Long before the Los Angeles Chargers had offered him millions of dollars and possible levels of power limited only by the imagination to return to the NFL, Jim Harbaugh’s legacy was already etched in the brick and stone of Michigan Stadium.
Harbaugh is a legend, and not just for becoming the first coach in history to miss half his team’s regular-season games and still win a national championship. He’s a legend for lasting the nine years it took to accomplish the mission. He’s a legend for leading one of the most traditional programs in existence back to the top.
At times, Harbaugh’s tenure was clunky, awkward and maybe even embarrassing. But it was also done his way.
The same coach who hired Connor Stalions also won 10 games with Jake Rudock at quarterback. In an age of flashy offensive evolution, Michigan won with a punishing rushing attack and a defense that would make a boa constrictor blush. Sure, it was boring at times, but it was also damn impressive.
He’s a legend who went from almost being run out of town by rival Ohio State to running the Buckeyes into the ground. A legend for (possibly) outdoing his mentor, Bo Schembechler. A legend for reintroducing such worn cliches as player loyalty and a daily practice grind that had meaning. (Michigan quarterbacks were tackled to the ground during his first spring game in 2015.)
Never mind the questions about how Harbaugh led his alma mater back to prominence. Coach Khaki does leave town as two ongoing NCAA investigations hang over the program, after all. But, if you claw your way through all the layers of Jim Harbaugh, one thing becomes clear: He leaves places better than he finds them. San Diego, Stanford, the San Francisco 49ers, Michigan — they all improved during their encounters with Harbaugh. They’d all kill to have him back, which might serve as the benchmark for measuring a truly legendary coach.
Never mind that Harbaugh can be, ahem, an acquired taste. When he accepted the Michigan job, I asked a former Stanford administrator for a pithy Harbaugh anecdote. That person demurred, having a difficult time coming up with a positive quote to be used on the record.
The bigger story is Harbaugh bending the program, the school and the sport to his will. The man negated parity’s gravitational pull on college football, the spread offense and the mighty SEC.
Little else matters in Ann Arbor, Michigan. If time…
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