As some of you may have heard, the Michigan Wolverines were dominated by the Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday. As some would tell it, this was the culminating coup de grace that finally ended the Michigan Wolverines as a college football power. The long struggling Maize and Blue blood that has been clinging to pass success is finally dead. The once anointed Jimus Harbaugh will tuck his tail and head back to the NFL, and Michigan will now battle for last place in the B1G East with Rutgers, talking about wins from the 1800s. 6 win seasons and lesser bowl victories over the South Carolina’s of the world will be considered a success.
No.
Harbaugh hasn’t worked out. He will be gone by the end of this season. An inglorious end that wont actually be a firing, similar to John Cooper’s demise at Ohio State. Even though Cooper won the Big Ten and a Rose Bowl, and finished second in the country twice, his run at Ohio State was seemed a failure, mainly because of his struggles against the now defunct Michigan. Somehow, Ohio State managed to luck into D1aa coach that won them a national title, then a sickly 2 time national title winning coach that one them another, and now Ohio State’s scarlet blood is running blue again.
And that’s what is going to happen to Michigan.
The right coach will be hired. Maybe not this time, maybe even not the next time. He will get the right kids, at the right time, and put them in the right places. He will win games. He’ll make the playoffs and might even win the whole darn thing. And then his successor will do the same. And no one will question Michigan’s blue blood status.
Time for a little PBS Paul Harvey Finebaum
Alabama was in a similar position as the Wolverines not long ago. Way back when in the 1950s, Bama went on a suck spree. Then, they hired Bear Bryant and he dominated college football. Then he retired and Bama looked like it might slip back to Normalville. Save for a weird year where Bama won every game in the last second by 1, and then turnover chained Miami into oblivion for the national title, they were seen as a dying, overrated blue blood. Their coup de grace came in 2000, where in the previous 7 years they finished with double digit wins only 3 times. However, one of those years was 1999. They showed promise, where they finished 10-3. The southern half the country was saying Bama is back! They garnered 3 preseason first place votes in the AP Poll and started the season with a lofty 3rd place ranking. They won 3 games that season. They were dead, many said. They were proven right, or so it seemed, in the next 7 years. Bama did manage two 10 win seasons (in a lightly regarded SEC that had an undefeated champion left out of the playoffs), but the next two best seasons were 7 win monstrosities, at least by blue blood standards. They had a 4 win stinker thrown in, too. Then Bama hired a semi-failed pro coach with one split national championship on the college level, dubiously known for ditching teams. His name is Nick Saban.
And now you know...the rest of the story.
Michigan will be fine. Maybe not today, hopefully not tomorrow. But soon, and for the rest of our miserable lives.