"Sometimes, you have to get knocked down lower than you have ever been to stand back up taller than you ever were."
Jim Harbaugh started his Michigan career 0-6 vs. Ohio State.
Jim Harbaugh went 1-4 in bowl games, not even qualifying one year.
In 2020, Michigan went 2-4 (really should’ve gone 2-7 but backed out of their last three games). They were an unmitigated disaster. Hit rock bottom. That year they suffered their worst home loss in school history to Wisconsin, 49 - 11.
So what did Michigan do after the 2020 season? They extended Harbaugh to a four-year contract extension. Michigan fans were rightfully losing their minds. We trolled them. A full six years after being originally hired and coming off of his worst season by far.
In the two years since, Harbaugh has beaten OSU twice, will win the Big Ten twice, and will make the CFP twice. Breakthrough.
It took Harbaugh six years to accomplish anything resembling success at Michigan. This is a man with 20+ years of HEAD coaching experience at both the college and NFL level.
Ryan Day is clearly closer to a breakthrough than Harbaugh was in 2020. Day is in his fourth year of head coaching, period. He is 45-5 (great), 2-2 against Michigan (not so great), and has taken us to the CFP twice and national title once (very good). We have finished top two in PPG nationally in every full season since Day took over (amazing).
Day has recruited the 7th, 5th, 2nd, and 4th ranked recruiting classes since coming here with two more top five classes on the way in 2023 and 2024. Recruiting wise, there has been zero drop off since Urban left. None. Harbaugh, by the way, even with all of his recent success, is struggling to keep his 2023 class in the top 20. Just imagine the vitriol among our fanbase if Day struggled to pull in a single top 200 player like Michigan is now.
“Only through suffering can you have change and self-improvement.”
People improve over time. They learn from their mistakes. Day’s problems are apparent to us all. The forum threads about them are endless. The play-calling, the in-game decision making, the defense, the mental toughness, etc. But they’re fixable. Day will only get better with more experience. I don’t know all of the solutions right now, but they’re there.
I believe in Ryan Day. This is a man who tragically lost his dad to suicide when he was eight years old. A man who has battled adversity and tough situations his whole life to reach the largest stage in college football. Day has thrived in much tougher situations than this before. If anyone can fix this, it’s Day.
I know it will be a long journey back to the mountaintop. We have a year to get this right. But I am putting my faith in Ryan Day to take us there.
