[teejers1]

I totally agree with your statement here except that I disagree where the floor is. If you project Harbaugh's 2020 record to a full season, he would have been 4-8. Even at a "good" program it really doesn't take much to have a 0.500 season. A few injuries in positions where you are strong coupled with a somewhat unusual weakness in other areas can do that. One could argue that Harbaugh's 8-8 season in his last year with the 49ers was an example of that. (NFL vs. college are different, and  obviously his firing was more political than performance based).
Until this year, Harbaugh had limited emotional capital in the bank with the fans and the AD. Being an alum helped, and he hadn't had any real bad season. However, his failure to beat tOSU was beginning to sting. His bad 2020 and the associated doubt about his offensive skill positions going into this year almost got him. His success this year against tOSU made a big deposit in his account with the fans and the AD. Further, his choice to divert his bonuses to the rest of the department (which I think was a genuine good deed) has the additional benefit of adding to that capital. He has probably gained immunity to at least one 6-6 season, which he didn't have before. Anything he manages to do going forward this year is gravy.

Since Bo Schemblecker was hired in 1969, Michigan has only had four seasons under .500, Rich Rod’s first two seasons. (2008 and 2009), Brady Hoke’s last season (2014), and the COVID-influenced 2020 season under Harbaugh.  Thus, I think it is safe to say that in a non-pandemic year, the floor for a “good coach”, defined as better than Rich Rodriguez and Brady Hoke, is around .500.

BC

I return to this dead horse because I think Harbaugh deserves even more credit than he is getting for 2021. Indeed it is reasonable to say the "floor" for a good coach at Michigan is 0.500. The point is that many (most??) media had decided Harbaugh was no longer a good coach. There were many articles that predicted the 2021 team would be worse than the 2020 team, because they had lost players at the skill positions on offense that had no obvious adequate replacements. One article I read said that Michigan in 2021 would go as far as the defense could take them, which wouldn't be far considering it gave up 42 points to Rutgers. While nobody said (that I could find) Michigan could be worse than 4-8 in so many words, there were plenty saying 2021 would be worse than 2020. There are many articles saying McNamara just isn't the guy and they will have to start the freshman. It was pretty ugly.
The other person who was clearly very concerned about 2021 was Harbaugh. He had almost lost his job. He was fully aware that this years team would not be competitive if it attempted to play using the strategy he had been employing the last few years. During his time at Michigan he had migrated away from the "ground and pound" approach to the “speed in space” approach. Harbaugh clearly felt that evolution was necessary to beat tOSU, but it wasn't working in general and he didn't have the team for it in 2021. They did a complete reset to create a strategy that would best utilize what was on the roster, and they would be whatever they had to be in order to win. Not only did that take a lot of courage, it took a lot of skill and coaching prowess to make the result work at all, let alone work as well as it did. Granted, it also took having guys on the team that would "buy in" and do what was necessary. Once again, read https://michigan.rivals.com/news/column-...ip-heights.
Did JH expect to win the B1G this year? I very seriously doubt it. He was probably hoping to be respectable, like 7-5. They had to restructure a team to play a different way than they had been recruiting towards for years. Never what you want to be forced to do.
During the season, after the Michigan State loss, there was more negative press. The team could have lost their confidence. They didn't. Again, it takes a certain kind of players and coaches to make that happen. Now, look where they are. JH has already received coach of the year. He will receive more. Things were ugly. They are much less so now. Consider https://www.yahoo.com/news/david-briggs-...00287.html. Yes, there was a lot of negativity out there.
Was Harbaugh lucky? You bet he was, but it is often how you exploit your luck that show true competence in sports. Harbaugh was certainly lucky that he had an OL and set of backs that could execute any coherent strategy at all, given that it wouldn't be the one he intended to use and had recruited to. He was lucky that his defense played even better than expected. He was lucky that in only the MSU game did they have to leave their offensive comfort zone and play serious catch-up. He was lucky that tOSU is a bit down this year and his team could use their physicality to win. But even with these advantages, if you do not or can not grab the opportunity when presented, it doesn't matter. Harbaugh and Michigan could and did in an almost flawless manner. Truly amazing. Harbaugh is now lucky that the Georgia DC is going to Oregon. While he will remain at Georgia for the CFP, the distraction can't help the Georgia defense. Can Michigan take advantage again?

C'mon now, Goose.  "Lucky" is Michigan State beating Michigan on the blocked punt on the last play of the game a couple years ago; "lucky" is seemingly getting all the calls after your team is down double-digits to Michigan and looking to get run out (and I loved MSU's moxie in that game, but still).  There was nothing "lucky" about Michigan this year.  Great recruiting, preparation, coaching and hard work.  THAT's what gets results.  Luck usually follows those who work their asses off.

