5 coaches Michigan should have hired instead of Jim Harbaugh

If you sit back and really think about it, this is the one that could have been. Like Pat Fitzgerald at Northwestern, Gary Patterson was already a living legend leading the TCU Horned Frogs. Taking over for Dennis Franchione in 2001 full-time, Patterson has taken TCU from a mid-major private Texas Christian school and turned the Horned Frogs into a serious force in the Big 12.

In his first 14 seasons on the job in Fort Worth, TCU had nine 10-win seasons, won seven conference championships and made it to 12 bowl games. The Horned Frogs finished the season ranked inside of the AP Top 25 Poll nine times from 2001 to 2014, including four times in the top 10. TCU went 12-1 in 2014, won a share of the Big 12 Championship and the Peach Bowl.

That 2014 season was a critical juncture for TCU and possibly Patterson. The Horned Frogs went from the No. 3 team in the land, defeated Iowa State and still dropped to No. 6 in the first final College Football Playoff rankings. They were ruined by the Big 12 not having a title bout. TCU would have played the Baylor Bears for a playoff berth that season and may have gotten in.

Patterson occasionally has top-flight talent at TCU, but not always. What he always does have is a well-coached defense and a team that always plays up to the level and prestige of its competition. It is why TCU has dominated the Texas Longhorns since joining the Big 12 back in 2012. Patterson’s coaching would have gotten Michigan to the playoff at least once by now.

Ultimately, there was nothing anyone could do to prevent Michigan from hiring Harbaugh. The Wolverines had their mind made up that he was the panacea to all that ailed them. While he did make the program respectable outside of this 2020 season, the Michigan faithful have to wonder what could have been had one of these five Power 5 coaches been hired instead of him in 2015.

Who should Michigan have hired over Harbaugh back in 2015 if they went in another direction?

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