When Jim Harbaugh took the podium at his introductory press conference, he chose his words carefully when speaking about returning his alma mater to prominence.

“There are no turnarounds at Michigan. This is greatness,” Harbaugh said in December 2014.

Nine years later, we can agree that 2 things were true.

A turnaround was needed at Michigan. A 2014 season in which the Wolverines missed a bowl game marked the 3rd time in 7 years that they finished with a losing record. They hadn’t won the Big Ten in a decade and they were in the midst of their worst stretch since the pre-Bo Schembechler days back in 1967.

At some point in the 20th century, Michigan was greatness. But to use that in the present tense, in 2014, didn’t quite feel fitting.

On Monday, though, Harbaugh finally achieved what he promised — greatness.

Michigan won its first national title since 1997 and it took home its first undisputed national title since 1948. That should be, by all accounts, a walk-off for Harbaugh at Michigan.

His work is done.

Wait, what? If this were Nick Saban or Kirby Smart, we’d be running stories on sites like ours about how they’d be talking to recruits after dusting confetti off themselves. We’d be debating if this is the beginning of a dynasty.

With Harbaugh, though, we know it’s much more complicated. It always is. A season that included multiple suspensions still has Harbaugh and Michigan waiting on an official NCAA punishment for the Connor Stalions sign-stealing scandal that turned into an internal rallying cry. “Michigan vs. the world” was embraced in a way that felt almost too Harbaugh.

In a strange way, perhaps it always had to happen like this. Harbaugh was never going to bring Michigan back atop the national stage with some quiet, underdog story. He always had to be the villain. His team always had to be the villain.

If you could’ve drawn up a blueprint for a Michigan national title back in 2014 when Harbaugh was at the podium, think about all the boxes it had to check.

Did it have a smash-mouth style that imposed its will on a weekly basis? Yep. Michigan trailed in the second half once all season.

Did it have a smart, talented quarterback cut from the same overly competitive cloth as Harbaugh? Yep. Once you get beyond the excessive pre-game meditation images of JJ McCarthy, you saw that in spades.

Did it have a team that ticked off the masses with each win? Yep. Despite Harbaugh’s claim that Michigan was “America’s team,” you’d be hard-pressed to find a whole lot of new additions to the maize and blue bandwagon in the Stalions-dominated season of 2023.

Oh, and did it have another statement win against Ohio State? Of course it did. The third straight.

This was straight out of some 2011 message board vision for what the program aspired to be. Harbaugh did that. Michigan had its first 15-0 season. No Big Ten team had ever accomplished that feat.

The NCAA could walk onto Ann Arbor tomorrow and announce that it’s stripping the program of every one of those wins … but would Michigan fans care? Like, at all? No way. That’ll be for the rest of us here in the court of public opinion to determine how we feel.

When Harbaugh was presented with the national championship trophy, he brought his dad, Jack, up to deliver the famous family line. “Who’s got it better than us? Nobody!” Right now, nobody has it better than Michigan. Despite what any outside fan will tell you, they’d gladly trade a hovering NCAA cloud for a national title. Even Michigan, which has more wins than anyone in the history of the sport (1,004), would gladly make that deal 100 times out of 100. Why? As Harbaugh showed us these past 9 years, nothing is guaranteed in this sport.

Harbaugh couldn’t have been a splashier hire in 2014. And yet, by the end of Year 6, there were serious doubts that he’d have a Year 7.

So now, why can’t he have a Year 10? He certainly can. If Harbaugh signs that reported 10-year, $125 million contract, he’s deciding that he’s not going to flirt with the NFL anymore and he’ll take whatever NCAA punishment comes Michigan’s way.

(Even the biggest bleeder of maize and blue has to admit that based on the NCAA’s track record with Michigan, it seems plenty likely that more penalties await.)

Clearly, though, Harbaugh still has NFL interest. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have interviewed for jobs after the 2021 and 2022 seasons when Michigan reached the Playoff. By winning a title, he did what he set out to do. He can now, if he chooses, turn the program over to Sherrone Moore, who has already proven that he can be a leader of men by beating Penn State, Maryland and Ohio State. He kept the ship afloat once. Why can’t he do it again?

Harbaugh has the rare perfect succession option and he can leave on his terms without ever worrying about his legacy. Call it righting the wrong of not winning a title as a player, or just call it doing right by the program that meant everything to him.

Sure, it’s possible that Harbaugh stays for another decade, wins another title and his legacy is even stronger. The odds are against that, though. This sport doesn’t work like that. Exits are almost always uncomfortable. Harbaugh, as awkward as he sometimes comes across, has a chance to leave comfortably.

There’s no shame in that.

When Harbaugh was asked about his future on Saturday, he made waves by saying “I hope to have one.” It’s not typically what you’d hear from a coach who was, at the time, 60 minutes from a national championship. Then again, when has Harbaugh said or done the thing that we expected? From not eating “nervous birds” (AKA chickens) to warming up in gloves and cleats, the only guarantee about Harbaugh’s future is that it’ll go to the beat of his own drum.

Harbaugh got Michigan back to greatness by doing it his way. Was it stubborn? At times, yeah. Was it controversial? Of course. Above all else, was it successful? You bet. Outsiders will debate that before and after the NCAA weighs in.

Something tells me that Harbaugh won’t care. He brought joy to the people that mattered to him. Among the Michigan faithful, it’s safe to say that nobody has ever had it better than Harbaugh. He lived out his boyhood dream to coach at Michigan.

If that’s all she wrote, it was a page-turner unlike any other.