[teejers1]

I totally agree with your statement here except that I disagree where the floor is. If you project Harbaugh's 2020 record to a full season, he would have been 4-8. Even at a "good" program it really doesn't take much to have a 0.500 season. A few injuries in positions where you are strong coupled with a somewhat unusual weakness in other areas can do that. One could argue that Harbaugh's 8-8 season in his last year with the 49ers was an example of that. (NFL vs. college are different, and  obviously his firing was more political than performance based).
Until this year, Harbaugh had limited emotional capital in the bank with the fans and the AD. Being an alum helped, and he hadn't had any real bad season. However, his failure to beat tOSU was beginning to sting. His bad 2020 and the associated doubt about his offensive skill positions going into this year almost got him. His success this year against tOSU made a big deposit in his account with the fans and the AD. Further, his choice to divert his bonuses to the rest of the department (which I think was a genuine good deed) has the additional benefit of adding to that capital. He has probably gained immunity to at least one 6-6 season, which he didn't have before. Anything he manages to do going forward this year is gravy.

Since Bo Schemblecker was hired in 1969, Michigan has only had four seasons under .500, Rich Rod’s first two seasons. (2008 and 2009), Brady Hoke’s last season (2014), and the COVID-influenced 2020 season under Harbaugh.  Thus, I think it is safe to say that in a non-pandemic year, the floor for a “good coach”, defined as better than Rich Rodriguez and Brady Hoke, is around .500.

BC

I return to this dead horse because I think Harbaugh deserves even more credit than he is getting for 2021. Indeed it is reasonable to say the "floor" for a good coach at Michigan is 0.500. The point is that many (most??) media had decided Harbaugh was no longer a good coach. There were many articles that predicted the 2021 team would be worse than the 2020 team, because they had lost players at the skill positions on offense that had no obvious adequate replacements. One article I read said that Michigan in 2021 would go as far as the defense could take them, which wouldn't be far considering it gave up 42 points to Rutgers. While nobody said (that I could find) Michigan could be worse than 4-8 in so many words, there were plenty saying 2021 would be worse than 2020. There are many articles saying McNamara just isn't the guy and they will have to start the freshman. It was pretty ugly.
The other person who was clearly very concerned about 2021 was Harbaugh. He had almost lost his job. He was fully aware that this years team would not be competitive if it attempted to play using the strategy he had been employing the last few years. During his time at Michigan he had migrated away from the "ground and pound" approach to the “speed in space” approach. Harbaugh clearly felt that evolution was necessary to beat tOSU, but it wasn't working in general and he didn't have the team for it in 2021. They did a complete reset to create a strategy that would best utilize what was on the roster, and they would be whatever they had to be in order to win. Not only did that take a lot of courage, it took a lot of skill and coaching prowess to make the result work at all, let alone work as well as it did. Granted, it also took having guys on the team that would "buy in" and do what was necessary. Once again, read https://michigan.rivals.com/news/column-...ip-heights.
Did JH expect to win the B1G this year? I very seriously doubt it. He was probably hoping to be respectable, like 7-5. They had to restructure a team to play a different way than they had been recruiting towards for years. Never what you want to be forced to do.
During the season, after the Michigan State loss, there was more negative press. The team could have lost their confidence. They didn't. Again, it takes a certain kind of players and coaches to make that happen. Now, look where they are. JH has already received coach of the year. He will receive more. Things were ugly. They are much less so now. Consider https://www.yahoo.com/news/david-briggs-...00287.html. Yes, there was a lot of negativity out there.
Was Harbaugh lucky? You bet he was, but it is often how you exploit your luck that show true competence in sports. Harbaugh was certainly lucky that he had an OL and set of backs that could execute any coherent strategy at all, given that it wouldn't be the one he intended to use and had recruited to. He was lucky that his defense played even better than expected. He was lucky that in only the MSU game did they have to leave their offensive comfort zone and play serious catch-up. He was lucky that tOSU is a bit down this year and his team could use their physicality to win. But even with these advantages, if you do not or can not grab the opportunity when presented, it doesn't matter. Harbaugh and Michigan could and did in an almost flawless manner. Truly amazing. Harbaugh is now lucky that the Georgia DC is going to Oregon. While he will remain at Georgia for the CFP, the distraction can't help the Georgia defense. Can Michigan take advantage again?

C'mon now, Goose.  "Lucky" is Michigan State beating Michigan on the blocked punt on the last play of the game a couple years ago; "lucky" is seemingly getting all the calls after your team is down double-digits to Michigan and looking to get run out (and I loved MSU's moxie in that game, but still).  There was nothing "lucky" about Michigan this year.  Great recruiting, preparation, coaching and hard work.  THAT's what gets results.  Luck usually follows those who work their asses off.