Jim Harbaugh: 10 Reasons Why Stanford Is a Better Job Than Michigan
Jim Harbaugh is like the last slice of pie.
Everybody wants a piece, but only one person will be lucky enough to have it.
Right now, it appears Stanford will definitely be one of the schools who'll be left unfed.
Harbaugh is seemingly a lock to take his services to the NFL or become the next head coach at the University of Michigan.
Is it the right move, though, to leave the Cardinal for the Wolverines?
I don't think so.
Here are 10 reasons why Stanford is currently a better job than Michigan.
10. Stanford Has the Best Academics in College Football
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I know most of you are reading this and probably laughing, but academics do actually matter to some student-athletes.
Stanford is one of the most prestigious universities in the world.
According to the U.S. News and World Report Best Universities rankings, Stanford was ranked as the No. 13 school in the world, the highest ranking of any FBS school.
It is one of the premier research institutions in America, and it offers recruits the potential to thrive both on the football field and in the classroom.
Plus, if you're a coaching candidate for Stanford, you know you aren't getting any dummies there.
9. It Doesn't Come with Over-the-Top Expectations
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With great expectations come great responsibility.
At Michigan, if you're not competing for a national title or at least a Big Ten championship (and winning bowl games), then you're probably not going to last there very long.
But when is the last time that Stanford's football program really mattered before this 2010 season?
My guess is somewhere between the Great Depression and the end of World War II.
Stanford just isn't nearly as big of a football school as Michigan is, and it probably never will be.
By taking a job at Michigan, you're risking a lot to take over a prestigious program, but one that's been going downhill.
By taking a job at Stanford, you're only hoping to keep this program relevant in the college football scene.
What would you rather do?
8. The Pac-10 Is the Tougher Conference
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ESPN.com's Ted Miller put together an intriguing article in late November that examined the difficulty of the Pac-10 conference.
Interestingly enough, he makes a great argument about why the Pac-10 is a tougher conference than people give it credit for.
Two things in particular stand out:
1. "The Pac-10 plays nine conference games, which no other conference does. That means five more defeats are guaranteed to be scattered throughout the conference every season, thereby making it a mathematical fact that it's more difficult to become bowl eligible in the Pac-10 than any other conference."
2. "That combination of nine conference games and tough nonconference scheduling also leads to this: No Pac-10 team played fewer than five road games this year. Seven played six—including Oregon and Stanford—and USC played seven.
"Contrast that with other top-10 BCS programs: Auburn (four road games), Wisconsin (five), Ohio State (four), Arkansas (four), Michigan State (four), Oklahoma (five) and LSU (four)."
This doesn't even address the fact that the Pac-10 will soon be adding Utah to improve the strength of its conference or the atrocious showing by the Big Ten during the 2010-11 bowl season.
If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best—just ask TCU—and the Pac-10 surprisingly provides a better opportunity to do that.
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7. Michigan's Self-Imposed Sanctions
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In May, Michigan announced self-imposed sanctions for practice and training violations after reports leaked in 2009 that the program was exceeding NCAA rules on the amount of time in the weight room and on the practice field.
These sanctions included two years of probation and a 130-hour reduction in training time over a two-year period, which was double the amount of time by which Michigan exceeded the NCAA limits.
Back in November, the NCAA added a third year of probation to the Wolverines' football program, meaning the team's next coach—assuming Rich Rodriguez gets fired—will bare the large brunt of those wrongdoings.
No coach likes having sanctions imposed on his school while he's there, but it might be even worse to take over a program that is already on probation.
6. It Offers the Potential to Be the Greatest Coach in School History
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At Michigan, you have a long list of great coaches.
There's Fielding Yost (six national championships), Harry Kipke (two national championships), Bo Schembechler (21 seasons and 13 Big Ten titles) and Lloyd Carr (13 seasons, 13 bowl games and one national title).
But Stanford has only won two national championships, and the last one came way back in 1940.
Whichever coach takes over for Jim Harbaugh has the potential to not only keep a good thing there, but to also become the school's greatest coach of all-time.
Imagine if the next coach keeps Stanford in or just outside the Top 25 for most of his career, wins multiple Pac-10 titles and wins a national championship.
You have to think that he could go down as the most beloved coach in Stanford history, which would be nearly impossible to do at Michigan.
5. Heisman-Caliber Players
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In 2009, Stanford running back Toby Gerhart rushed for 1,871 yards and 27 touchdowns.
He finished in second place in the closest vote in Heisman Trophy history and was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the second round of the 2010 NFL Draft.
IN 2010, Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck completed 70.2 percent of his passes for 3,051 yards and 28 touchdowns to just seven interceptions. He added 438 yards and another three scores on the ground.
Luck is widely considered to be the likely No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft.
These are two of the best players in recent college football history.
And they both went to Stanford.
4. Michigan's Recent Struggles
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Let's take a look at Michigan's performance over the past six seasons.
2010: 7-5 overall, 3-5 in Big Ten, lost 52-14 to Mississippi State in Gator Bowl
2009: 5-7 overall, 1-7 in Big Ten
2008: 3-9 overall, 2-6 in Big Ten
2007: 9-4 overall, 6-2 in Big Ten, won Citrus Bowl
2006: 11-2 overall, 7-1 in Big Ten, lost Rose Bowl
2005: 7-5 overall, 5-3 in Big Ten, lost Alamo Bowl
The Wolverines had one great season (2006), one good season (2007), two mediocre seasons (2005, 2010) and two terrible seasons (2008, 2009).
Aside from the history of the program, the job shouldn't be as desirable as it is right now.
3. Stanford's Fertile Recruiting Grounds
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California produces stellar college football recruits like the Baby Boomers' parents produced offspring.
It is widely considered to be one of the—if not the—top recruiting states in all of college football.
In fact, two Pac-10 schools are ranked in the top 15 of ESPN's Class of 2011 Team Football Recruiting Rankings: USC (No. 10) and California (No. 15).
Stanford actually ranks slightly behind these two schools at No. 16.
According to Rivals, though, Stanford is ranked even higher at No. 11 in the nation, with eight 4-star recruits.
What about Michigan?
Well, the Wolverines are nowhere to be found in the top 25 of either set of rankings.
2. Stanford's Recent Success
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In 2009, Stanford finished 8-5 (6-3 in Pac-10) and finished its season with a 31-27 loss to NCAA powerhouse Oklahoma in the Sun Bowl.
In 2010, the Cardinal finished the regular season at 11-1 overall (8-1 in Pac-10) with the team's lone loss coming to Oregon, which went undefeated and is playing for the BCS national championship.
Stanford will play against Virginia Tech in tonight's Orange Bowl.
1. Stanford Is Rising, While Michigan Is Falling
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During the last two seasons, Michigan finished 12-13 overall and just 4-12 in Big Ten play.
Since 2005, the Wolverines are 42-32 with just one bowl win during that span.
Michigan is undoubtedly moving in the wrong direction.
Stanford, on the other hand, is certainly going the right way.
They went 1-11 in 2006, 4-8 in 2007 and 5-9 in 2008, but in 2009 and 2010, the Cardinal is a combined 19-6 overall (14-4 in Pac-10).
In 2009, Stanford had the No. 15 recruiting class in the nation according to Scout.com and the No. 20 class according to Rivals.com.
In 2010, the Cardinal's recruiting class was ranked No. 13 according to Scout.com, and they are currently ranked in the top 20 of both ESPN and Rivals.com's 2011 recruiting classes.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
