The Other Harbaugh May Have Solution for What Is Ailing Sputtering Wolverines
Another ho-hum start.
Another set of embarrassing losses.
Another coach on the hot seat.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Welcome to Michigan football, 2014 edition.
Thanks to a 31-0 whitewashing at the hands of Notre Dame and an embarrassing home loss to Utah, the Wolverines stand at 2-2 as they prepare to begin their Big Ten conference schedule this Saturday against Minnesota.
With national title hopes no more than a fantasy and a Big Ten title looking unlikely, it seems to be a question of when, not if, Brady Hoke's reign as the Michigan football coach will come to an end.
As it often has in the years since Michigan last hoisted the championship trophy in 1997, the chatter around Ann Arbor these days regards direction—as in, who can lead the Michigan football program back into prominence?
In speaking with a few Michigan insiders, the consensus answer to that question is Harbaugh...but not the Harbaugh most assume.
San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh may have the Wolverines pedigree, after having played quarterback for Bo Schembechler from 1983-86, but it is brother John, head coach of the Baltimore Ravens, who might emerge as the front-runner when the Michigan job officially becomes available.
"[Michigan] hiring John would be like hitting a home run with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning to win the game," said one NFL insider who has known both John and Jim Harbaugh for many years. "He's a good person. He's a good coach. It would be a great fit. And I think he would be interested in the job."
The opportunity may not be an easy sell to a Super Bowl-winning coach who has the Ravens in the early playoff hunt. Furthermore, Harbaugh and Hoke are friends. They worked together as assistants at Western Michigan. Given their shared past, it's unlikely Harbaugh would want to be connected with the firing of Hoke.
But that doesn't mean Michigan won't move on from their current coach.
The Wolverines have lost at least six games in four of the last six seasons, including a 7-6 crash-and-burn last year that concluded with regular-season losses to Iowa and Ohio State and a blowout loss to Kansas State in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl.
Hoke's fourth year at the school hasn't been much better, limited to a pair of wins over non-power-five conference teams Appalachian State and Miami of Ohio.
Last week's weather-delayed 26-10 loss to Utah dropped Michigan's record over its past seven games to 2-5 while raising the "Hoke must go" frenzy among Michigan backers.
Former Michigan quarterback Michael Taylor, who guided the Wolverines to a pair of Big Ten titles in 1988 and '89, went public on a Michigan call-in show this week, blasting the school administration for not hiring Jim Harbaugh four years ago following the firing of Rich Rodriguez.
"We didn't get the coach (Harbaugh) who should have been our coach here," said Taylor. "[Hoke's] pedigree did not deserve to be a $4 million coach here at Michigan."
John Bacon, who wrote about the short and tumultuous tenure of Rodriguez at Michigan in the book Three and Out, says the situation at Michigan is volatile.
"It's Michigan," said Bacon, who teaches a course at the school and maintains his own blog. "It's always changing, but there are a lot of unhappy people."
But will the change come from a "Michigan Man" such as Jim Harbaugh or a Michigan-bred man such as John, who went to high school in Ann Arbor when his father Jack was a Michigan assistant?
Jim is the flash-point name for Wolverines fans. The former Michigan QB flirted with the Wolverines four years ago when he was coaching Stanford before opting for the 49ers.
While reports by NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport (h/t NFL.com's Marc Sessler) and CBSSports.com's Jason La Canfora suggest Harbaugh's run with the team may be coming to an end as he battles with Niners management about a contract extension and other issues, his ties to the NFL—and the title he covets—appear stronger.
"There is no way that Jim is going to leave the NFL when his brother and [Seahawks coach and rival] Pete Carroll have Super Bowl rings," said a source who has known Jim for many years. "He's one of the most competitive guys in the world, and besides he would be one of the top choices for any NFL job that opens in the next few months."
John is more secure in his job and has a contract that runs through 2017. However, ESPN.com's Don Van Natta Jr. and Kevin Van Valkenburg reported that he had a difference of opinion on the way the Ravens management handled the Ray Rice situation.
