What a Difference a Coach Makes
Somewhere along the line things went sour. Other teams in the Big Ten got better (for almost twenty years, the only two teams who won the conference were either Michigan or Ohio State) and teams from other parts of the country, especially the Southeast, were recruiting Midwestern players. Lloyd Carr, who coached the team to a national championship in 1998, retired after the 2007 season, but not before losing to Division I-AA Appalachian State, which in retrospect was the day the floor started caving in. Carr retired after that season, and since then the team has been in the wilderness, struggling through the Rich Rodriguez's tenure, where the team went through an unthinkable 15-22 record.
Rodriguez was gone after three seasons, and replaced by a Michigan man, Brady Hoke. Things looked hopeful at first, with his first season being 10-2 with a victory over Ohio State. But things went downhill from there, and he was fired after four seasons, the capper being when he sent a quarterback back on the field after suffering on obvious concussion.
Jim Harbaugh, who was quarterback of the Wolverines in the mid-'80s, had a successful career as the coach of the San Francisco 49ers, and took them to the Super Bowl (he lost to the Baltimore Ravens, coached by his brother John). But I guess there was a battle of wills there and he was asked to leave. Harbaugh had been considered a possibility when Hoke was hired, but now the match that made Michigan fans happy finally happened--Harbaugh was going back to Ann Arbor.
My dad lives in Michigan, went to Michigan (where I was born) and has followed the Maize and Blue for well over fifty years. I picked up on that, and I've been to many exciting games at U of M stadium, which is an amazing place to watch a sporting event. So after Harbaugh was hired I'd hear from him what the scoop was--who was being recruited, etc. A reasonable hope was that the team would at least be above .500.
So far the results are spectacular. The first game of the season was a loss to Utah, so it didn't seem encouraging. But since then the Wolverines have ripped off five straight wins. Over that span, they have allowed two touchdowns and three straight shutouts. That hasn't been done by any NCAA division I team since 1995. They cracked the top 25 after beating BYU, 18 after beating Maryland, and are now ranked 12th after shutting out Northwestern.
So what difference does a coach make? It's certainly different for different sports. I've heard some people say that a manager makes little difference in baseball, that it's a matter of filling out a lineup card, but this seems like ignorance to me, as there are several decisions to make with every pitch. If that's true, then football is even more complicated--so complicated that teams have coordinators that handle each side of the ball. A head coach may or may not call plays, in both college and the pros.
What Harbaugh has certainly done has brought motivation to a school that was at a very low point. The intangible aspect of coaching is leading the players, and getting to give their best, every play, every day. Harbaugh, if appearances are correct, is extremely intense,and doesn't take well to losing. I heard a player saying, after beating UNLV but giving up a touchdown late (the last the team has given up in three weeks) that it bothered him. Harbaugh himself was riding officials near the end of the Northwestern game, the victory well in hand. Harbaugh seems to me like the gym teacher everybody hated, but that works quite well for a football coach.
The first big test if this team is for real is this Saturday, against Michigan State. Up to now the schedule has included a couple of top 25 teams, but not the big boys. If the Wolverines can beat the Spartans, this fan might let visions of beating Ohio State dance in his head.
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