Michigan football: 3 biggest offseason questions facing Jim Harbaugh’s Wolverines in 2021
By John Buhler
The Michigan football team has some huge questions to answer entering the 2021 offseason.
Michigan football had a bad 2020 and with Jim Harbaugh recommitted to the Wolverines, he’ll need to answer these burning questions to have success in 2021.
When the Michigan athletic program hired Harbaugh away from the San Francisco 49ers ahead of the 2015 college football season, the university was expecting their former star quarterback would bring his alma mater back to prominence. While Michigan has not been terrible under Harbaugh, they have yet to win a division title in six years with him at the helm. This must change.
Even though the 2020 campaign was shortened due to COVID, Michigan was unable to win a single home game. The Wolverines struggled mightily in Big Ten play, leaving us to wonder where the blue-blooded program even ranks in the conference entering 2021. Needless to say, 2021 is a critical year for Harbaugh and his revamped stuff. They need to get things right here quickly.
3 biggest offseason questions for the Michigan Wolverines
3. Where does Michigan fall in the Big Ten East hierarchy in 2021?
Harbaugh’s Michigan coaching legacy will be defined by two things: Will he ever beat Ohio State and will he ever lead a team to Indianapolis? Neither of these goals have been met in six years. It is only fitting these are not mutually exclusive entities. Without holding the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Buckeyes, how can one Big Ten East team possibly think about getting to Indianapolis?
Unless you are completely delusional, you must understand that you are looking up at Michigan in the Big Ten East standings until proven otherwise. What also needs to be done is assess how you match up with the other five division rivals duking it out to be second fiddle. Is Michigan second, third, fourth or even worse? Michigan must understand where they stack up entering 2021.
The only two programs Michigan can say it is definitely better than now are the Maryland Terrapins and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Mike Locksley does not win enough in College Park to usurp a traditional power like Michigan. Though Greg Schiano will have his Scarlet Knights playing competitive ball fast, Rutgers does not have the resources a program like Michigan has.
Penn State may have had a down year too, but the Nittany Lions still have James Franklin as their head coach. Indiana’s best season in a generation may an anomaly, but Tom Allen continues to do great things in Bloomington. And though Mel Tucker’s Michigan State team is rebuilding, the Spartans did knock off the Wolverines a year ago in Ann Arbor. So where does Michigan stand?