Erik Evans has a dream.

My man gets the rare twofer today.  This take on the possibility of Jim Harbaugh returning to the NFL  is practically demented.

If you’re Michigan you at least call Jimmy Sexton and make Dabo and Kirby say no, right? They’re both under 55, in their prime coaching years; both have won a pair of titles; both recruit at a high level; both are used to kicking the hell out of bad teams in a soft division to retain national attention. Hell, maybe even Saban for a final jewel in his crown; the vanity project of all vanity projects?

What’s a national title or two, and the prospect of a dynasty, worth to the Wolverines? Twelve million? Fifteen million a year? Complete control over football ops? All of the above?

Dude wants Kirby out of Athens so bad he can taste it.

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TFW you need a narrative

Over/under on the number of times Smart and Harbaugh are reminded about this quote in their next pressers?

Ah, memories. https://t.co/zxJAAoHrkL

— Seth Emerson (@SethWEmerson) December 5, 2021

“Day, you magnificent bastard, I read your playbook!”

Win or lose, Jim Harbaugh’s brain is out there somewhere.

Harbaugh said some people prefer to travel via the air, some via the ground when asked about offensive balance and identity.

“George Patton was able to get the job done on the ground. Neil Armstrong, through the air.”

— Anthony Broome (@anthonytbroome) September 13, 2021

Exactly where that is… well, maybe Neil Armstrong knows.

Mark Richt has lost control over Kirk Herbstreit.

It’s been a while since ol’ Herbie’s showed his ass.

“I still think,” Herbstreit volunteered, “Michigan waves the white flag and doesn’t play Ohio State next week.”

That was a jaw-dropper of an assertion—that a team would use a COVID-19 excuse to avoid playing its biggest rival, while simultaneously knocking said hated rival out of eligibility for the Big Ten championship game. And he threw in the “white flag” surrender metaphor for added style points. That sound you heard was Bo Schembechler rumbling out of the grave in a rage, ready to haunt Herbstreit for implying that his program is chicken.

Anchor Rece Davis smartly and quickly went back at Herbstreit, asking him if that is indeed what he was implying.

Herbstreit began to double down, albeit more generally. He said he’s heard from coaches who believe losing teams are using the virus to avoid “being humiliated” on the field.

No names, mind you.  And a little later, he backtracked.

About an hour later, Herbstreit issued a video apology on Twitter: “I had no business at all saying that. I have no evidence of that. It was completely unfair to Michigan, to Jim Harbaugh, to his players and coaches, and I just want to apologize.”

Forde goes on to credit Herbstreit with “a beloved spot in the sport, and that apology is consistent with who he is”, but the apology isn’t all that’s consistent with who he is.  Herbstreit’s run his mouth here and there over the years with off the cuff observations like that.  Just ask Georgia fans.

TFW you need a new schtick

Jim Harbaugh believes his work is being unfairly judged.

I thought this was an interesting exchange w Harbaugh. I had asked if he can detect what’s missing with the team — confidence? Energy? His comment about “disdain for the process” by people outside the program intrigued me ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️ pic.twitter.com/gyFViv6YNE

— angelique (@chengelis) November 30, 2020

I sure would love to be in the meeting when Harbaugh’s agent argues for a contract extension and raise because the process is kicking some righteous ass.

No comparison

In our podcast this week, Tony asked me if I thought the Harbaugh-Smart comparisons apparently winding their way around the intertubes have any traction.  I was skeptical, and that was before I saw this factoid after last night’s latest Michigan blowout:

Harbaugh now is 10-9 in his last 19 games, and 7 of those losses are by 17 points or more. Not even Rich Rod had a stretch of blowout losses like that. In fact, I had to go back to the mid-1930s to find a stretch of losses that bad.

— MichiganPodcast (@MichiganPodcast) November 15, 2020

Losing two games this season that weren’t close sucks, but we’ve got a long way to go before Georgia hits bottom like that.

Jim Harbaugh’s open letter

I suspect a lot of you are going to like this.

 

Here is the open letter to the football community from #Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh who shares his proposals, including allowing college football players to be one and done before entering #NFL draft pic.twitter.com/7Z30cWrzFX

— Larry Lage (@LarryLage) May 7, 2020

Two problems:  one, it requires the cooperation of the NFL, which is probably a non-starter.  Second, it makes way too much sense for the NCAA to accept.

Other than that, it’s perfect.

TFW you want to gloat, but you’re being paid not to

Speaking of Michigan, Corch is trying so hard to keep a rein on his emotions here:

Urban Meyer says there are good players and coaches at U-M, but it's a toughness issue and don't blame the players. So… you can see what he's trying to say without saying it.

— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) September 21, 2019

He could always point.

Consider the source

A knife shiv from the man who invented Seat 37F:

FOX CFB Studio Host: Is this Michigan's year to make the Playoff?

Urban Meyer: "They certainly have the players."

👀👀https://t.co/nC0T0gI1MI

— Zach Barnett (@zach_barnett) August 24, 2019

It’s hard to be a saint in the city.

I’m guessing there won’t be a more insufferable read this year than this soon to be released book about Jim Harbaugh.

“Look,” Dudek says in the book, “we know there are people who don’t operate on the same moral ground that not only Michigan expects, but that coach Harbaugh demands.”

Oy.