Okay, I have given myself the weekend, thought about it a lot, and I want to give my thoughts on where my favorite team of all time, the University of Michigan Wolverines football team, currently sits in the landscape of college football.

First off, I was wrong with my preseason prediction. They were not a playoff team, not even close. They were out of Big Ten title contention after getting beat by Penn State. They were unfocused and undisciplined more often than not this season. Shea Patterson took too long to play like I, and many other fans, expected him to. And the defense, they played well in some games and awful in others. This is the second year in a row where I thought they had a legitimate chance to beat the University of Ohio State, and they got obliterated, twice. The game this year was close for one quarter, that was it. They got their butts handed to them, and the University of Ohio State continued to assert their dominance. There is no way to mince words, Michigan is not as good as them. It is that plain and that simple. Michigan has talented players, good quality football players and students. But, the talent is not the same. That much is evident. That much is true. I don't think anyone could deny that right now.

The coaching, I'm not ready to go there yet. The University of Ohio State poached a few key coaches from Michigan, but this happens all the time. But to see Greg Mattison leave, that one hurt. I really like the new D line coach, Shaun Nua, but Mattison was at Michigan twice, and for him to up and leave all of the sudden, that hurt. But, I would still take Jim Harbaugh over Ryan Day, and Josh Gattis over whoever their offensive coordinator and Don Brown, yeah I said it, over their two defensive coordinators. Hell, I would take all the assistants at Michigan. But, that could be my fandom clouding all of this.

Pulling away from the University of Ohio State game, and just looking at Michigan since Harbaugh took over, I will take it. No, Michigan has not won the Big Ten. No, they have not been to the playoff. No, they have not beaten the University of Ohio State. But, do all these current Michigan fans calling for the whole staff to be fired remember how bad this team was before they hired Harbaugh? Rich Rodriguez was a train wreck. He took over a storied program, tried to change the entire philosophy, albeit he was trying to get them to move into the 21st century of football, and it was disastrous. Rodriguez set records no one would want. He was the head coach when Michigan lost its first game to a MAC school. He lost 9 games in his first year. He stayed on the same recruits for far too long. He started Tate Forcier over Denard Robinson to run a spread option offense. He didn't care about defense. He lasted three years, and his best record was 7-6. He was not the answer. Then they tried to go back to the "glory days", and they hired a former assistant who was having a little success at a smaller school, a la Bo, in Brady Hoke. And, while his first season couldn't have gone better, 11 wins, beating the University of Ohio State and winning the Sugar Bowl, it was all down hill from there. They dropped off to 8 wins, then 7 and then 5. I saw that 5 win team play, and that team was so poorly coached. Hoke wanted to be good, I wanted him to be good, Dave Brandon wanted him to be good, but he just couldn't live up to the job. It was far too big for him. It was too much. And look at him now. I believe he was a d line coach at Tennessee for a minute, and now, I have no idea what he is doing.

After they fired Hoke, they hired Warde Manuel, thank goodness, and then they went out and got their white whale for head coach. They got Harbaugh. At the time I wasn't a humongous fan of this because of how quickly he leaves jobs, and how often he is mentioned for NFL openings. It seemed like his tenure would be shot lived. But, he came in and won 10 games his first season with a subpar roster. But, you could see the team was better coached and more disciplined. Then he had a team that seemed poised to be a playoff team. And, if it wasn't for one horrible spot, they would have made the playoff. Also, Harbaugh was finally getting high rated recruits to live up to their potential. Jabrill Peppers was crushing it that year. Devin Bush was a spot starter and special teams demon his first season. They reeled in Rashan Gary. You could see, in one year, that top tier kids wanted to play for Michigan. Also, he wasn't just getting good football players, but also good students. Michigan is hard enough to get into, so it is a bit harder to recruit the super, super elite. Michigan gets great players, but they have to develop. Year three was a bit of a setback for Harbaugh, but there were injuries and a ton of youth on that squad. Also, they trotted out John O'Korn and Brandon Peters at moments that season, and they still won 8 games. Last year, the first with Patterson, they looked like that second year team. And, they had a chance to play for the Big Ten title and the playoff, and got stomped in the final game. And then Rashan Gary and Devin Bush and Karan Higdon and others decided they needed to skip the bowl game to get ready for the NFL. I have no problem with that, but it does make it hard when several starters skip bowl games. And then we have this season. It was a very rocky start, but Harbaugh and the staff coached these kids up when they needed it. Everyone was ready to give up on Gattis, Harbaugh and Don Brown after the Wisconsin game, and that game was bad. This team looked bad. They needed double overtime to beat Army. Middle Tennessee was in the game late in the third. They looked discombobulated. Then the Penn State game happened. The first half was bad, but they looked totally different in the second half. They looked like they were having fun and playing loose. They looked solid. They didn't win that game, but I walked away thinking they may have figured it out. They went on to win the next four games, crushing Notre Dame and Michigan State. And even with the outcome of the University of Ohio State game, I still saw signs that the offense has legs. The defense was the main problem. So, while I was not on board with the hire 5 years ago, I look at it now like it was the right thing.

