Hear me out - what if it's just an unfortunate situation with no one to blame?

I agree on your take about everything and everyone needing things black and white nowadays, and how that's a bad thing.

But to be exactly black and white: anyone who thought Harbaugh should have been fired after the Covid year is an imbecile.

If he a bad and disorganized 2021 after that I could see the reasoning. If he had stood pat with the staff, that would have been problematic.

But if you think he legitimately should have been let go after 2020 you should let other people make decisions for you.

Blame Canada.

TL/DR.  Couldn't even get through half of this rambling word vomit...

Harbaugh no longer wants to coach at Michigan, for whatever reason - that's pretty clear.  The reason doesn't matter.  Go find some other job, that's cool...  At this point, Vikings or not, just leave.  Get out of town.  You are no longer wanted as HC because you don't want us.  No hard feelings, it's just business - we get that.

And it's not Warde's fault, all he did was what he is managerially and fiducially responsible for - protecting Michigan's sports assets.  Yes, that includes protecting the football program by making it possible to part ways with an under-performing coach.  That's also just business.

Stop gnashing your teeth and rending garments.  Let go of the pearls.  There are other football coaches that can coach Michigan.  Some of them will win bigger than JH did, some will lose more than Rich Rod did.  We can judge Warde by which one he picks...

TL: DR 

This isn't specific to you OP but the amount of effort some people are expending to defend Harbaugh while claiming he's done nothing wrong seems to negate the premise. He's not a deity, he can in fact do wrong, whether he is in fact doing so here or not. I really don't understand the worship of this dude.

Didn't read when you posted this long diary on On3, not reading it now.

So sorry, I will not hear you out. Please stop asking.

Wow, that was long.  I don’t know you can say Harbaugh made Michigan “a proud, respectable program again,” at least not by historic Michigan standards.  One win over OSU in seven tries and basically .500 against MSU doesn’t achieve that level.  Now, he might well have accomplished that over the next 5 years or so with a couple more titles and rivalry wins; but until we see more seasons like this past season, it may well (sadly) be a blip.  A wonderful blip, of course.

Well reasoned and thought out.  Thank you for sharing, I think a lot of what you wrote could very well be true.  GO BLUE!  Onwards and upwards.

What if Harbaugh's plan, if he takes the Vikings job, is to offer the OC position to Ryan Day?

I will always blame Harbaugh for the timing and hope the Vikings lose every game.

In fewer words: there is a *surplus* of blame to be assigned in this situation. We can argue about it, pontificate, etc. but assigning blame won't change the facts that Warde renewed Jim's contract in a significant way last year (an unpredecented year), Jim then took the team from unranked to the CFP and, citing a "new beginning", Jim chose to devote some energy to leave Michigan for the NFL. 

Hurt feelings, awkward negotiations, 7 year burnout, changes in recruiting,  ... whatever. He's decided to pursue work elsewhere and no one can change that. Probably best to just move on (after much wailing, ranting, etc.) at this point and ponder what's next for The Team in 2022. 

Great job.

Also, I think he may be tired of fighting a war that the University doesn’t really want to win.  

I think this is basically right, except for the fact that as much as we speculate we cannot know what exactly his motivations to prefer the NFL over college at this point are. People want what they want and I really do not blame him for that. I’m absolutely certain that he loves Michigan and that there isn’t some terrible insidious reason he wants to go to the NFL. He seems to be handling it about as well as he possibly could given the circumstances, as you point out, which are crappy.

He doesn’t control the timelines and I wouldn’t expect anyone to foreclose his options. He’s obviously not trying to screw anyone over. Anything he says would be perceived as terrible and hurtful to at least some of the Fanbase so it’s obviously better to not say anything. 

Yeah, it's too long, should be a diary entry but encapsulates a good deal of what's going on except one key issue: I believe it was a couple days ago shortly after news broke that Harbaugh was interviewing for the Viking's HC job, that WWJ, Talk Radio 950 talked, on air, to Jack Harbaugh. Jack said, "the Harbaugh's are unhappy with Michigan....."

This has been a background issue since it became illuminated right after the Orange Bowl and involves what some understand to be a rift that developed between JH and M administration (including 2 unnamed regents) over how his current contract came to be. Apparently JH feels like he was treated badly.  That's what may have given rise to his current interest in "entertaining HC offers" from NFL clubs.

