Michigan Friday: Having A Rockstar Head Coach

I've been a Michigan fan for a very long time and one of my biggest complaints was that Michigan never had a "rockstar" head coach.  The closest thing was Bo Schembechler, he was a legendary head coach and really turned up the heat on the Michigan - OSU rivalry.   But that was a time when Bo could sign as many athletes as he wanted and Michigan might be on TV a few times a year.   It's much different now. 

We have had "good guy" coaches with the likes of Lloyd Carr or Brady Hoke but neither of these guys were considered top of their profession and both preferred to coach their teams and leave the other stuff outside Schembechler Hall.  In fact, one of the knocks on the Lloyd was that he couldn't beat the Pete Carroll's or Mac Brown's of the world in the Rose Bowl. 

The closest we have come to landing a rockstar was when Rick Pitino accepted the Michigan job for about 5 minutes before his wife talked him into going to Louisville.  Coach B is a heluva coach and were lucky to have him, but he is not signing Duke, NC or Kentucky type of classes each year.   He still has to develop talent where those coaches recruit it. 

Michigan tried to hire an "American Idol" graduate in Rich Rodriguez but he wasn't a headliner yet and preferred smaller arenas and clubs.  After the RR train crashed,  Michigan tried to hire Brady Hoke a former band member/drummer that had some success with his solo career.  He flamed out as fans started to lose interest.  He is now looking for a new band, probably as a drummer.  

The only way to turn around Michigan football was to hire a rock star coach.   A guy other coaches want to learn from, a guy recruits know can get them to the league, a coach celebrities want to know.   Michigan got that guy in Jim Harbaugh, it was a grand slam homerun hire.  It's like Roy Williams going back to UNC, Saban taking over Bama or I hate to say it Urban taking over at OSU. 

Bob, he has been in role like two months how can you say things have changed?

First is the use of social media.  It's a necessary evil right now and I never saw Hoke do anything on it.  Second, is the respect Jimmy is getting from people outside the program.    We have two examples, just this week:





For the record, that is a Baylor QB, FSU Heisman Trophy winning QB, and a former Nebraska and current NFL free agent defensive tackle visiting with Harbaugh.   It's a great example of using twitter and how people with no connection to the program are coming to Schembechler Hall to meet the new lead singer.

It's a great message to recruits, fans and alumni.   There is a new lead signer in town and he isn't over his head.  His 2015 tour opens in Utah on September 3rd, you don't want to miss it.