Michigan Football: Jim Harbaugh underrated in top-25 list

People are down on Michigan football’s Jim Harbaugh but he’s better than the 23rd best head coach in the country.

Recency bias is a real thing and it seems to rear its head in football more than any other sport. It’s on display with Michigan football‘s Jim Harbaugh being ranked 23rd in a recent top-25 list of head coaches by CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli.

I get that Harbaugh is an easy target, especially after a 2-4 season. The fact that he’s never won the Big Ten championship or made the College Football Playoff also doesn’t help.

But despite a down season in 2020, and struggles against Ohio State and other top-10 teams, Harbaugh has done better at Michigan football than most people realize.

When he was hired, the program was such a disaster that it wasn’t even considered a contender in the Big Ten. And that has changed under Harbaugh, regardless of what people want to say.

His teams have beaten Wisconsin (multiple times), Penn State (multiple times), Iowa, and Michigan State (multiple times). And those were all teams that had recently won the Big Ten title when Harbaugh arrived, as well as programs Michigan struggled to compete with.

Last season was ugly, but let’s see how the next couple of seasons play out before burying Harbaugh as a terrible coach, especially since he was hurt by unrealistic expectations.

Michigan has the fifth-best record in the Big Ten during that time period and considering that the Big Ten West is an easier division, you have to take that with a grain of salt. He’s won 69 percent of his games, while Wisconsin has won 74 and Iowa 71.

Those teams benefit from a weaker division, one without Ohio State. The only east team ahead of Michigan is Penn State and it’s by a mere percentage point.

It’s also important to add some context, such as the fact that in seven years prior to Harbaugh, Michigan won 48 percent of its Big Ten games. So even with the 2-4 record from a year ago, that’s a 21 percent improvement. Others ranked higher on the list (Mack Brown) are 15-10 in two years.

So why do some coaches get credit for improving their programs but Harbaugh doesn’t? Also, if North Carolina wins only 7-8 games with an elite quarterback next year, will Brown tumble out of the top 25?

Fornelli did get it right in ranking P.J. Fleck behind Harbaugh on the list, but I don’t necessarily agree with Tom Allen (No. 20). Yes, Allen had one really good year at Indiana, during a COVID-shortened season. Let’s see them do it again.

Also, what would have happened if Penn State wins that first game? The season has a completely different feel to it.  Allen is a helluva coach. I’m not disputing that. Top-20? I’m not there yet.

Harbaugh has a case to be ranked higher

The ranking of Herm Edwards shows how flawed the list is. Fornelli ranks Edwards ahead of Harbaugh, even though his best season at Arizona State (8-5) is the second-worst record Harbaugh’s had during his six seasons as head coach.

Harbaugh has won at least nine games four times and 10 games three times. He also had Michigan in two NY6 Bowl games and twice — twice Michigan has been right in the playoff mix going into the Ohio State game.

It might seem like ages ago, but Harbaugh also led Michigan to a 10-game winning streak in 2018. In 2019, the Wolverines beat Notre Dame by four touchdowns, while beating another top-20 team that season in Iowa.

So basically, this list is determined by having an above-average season more recently because neither Allen nor Edwards has won as many games as Harbaugh or had anywhere near the same number of NFL draft picks. Neither has led their team to a major bowl either.

Would any of those coaches have done a better job at Michigan than Harbaugh? I doubt any of them leads U-M past Ohio State any quicker, which is really his Achilles heel.

Harbaugh doesn’t deserve an elite title or being ranked in the top 10. But I still believe he’s one of the best 20 college football coaches in the country and my bet is on him to prove it this season.