5 coaches Michigan should have hired instead of Jim Harbaugh

We have arrived at the first of two Power 5 destined for the College Football Hall of Fame at their respective institutions. Technically, Northwestern Wildcats head coach Pat Fitzgerald is already a College Football Hall of Famer from his playing days under Gary Barnett in the mid-1990s. After taking over for the late Randy Walker in 2006, Fitzgerald has been the man in Evanston ever since.

2014 was Fitzgerald’s ninth season as the Wildcats head coach. Though they were coming off back-to-back 5-7 seasons, Fitzgerald had the ‘Cats finish the 2012 campaign with a 10-win season and a top-25 ranking. That was the fifth straight bowl appearance for Northwestern. Since 2015, Fitzgerald has four more bowl appearances, two more 10-win seasons and a division title.

In short, Fitzgerald has already achieved god status on multiple fronts at Northwestern. He was a top-tier player from his days as a linebacker, as well as arguably the greatest head coach the private university has ever seen. Fitzgerald is already the equivalent of Bill Snyder in Evanston. Thriving at a place he loves with reasonable expectations, why would he ever want to leave?

Truthfully, Fitzgerald may want a bigger challenge before he exits his coaching prime. He was a candidate the UCLA Bruins were looking at to replace Jim Mora a few years ago. Fitzgerald would have been in his early 40s at Michigan. Let’s be real. If he can have Northwestern regularly making bowl games and achieving 10-win seasons every so often, imagine what he could do at Michigan.