If the Ravens miss the playoffs for the second consecutive season and an enticing job such as Michigan opens, Harbaugh might want to return to Ann Arbor.
The Michigan staff already has John's fingerprints on it. Greg Mattison, who was one of Harbaugh's first assistant coaching hires for the Ravens, was hired last year by Hoke to be the Wolverines' defensive coordinator. The move was not made without Harbaugh's approval.
There are other non-Harbaugh options, of course.
LSU coach Les Miles, another Michigan man, was in the mix in '08 (before Rodriquez was hired) and in '10 (after he was fired). But a third run at Miles may be just as fruitless.
Former Rutgers coach Greg Schiano had an offer to coach the Wolverines in '08—Michigan had sent a plane to New Jersey to fly Schiano back to Ann Arbor—but had a last-minute change of heart and stuck it out at Rutgers for another few seasons before he briefly moved to the NFL with Tampa Bay.
Fired last year, Schiano certainly would listen if Michigan called.
Hoke could quiet the noise if he can turn the Wolverines in the right direction in the next two months. But that would require wins at Michigan State and Ohio State, something that Hoke has not done since he took over in '11.
That's looking unlikely now—maybe as unlikely as one of the Harbaughs leaving the NFL.
Never say never, though.
Can You Say "Playoffs?"
Even UCLA coach Jim Mora Jr.'s father, Jim Sr., might not object to using that term after the Bruins' impressive 62-27 Pac-12 victory over Arizona State on Thursday night.
Mora Jr. watched with satisfaction as UCLA, regarded as a sleeper college football playoff team by many preseason prognosticators, put everything together for its best effort of the season.
After a sluggish start with unimpressive wins over Virginia, Memphis and Texas, the Bruins showed some swagger in blowing past the previously unbeaten Sun Devils.
After UCLA allowed ASU to jump out to a 17-6 lead, Bruins quarterback Brett Hundley overcame an injury to his non-throwing left shoulder to rack up 355 total passing yards and four touchdowns through the air, including a pair of 80-yard scores.
By the time the night was over, UCLA had tallied the most points ever scored in the history of 55-year-old Sun Devil Stadium.
The Bruins, who have home games with unbeaten Utah and Oregon in the next two weeks, would seem to have all the ingredients necessary for success: a Heisman Trophy-quality QB in Hundley, an All-American-caliber linebacker in Myles Jack—who was deadly in the red zone against running backs last season as the Pac-12's Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year—and a dangerous threat on defense and special teams in cornerback Ishmael Adams, who broke the Arizona State game open with a 95-yard interception return and, later, a 100-yard kickoff return.
Sounds like a formula for success...and the playoffs, doesn't it?
Countdown to the Final Four
Last 4 In
1. Florida State: It survived against Clemson without Jameis Winston. Still the team to beat.
2. Alabama: With added passing game, the Tide are starting to roll.
3. Oregon: The Ducks will go as far as Marcus Mariota can carry them.
4. Oklahoma: It has the easiest route to the Final Four.
Last 4 Out
1. Auburn: As the SEC race begins, let's see what the Tigers have.
2. Baylor: It's scoring more than the basketball team.
3. Texas A&M: The Aggies might still be the best in the SEC West.
4. Michigan State: The Big Ten's best hope.
Race to the Playoffs
We are four weeks into the college football season, and we are down to 33 teams (out of 128) that have legitimate chances of making it into college football's Final Four.
Total teams: 128
Teams eliminated: 95
Teams remaining: Florida State, North Carolina State, Georgia Tech, Duke, Cincinnati, Oklahoma, Baylor, TCU, Penn State, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Ohio State, BYU, Notre Dame, Oregon, Washington, Oregon State, Arizona State, Arizona, UCLA, Utah, Stanford, USC, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Alabama, Auburn, Mississippi, Mississippi State, LSU, Georgia, Oklahoma State.
You've Got To Be Kidding
1. Ohio State has not lost against a team from the state of Ohio since it fell to Oberlin...in 1921, a winning streak that stands at 39 games as Cincinnati visits Columbus on Saturday.
