Tuesday Thoughts: Jim Harbaugh is being held to a higher standard than most … and how dangerous is Rutgers?

Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh will return from a three-game, school-imposed suspension Saturday against Rutgers, and it’s clear he’s ready. He had a bounce in his step when he met the media Monday, excited to return to action, and said he was ready to move forward, lesson learned.

Watching from the couch added some perspective he might not have gotten otherwise, Harbaugh acknowledged.
“I think it’s made me a better coach,” he said. “As a result, I’m going to implement some new things I haven’t done as it relates to a few policies around here to make sure I don’t ever get sidelined again … ramping that up to a gold standard.”

That, of course, led to the follow question of just how he planned to do that.
“One of them is the analyst and making sure there is absolutely no coaching whatsoever,” he continued. “You say that over and over to guys, and it’s just a natural coaching instinct. They want to protect us. I want to protect them; I want to protect me.

“We’ve done an incredible job, gone to the nth degree to follow every rule. Just actually watching the game and not being on the sideline … I saw it from a different perspective. ‘Man, here’s what we could do to make it even better.’ Implementing that. I’m just talking about some of the things, different perspectives.”

In reality, coaches around the country are skirting the rules much more egregiously— yes, that’s a fact, and why his three-game suspension has garnered more snickers and eye rolls nationally than support for the NCAA. Just a few years ago, it was reported that Harbaugh called out Ohio State on a phone call for allegedly violating rules by having on-field instructions and drills take place when not permitted, according to a post from Bucknuts.

“How ‘bout I worry about my team, and you worry about yours?” Day reportedly snapped back at Harbaugh before allegedly giving the infamous “gonna hang 100 on them when we play them” remark. Of course, nothing came of it with the NCAA, though what was alleged seems far more serious than anything Harbaugh or his suspended assistants might have done.

And both of those pale in comparison to what we know takes place on the recruiting trail at some of the football factories (and yes, pay for play, enticements, etc., is still illegal, even in the NIL environment). Some of the stories, many of which we’ve shared on our message board over the years, would make your skin crawl. Tales of blackmail, academic fraud, etc. … yet Harbaugh is the guy in the crosshairs.

In short, the three-game suspension and two missed recruiting weekends needs to be the end of it, and the Michigan administration needs to let the NCAA know that, too, so Harbaugh doesn’t have it hanging over his head. As noted, we know (and understand why) he isn’t happy. But he always takes the positive approach publicly, and he did again Monday.

“How we watch the game as an offense … watching it on TV, you can see things,” Harbaugh said. “When I’m there, just to explain it, how I see it in my mind. I’m there and I’m in it, and you’re doing everything in real-time … telling people what to do, how you see it. The perspective of, for them to see it, for them to watch it … ‘what did you do right? What did you do wrong? How did you see this?

“I’m kind of excited about that, implementing that today. A ton of positives.”

The biggest one, though, is getting Harbaugh back on the sidelines. They’ve missed him. While the staff is outstanding, the head coach is the constant wherever he’s been, one of the best coaches of his era. He’s also not afraid to rock the boat, one of the reasons, probably, he’s in the NCAA’s crosshairs.

We’re not sure how it will all play out, but we’d feel much better if he were locked and loaded with a huge contract for the years to come. Yeah, he might be tough for his bosses deal with (at times), but it’s time to push back a bit and show the public support, even if it’s not in the Michigan comfort zone, and let him know how appreciated he is.

Harbaugh wary of Rutgers, but should he be?

Michigan is a 24-point favorite against Rutgers Saturday, which seems high given the way things have gone the first few weeks of the season. The Scarlet Knights are limited offensively, especially in the passing game, but they’re physical and well coached and have played Harbugh and Michigan extremely tough in three of the last four halves.

“Really good … tremendous respect we have for the Scarlet Knights, for Coach [Greg] Schiano,” Harbaugh said. “The way they bring it when they play us, or anybody, and the way they’re playing this year … playing really good defense. [Quarterback] Gavin Wimsatt is playing really good football. They’re running the ball really effectively … they’re good.”

We wouldn’t go that far, but it is a game in which Michigan needs to pick it up. In that respect, maybe the Bowling Green game is just what they needed to get their attention. They seemed to be caught off guard a bit last year by the uptick in competition Maryland brought — that shouldn’t be the case this year with the Scarlet Knights.

It wouldn’t surprise, at all, if we saw Michigan’s best game of the year with Harbaugh on the sidelines.

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