Harbaugh The Hero? Hold Up.

By Crowley Sullivan

So, Michigan Men are dancing in the streets in Ann Arbor.

That groovy deli that starts with a Z – it’s preparing a new menu item that will be named after the newest conquering hero. Rich Eisen has already begun to be more obnoxious than he normally is about his status as a Michigan Man by sending out a tweet begging “Jimmy” to “come home.” And now it is thus.

Jim Harbaugh has returned to Ann Arbor. He will restore Michigan’s football tradition. He will reclaim the university’s rightful place among the most important organizations in the history of the universe. The love fest is only starting. John U. Bacon is almost finished with his next book: “The Harbaugh Era: The Magic of the First 24 Hours.”

Toughness in the trenches. Deep appreciation and respect for the ghost of Fielding H. Yost. A new “Ten Year War” with Urban Meyer. Victories over Urban Meyer on the recruiting trail. Salty and funny quips during press conferences at Urban Meyer’s expense followed up immediately by references to words that came straight out of Bo Schembechler’s mouth. Refusals to meet Urban Meyer at the fifty yard line for the pre-game handshake. Michigan being Michigan against Ohio. Or does it now go back to being Ohio State?

Think Mark Dantonio is paying attention to any of this stuff? Probably not, actually. He’s too busy basking in the Cotton Bowl win that put a capper on a five-year stretch that has seen the program that Harbaugh probably won’t ever refer to by name go 52-14 with six out of seven wins against the Michigan Men. Memo to Jimmy: things have changed since you were last in Ann Arbor.

Here’s a question for Michigan Men: why would a head coach with an overall record of 49-22-1 that includes three straight trips to the NFC Championship game and an appearance in the Super Bowl be encouraged to not let the door hit him on the way out? Maybe because that head coach is a major pain in the rear end to work with and tolerate. Winning usually cures all ills. Apparently, not in San Francisco. The 49ers aren’t exactly known for their flippant approach to managing one of the most successful organizations in the history of American sports – they know a thing or two about winning, and they know a thing or two about winning the right way. Yet the sound you hear coming from the Bay Area is the corner office at 49er headquarters letting out a sigh of relief that a guy who has been a pain in the neck for as long as he’s been in football is no longer crashing into the office furniture. Yes, management and coaches and players have differences of opinions on how to run things, how to achieve the ultimate goals, and how to resolve those differences. But San Francisco never seemed eager to resolve anything the moment things started to smell a little funny after – let’s say it again – three straight NFC Championship games and a Super Bowl appearance. Why not?

Michigan Football and all of its constituents have to acknowledge something as they sing Hail To The Victors with Jimmy at the celebration party: the college football landscape isn’t what it was in 1985. Michigan Football isn’t what it was when Harbaugh played quarterback for Schembechler. The Block M doesn’t mean what it did twenty and thirty years ago.

Michigan’s notion of getting back into the national championship race with Harbaugh’s return warrants some cold water: Michigan hasn’t won the Big Ten since 2004 and it still has a ways to go before it becomes a factor in the Big Ten’s Eastern division, much less the conference.

Today’s blue chippers don’t even know who Bo Schembechler was, and all they know about Michigan is that the last two head coaches in Ann Arbor were Rich Rodriguez (the Pac 12′s Coach of the Year) and Brady Hoke (nice man).

Harbaugh should be very proud of his years as Michigan’s field general – but when he walks into a kid’s house and talks about how he led his team to a dramatic, season-opening 26-24 win at Notre Dame in Lou Holtz’s first game as the Irish head coach in 1986, Harbaugh will get a blank stare from that kid (and probably his entire family).

Harbaugh has demonstrated that he can ctach the hell out of a football team. The job he did at Stanford was impressive. He capitalized on his success by signing a contract with the 49ers worth $25 million over five years four days after he led the Cardinal to a victory in the Orange Bowl. And he now signs for significantly more, but how will he react when Jerry Jones or Daniel Snyder offers him $86 million over seven years to come back “home” to the NFL?

Will the Michigan Men who are hugging him at this very moment urge him to stay at that time or will they encourage him to make the decision that is “best for his family?”

Now, times are tough in Ann Arbor. And it appears as though that little kerfuffle has been brushed under the rug – for the time being. And therein lies a two-part question: How long will it take for Jim Harbaugh to win the way Michigan Men expect him to AND will that happen before his socks begin to smell and his locker room jokes aren’t funny anymore? Losing to Ohio and Lansing Tech is one thing for Michigan Men. But when Harbaugh drops a home game to Utah or Maryland, in Year 3, how will his “competitiveness” feel around the offices of Schembechler Hall?

Perhaps before we all flatly anoint Harbaugh as Michigan’s savior, we could sit tight and let things play out just a bit. And perhaps we could focus on some of Harbaugh’s actual achievements thus far. His acting career demonstrates the type of versatility in a man that Michigan Men appreciate.

In 1994, he appeared as a cowboy in the Western/Science Fiction TV show The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. He also made an appearance on the wildly popular TV show Saved by the Bell in 1996, in the role of the cousin of Screech, the character played by accomplished actor Dustin Diamond.

If the folks in Ann Arbor eventually come to think that maybe the guys in San Francisco might have been on to something, Harbaugh will always have Hollywood as a backup.