Also, for all the people wanting to fire him and the staff, who is the big time hire they expect? There is no one out there, for Michigan, that will be as big as Harbaugh was five years ago. Seriously, who would it be? They are not luring names like Nick Saban or Dabo Swinney or Kirby Smart or anyone that has teams in the hunt for the playoff currently. Those guys are staying put, or looking to get into the NFL. And do you really want to go down the NFL route again? Who would they get? I honestly don't know. I find that the Michigan fans that want a new coach don't really think, they just react. That is a problem. Give yourself time to take everything in before you jump to crazy conclusions. If/when Jim Harbaugh leaves, it will be on his terms. Michigan isn't going to let him go, that would be stupid, especially with the recruits that he has coming in. I'm also fully in on Josh Gattis. He improved each week, and given a few more years, he will be a head coach, I have no doubt about that. I also like Don Brown. I know he has other options right now, the Boston College job just opened. But, I think he is a very, very good coordinator. He is stubborn, but Michigan's defense is always in the top 20. If he leaves, I would hope that Harbaugh would stay in house, maybe Chris Partridge, to take over the defense. But, I like the staff. I'm in on the staff.

As for the talent on the field, it is okay, but not elite. Shea Patterson has been the best QB of the Harbaugh era, but I don't truly know how that makes me feel. I love the Packers, but I get frustrated with Aaron Rodgers. I guess it is the same with Patterson. He was solid for 2 seasons, but never "the best". Never the Heisman candidate that some predicted. The run game does seem to be in a good spot. I am a big fan of both Hassan Haskins and Zach Charbonnet. They could be one of the best duos in college football the more they play and develop. The receivers are solid. It all depends on who comes back, but they have a very good group of pass catchers. Tight end is solid too. So is the offensive line. I look at the defense, and while I have grown to adore guys like Khaleke Hudson and Josh Mettulus and Carlo Kemp and Lavert Hill, I won't be so bummed to see them graduate and head to the pros. It could be addition by subtraction. Again, Harbaugh and his staff have done a solid job of recruiting. Ambry Thomas is a very good corner. Daxton Hill looks like a legit All American. Cam McGrone played lights out after taking over for an injured Josh Ross. Kwity Paye has proven to be a solid pass rusher. Aidan Hutchinson looks really good. Chris Hinton got tons of looks this season. Mike Barrett should step in nicely at Viper. And Brad Hawkins is fine. They should be okay. The only question I have for the team next year is the QB spot, They will be picking between Dylan McCaffery and Joe Milton. Personally, I love Joe Milton. He is humongous, has a big time arm, can run and the game seems to come easy to him. Don't get me wrong, McCaffery is very good too. He's been the number 2 QB for two years. But, he gets hurt often and isn't the athlete Milton is. The offseason will tell a lot about where this team wants to go in 2020 at that position.

But pulling back from all of this. Pulling back from what they look like on paper, and who may or may not be on the staff next year and just thinking about where they stand in the current college football landscape, they are a good team. They can, and should win between 9 and 11 games every year. They will compete. They will play hard. They will fight. They can occasionally get a solid win here and there. They have a good staff with a top tier head coach. But, they are not elite. They are not on the level of the University of Ohio State or Alabama or Clemson. They are, at best, a top 15 team every year. They can win games, but they will also disappoint. They will continue to have dopes in the media say that the head coach is awful one second, then have the same people opining for him to coach their favorite NFL team. They will have to endure these stupid ass memes that former players put on the internet. They will have to deal with guys that have never played or coached the game at this high a level pass judgement on them. Michigan is a target, and so is Jim Harbaugh. But, that is okay. I would rather have a coach that is in demand than not. I would rather my team be in it all the way until the end of the season most of the time. I want Harbaugh to stick around and develop some of these young kids he has recruited to see if they pan out and become the answer for how to beat elite teams, and finally become one again. But, time will tell.

So, where does Michigan stand in my eyes? They are a solid football team. They will play in bowl games every year, and sometimes even major bowl games. They will compete. But, they are not elite. They are not upper echelon, and it may take a little bit longer than we all hope. All in all, I want them to stick with the staff as intact as possible, I want Harbaugh to stay and I really feel like they can close the gap. I feel like they can do it. They have been close twice. They just need to get over that hump. Until then, we Wolverine fans have to get used to 9-3 or 10-2 for a tiny bit longer. Those are just facts.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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