It might not mean much to see a former Michigan football team captain become a coach at Ohio State, but it could signal a culture issue in Jim Harbaugh’s program.
One thing Michigan football fans have heard in recent years is that Ohio State is successful in The Game because the Buckeyes treat it differently.
It started with Urban Meyer, who had a fanatical obsession with beating Michigan football and was highly successful in doing so, posting a record of 7-0. Then, Meyer passed on that trait to Ryan Day, who seems to have taken that and made it a core part of the Ohio State program.
It makes sense. Ohio State has success when it beats Michigan and the Wolverines have success when they beat Ohio State. For the Wolverines and Buckeyes, there is no such thing as success without beating the other.
So why don’t Michigan football players treat The Game the same way?
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it’s not that Jim Harbaugh doesn’t make it important. He obviously knows how much it matters and I believe he works every day to try and beat the Buckeyes. But it’s possible he doesn’t emphasize it enough and doesn’t talk about it enough.
The hatred that Ohio State players seem to have for Michigan, doesn’t seem to be returned. It’s almost like the Wolverines just accept that the Buckeyes are better and leave it at that.
It’s not acceptable and something needs to change. And maybe what’s needed is an attitude adjustment.
Certainly, that’s not going to change overnight. But you have to ask, how can a team captain of Michigan football just a few years ago take a job to coach at Ohio State?
I get that Joe Bolden probably needed a job and that he may have had connections with Greg Mattison, but still, to become a turncoat like that?
There are hundreds of other schools and surely, someone who played for Michigan could have found some other opportunities in the coaching profession. I guess he didn’t see anything wrong in working for the enemy, which makes me question Harbaugh’s culture.
It’s hard to imagine a former Meyer player crossing sides and coaching for Harbaugh at U-M. In fact, I can almost guarantee nothing like that will ever happen.
Meyer treated Michigan and the rivalry differently. Ohio State treats it like life and death, while Michigan acts like it’s just another game and until that changes, until Harbaugh changes that culture, the results will continue to be the same.