Jack Harbaugh's on air comments are likely spin from the Harbaugh camp - a deep rooted family football tree that includes a lot of branches. But let's be honest. Jim has a track record of idiosyncratic behaviors that are off-putting to management at the CFB and NFL levels. If his limited dalliance with the NFL  - well founded rumors that his "people" put out feelers to NFL clubs - following the 2020 season that were rebuffed, are an indication of the reluctance of NFL owners to put up with his inflated perception of his value (e.g., seeking a Gruden type contract), well, we should probably put that reality into the mix of variables that will ultimately decide where Jim ends up.

Frankly, I'm a bit tired of the drama. No one can say this soap opera, especially it's timing and length, is good for the program. Sure, events out of Harbaugh's control are determining the timing but it seems like he's gaming the football coach's hiring process. I think he is over-valuing his worth given his record - the bright and dark parts of it. At this point, I don't care where he ends up.           

For God's sake, man, this is America!  We gotta blame someone!!

I don't think Jim or Warde are to blame. I think it is the University itself that is to blame. I think both Jim and Warde are handcuffed by the admission standards and refusal to bend over for the NIL. 

This is likely a huge factor in Jim's decision making. He probably sees no way Michigan can compete with Alabama, OSU, Georgia etc if things don't change in regards to NIL and admissions. It probably took everything he had to beat OSU, hiring assistants that could scheme directly against OSU, finding the right players and dedicating an entire offseason and season to finding a way to defeat them. So what happens after we summit the OSU mountain? We would have had to go through Georgia and Alabama to win a championship and we would have a month and a week to prepare for those two games, not a full year. The only way to overcome that gauntlet is to narrow the talent gap. That isn't happening with the current disadvantages Michigan faces.

Admissions won't change but we should be at least running a top of the line NIL program. If we don't see major steps towards leveling the playing field, we should resign ourselves to being a historically great and currently irrelevant football team. Adapt or die.

For me it's the stuff he said about this isnt an end but a beginning and he would do this job for free.  Plenty of ways to say wonderful positive things without making people think you never want to leave the job.

Jcorquian, a few thoughts about your post.

1. I don’t think your defense is that unusual. Many of us agree that Harbaugh and Warde have handled the awkward situation about the best they could.

2. That said, I’m amazed you didn’t attract a swarm of downvotes. Sometimes it seems as if posting is mostly an invitation to negging. Like walking into a swarm of mosquitoes deliberately. 

3. Though I agree you’re right about shorter time spans for news and the perils of clickbaiting, the shrinking of complex ideas to simple-minded dichotomy is not new. A century or so ago, newspapers started wars simply to increase circulation. 

I personally do not blame Harbaugh, because he is human just like the rest of us and if the right job opportunity presents itself he is willing to look at it and possibly take it. No harm in that at all and once people remove their own personal fandom away they will realize that too.

Harbaugh is worth 10 million to Michigan.

Michigan is always in the awkward position of being an extremely high profile program that isn't that attractive of a job.

First you have to go through OSU to make the fan base happy, and OSU is going to heavily out-recruit you, and is a well-run program (usually).

Then you've got Sparty who's whole season is the game they play with you, and the fan base will also be mad if you lose to them.

Then you've got administration/ academics issues that make Michigan a more difficult place to recruit than you'd think.

Any coach we get is either going to be a massive downgrade or a massive gamble. People who think somebody like Matt Campbell is going to step in and the program is going to continue to function at a high level have optimism bordering on delusion.

The especially frustrating thing is Harbaugh finally found a formula that worked. With the exception of Georgia, which, whatever, the offense was inspired this year, taking what Harbaugh has always liked to do and integrating modern concepts. This coming season was unlikely to be quite as successful as last season, but you finally have a roadmap for beating OSU 50% of the time. It took 7 years of ups and downs to get to this point, but it's really frustrating to have them get there, and then have Harbaugh leave, because the whole system is way too idiosyncratic to Harbaugh for anybody else to try to replicate it, and now we're going to be starting from zero.

If Harbaugh truly is what he purports to be he would stay coach at Michigan until he A.) Dies B.) Retires from coaching or C.) Is fired. Everything else is just typical 'coach speak.' If his nose is bent out of shape because his salary was cut, he truly does not get it and he's more ego than love and respect for the University and fan base.

