One of One
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Jim Harbaugh is leaving the University of Michigan to return to the NFL in a quest to get the one remaining thing left on his coaching bucket list — something that just so happened to be the one thing that the University of Michigan couldn’t give him — a Super Bowl ring.
It’s sad that an era of Michigan football is ending. It’s sad that college football is losing one of its most successful, recognizable and unique figures it has had in quite some time. But it’s also an understandable separation. And while it’s undoubtedly the end of one of the most enjoyable chapters of Michigan football history, it doesn’t have to be the end to the period of success that Michigan fans have been introduced to over the past three seasons.
More on that later in the column (which has passed the 4,500 word mark as I work to finish this late Wednesday night/early Thursday morning), including a look at who should be next and what dominoes should soon follow. But at the top, I want to talk about Harbaugh and his legacy — one full of everything imaginable. Well, everything except for dull moments.
Think about it. You name a headline, Jim Harbaugh produced it. You had satellite camps, sleepovers and subweets. Visits with the Pope, selfies with Migos and front-row seats to Judge Judy tapings. The man climbed trees, did fully clothed platform dives and had sleepovers with recruits. He found loopholes in the rulebook, inspired that same rulebook to be rewritten and ended up breaking it altogether. He waged war with opposing coaches, the Big Ten commissioner and the NCAA as a whole. There was an Amazon documentary, shirtless memes and seemingly around the clock coverage of everything he did (and didn’t do).
He took the team on trips to Italy, France and South Africa. He traveled all across the country, getting first-hand looks at high school talent and in many cases, jumping aboard and playing with them. He was statistically one of the most successful coaches in NFL history. And, with multiple NFL teams interested in his services post-San Francisco, he instead choice his alma mater. When the pandemic came, he donated millions of dollars to university co-workers.
Through his first handful of seasons in Ann Arbor, Harbaugh had produced a century’s worth of headlines. One thing he hadn’t produced, though, were championships.
By the end of the pandemic season, we were all at a crossroads. Jim Harbaugh had absolutely elevated the Michigan football program a level (or two) from what he inherited in 2015. But he also hadn’t delivered the championships that we all felt were possible, if not probable, at his introductory press conference, and that felt oh-so-close in Year 2 when J.T. was short. With a 2-4 record in Year 6, it felt like the feel-good story about the guy who came home to deliver his alma mater to the promise land was going to be a story that ended without a trip to the promise land.
But then things changed. And quickly. He retooled his staff. Purged out some guys in the locker room that may not have had that love of football that was always priority No. 1 for Harbaugh Guys. The Harbaugh Twitter account was suddenly dormant and the viral headlines weren’t as prevalent. But as this retooling started bearing fruit, the off-field dunks of SEC coaches were being traded in for on-field victories. And those victories were stacked onto other victories. And more victories. And more victories.
Then came the victory that changed it all — the 2021 edition of The Game that got the Ohio State monkey off Harbaugh’s back, and just so happened to be the lynchpin for everything else this program hadn’t achieved. Michigan didn’t just beat Ohio State. It beat Ohio State the Jim Harbaugh way. Through toughness. Through grit. Through the love of football and contact and competition. Earlier that year, Harbaugh stood behind a podium at Big Ten Media Days and pledged to get over the rivalry hump. “We're going to do it or die trying.”
They did it. And instead of dying trying, they found the repeat button and just held it down.
The final 800 days of Jim Harbaugh’s time in Ann Arbor was essentially one giant victory lap. There were three straight wins over Ohio State programs that entered The Game at No. 2 in the country. Three straight Big Ten Championships. Three straight College Football Playoff berths. And the cherry on top: a National Freaking Championship.
The headlines never stopped coming. They just evolved. There will never been another Jim Harbaugh, both on and off the field.
He is truly One of One.
Thank you, Jim.
