[Goose]

Super happy for Harbaugh, who most of the UM fanbase wanted fired not too long ago.

Yes, he has talent at Michigan. In part because he's a great recruiter. But OSU has arguably better recruits. Harbaugh had his team ready for the game (really, he'd been prepping his team for this game all season) and had an excellent game plan. What a great coach.

-m.

I wonder about that. I was based in Detroit for four years, went to a number of Big House games, worked with 100+ Michigan grads, most of whom were red-hot fans. They didn't exactly pine for Schembechler, and they were cognizant of the shortcomings of the two coaches immediately prior to Harbaugh. I didn't hear any of them want Harbaugh fired, and those that I knew well essentially said he was under (not undue) pressure to win and to beat tOSU.  Mission accomplished.

I have followed Michigan football to some degree during the JH years because I wanted to see if his EUTM would actually fly there. I think the Fan opinion in Michigan was somewhat like the Cardboard. There were some very vocal fans that wanted JH gone. His failure to beat tOSU was one reason. There was also a sense that the program was flailing because of frequent coaching changes and highly rated recruits leaving.  There were also some very vocal fans that thought that JH was a good coach and that he would eventually get it right. The majority was somewhere in between. They realized how hard it was to beat tOSU, realized that many of the previous Michigan coaches had "issues", and that it wasn't going to be a slam dunk to find a coach that could bring Michigan back to where they wanted it to be. They had been on a "close but not going to make it" trajectory with previous coaches. They thought JH had the chops but they were getting very concerned by his consecutive losses to tOSU and the apparent disarray in the program. JH was also rubbing some people the wrong way and that was being noticed. Even the Viking's situation after a good year was a red flag to some.

Winning cures lots of concerns. The program has broken through and defeated tOSU twice in a row, one on the road. This is indeed a big deal. The supposed phenom QB who didn't immediately seem to have JH's confidence came through big time this year and really gave Michigan the offensive threat it hadn't had during JH's tenure. That is a "big deal" and will quiet the critics. I am always interested in coaching "success" because it is always difficult to know the causes and effects. JH has had a couple of really good teams in years where tOSU appears to be on a downward trajectory. Michigan definitely got better this year. Last year could be ascribed to a great Michigan defense and a suspect tOSU offense. This year's Michigan team won the game and left little doubt. Michigan may be the new dominant team due to the decline of tOSU. This could persist for a while. It could also be because Michigan has gotten better and will continue to do so. Is JH a genius or lucky? I think maybe both.

[Goose]

Super happy for Harbaugh, who most of the UM fanbase wanted fired not too long ago.

Yes, he has talent at Michigan. In part because he's a great recruiter. But OSU has arguably better recruits. Harbaugh had his team ready for the game (really, he'd been prepping his team for this game all season) and had an excellent game plan. What a great coach.

-m.

I wonder about that. I was based in Detroit for four years, went to a number of Big House games, worked with 100+ Michigan grads, most of whom were red-hot fans. They didn't exactly pine for Schembechler, and they were cognizant of the shortcomings of the two coaches immediately prior to Harbaugh. I didn't hear any of them want Harbaugh fired, and those that I knew well essentially said he was under (not undue) pressure to win and to beat tOSU.  Mission accomplished.

I have followed Michigan football to some degree during the JH years because I wanted to see if his EUTM would actually fly there. I think the Fan opinion in Michigan was somewhat like the Cardboard. There were some very vocal fans that wanted JH gone. His failure to beat tOSU was one reason. There was also a sense that the program was flailing because of frequent coaching changes and highly rated recruits leaving.  There were also some very vocal fans that thought that JH was a good coach and that he would eventually get it right. The majority was somewhere in between. They realized how hard it was to beat tOSU, realized that many of the previous Michigan coaches had "issues", and that it wasn't going to be a slam dunk to find a coach that could bring Michigan back to where they wanted it to be. They had been on a "close but not going to make it" trajectory with previous coaches. They thought JH had the chops but they were getting very concerned by his consecutive losses to tOSU and the apparent disarray in the program. JH was also rubbing some people the wrong way and that was being noticed. Even the Viking's situation after a good year was a red flag to some.

Winning cures lots of concerns. The program has broken through and defeated tOSU twice in a row, one on the road. This is indeed a big deal. The supposed phenom QB who didn't immediately seem to have JH's confidence came through big time this year and really gave Michigan the offensive threat it hadn't had during JH's tenure. That is a "big deal" and will quiet the critics. I am always interested in coaching "success" because it is always difficult to know the causes and effects. JH has had a couple of really good teams in years where tOSU appears to be on a downward trajectory. Michigan definitely got better this year. Last year could be ascribed to a great Michigan defense and a suspect tOSU offense. This year's Michigan team won the game and left little doubt. Michigan may be the new dominant team due to the decline of tOSU. This could persist for a while. It could also be because Michigan has gotten better and will continue to do so. Is JH a genius or lucky? I think maybe both.