[Goose]

Harbaugh is a very good coach, no doubt.  I think good coaches in top schools who can draw in good talent and not squander it should be able to win most of the time, so Harbaugh is unlikely to have a season go truly sideways.  Now that being said, can I imagine Harbaugh going through a relative rough patch?  Sure, those things happen even to good coaches.  Can I imagine him doing nothing about it? No. So maybe that’s the answer to your question.  But that also doesn’t mean that what he would do is guaranteed to work, though. So yeah, it’s possible that Michigan/Harbaugh would get into a funk they have trouble getting out of.  The issue is that at Michigan, that’s a 7-5 season, not a 3-9 season.



BC

I totally agree with your statement here except that I disagree where the floor is. If you project Harbaugh's 2020 record to a full season, he would have been 4-8. Even at a "good" program it really doesn't take much to have a 0.500 season. A few injuries in positions where you are strong coupled with a somewhat unusual weakness in other areas can do that. One could argue that Harbaugh's 8-8 season in his last year with the 49ers was an example of that. (NFL vs. college are different, and  obviously his firing was more political than performance based).
Until this year, Harbaugh had limited emotional capital in the bank with the fans and the AD. Being an alum helped, and he hadn't had any real bad season. However, his failure to beat tOSU was beginning to sting. His bad 2020 and the associated doubt about his offensive skill positions going into this year almost got him. His success this year against tOSU made a big deposit in his account with the fans and the AD. Further, his choice to divert his bonuses to the rest of the department (which I think was a genuine good deed) has the additional benefit of adding to that capital. He has probably gained immunity to at least one 6-6 season, which he didn't have before. Anything he manages to do going forward this year is gravy.

[Goose]

Harbaugh is a very good coach, no doubt.  I think good coaches in top schools who can draw in good talent and not squander it should be able to win most of the time, so Harbaugh is unlikely to have a season go truly sideways.  Now that being said, can I imagine Harbaugh going through a relative rough patch?  Sure, those things happen even to good coaches.  Can I imagine him doing nothing about it? No. So maybe that’s the answer to your question.  But that also doesn’t mean that what he would do is guaranteed to work, though. So yeah, it’s possible that Michigan/Harbaugh would get into a funk they have trouble getting out of.  The issue is that at Michigan, that’s a 7-5 season, not a 3-9 season.



BC

I totally agree with your statement here except that I disagree where the floor is. If you project Harbaugh's 2020 record to a full season, he would have been 4-8. Even at a "good" program it really doesn't take much to have a 0.500 season. A few injuries in positions where you are strong coupled with a somewhat unusual weakness in other areas can do that. One could argue that Harbaugh's 8-8 season in his last year with the 49ers was an example of that. (NFL vs. college are different, and  obviously his firing was more political than performance based).
Until this year, Harbaugh had limited emotional capital in the bank with the fans and the AD. Being an alum helped, and he hadn't had any real bad season. However, his failure to beat tOSU was beginning to sting. His bad 2020 and the associated doubt about his offensive skill positions going into this year almost got him. His success this year against tOSU made a big deposit in his account with the fans and the AD. Further, his choice to divert his bonuses to the rest of the department (which I think was a genuine good deed) has the additional benefit of adding to that capital. He has probably gained immunity to at least one 6-6 season, which he didn't have before. Anything he manages to do going forward this year is gravy.