The Weekender: Michigan's Second Honeymoon with Jim Harbaugh is a Disaster, SEC NIL Drama, and Buckeyes in the Winter Olympics

By George Eisner on February 6, 2022 at 4:45 pm
Jim Harbaugh walks off after a College Football Playoff loss
Junfu Han | Detroit Free Press
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Own the group chat with The Weekender, highlighting the biggest stories in college sports, standout writing from Eleven Warriors, and a glance at what's next.

To Jim Harbaugh and Ivy League Wannabes, Michigan is Just Another Safety School

In 2015, an article on Bleacher Report made a case that Jim Harbaugh's most accurate superhero comparison would be Batman. Unfortunately, even if Michigan's head football coach does consider himself The Khaki Knight, he clearly missed out on one of the most iconic lessons from Christopher Nolan's films about Batman:

"You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain."

When former Wolverine AD Jim Hackett brought the other Jim back to campus, the school assumed it was getting the best candidate available in years with respect to fitting the "Michigan Man" archetype. But three rosy seasons of starting quarterback play in the mid-80s were not enough to put Ann Arbor at the true center of Harbaugh's heart.

Jim Harbaugh loves Michigan, but it is no longer a secret that the Wolverines were not the family he coveted the most. The NFL continues to beckon to the khakis — admitting as much to Mitch Albom this week when he said, “there was a tugging at me that I was once that close to a Super Bowl and I didn’t get it."

Those that have had competitive relationships with their brothers can only imagine the pain of falling just before the Lombardi while an elder sibling ascends to shine in the darkness. Wounds from kin leave battle scars, some even time may not heal.

But after the upset over Ohio State at the end of November, Harbaugh rapidly found himself in a position of incredible influence over both the college and professional spheres of football. The Wolverine loyalists — dangerously high off the cocktail of an arch enemy's defeat blended with an unexpected return to national relevance — would welcome Jim back with open arms regardless of what happened in the postseason.

Meanwhile, Harbaugh also had the fortunate timing of being far-and-away the most attractive head coach option at face value for NFL teams. Though post-Black Monday there were several additional candidates with more recent professional coaching experience, Harbaugh held more postseason pedigree than all of them while also carrying much more positive recent momentum on the field.

It is not clear what ultimately caused Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis to put away his checkbook for Harbaugh, given the former supposedly desired the latter going back to early December. Perhaps Davis did not want to entertain the idea of paying Harbaugh a salary comparable to that of other Big Ten coaches making up to $9.5 million annually — especially after awarding Jon Gruden a decade-long $100 million deal in 2018.

For whatever financial discrepancies or otherwise that led to the breakdown between parties in Sin City, it is undeniable that Harbaugh's own presumptive attitude that he was the best option on the market contributed to his inability to land the Minnesota Vikings job.

"The Vikings made clear with Harbaugh that he was coming to town for a true formal interview like any other candidate, not one arriving as a formality with an offer already on the table. By Wednesday evening, people on the Vikings' search committee still had reservations about hiring Harbaugh, according to a source, and the team decided that O'Connell better aligns with their stated goal of seeking continuity and collaboration." — Chad Graff, Vikings beat writer

Even folks on the Michigan beat proclaimed that Harbaugh had bagged the role despite being unable to confirm if an offer was on the table.

It is great news for the program, in the sense that the alternative for Michigan would have been a football cultural reset seven years after they started implementing the last one. There were whispers of Mike Hart replacing Harbaugh at the helm despite never coaching beyond the positional level and a decorated career of losing to Ohio State. Perhaps instead, he will merely be the new offensive coordinator they need.

Then again, maybe it would be wise for the Wolverine football program and its surrounding institutions to begin anew — free from the stench of the classic Michigan Man. Even the graduating editor for The Michigan Daily would tell you the entire university needs a cultural reset, and Claire Hao probably never met Bo Schembechler.

After all, if compensation is competitive with surrounding Big Ten coaches, U-M presumably will pay Harbaugh close to a fifth of the total settlement that Robert Anderson's thousand plus victims received two and a half weeks ago. This comes just a year after Michigan talked its more recently-beloved Jim into cutting half of his salary while the school attempted to navigate pandemic-related revenue shortfalls.

Ultimately, the point here for the Ohio State faithful is that Michigan's second honeymoon in khaki pants is hardly the joyful experience at the moment that Wolverine fans want onlookers to believe. Jim Harbaugh's true desire was not to return to Michigan, and Michigan realized during their brief window of separation that the football program has nothing without Jim Harbaugh.

Given the way the university and Harbaugh have conducted themselves of late, the football program may soon have nothing even with him around.

Now both parties are locked into a co-dependent relationship with an uneven level of devotion to each other. Harbaugh can say whatever he wants to Warde Manuel, but if the former truly wanted to be in Ann Arbor, it would not have taken Michigan's head coach of the last seven years an additional two months after The Game to figure out, "who's got it better than us?"

Compare those actions and words to Ryan Day's earlier this week about his own NFL rumors and long-term future at Ohio State.

“In this profession, in this world right now, if you're not winning, they're going to talk about replacing you. If you do well, they're going to talk about maybe you going somewhere else... there's always going to be talk like that. I love Ohio State. I love this place. My family loves it here. I tell recruits all the time, if I was to go take another job, I'd be going by myself because my family's not leaving Columbus. And that's the truth. They love it here.” — Ryan Day on his future

There is no doubt about what is in Day's heart. Harbaugh had an opportunity to begin working towards the professional redemption of his ultimate gridiron fantasy. He squandered it by allowing his college sweetheart to overinflate his sense of self-worth.

