Michigan football: Which coach would you choose over Jim Harbaugh?

Nick Saban

Ok folks. This man really needs no introduction. He’s only been the most dominant college football coach (and it’s not even close) over the last decade. He’s won two BCS championships in the early part of the 2010s and has only added three CFP championships on top of that to his belt.

Since 2015, Nick Saban has had QBs roll through his program like Jalen Hurts, Tua Tagovailoa, and Mac Jones. Unfortunately, just like Swinney, Saban does not have a Heisman trophy-winning QB to his name. That’s honestly about the only thing this man hasn’t accomplished in his laundry list of accomplishments yet.

Obviously, with Nick Saban being so dominant, he has gotten elite recruiting classes every season. Since 2015, Saban has had the #1, #1, #1, #5, #1, and #2 ranked recruiting classes. So, out of six recruiting classes from 2015-20, Saban has had a number one class four out of those six times and has never dropped lower than five.

Since 2015, Nick Saban has a 79-6 record, nearly identical to Swinney’s. Saban has only lost three in-conference games since 2015. This is even more impressive when you consider the fact that the SEC is by far the best conference in the country top-to-bottom pretty much every season.

Alabama by themselves keeps the SEC at or near the top every season, even when the rest of the conference might struggle occasionally.

Now looking at Alabama’s defensive rankings, and of course, under Saban, they have been elite every season since 2015.

Since 2015, Alabama’s defenses have ranked #2, #1, #2, #10, #17, and #32. Everybody knows that the 2019 season was a fluke season. That was Saban’s only two-loss season in six years, and everybody knows that the 2020 season was hot garbage statistically for every perenially-elite college football team.

Overall, I would say that I have to choose Dabo Swinney. The only reason I didn’t choose Nick Saban is because of his age. He is starting to get older, and Dabo is pretty much just like Saban but younger. Dabo still recruits at a very high level, he develops QBs, and his defenses are always elite.

Also (and this might seem petty or dumb) I like coaches that actually smile once in a while. Swinney is definitely a lot more upbeat than Saban is. Although Saban always gets the job done, I would want a coach who is more fun while winning a lot of games.

Plus, the rivalry that Swinney now has with OSU can’t hurt, and would only make “The Game” more intriguing and competitive. Michigan football should always want “The Game” to be a battle between two top-five ranked squads duking it out for the division crown, a conference championship berth, and possibly, a playoff berth.

Overall, though, U-M fans can’t really go wrong with any of these coaches. Each one is more proven than Jim Harbaugh and each one has gone out and made a playoff, with all of them making multiple CFP appearances. That, in itself, qualifies each and every one of these coaches.