Michigan Football: Taking wait-and-see approach with Jim Harbaugh

If Michigan football was smart, it would take a wait-and-see approach with Jim Harbaugh to see if he can lead them to the CFP in the upcoming expansion.

Jim Harbaugh hasn’t lived up to expectations. That much is clear. But maybe expectations were too high, to begin with. The signs were all there. Harbaugh hadn’t ever led Stanford to a national championship. He came close a few times but was never able to capture a BCS title berth.

Harbaugh loved the ground and pound, and when he was hired to be Michigan football coach, the game was starting to lean a lot more heavily on the pass.

Harbaugh never was known as an innovative coach by anyone. His style was having a smash-mouth ground game, with a QB that could throw the opposing defense off balance when needed with their arm talent and/or mobility.

But maybe, just maybe, Michigan football has finally caught a break. With news that the College Football Playoff is expected to expand rapidly, this only bodes well for Michigan and Harbaugh.

We as fans are sick and tired of the same old losses that knock us out of playoff contention every year. Now, with this new playoff format, a few of those same losses won’t be the end of the season for U-M.

No, I don’t want U-M to ultimately settle for anything less than perfection each and every season, but at the same time, a buffer of a few losses just in case is always good to have.

At this point, Jim Harbaugh just needs to make a playoff. If he can’t win his conference to do it, then fine. Also, the expanded playoff doesn’t come until 2023 at the earliest.

This is the reason why Michigan football needs to hold onto Harbaugh for a few more seasons.

The administration needs to wait and see what Harbaugh can do in the expanded playoff era. It would be great to finally see Harbaugh make the college football playoff, either by winning the conference or not.

The really interesting thing is how Harbaugh’s contract (incentives) would be impacted by a playoff appearance under differing circumstances. Differing circumstances meaning one appearance is by winning the division and the conference title (making the playoff), and the other is making the playoff with two or three losses without any of the aforementioned achievements.

Yes, Harbaugh is basically coaching on a year-by-year contract, but U-M needs to scrap that, be patient, and take a wait-and-see approach with Harbaugh until the expanded playoff. We all want Harbaugh to make the playoff right? So why not give him a chance to actually do that, and this time, in a format that should help him even more?