Background:
Harbaugh was born in Toledo, Ohio. He attended the University of Michigan where he played quarterback and eventually became a first round pick for the Chicago Bears in 1987. He spent seven years with the team, taking them to the playoffs twice. From there he went to Indianapolis, made his lone Pro Bowl and would retire at the age of 37 in 2000.
Never one to waste time Harbaugh immediately entered the coaching ranks. In fact he’d already been doing that in his free time, helping his father Jack Harbaugh scout high school students for Western Kentucky recruiting. WSU eventually won a Division II national championship thanks to his efforts.
Two years after retiring, Harbaugh was hired by the Oakland Raiders as their quarterbacks coach in 2002. Rich Gannon would go on to have an MVP season and the Raiders reached the Super Bowl. Harbaugh parlayed that success into a head coach job at San Diego University where he’d win back-to-back Pioneer League Championships.
This drew the attention of Stanford University, who made him their head coach in 2007. It was here where Harbaugh’s fiery personality and competitiveness really came to the forefront. Along with his ability to elevate teams. With his help Stanford defeated mighty USC for the first time in six years. Under his watch the program would become the cream of the Pac-12 conference, winning the Orange Bowl in 2010 after going 12-1.
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That accomplishment caused the San Francisco 49ers to offer him their head coaching job the next year. True to his history he turned a struggling franchise around overnight. The 49ers would reach three-straight conference championship games and made the Super Bowl in 2012. San Francisco never had a losing season in his four years there.
Upon his exit Harbaugh wasn’t unemployed long. His alma mater Michigan came calling with their head coaching position. He’s been there since, going 20-6 thus far in two years.
Qualifications:
Two things tended to stand out about everywhere Harbaugh landed as a head coach. His teams would play excellent defense and they would have sharp quarterback play. The quarterback part is no surprise. Harbaugh used to play the position. He speaks their language and knows exactly what it takes to make them better. Andrew Luck became a #1 pick under his tutelage at Stanford. Alex Smith had his first 3,000-yard passing season in six years when he arrived. Colin Kaepernick took him to a Super Bowl.
Stanford had the 10th ranked defense in college football during his final year there. The 49ers boasted the 4th, 3rd, 5th and 5th ranked defenses in the NFL during his stint in San Francisco. Michigan has fielded the 6th and 2nd best units in college over the past two years. The guy is no “offensive specialist.” He’s a complete football coach.
Concerns:
The biggest sticking point with Harbaugh, and perhaps the reason he went back to college is he doesn’t play nice with others. Part of the reason he only lasted four seasons in San Francisco was because he didn’t see eye-to-eye with then GM Trent Baalke over the 49ers roster. Not a surprise given his success at recruiting during his time in college before and after that. Answering to a general manager would be difficult.
Also there is the situation of his personality. Harbaugh is loud, boisterous and hot-tempered. Some feel this doesn’t fit an NFL locker room because after awhile players tend to tune that sort of stuff out. He can get away with it in college because most players leave after three or four years. This would seem to hint that hiring him would offer a possible shorter shelf life unless he’s learned a few lessons from how things went down in San Francisco.
Then there’s another problem that has started coming to the forefront of late. Despite being a former quarterback and boasting an offensive background, Harbaugh’s offenses have historically not been what one would call “elite.” During his four years in San Francisco, the 49ers were 20th or worse in total offense. His Michigan teams have never placed in the top 50 in college. The best he ever managed was 14th in 2010 at Stanford and that was with future All-Pro Andrew Luck at quarterback.
Connections:
Remember how the old saying goes. “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” The mark of great head coaches is their ability to network through the football community and locate quality coaching talent. Often the best teams are defined by how good their staffs are. Having coached across the NFL and college since the mid-90s, it’s safe to say Harbaugh is well-connected.
A number of his assistants have found success over the years. David Shaw succeeded him at Stanford and won a Rose Bowl. Pep Hamilton became a successful offensive coordinator in Indianapolis before rejoining him at Michigan. Then of course there’s Vic Fangio who has slowly rebuilt the Bears defense into a respectable unit.
Bottom line:
Many Bears fans are begging Harbaugh to come to Chicago in 2018. It’s not hard to see why. He’s got Bears blood in his veins. He strikes that perfect balance of being able to develop a quarterback but also understands the value of defense. Also he exhibits a personality and competitiveness that too many coaches (Wannstedt, Jauron, Smith, Trestman and Fox) have failed to display.
Harbaugh is the shot in the arm a young team needs. He’d light a fire under this roster and the possibilities of him and Trubisky together are near limitless. The question would be can he play nice with Ryan Pace? It’s not easy to answer. Thus far Pace has shown himself to be a cooperative and patient man despite what Fox has done. The big hurdle would be whether he’d accept input on the roster. That might be the sticking point.
