It was Jim Harbaugh in his purest form, the man Michigan football fans too often have come to know over the last six years.
For 22 minutes Monday, he signaled resignation, regret, denial, defiance and projection as he continued to face questions about the worst loss of his tenure less than 48 hours after it happened.
The sting from the Wolverines’ 27-24 defeat to rival Michigan State on Saturday isn’t going to subside anytime soon.
Harbaugh understands that, but he wasn’t about to wallow in his own misery and give the media the opportunity to pick away at the scabs covering his wounded persona.
Yes, he acknowledged, the defeat was “gut-wrenching.”
But no, he said, it was not because of a lack of effort or energy on Michigan’s part, as one reporter wondered.
From his vantage point on the sideline, Harbaugh saw hustle from his players.
He was certain he witnessed a few missed calls, too, that influenced how the Wolverines’ secondary defended the Spartans’ aggressive downfield passing game that pierced Michigan repeatedly.
Two days after vowing the Wolverines would “own the loss,” Harbaugh pivoted and assigned some of the blame for his team’s failures to the officiating. He then refrained from delivering any searing critiques of his team, shifting the focus to its next game against an Indiana outfit that is now ranked 12 spots higher than the Wolverines.
“If we play good, we play the way we’re capable,” he said, “we’ll be tough to beat as well.”
It all sounded familiar to Michigan fans, who have heard the stubborn, inelastic Harbaugh repeatedly explain away the Wolverines’ negative results with empty coachspeak, excuses and linguistic end-arounds that circumvent reality. Sincere accountability and firm answers about the state of the program are hard to come by, which is unsettling at this advanced stage of his regime.
When Harbaugh was hired in December 2014, no one could have imagined it would be this way at this time.
In Year 6 of the Harbaugh era, Michigan’s coach was expected to be on solid footing with a legion of supporters celebrating his every move as he added to the school’s trophy case.
But on Monday, a national journalist reminded Harbaugh of his shortcomings and the promise he hasn’t fulfilled before asking him to review his own performance.
“I didn’t consider myself a savior then or now,” he replied.
Instead, he’s the beleaguered leader of a program that has invited derision from its competitors and scorn from its own fan base.
After the crushing loss to MSU, Michigan message boards were stacked with threads that questioned Harbaugh’s leadership and itemized the problems afflicting the Wolverines. They grumbled about the deterioration of a roster that is ranked No. 18 in 247Sports’ team talent ranking — its lowest position since Harbaugh was appointed as coach. They moaned about the wave of defections that impinged depth in key areas such as the linebacker corps and defensive backfield. They griped about the uneven quarterback play that has been a constant throughout Harbaugh’s tenure.
They complained and fussed and groused, as fans tend to do when things aren’t right.
“When we do really well,” linebacker Josh Ross said, “they’re going to be up there with us. And when we suffer a tough loss they’re going to be all the way down low.”
For so long those who have been faithful to Michigan football have been willing to forgive and forget Harbaugh’s losses while clinging to the hope that better days were ahead. They ignored Harbaugh, the man, to embrace Harbaugh, the idea.
But by now they’re waking up to the disquieting realization that Harbaugh is who he is.
He’s a coach who continues to offer up words of resignation, regret, denial, defiance and projection while facing uncomfortable questions about his management of a program that under his watch is 3-8 against its two greatest rivals and still searching for a championship of any kind.
It’s what everyone has now come to expect from Harbaugh, and that has to be the greatest disappointment of all.
Contact Rainer Sabin at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @RainerSabin. Read more on the Michigan Wolverines, Michigan State Spartans and sign up for our Big Ten newsletter.
