Ohio State Football: Harbaugh ruining chances at sustained rivalry success
The Ohio State football team has lost two games in a row to rival Michigan, but the Wolverines coach is putting his continued success in doubt.
The Michigan Wolverines and head coach Jim Harbaugh have finally turned the tables on the Ohio State football team. Two decisive wins in a row have left Harbaugh feeling pretty good about his program. But I believe that success will be short-lived if Harbaugh and the Michigan administration don’t change their path.
It’s been an eventful offseason for the Wolverines to say the least. The Mazi Smith saga was followed by the dismissal of its offensive coordinator for committing computer access crimes. Also, Jim Harbaugh has been openly campaigning for NFL jobs two years in a row now.
Harbaughs continued quest for an NFL gig is going to let the Wolverines down in the long run. He puts his recruiting classes in jeopardy every time he does it and it’s starting to catch up with him. If Harbaugh actually put forth an effort to recruit, the Michigan program would be in line for a sustained run at success. But he appears to be content with doing the bare minimum.
Michigan’s 2023 recruiting class came in ranked No. 19 overall according to 247Sports. Its top-ranked recruit barely cracked the top 175 players in the nation. For a team with back-to-back CFP berths that’s not good enough. Especially for a program with the prestige and branding of Michigan. There is absolutely no reason why they don’t religiously have top-10 recruiting classes. None.
Listen, as an Ohio State fan, I’m fine with this. But after eight seasons at the helm, Harbaugh finally has his program on the brink of being elite and he is screwing it up by not pounding the pavement for recruits.
It’s clear as day that the second he gets an NFL opportunity he’s going to take it. Maybe that’s why he isn’t going full throttle on the recruiting trail. Things are clearly a mess between him and Michigan AD Warde Manuel. But if Manuel had any backbone, he’d make Harbaugh give the Michigan program a firm commitment or give him a boot out the door. I know Ohio State fans wouldn’t put up with its coach flirting with other jobs every offseason.
Next. Ohio State football: Grading the 2022 Coaching Staff. dark
But hey, like I said, as a Buckeye fan I’m completely fine with what’s transpiring in Ann Arbor currently.