Thoughtful, nuanced posts are not allowed at times like these. /s Loud, sustained applause.

Whole lotta unfortunate situations with the football program in the last 2 decades 

I’m Harbaugh’s age. (He was in my History classes at M.) I can say at this age you look back at what you wish you had done, and try to figure out how to do some of it while you still can.

It can also be possible that he and Warde have communicated on this, and Warde’s contract terms reflect a balanced view of the situation. (I think last year’s contract was a master stroke move.)

The timing sucks, but driven by the NFL as you say.

And yes, there is the aspect of being hamstrung at every creative move, and hamstrung by transfer admissions make the process of doing more than he has just accomplished very unlikely. (As for NIL, the people who have been paying athletes under the table for years — sorry their families for everybody but USC so it is OK — are better at paying athletes “NIL” than M … surprise!)

I’m not going to get upset over this. The guy deserves a chance to do what he wants to do, especially after last season, and the six years before that.

This is the long version of what I’ve been trying to say to some people over the last couple days.  Well said. I think it’s whole host of things, some of which include Harbaugh himself wanting to advance his career/is legitimately (and justifiably) upset with his contract change, and quite the confluence of events over the past week to bring us to this place where he likely will get an offer. If the Vikings don’t hire this particular GM, he doesn’t get one. 

this is good and well thought out.

I agree with this.  

Good post.  I'll add that with his planning on leaving, he put together a staff that would be well positioned to excel after he left.  Bringing in coaches with Michigan connections that could stay through the transition should help with the continuity after he leaves.

He didn't want to leave as a failure, so he stayed until he accomplished the program goals for one year anyway.  The roster is full of talented players and coaches (minus open DC) at all positions.

I'm very sad to see him go, but he rebuilt the program which should set us up for future success and make the head coaching job very appealing.    

Good discussion.  Harbaugh has always been a hyper-competitive, weird guy who likes challenges but also isn't a guy who is going to slam his head against a wall out of loyalty.  He wants to coach in the NFL because he thinks he can still win there, and why the heck not give it a shot after fixing the tire fire left by late-era Carr/RR/Hoke.  UM is back to being one of the better teams in the country and can compete with most teams most of the time.  That's UM's steady state for decades and so you can't expect more.

Warde is doing what he's supposed to do - look out for UM's best interests and that includes trying to keep their HC but recognizing that he can't offer everything Harbaugh wants if that includes "the NFL".  

It sucks but this is the annoying timeframe of CFB-to-NFL (and vice-versa), and there's nothing you can do about it.

It's easier for Jim to coach in the NFL over the grind of college for all the reasons that have been mentioned,  not to forget the stupid one time transfer rule that makes you have to coddle boys.

In the NFL, you have control once the player signs the contract. 

Harbaugh can go to Minnesota and use the quirky, get under your skin approach for productivity, we heard he used from guys like Alex Boone.  It will probably work at first.

I think it boils down to him not feeling like he's playing on a level field. From the outrageous unregulated free for all that is currently NIL to the portal.

MSU built their entire team through the portal.  They have signed 25 kids from it in the past 2 years and we can only get a couple of grad transfers.

Secondly, I think his relationship with Warde is obviously strained to say the least.

I honestly don't think it's a burning desire to get back to the NFL in and of itself.

If there were a bevy of great options (which there isn't) most of us wouldn't care about him leaving.

I don't know what kind of coaching transitions the many people that seem to be so upset by this expect. These processes are almost always messy, and the "timing" almost always seems unfortunate. But ... Harbaugh couldn't exactly negotiate or plan to leave during the season -- talk about bad timing and negative effects on a team! -- and unless he knows he's leaving and can announce it right after the bowl game, an exploratory process like this simply takes time. Hell, the NFL season isn't even over yet -- it's not like they announce which coaching positions will be available back in November. He's doing it as quickly as is reasonable, and he's not leaving for another college team, so ... Godspeed, thanks, and good luck.

Nobody's happy, but ... Michigan has managed major coaching changes before, and not only survived, but thrived. Just relax, hope everyone acts like adults (which they seem to be so far), and get excited for the next iteration of Michigan football. It might even be better! Who knows?