Monday Morning Quarterback: Is the media being too tough on Jim Harbaugh?
Reading the daily sports wires and it is hard to come across an article that does not rake Jim Harbaugh over the coals for his record these past four years. No doubt, when you are paid as much as Harbaugh, 3rd highest paid college football coach at $7.7 million, you are going to have a big target on your back.
Before Harbaugh, Michigan fans experienced along the same lines what Husker fans saw a couple years later. The Wolverines had fallen to consecutive 7-6 and 5-7 records in 2013 and 2014. Harbaugh, a favored son just like Scott Frost, was brought in to right the ship of state. He went 10-3 his first year, followed by another 10-3, then 8-5, 10-3, and then 9-4 this year. But losing four consecutive bowl games, including some one-sided ones, losing key road games, and most importantly never beating Ohio State are huge dings in Ann Arbor.
Husker fans are seeing how difficult it is to turn a program around and move it back up into the upper echelons. And there has certainly been a lot of conversation in Husker circles around expectations and time frames. What do you think – after 5 years has Harbaugh proved his worth, or is being on the hot seat just part of the game when you coach at a Michigan or a Nebraska?