If Not Harbaugh, Who?
The comeback to those disappointed Jim Harbaugh has not reached the potential hoped for and expected, when he was hired five years ago, can be summed up in one question: "who are you going to be able to realistically get that's any better?"
To that end, let's say you're Athletic Director Warde Manuel. After another season of three or more losses and no titles, six months from now you're deciding whether to move on from Harbaugh or not. Before finalizing your answer, you decide you need to compile a realistic candidate pool.
Then you need to ask yourself whether or not any of these names are more likely than Harbaugh to finally beat Ohio State, and end the program's longest Big Ten title drought in the next four years. Otherwise, why risk making a move at all?
Finally, you also decide you need to hire a coach who would arrive in Ann Arbor with momentum, because you can't risk falling even further behind the Buckeyes. Therefore, this exercise also assumes every name on this list is coming off a successful season at their current school, or hasn't had too much time away from college football (so no Bob Stoops).
Here are your top five candidates, in alphabetical order, with a scouting report on the various strengths and weaknesses each of them brings to the job:
P.J. Fleck, Minnesota
A Jim Tressel protege, Fleck began his coaching career as a grad assistant at Ohio State after his playing days, and worked his way up to full-time assistant on the 2006 squad that spent most of the season ranked No. 1. After stints with Joe Novak at his alma mater Northern Illinois, and Greg Schiano at Rutgers and Tampa Bay in the NFL, Fleck became the first FBS head coach born in the 1980s when Western Michigan hired him in 2013. His first year the Broncos were an abysmal 1-11, but after recruiting the top class in the MAC three consecutive years, he turned the program all the way around to a 13-0 regular season in 2016. Western Michigan was also the Group of Five representative in the New Year's Six. He got off to a slow start at Minnesota as well, but in his third year the Gophers had their most wins since 1904 and highest final ranking since 1962. Like his mentor, Tressel, he's a proponent of the power spread. He's omnipresent in the community and media, as well as a dynamic recruiter. His boundless energy and sloganeering are loved by his players once they buy in (and sneered at by media), but would that fit in at Michigan?
What would a realistic head coaching candidate pool look like if Michigan parted ways with Jim Harbaugh after this season? And would any of those names be more or less likely to beat Ohio State and win a Big Ten title in the next four years?
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Go Gophers!!
