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College Football

Harbaugh hot seat? Media members weigh in after Michigan’s loss to Indiana

Kristian Dyer

By Kristian Dyer

Published:


If Jim Harbaugh wasn’t on the hot seat coming into this weekend, he must now be following Michigan’s 38-21 loss at Indiana. The Michigan head coach has seen his team underwhelm for a second straight week.

The pitchforks aren’t out in Ann Arbor. They are, however, being sharpened.

It has been a checkered six seasons at Michigan for Harbaugh, who was a star quarterback for the Wolverines before becoming a first round pick in the 1987 NFL Draft. He has yet to beat Ohio State and, after last weekend’s loss at Michigan State, is quickly losing the direction of the program.

The Wolverines are 48-20 under Harbaugh and haven’t won a bowl game since his first season with the program. Their 33-14 record in the Big Ten these six seasons under Harbaugh is unacceptable given the program’s history and resources.

Harbaugh’s name was floated this week with a move back to the NFL. It could well be the Michigan head coach’s attempt to create interest should things continue to trend down in Ann Arbor, allowing him to make a graceful exit.

It makes sense, given that things are trending that poorly for the program.

While it hasn’t reached Brady Hoke levels of ineptitude yet at Michigan, Harbaugh’s struggles with a team considered a blue blood of college football are worrying.

Recruiting has been good enough that Michigan should be able to challenge for Big Ten championships and beat the likes of Michigan State and Indiana, especially with a top 10 class last year that was tops in the Big Ten. And yet with Saturday’s loss, the Wolverines will be dropping out of the polls.

Next week, Michigan is scheduled to face No. 10 Wisconsin, a game right now that is looking like a loss for the maize and blue. After that is Rutgers, who have surprised so far this season followed by Penn State and then Maryland.

It is conceivable that, heading into the last game of the regular season against Ohio State, Michigan could have a losing record. If that’s the case, the pitchforks among the Wolverine boosters will surely be out.