Michigan Football - 2025 Season.

[lineygoblue]

Fleck is a side show clown. All show and no substance. Minnesota couldn't even win the weak B1G West. No thanks. When he brings a team to Columbus and beats a tough OSU squad, he'll have my attention. Until then, keep padding your canoe in Minnesota.

I like the idea of Dave Aranda, Kalen DeBoer, PJ Fleck, or Kyle Whittingham.

Of that group, I think I'd be most interested in Wittingham. He's made Utah a tough program. They're always competitive and a tough out. Michigan is on that tack right now, and Whittingham would be one of those guys who could take the baton and move to the next level. IMO.

Mike Hart needs to be a HC at a smaller program first. He's building a nice resume but there's no way he's ready to be the top guy in a program like Michigan. Even Jim Harbaugh had to start at the University of San Diego.

[jaadam4]

This is complete bullshit. I can’t believe he’s jumping to the NFL. We have no one in the wings and all of the top names are off the table.

Fickell would have been the baseline of hires had we known months ago. This will affect our recruiting 2 years in a row and set the program back years.

[Mike]

IDK. Word on the radio this morning is that Harbaugh is expected to meet with the team in the next day or two to announce that he's staying at Michigan. FWIW...

[iam416]

I wonder why he allows stories to pop up. And I mean from program-friendly, program-"in touch" writers, not hacks like Cowherd or the like.

[lineygoblue]

That's puzzling to me too. Everything he's said up to this point was "I'm going to be at Michigan", and all that crap. Now, he's already spoken to at least two teams, and he might speak to others.

I just wish he'd be definitive one way or the other. If the NFL still draws his interest, then go, already. If not, then go all in at Michigan, and leave no doubt. Stop talking to NFL teams.

But, .. what do I know ...

[Mike]

Maybe he's using it as leverage to sweeten his deal with Michigan or get them to do more with NIL. Just guessing. I think dealing with the current state of CFB has to be somewhat exhausting which makes the NFL, where all you have to do is coach, more alluring.

[Cody_Russell]

That’s what I was hoping for last year, but it appears Michigan/ Harbaugh are in the exact same position as 12 months ago.
It’s just annoying because this was the argument for M’s poor 2023 recruiting class. People argued that due to Harbaugh flirting with the NFL, it impacted the short term relationships with recruits. Well, here we are again!

Harbaugh saying he “believes” (he’ll be back) and never know what the future holds. Stop this BS.

[Mike]

I think we'll know in a day or two either way.

[THE_WIZARD_]

If there is a Husker God in heaven you will have Fleck as your next coach.

[Cody_Russell]

NFL firings and hiring news starts on Monday (Black Monday). We’ll know soon!

Fleck is a side show clown. All show and no substance. Minnesota couldn't even win the weak B1G West. No thanks. When he brings a team to Columbus and beats a tough OSU squad, he'll have my attention. Until then, keep padding your canoe in Minnesota.

Of that group, I think I'd be most interested in Wittingham. He's made Utah a tough program. They're always competitive and a tough out. Michigan is on that tack right now, and Whittingham would be one of those guys who could take the baton and move to the next level. IMO.

Mike Hart needs to be a HC at a smaller program first. He's building a nice resume but there's no way he's ready to be the top guy in a program like Michigan. Even Jim Harbaugh had to start at the University of San Diego.

PJ Fleck… I like that he’s elevated the standards at Minnesota and he’s young. Averaging 8-4 at Minnesota is pretty good IMO.

The only downside about Whittingham is his age, but he could surely keep this M program competitive with his culture building. Strong track record at Utah.

DeBoer has shown signs of being a college offensive genius. What he did at Indiana and the quick turnaround at Washington. I was particularly impressed with Washington’s play designs when they defeated Texas.

Aranda is a young and promising HC. Baylor going 12-2 in 2021 was impressive.

Agree about Mike Hart needing HC experience first, but I would be down to hire him if he has success elsewhere first.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Scott Frost is available.

[Jeff Buchanan]

This may be old news to some here because I haven't kept up with the torrent of posts available on the interweb on the subject of Harbaugh's tenure at M, about 1% having any real value. There's reliable John Bacon quotes I've seen saying JH is gone, there's Joel Klatt who has spent a lot of time with Harbaugh over the last year as a Fox sports journalist and M game broadcasts color guy.

Klatt thinks Harbaugh wants to stay at M. He reportedly has a new agent and his agent is reportedly leveraging Harbaugh's performance in the last two seasons to get JH a pay-package that is commensurate with the top paid and top performing coaches - Saban, Kelley, Sweeny, et. al. He's currently a shade over 1/2 of these guys contracts (he's at $6m/y, Saban's at $12).

Agents get paid to optimize their client's pay packages and contracts.Harbaugh's engaged but the heavy lifting is being done by his agent. Since he took a pay-cut based on his performance after the disaster that was the 2020 COVID season, I think it reasonable for his agent to press M to recognize his performance in '21 and '22 by giving him a contract that also recognizes he's one of the top coaches in CFB and his pay should reflect that.

I can't see the M collective of donors (not the NIL collective) - the place where a pay raise is going to be considered and green-lighted - saying, "fine, if he wants to leave, let him. the vault is closed, our arm is not going to get twisted." That would be really dumb. It could happen but the chance of that is low. In the last 2y, Harbaugh has solidified the foundation of great M football restoring its place among blue-bloods that had eluded M football for over 10 years. I'm pretty sure he feels that work remains to be done to solidify his legacy at M. To pull out now for the NFL would be something that stains any legacy he might have built up so far.

I guess we'll know for sure by the end of the week or early next week.

[lineygoblue]

Hey, if "Tuck" is worth 95 million, then Harbaugh is too. Harbs has accomplished more. End of story.

[THE_WIZARD_]

I refuse to accept that that is the end of the story. I demand more. Tell me another story liney.

[lineygoblue]

Well, I could remind you of your lack of male offspring, but that'd be mean. So, I won't.