ORLANDO, Fla. — There was a time not too long ago when Jim Harbaugh was full of energy and creativity.
He bucked the college football establishment and poked his competitors.
He led bold initiatives, taking his team to France, Italy and South Africa.
He organized satellite camps to create exposure for his program in regions where Michigan football didn’t have much of a footprint.
He hosted the “Signing of the Stars,” a publicity event that heralded the Wolverines’ new class of prospects. He swapped out assistants and brought in new ideas.
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For so long, Harbaugh was a dynamo with megawatt power.
But on Wednesday, after the Wolverines lost to Alabama, 35-16, in the Citrus Bowl, the Michigan coach looked lifeless and a little bored.
His team had just ended another good — but not great — season at 9-4. He went through the motions in his news conference, offering up platitudes and niceties as he congratulated the Crimson Tide and coach Nick Saban.
For a month, after the Wolverines lost to Ohio State, Harbaugh sort of disappeared, fading into the background as theytried to rebound from the latest defeat to their rival.
The early signing period came and went without so much as a news conference. As other teams promoted their latest haul of recruits, Michigan remained silent.
In turn, the buzz about the program since Harbaugh’s arrival has all but faded away. He has been able to elevate the Wolverines to a point far above where they had been during the Rich Rodriguez and Brady Hoke regimes, but they remain a cut below the teams residing in the upper echelon of the sport.
That was affirmed Wednesday.
Like Harbaugh, Saban once pumped energy into a traditional power that had fallen into a rut of mediocrity by harnessing his creativity and applying it to staffing and recruiting.
But whereas Harbaugh has struggled to win at the highest level or even claim a Big Ten division championship, Saban was able to realize major goals almost immediately, bringing home a national title in his third season in Tuscaloosa. He built on that success, creating a juggernaut capable of carrying the momentum from one season to the next.
Harbaugh hasn’t been able to replicate that trajectory. In part, that’s because he hasn’t been able to entice a top-level high school quarterback to sign with Michigan and then nurture him.
And now, Harbaugh has to move forward without his top recruiter, Chris Partridge, who has taken a job with Ole Miss.
It defies expectations because he was viewed as a quarterback whisperer when he arrived in Ann Arbor in December 2014.
Back then, the perception of Harbaugh was much different. He was full of life and prepared to tackle any challenge because he was confident he could accomplish his mission.
“Michigan's always been great,” he said at his introductory news conference. “It's always been great. I always believe in it. You're selling something that you believe it in your core. I know Michigan football and believe in Michigan football.”
But does he have that same level of faith today?
It was a question worth asking during his latest humdrum news conference.
Instead, at the very end, a reporter wondered what Harbaugh thought about the future of the program.
Harbaugh paused for a moment to consider his answer.
“I feel good about that,” he responded with little conviction.
Soon after, he walked off stage, disappearing into the Orlando twilight and the uncomfortable silence of another offseason of uncertainty, where Michigan football will again recede into darkness.
Contact Rainer Sabin at rsabin@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @RainerSabin. Read more on the Michigan Wolverines, Michigan State Spartans and sign up for our Big Ten newsletter.
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2020-01-02 19:52:00Z
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