As Valentine's Day approaches, one of the hearts of those two men remains stuck with a side piece in Ann Arbor seeking two new coordinators. The other just hired six fresh defensive staffers opposite an offense that features C.J. Stroud, TreVeyon Henderson, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

Welcome back, Jim Harbaugh.

NIL Money Wreaks Havoc on Incestuous SEC Recruiting

National Signing Day went largely as expected in Columbus, but a special brand of chaos unfolded down south this week as the first great recruiting battle of the NIL era came to a close in resounding fashion for Texas A&M.

Kevin Harrish gave a great rundown of the controversy after Jimbo Fisher erupted at a signing day press conference earlier this week. The primary target of his rage was a message board user accusing the Aggies of manipulating recruits with a multi-million dollar NIL fund set up by Texas A&M boosters.

While the username “SlicedBread” went trending on social media Wednesday, lost in the national shuffle was the idea that those recruits Fisher had successfully angled from other schools were supposedly not too far off from committing elsewhere in conference — LSU in particular.

Sonny Shipp — a Tigers beat reporter of nearly two decades — offered a hypothesis on what caused four-star defensive back Jacoby Mathews to sign with Texas A&M this week. LSU's in-state target had previously committed to the Tigers before re-opening his recruitment, yet still spoke openly about how a Louisiana atmosphere would be important to his decision.

Well-connected sources tell me LSU felt it had reason to feel optimistic early on Wednesday morning, then the next thing they knew, it was over, and Mathews signed on the dotted line this morning, per multiple sources.

Something tipped the scales in A&M’s favor, making the allure of playing in College Station greater than staying close to home, presumably something related to an NIL deal. The NIL game is here to stay in recruiting and will be an even bigger part of the process going forward now that organizations have seen how it can and will be used. — Sonny Shipp, LSU beat reporter

One other school in the SEC at a minimum seems to share similar concerns about the wealth distribution in College Station. On Tuesday, Lane Kiffin joked that he, "didn’t know if Texas A&M was going to incur a luxury tax in how much they paid for their signing class.”

At the very least, it seems the Aggies capitalized on the Wild West moment NIL currently finds itself in to achieve the most sparkling recruiting class in their history. SEC teams with regional pipelines will need to adjust and respond accordingly as the first full recruiting cycle of the NIL era dawns.

There are some crazies in every college football fanbase, but the fabled financial pipeline behind the Church of Johnny Football remains a cult beyond imagination.

Seven Buckeyes in Beijing for the Winter Olympics

The 2022 Winter Olympics are underway in China, and Ohio State is proud to be one of six schools in the Big Ten with multiple representatives participating as athletes.

Six members of the women's hockey team and one from men's hockey have made the journey across the Pacific to compete for medals alongside their compatriots.

While Jincy Dunne is sure to receive her share of support from the American Buckeye audience, Switzerland's starting goalie Andrea Braendli will be another Ohio State name to keep an eye on.

ICYMI

NEW OHIO STATE ASST. COACHES JIM KNOWLES, JUSTIN FRYE, PERRY ELIANO AND TIM WALTON SPEAK FOR FIRST TIME

Ohio State’s four new assistant coaches answered questions from media members for the first time this week.

THE LEGEND OF SEVYN BANKS

Sevyn Banks announced this week that he would enter the transfer portal and not return to Ohio State after previously declaring for the NFL draft. Johnny Ginter gave a retrospective on Banks' time in Columbus and reminds us of the dangers of unrealistic expectations.

OHIO STATE’S 2022 SPRING GAME SET FOR APRIL 16

The Buckeyes announced the date of the spring game this week for April 16. Though kickoff and ticket info remains pending, Ohio State did also note it would bring back the Football Coaches Clinic after a two-year hiatus.

Eleven Warriors in Miami, FL

Sending more warmth from Miami than Josh Gattis will presumably send to Jim Harbaugh.

Up Next

  • Men's Basketball: vs. Maryland 1 pm, Today @ VCA — @ Rutgers 7 pm, Wednesday
  • Women's Basketball: vs. Rutgers 6 pm, Monday — vs. Nebraska 7 pm, Thursday
  • Fencing: Northwestern Duals @ Evanston, Sunday
  • Women's Golf: UCF Challenge @ Eagle Creek GC, Orlando, FL, All Day
  • Men's Gymnastics: @ Michigan 1 pm, Saturday
  • Women's Gymnastics: @ Minnesota 5 pm, Saturday
  • Men's Ice Hockey: vs. Minnesota 6:30 pm, Friday
  • Women's Ice Hockey: @ St. Cloud State 3 pm, Tuesday
  • Men's Lacrosse: Detroit 12 pm, Saturday
  • Women's Lacrosse: Vanderbilt (exhibition) 3 pm, Sunday
  • Pistol: @ North Dakota State, all day Today — Qualifier in Columbus next weekend
  • Rifle: PRC @ Colorado Springs, CO
  • Softball: vs. Northern Illinois 9 am, Saturday @ Boca Raton, FL
  • Synchronized Swimming: @ Richmond, Saturday
  • Men's Tennis: vs. Virginia 12 pm, Today @ Tucker — vs. Kentucky 6 pm, Friday @ Tucker
  • Women's Tennis: ITA National Team Indoor Championship, Friday @ Madison, WI
  • Track & Field: Iowa State Classic, all next weekend
  • Men's Volleyball: @ McKendree 8 pm, Thursday — @ Lewis 8 pm, Saturday
  • Wrestling: @ Rutgers 12 pm, Today — @ Minnesota 9 pm, Sunday

Ohio State hosts Michigan in football at Ohio Stadium in 293 days. Go Bucks.

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