Michigan Football: Should hot seat be cooled during pandemic?

What should determine success for Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh and others like him around the country during these strange times?

Another season of college football is (knock on wood) around the corner. Which means another round of, ‘Coaches on the hotseat?’ A game in which the media likes to attempt to decide who should be fired based off of wins and losses — something Michigan football‘s Jim Harbaugh knows a thing or two about.

Say what you want about an off season affected by pandemic. Everybody is in the same boat. There are tens of thousands of student athletes/coaches/staffs around the country, and their leadership’s job is to get everybody on the same page, ready to succeed in the upcoming season. It’s new ground for everybody involved.

That being said…it is new ground for everybody involved. There is no prior work experience that is comparable. Not for Coach Saban, Coach Harbaugh, or even the coach of all coaches, Andy Reid. (Stronger coaching tree, sorry not sorry Coach Belichick.)

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We are living in a strange time, within a unique cocktail blend of a once-in-a-century-pandemic, one ounce of sweet vermouth, a ton of world-wide economic uncertainty, a splash of cranberry – shaken, not stirred, and these are different times for coaches too, who have resorted to zoom meetings and FaceTime to reach players and recruits, something Michigan football has done well.

But that uncertainty still raises a chain of questions:

In the 20-21 (Spring 2021?) season, what is success?

Is success determined by the final score?

Is success determined by a playoff committee?

Or should success become simplified? By the potential outcome of something as seemingly effortless as bringing two teams together in the form of honest competition.

There will be discussions of ‘hot seats’ for coaches, and yes, some of them will be justified due to their past records or inability to slow down Ohio States defense — no names…but this is a season in which wins, losses, or lack of pass rush should be knocked down on the list of what makes a successful season.

Wins shouldn’t fully be determined by the final score, but by the teachings and mentoring of the teams’ coaching staff. Having the ability to positively lead a group of 100+ young adults through their scholastic education, athletic success, and the ups and downs of day-to-day life. That should determine this seasons’ success.

This is a season in which the bigger picture should be brought to light. Just because a coach goes 6-6, doesn’t mean he failed to succeed as a leader. Anybody who believes that, has never led.

If there are players that have grown into their own, they have succeeded.

If a coach has players that are bettering the future for themselves, for those they love, and for society as a whole, they have succeeded.

In a year in which the future is filled with so much uncertainty, a coach shouldn’t have to compete for a national championship or a conference championship just to keep his job.

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If your team’s head coach can lead his group through a long, strenuous season. And at the end of it, the community they’ve established comes out with a stronger bond than they had in the beginning… in the year 2020, that, should be success.

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