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ESPN’s Mike Greenberg defends Jim Harbaugh, says Michigan is no longer ‘elite-level’ program

Dustin Schutte

By Dustin Schutte

Published:

Add Mike Greenberg to the list of media personalities jumping to Jim Harbaugh’s defense. Although the ESPN personality’s opinion on Michigan probably won’t make many fans wearing maize and blue very happy.

On Tuesday, just a few days after Michigan dropped a 56-27 decision to Ohio State and Harbaugh fell to 0-5 against the Buckeyes, Greenberg jumped to the defense of the Wolverines head coach. He believes a lot of the criticism Harbaugh has received over the last few days has been unwarranted.

His explanation, though, may have some Michigan fans upset.

Greenberg spoke at length about how Michigan is not, and has not, been an elite-level program. He compared Harbaugh’s resume to the likes of the great Bo Schembechler and put Michigan’s last five years into perspective.

“Jim Harbaugh is being belittled, criticized and diminished because of a false perception about the program that he leads,” Greenberg said on Get Up!. “The University of Michigan is not, and has not for a very long time, been among the truly elite football programs in America. That was true before Harbaugh arrived and it’s true today and it will probably be true long after he leaves.

Greenberg then brought up Michigan’s lack of national championship seasons (one since 1948), B1G titles (not one in 15 seasons) and the coaching records of Harbaugh’s predecessors Rich Rodriguez and Brady Hoke.

Below are Greenberg’s comments, and he makes a compelling argument. It may just not be one Michigan fans truly agree with.

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB