"I can't help it if I'm lucky," a Bob Dylan character said.
Michigan is #2 with a legitimate shot at a longer season by way of the Big Ten Championship and college football playoff. Michigan State poses less of a threat than usual, as does Iowa. They are just as good as Ohio State, if not better.
So far this year--you never quite know--Harbaugh has done it without a transfer quarterback. Wilton Speight "can make that throw." If the hold 'em out one game longer philosophy stands, Chris Evans, Michigan's leading rusher, will be out; Karan Higdon, a Harbaugh recruit, De'Veon Smith, and Drake Johnson (?) will be the runners. Jake Butt, Amara Darboh, and Jehu Chesson do not come out. Khalid Hill and Henry Poggi too are Brady Hoke recruits. Ben Bredeson, who is now playing on the offensive line, is a Harbaugh recruit but was leaning toward Michigan for a long time.
On defense, the overall, number one, 200-yards a game defense, Rashan Gary is probably the only player with significant time. All the rest are Brady Hoke recruits, many of whom took redshirts.
Michigan has suffered relatively few major injuries so far. Wow again, Wisconsin just lost Jack Cinchy, one of their star linebackers. Put another way, the team has found work-arounds for injuries to Grant Newsome, Jeremy Clark, and Johnson.
Three fine mice. It's another game, you know, on the schedule. I think they should recruit better guys than Chris Wormley.
On Harbaugh... He's too big and in some ways it is irritating. He is not God because it is only football. It is minimally-respectable as a career and, for a player, long-term exposure is downright stupid. And coaches are in the business of encouraging it.
You can't stop boosters and all kinds of donations; coach's salaries are complicated. The big business approach--Dave Brandon on a different level--is annoying. Hiring every Tom, Dick, and Harry (or Biff) as an analyst because they will help in the synthetic conquest and another $100K position is inconsequential is bad for college athletics. Harbaugh and Michigan football are too rich and too big. Whatdoicare? If people want to pay and buy and attend that is absolutely their choice. Same with the fans screaming for more 5-star recruits.
PFF--pro football focus, who cares? I have no desire to read about Vincent Smith or James Ross sticking around to get their heads bashed. Harbaugh wants to put the most players in the NFL and who cares about that too. The NFL may still be good spectacle and background noise on a Sunday. I'll watch the home team sometimes when they are as good as the Broncos. Albeit slowly, the NFL is a declining brand.
I first liked Harbaugh because he can be stoic, behaved, and polite. It is nice to smile. He is an extraordinary manager and communicator, the latter being in new and 24/7 times and with different generations. I admire positive reinforcement like crazy.
All this but the tantrums are not becoming. He must learn that there are limits and some things, especially in football as he should know, cannot be undone. Childish behavior doesn't work for role models and leaders. Try to keep the intensity and competitiveness to the football field.
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