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Harbaugh introduced as new Michigan coach
- Updated: December 31, 2014
Rewind to a couple of months ago, most insiders at both the professional and collegiate level would’ve scoffed in your general direction at the mere suggestion there was the possibility that Jim Harbaugh could deign to drop back down to the collegiate level after such a successful stint at the professional one. Fast-forward to today and…
Surprise!
Tuesday at noon ET, the previously scoffed was officially announced: Jim Harbaugh is the new head coach at the University of Michigan.
Let that sink in for a moment. And then a couple of moments more. A man who had led the San Francisco 49ers to NFC Championship game appearances his first three years with that NFL club is now, after one non-playoff season, out in the Bay Area and in at Ann Arbor.
It’s an unexpected win on multiple levels for those who still put the acronym “FBS” above “NFL.” How so? Allow me to count down the ways.
THE SPORT
Yes, the NFL is still king when it comes to any American sport. However, college football has just sneaked into the king’s court and swiped one of its most successful, visible and well-known princes. Regardless of the reasons behind it, this is huge for the sport.
It could very well be the reported $8 million-per offer (that wasn’t) waved in his face that pushed Harbaugh back to the collegiate level. It could very well be that the available NFL openings weren’t even remotely worth considering and that the less-than-amicable divorce persuaded the coach that long-term sustainability in the pros simply wasn’t possible at the moment, even as an eventual return to The Shield might be in the cards as Harbaugh’s a restless soul. Regardless of the myriad could-very-well-be’s, there’s one irrefutable truth: college football got over, and got over at the expense of the behemoth that is the NFL.
Aside from what’s really just flexing and gloating over being on the good side of a coaching move for once instead of another Chip Kelly the other way, there’s this: much like with Alabama and Ohio State and Tennessee and Texas and a handful of other historically significant football programs, the sport is a better one when Michigan is relevant. And, since that epic No. 1 vs. No. 2 clash in the 2006 edition of The Game, UM has been anything but that on the national stage, aside from being the butt of increasingly easy one-liners.
Yes, Harbaugh’s hiring doesn’t guarantee a move back to relevance; it does, though, get the football program pointed in that direction.
I say this armed with the knowledge that Harbaugh’s “act” eventually got old at the professional level. At the collegiate level, the nerds that littered the Stanford roster had no problem with said “act,” and even flourished after previously floundering prior to his arrival.
Your loss, NFL, is college football’s gain.
