For Jim Harbaugh, it sure as Hell is. . .
It's been all Hell for Harbaugh since the November 26, 2016 4th down overtime J.T. Barrett spot (click here, if you forgot it). Place the ball back an inch, and the whole Harbaugh narrative is changed. He's not a colossal failure, the most over-rated, over-paid, over-hyped coach in football. Instead, in just his second season back at his alma mater, he's won the B1G East, and more than likely headed for the College Football Playoff, and every bit the wonder coach he'd been billed as since his U-San Diego, Stanford and San Francisco 49er days.
BUT. . .
Harbaugh didn't get that inch, and that's as close as he has come to winning anything of consequence in Ann Arbor. . .
He's never beaten Ohio State, never won the B1G East, never won a game as an underdog, and has had some horribly embarrassing losses (blowing a 19-3 3rd Q lead to a shitty-ass South Carolina team in the 2018 Outback Bowl, giving up 62 points to OSU in last year's game, getting pummeled 42-13 in a Penn State white out game, and last week's 35-14 steamrolling from Wisconsin, just to name a few).
Harbaugh's reputation is in tatters. . .here's a typical mainstream sports media view:
Not only are the results on the field different, Harbaugh himself seems a lesser fellow. He used to be an ultra-competitive near-bullying sideline agitator. Remember his famous post-game taunts of Pete Carroll? His hyper-aggressive back slap of Jim Schwartz? The present-day Harbaugh is a mere ghost of his old prick self. Nowagamedays, he spends most of his time bent over, hands on knees, muttering to himself. The fire is gone. . .
What happened to Harbaugh? There are about as many theories as embarrassing losses, everything from Harbaugh is suffering from CTE to simple burn-out to the game has passed him by to the Pope told him something that turned him into a kind of football St Francis. ..
Whatever the cause, it's hard to imagine the old Jim Harbaugh returning. . .this is Year 5 at Michigan, and if anything Glorious was ever going to happen, we would have seen it by now. . .that one inch back in Columbus Ohio in November 2016 was as close Harbaugh will ever get.
My guess is that Harbaugh is as puzzled as anybody by his lack of championship success at Michigan, and the howls of discontent from the hometown fans have to be especially hard to take for such a proud man. There is absolutely zero chance Harbaugh would be fired, he wins enough little games to coach at Michigan as long as he wants, but I don't think Harbaugh can endure much more tarnish at Michigan. To be seen as a disappointment, and as a mediocrity by the fan base of his beloved alma mater is too much. If this season plays out as all his other Michigan seasons, with yet another loss to Ohio State, I predict Harbaugh will seek an exit from Michigan by retiring or by going back to the NFL, if he can find a professional team to take him.
Elsewhere from Week 4. . .
Didn't You Used To Be Chip Kelly? Well, Chimp Kelly, the Chimp Kelly of 3-12 at UCLA, was well on his way to another humiliating defeat, down 32 points in the 3rd Q to Mike Leach's Washington State Cougars. . .BUT somehow Chimp managed to channel his earlier Chip self and his Bruins, led by previously horseshit QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson rallied for an improbable and amazing 67-63 win, somehow scoring 50 points in the game's last nineteen minutes. Is Chip back? Or was this a one game aberration from Chimp? I would bet on aberration, but we'll see this week as Chimp has a game against a mediocore and negro-coached Arizona team.
Week Five Picks (12-11 against the spread for the year):
Rutgers +28 @ Michigan: It's been non-stop negativity for the Wolverines since their ass whipping in Madison. Did Michigan hit rock bottom, or is there worse to come? A loss to Rutgers was the beginning of the end for former Michigan coach Brady Hoke. I can't see Michigan falling that far, although they only got a half-healthy Shea Patterson at QB, and if he goes down, and Harbaugh has to play Joe Milton--look out below! In any event, this Michigan team has an offense without any rhyme or reason, and I can't see them scoring enough to beat anybody by 28. At best, this looks like a 10 - 17 point victory. Rutgers
Penn State -6.5 @ Maryland: I have the feeling Maryland will play more like they did the first two weeks of the season, when they were scoring more than a point a minute, than they did against Temple a couple weeks ago. This is PSU QB Sean Clifford's first road game, and I expect a turnover or two. Maryland
USC +10.5 @ Washington: USC keeps losing QBs, but somehow also manages to keep winning, last week beating Utah with third string QB Matt Fink throwing for 350 yards. If they beat Washington, Clay Helton will be permanently off the hot seat, and Urban Meyer will have start prepping for the Florida State job. USC
Virginia +12.5 @ Notre Dame: A little bit of hangover for Notre Dame, after giving Georgia a tougher-than-expected fight last week. Virginia
Mississippi +38 @ Alabama: RichRod's Ole Miss offense should be able score enough for the Rebels to cover. Ole Miss
Ohio State -17 @ Nebraska: Nebraska almost upset OSU in Columbus last year, but the Buckeyes have a defense this year under new DC Greg Mattison, the former Michigan DL coach who told Jim Harbaugh to fuck off after last season, and bolted for the school down south, the first big tip-off that all was not well in the House of Harbaugh. Ohio State
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