on this week’s call, noting how “nobody wants to see him do better than me outside the Michigan family.” Herbstreit also said he wants Michigan and Ohio State to once again be playing each other with “everything on the line everywhere,” calling that situation a “dream scenario.”
The analyst compared what’s happening now with Harbaugh to his days at Ohio State under head coach John Cooper.
“Every wrong step back then was ‘fire Cooper,’” he recalled. “Didn’t convert on third down? We got a ‘fire Cooper.’ The defense gave up a touchdown, and we got a ‘fire everything.’
“As a player, you constantly hear the negativity that’s around your program, but I don’t know if it affects today’s players. Back then, we were annoyed by it more than anything else.
“I have no way of describing what’s happening [with Michigan]. Hopefully they show up inspired and ready to play against Wisconsin, but it’s been tough to watch these last couple games.”
Davis had similar thoughts when he took his stab at diagnosing Michigan’s and Harbaugh’s problems. He reminded everyone how high the expectations were when Harbaugh was hired in 2014, while also pointing out some of the impressive achievements they’ve accomplished on the field over the past five years.
“The people who tell you Michigan hasn’t been good are wrong,” Davis began. “They have been good. The problem is they brought Jim in for great and for championships, and they’re not anywhere close to that level.
“I just don’t see identity from them on offense. I don’t know if it’s they’re not totally comfortable with what [coordinator] Josh [Gattis] is trying to do and there’s too much of a mix and match, or if it’s inexperience at a quarterback.
“I would also say that I noticed on the telecast last week, I think there was a quote from [defensive coordinator] Don Brown — I didn’t hear Don say this directly so I don’t want to be too critical in case I’m misunderstood the reference — but there was a reference to the fact he didn’t want to become something he didn’t believe in.
“And I think the discussion was about playing so much man coverage. In my judgment, a coach’s job is to either get his players to play to the level that he wants in the scheme that he wants, or fix the scheme so that they can play it.
“They haven’t been able to do that recently against elite teams or against even really good teams like Indiana and Michigan State. I am not on the train of dismissing Jim Harbaugh or that he has to change.
“I think Jim Harbaugh is a really, really good coach, though he hasn’t performed up to the expectations of winning championships. I think even he would say that. That doesn’t mean he’s not a good coach and that doesn’t mean he can’t do it, but it does mean they need to make adjustments to figure out what’s wrong and how to get it done.
“They need to start doing it now.”
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