Jim Harbaugh’s struggles at Michigan against elite programs continue. He must re-evaluate his roster construction to go from good to great. Can he do it?
Speed kills in sports and a lack of it is killing Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan Wolverines. Even though they were the No. 7 team in the nation entering Saturday afternoon’s New Year’s Six Bowl versus the No. 10 Florida Gators, Dan Mullen’s squad proved too much for an underwhelming Michigan team in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl. Michigan was boat raced 41-15 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
While Harbaugh has brought a level of consistency to his alma mater’s football program since arriving in Ann Arbor in 2015, his teams have gone a miserable 1-9 in games versus top-10 opponents. Because of this, Michigan has yet to play for a Big Ten Championship upon Harbaugh’s arrival four years prior.
So what gives? Why has Harbaugh struggled to take his team from good to great? It’s pretty simple really: Michigan lacks the speed to compete with preeminent Power 5 teams. Big Blue might have the philosophical approach that is adept at beating good Big Ten programs like Michigan State Spartans, the Northwestern Wildcats, the Penn State Nittany Lions and the Wisconsin Badgers.
However, the Wolverines are too slow afoot to honestly challenge Ohio State or even a good, but not great Florida team on a neutral site. So how does Harbaugh overcome this? He can either re-evaluate his approach on the recruiting trail to get faster or he can be stubborn, stay slow and invest in a bell-cow back.
Michigan is a blue-blood with a good amount of players in-state to choose from. There are certainly athletes that can play with pace from Midwestern states. Michigan is somewhat of a national brand and Harbaugh certainly has the recruiting chops to bring in faster athletes to his program. Keep in mind he recruited at an academic behemoth previously at Stanford. He won there big time.
So where does Harbaugh have the need for speed? Well, the secondary, or really the back-seven of his defense would be a great start. Unless his team can win in the trenches on every snap, his back-seven will continue to get burnt like toast against Ohio State and other major Power 5 players.
Harbaugh could also use a receiver that can create separation on various branches of his route tree. This will help his starting quarterback Shea Patterson live up to his five-star hype in what will be his last season in college in 2019.
Harbaugh is a former NFL Pro Bowler and Heisman Trophy finalist at the quarterback position. He’s coached Andrew Luck at Stanford before, so he can land elite quarterbacking talent no problem. Patterson chose to come to him after a few years playing for the Ole Miss Rebels in the SEC.
Given that Michigan was such a mess before he got there, Harbaugh will have more time than you’d think to rebuild his program to be faster if he does choose to do so. However, if he doesn’t feel that he has the time, or is reluctant to undergo a philosophical change, he should go get a bell-cow back to chew up some clock and to take pressure of his quarterback and secondary.
These personnel ideas don’t have to be mutually exclusive, as a faster defense with a bell-cow back would make Michigan a serious force to be reckoned with nationally. That being said, the status quo of trying to win now by playing Big Ten football from yesteryear isn’t going to take Big Blue over the top and into national prominence.
College football is changing, but will Harbaugh be willing to adapt? If going 1-9 versus top-10 teams and losing to Ohio State annually doesn’t, what will? Harbaugh needs to look at his team honestly and reassess. Big Blue shouldn’t be getting blown out in a New Year’s Six bowl by a team that went 4-7 in 2017.