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If I’m Jim Harbaugh, I’m trying to make a move back to the NFL (*cough*Indianapolis Colts*cough cough*) as soon as possible, because the jig may be up for Ole Crazy Jim at the collegiate level.
Following another disappointing season at the University of Michigan, questions are beginning to be raised about the success — or lack thereof — of Jim Harbaugh’s tenor at the Big House. Yes, Harbaugh is only in his third season, but in those three seasons, it seems as though the Wolverines have lost every big game they’ve played in.
And it seems as though fellow college football coaches weren’t all that high on Harbaugh before the season either. A poll conducted by CBS Sports which asked 1/5 of the 130 FBS coaches a range of questions — including who they thought were the most overrated and underrated coaches — found that none other than Jim Harbaugh was college football’s most overrated coach.
via CBS Sports:
Following in the footsteps of our college basketball brethren here at CBS Sports, college football writers Dennis Dodd, Chip Patterson and Barrett Sallee spoke with one-fifth of the 130 active coaches leading FBS teams entering the 2017 season. They asked for honest opinions on everything from NCAA rules to social issues to their peers in the profession. We will be sharing their candid thoughts over a two-week period leading into the season.
Coaches as a peer group are tight. They defend each other to the end of the world and rarely have anything bad to say about one another — particularly on the record. It is for this reason that many of the coaches we questioned, even when granted the condition of anonymity, did not wish to soil the names of their compatriots. Still, we asked
Most underrated coaches in college football:
Bill Snyder (Kansas State): 24%
Chris Petersen (Washington): 15%
David Cutcliffe (Duke): 10%
Ken Niumatalolo (Navy): 10%
10 other coaches: 41%
Most overrated coaches in college football:
Jim Harbaugh (Michigan): 13%
Nick Saban (Alabama): 9%
Lane Kiffin (Florida Atlantic): 9%
Lovie Smith (Illinois): 9%
Brian Kelly (Notre Dame): 4%
Tom Herman (Texas): 4%
Will Muschamp (South Carolina): 4%
Choose not to answer: 48%
While not by much, Harbaugh was clearly considered an overrated coach even before the season started. Now, following an embarrassing regular season and a blown bowl game, it wouldn’t shock us if Harbaugh jumped ship sooner rather then later.
With his old Stanford buddy Andrew Luck installed as the franchise quarterback, Harbaugh (who played for the Colts when he was an NFL quarterback) could have the inside track to the Colts head gig.
