5 coaches Michigan should have hired instead of Jim Harbaugh

This one has to hurt the Michigan faithful, especially given what happened in the Big House on Saturday. Again, this would have been a bit of a reach to hire him away from the Pittsburgh Panthers back in 2015, but it would certainly be better than getting boat raced by Paul Chryst‘s Wisconsin Badgers whenever the Wolverines have to reluctantly face them on the gridiron.

Admittedly, Chryst was just an okay head coach in his three years at Pitt. The Panthers only went 19-19 while the former Wisconsin quarterback was in charge of the program. Sure, 10 times out of 10 Wisconsin would have hired Chryst to replace the head-case head coach known as Gary Andersen. The only way he would have spurned his alma mater for Michigan was more money.

Over the same 5.5 years that Harbaugh has spent at Michigan, Chryst is 54-16 overall and 36-10 in Big Ten play. The Badgers have won at least 10 games four times, won the Big Ten West three times and have never finished below second place in their division. In short, Chryst has transformed Wisconsin into the second-best program in the Big Ten behind only Ohio State.

Had Chryst gone to Michigan over Wisconsin, the Wolverines would have won a Big Ten East crown by now and achieved a playoff berth. While Chryst has had his troubles vs. Ohio State in Indianapolis, he would have done more with the resources available at Michigan than what Harbaugh has up to now. With Chryst, Michigan would be the second best team in the Big Ten.