It is a must-win game for both teams.
Ohio State cannot afford another loss this season if it hopes to maintain any shot at the playoffs, while Cincinnati needs to beat the Buckeyes to prove it's worthy of being the highest-ranked non-power-five conference team—which gets a bid to either the Cotton, Fiesta or Peach Bowl.
Here's the scary part for the Buckeyes: Cincinnati can win this game. Bearcats coach Tommy Tuberville has a big-time pedigree, with prior stops at Auburn and Texas Tech. He has a team that went 9-4 last season and has 14 starters back, including Notre Dame transfer Gunner Kiel at quarterback.
The Bearcats have taken care of their other Ohio challenges this season—Toledo and Miami of Ohio. Don't be shocked if they take care of their biggest and offer the Buckeyes an in-state black eye for the first time in a long, long time.
2. Kentucky has not won an SEC game in two years.
Two. Years.
OK, Kentucky hasn't been a factor in football since...when did Bear Bryant coach the Wildcats?
But under the guidance of Mark Stoops, UK is showing some teeth behind a revamped defense led by defensive ends Alvin Dupree and Za'Darius Smith.
It took Florida into overtime a few weeks back and has a good chance at ending its conference losing streak when struggling Vanderbilt comes to Lexington on Saturday.
3. Talk about no respect. Miami is a seven-point favorite Saturday against a Duke team that has scored 93 points in its last two meetings with the Hurricanes.
The Blue Devils finished ahead of the 'Canes in last season's ACC Coastal Conference race en route to the ACC title game, where they lost to national champion FSU. This season is shaping up in a similar manner, with the Blue Devils off to a 4-0 start and Miami at 2-2.
Sounds like it's time to give the Devil his due.
4. Clemson center Ryan Norton, who snapped the ball high over quarterback Deshaun Watson's head in last week's 23-17 overtime loss at No. 1 Florida State and cost the Tigers a possible go-ahead touchdown, has received threatening messages on social media.
Come on, people. Get a grip. Get a life. Then again, maybe in this social media age, when everyone is quick to vent, this isn't all that surprising.
It is disturbing and disappointing.
Quote of the Week
"You're a shoelace away from that guy going into the game. ... Alex Smith [at Utah] was a backup quarterback, took over and did very well. Tebow was our backup quarterback to Chris Leak; he did very well." - Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, talking about the importance of backup quarterbacks in his weekly press conference.
Extra Points
Famous for celebrating its student body known as the "12th Man," Texas A&M also boasts the largest uniformed group of students outside of the U.S. military academies, known as the Corps of Cadets.
Last weekend, the now-volunteer corps played its part in the Aggies' 58-6 win over SMU when an Aggies cadet threw himself in front of an SMU football player who was on a collision course with Reveille VIII, the school's mascot collie.
During the game, SMU receiver Der'rikk Thompson came running off the field straight toward the hound, who was sitting on his bed on the Aggies sideline. Aggies sophomore Ryan Kreider, who was on the sidelines as well, took the hit from Thompson and for Reveille VIII.
Elsewhere, former Texas starting offensive tackle Kennedy Estelle was dismissed by coach Charlie Strong for a violation of team rules. Estelle is the ninth player dismissed this season by Strong, who took over from Mack Brown last January.
Game of the Week
Syracuse vs. Notre Dame
This is the first of four ACC games Notre Dame will play this season. The Irish will play five each year and face each of the ACC's 14 teams during the next three seasons. The series kicks off at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
Considering Syracuse is winless there, the No. 8 Fighting Irish may live up to the 9.5-point favorite Las Vegas thinks they are.
The Pick: Notre Dame 31, Syracuse 14
Betting information courtesy of Odds Shark.
Mark Blaudschun covers college football as a national columnist for Bleacher Report. He has more than three decades of experience covering sports at a variety of newspapers in New Jersey, The Dallas Morning News and The Boston Globe. Follow him on Twitter @blauds.
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