You wanted him gone years ago? Why? lol
Because he wasn't performing well enough and in particular was doing very badly at the supposed main strength we brought him in with: developing Quarterback talent. I've been consistently on record about this that I formally turned on him and wanted him gone on the day it was announced that Shea Patterson was going to be transferring to the school, because at that point he'd have been into his fourth year and never successfully recruited a single young QB with enough talent to build around--his entire tenure to that point had been constant grasping at transfers and quick stopgap options and that was my sign that he couldn't handle what was supposed to be his best quality. Ducking Ohio State in 2020 became the cherry on top after an absolutely
dismal season.
I of course had to stop actively calling for his firing in following years because he finally started actually accomplishing things, beating OSU, winning B1G titles, recruiting and bringing along some actually talented players, but even during this successful run there's been a number of things that have gone on that I've found distasteful, to say the least. The complete and mindless defense of Bo and refusing to even question his culpability in the allowances given to Dr. Anderson is something that has never sat well with me. The outrage over the tunnel incident with MSU while scuffing Mazi Smith's gun charges under the rug felt intellectually dishonest at best.
...And yeah again, another reason I'm fine with the league coming down on Harbs hard for the Stallions stuff is because he's already still under investigation by the NCAA for alleged COVID-era recruiting violations for being in contact with JJ McCarthy during a period he wasn't supposed to be, an offense which he already sat out three games for and hasn't been considered closed in full yet. For him to already be on thin ice in
that case only for these allegations to also spring up and span multiple years of misconduct...and
especially for the fact that the timing of this misconduct starting conveniently right at the same time the program
very abruptly pulled out of what had been trending into a tailspin...yeah no he's got enough of a history of disrespecting the rules and an unwillingness to take personal responsibility for that disrespect, so I'm absolutely not giving him the benefit of the doubt.
There's literally video of Stallions standing next to the coordinators and speaking to them while the games are going on. You think that can possibly mean the coordinators had no involvement in benefitting from this scheme? And if the coordinators knew, you really think Harbaugh really didn't know and didn't suspect anything? Because...if ignorance is going to be his defense to the point that he's not involved with what the offensive or defensive coordinators are doing...how vital is he really as the head coach?
Again, I refuse to believe that Jim Harbaugh is the only person in the country capable of succeeding as the head coach at Michigan. So no I'm absolutely not willing to accept my school throwing itself into the mud in order for him to walk on us and keep his shoes clean...especially when he's spent several years fishing to leave us for the NFL despite the constant prostrations. And the more I see other people involved in or rooting for the university prioritizing Harbaugh over the university itself, the more it puts me in a darker place regarding my relation to the school I attended. I don't want to be put into a situation of rooting for the team to lose, but holy fuck if that's what it takes for people to wake up and stop making absolute fucking fools out of themselves with some of these mental gymnastic defenses, then so be it.
"Other teams were colluding with each other to steal Michigan's signs!" Don't care, still means we cheated.
"Other teams also steal signs in other ways!" Don't care, still means we cheated.
"Players still gotta play, it really wouldn't have made that big of a deal in the games." Don't care, still means we cheated.
"The computer information that broke this came from some firm that another school hired!" Don't care, if the information they found is accurate, still means we cheated.
"They should really be using radios for this instead of sign-boards anyway." Don't care, still means we cheated.
"Everyone just wants Harbaugh fired so we'll be worse and not keep winning the Big Ten!" Don't care, still means we cheated.
I'm so tired of this shit. Have some fucking dignity and contrition.
bleacherreport.com
