Gary Moeller never really hit his stride as a Michigan coach but he had a bit of a personality and his teams featured offense. At around .750 he was similar to Lloyd Carr in terms of winning percentage. Both were below the almost .800 figure for Bo Schembechler.
These are all much better than the close to .500 win/loss percentages for Brady Hoke and Rich Rodriguez at Michigan.
Jim Harbaugh is right around Carr and Moeller at .745. Recent teams have virtually always beaten lesser teams; "lesser" sounds disparaging but it would not be accurate to write teams they were supposed to beat. Without studying the numbers, Michigan is maybe .500 against good teams they should have beaten. Last year they were favored by a decent margin against Ohio State and there are other similar examples.
As someone who because of his position is always in the news I would rate Harbaugh 50-50. Overall I'd say his biggest flop is treating student-athletes like stars and promoting the NFL. This year we all got exactly that when several of the most important players decided to call their education quits before the bowl game. Others elsewhere did it too but Harbaugh set the tone at Michigan.
He has had a lot of misses and it looks bad all-around. Right now the players who are gone early include Gary, Bush, Gentry, Higdon (for just the bowl), Long, Solomon, Samuels, and I could go on. These are upperclassmen in their prime years to both contribute and represent. Harbaugh has done well at continuously reloading, but this looks bad and it hurts the team.
One could say the same about coaching turnover.
A positive is that Harbaugh always follows the rules. He has pull and I'm sure he uses it, but he doesn't argue with the university when it comes to standards, investigations, etc. His personality can be prickly and offsetting, but he almost always behaves with decorum. He is a good fit as head coach because he respects the institution and it shows.
Where did Michigan finish the 2018 season in terms of rankings? Probably in the top 15 or just barely in the top 10. So far Harbaugh's teams has not shown the ability to go farther.
It has to be noted that other teams, and especially rivals in the Big Ten, have problems similar to Michigan in terms of turnover and black-eyes. More specifically, Ohio State, Penn State, and Michigan State could be said to be in transition or worse. From that perspective, Michigan football is downright stable with Harbaugh at the helm.
Where will history rank Harbaugh in terms of Michigan football coaches? I don't think he will leave before establishes that more firmly.
Up Next: John Beilein
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