MichiganCardinal

He’s a hire the academic community and Trustees would love at Michigan. He knows how to recruit kids who want to go to Stanford for it being Stanford, and can also play a high level of football. Environmentally, he’d be a great fit. But good lord he would make my eyes bleed with some of the most conservative play-calling you would EVER see. You’re not exaggerating. I would only ever want him if he agreed kept Gattis as play-calling OC. I don’t think he would.

I was interested in Harbaugh last year despite the 2-4 season. When you remove emotion from the equation and look purely at results, you can't deny he's one of the best there is.

If Sean Payton would entertain the job, would you be interested? Phenomenal coach at the NFL level, but checkered past ethically and hasn’t coached at the college level since being the QB Coach at Illinois in 1996. I believe Michigan would have to cut a check to the Saints as well, if that matters.

I know your last line was sarcastic, but a piece of anti-racism does include an understanding that society as we know it was formed on racist principles, meaning that some preconceived notions we just take at face value may be rooted in something less than equal. Not that we are a bunch of racists holding back minorities, but that a lot of our great-great-great-great-great grandfathers sure were racists, and the things they did still have an impact on life today, which does hold back minorities. That said, I agree (at least based on how I interpret your last line) that pieces of it can go too far. If you examine anything hard enough, you'll find flaws, and that doesn't mean those flaws fit the narrative that your research examines. There are definitely scholars out there who will crucify their own mother (academically) for culturally and societally appropriate things they did 50 years ago - or even do today - that aren't as common anymore. Not even because they are racist/sexist/etc. things, but just because the society changes in time. Random NFL Comments sure got random in 27 pages.

If the rumors of Harbaugh to the Vikings are true (and there is quite a lot of smoke now), I think it's best the University does move on anyway. When you take a job where you're entering in salary cap hell, you have Captain Kirk as your leader, and are missing the major pieces that will be necessary to make a real postseason push, you're saying you will take any job at the NFL level. He wasn't being picky (if the rumors are true), he just wanted employment.

In the context of historical injustice, I think the concepts of promoting diversity, inclusivity, equity, and social justice, particularly when comparing degrees of it (I.e., X is doing better than Y because of Z) is inherently subjective to some extent. The NFL’s efforts thus far have been objective in nature, which is understandable. Rules are by their nature objective. I think the committee’s job would be to examine those subjective portions (of which I think examples could be what training every staff member completes, what practices the team employs in considerations for promotions, etc.)… and more comprehensively evaluate those objective portions as well (for example are the Giants just checking a box in their interview of Brian Flores or are they actually giving him a fair shot). Anti-racist might not be the best term for what I would like to see actively evaluated. Maybe just culture of inclusivity? I think a ranking system might be the end result for the committee (and how they award picks and target organizations to employ additional training), but I think their evaluation processes would be more involved than just simply saying “I like (team) the most”

While I don’t think the suit (thus far) shows racism, I do think it exposes the Rooney Rule for the farce that it is. It’s evident that the Giants quite likely only interviewed Flores because of his race, and not because he had a legitimate shot at the job. Which is not the intent of the rule nor is it fair to Flores. Both the Rooney Rule and the more recent draft compensation rule are incredibly overly simplistic and more aimed at image than actually improving NFL diversity. If the league actually wanted to improve diversity, my proposal would be that they have a committee of both league professionals and academics who evaluate all NFL clubs top to bottom on a yearly basis. They could look at those public facing roles like GM and HC, but also the lesser seen (but more plentiful and arguably more important) coordinators, position coaches, scouts, interns, etc. They could also look at club hiring processes more broadly and examine how these organizations are working to be anti-racist. To incentivize it (like the more recent draft comp rule), give that group the power to award 3rd-7th round comp picks to a handful of teams yearly that exemplify being anti-racist and those that find, hire, and promote minority candidates.

I don't think Michigan will pay for a dime of the next contract signed by a UM Head Coach.

I was entertained by coming across this today on Twitter. From the "Chiro Chiro Chirp" national reporter who told everyone nearly a month ago that an announcement was coming soon regarding Harbaugh signing with the Raiders... Just enjoy this progression. Mind you the Vikings had not yet fired Zimmer when she posted her original tweet on 1/7. The National Media has no beat on Harbaugh whatsoever.

I think the Lions needs include a WR1 and a WR3. Amon-Ra St. Brown has instilled enough confidence in my mind to be the WR2 of the future. If I had to pick one from the draft and one from free agency, I would prefer the WR1 is picked up in the draft. Adams is 29, Mike Williams is 27, and Godwin is soon to be 26. If the hope/plan is to be okay in 2022, good in 2023, and great in 2024 and beyond, I don't think signing a top-tier receiver to a multi-year deal where they'll be in their 30s by its completion is wise. Unless they are Larry Fitzgerald, we are using their best years of production in that deal on a year or years where we know pretty well that we are not going to be competing for a Super Bowl, and by the time we (hopefully) are, they are no longer their old self. With that in mind (and my hope that they use the late 1st or early 2nd on a WR), I'd like to see Christian Kirk or DJ Chark signed in free agency on a two- or three-year deal. Both of them can be serviceable, but don't have to be the guy that we will hope our draft pick turns into. Allen Robinson and Michael Gallup would be worth a look for that role too, but if they want Detroit to overpay or get locked in for too long because we are Detroit, I would pass.

Lot of noise from the NFL talking heads today (who based on history - both distant and recent - know absolutely nothing). Some say he’s taking the Vikings job tomorrow. Some say he’s taking the Dolphins job tomorrow. My money is on absolutely nothing happening tomorrow.

It was about time that Jimmy G's mediocrity caught up to the 9ers. He's not a good QB.

I think I will root for Matt Stafford to win Super Bowl MVP while the Bengals win.

I think his back pain still comes and goes from his time in Detroit. You can tell that some games he just is not himself.

I think that Mahomes fellow might turn out to be pretty serviceable for the Chiefs.

Miami is still open as well. Dallas and Arizona haven’t confirmed their coaches will return, though it may be assumed at this point. Jacksonville looks completely lost right now. They got a head start on their search because their prior coach in his first year was that bad, and yet they’re still having their preferred candidates be taken by other teams before they can make an offer. They gave second interviews to Leftwich, Hackett, and Eberflus. Now Hackett is in Denver, Eberflus is in Chicago, and Leftwich is being interviewed by New Orleans. And their response is to fire their GM a month into their coach search. They’re clearly in over their head. It’s embarrassing.

If he goes to Minny, he's just looking for any NFL job. He strikes me as a guy who would take the near-perfect job (between roster situation, QB, cap setup, controlling stake in personnel, who the owner is, and geographical area), but is also content to stay put in Ann Arbor if it's not out there right now. Minnesota is far from a perfect situation, and short of Cousins rapidly becoming considerably better in the next regime, they will likely need to get worse before they get better. The only jobs I could reasonably foresee Jim taking under that near-perfect presumption are Las Vegas or Dallas, and maybe a consideration to Arizona or New Orleans. Two of those four jobs are still filled right now. I could be wrong. The only person who knows for sure isn't saying.

How about Tom Brady?? 😉

Gotta tip your hat to him. What an incredible career.

Khan is an awful owner because he cannot for the life of him figure out how to install consistency in the organization. I think he is clueless when it comes to football (the Fords?) but doesn't have any to assist him in that regard (Chris Spielman?) In Khan's tenure as owner, the Jags have gone through Mike Mularkey, Gus Bradley, Doug Marrone, Tom Coughlin, and Urban Meyer as Head Coach, and James Harris, Gene Smith, David Caldwell, and Trent Baalke as GM. That's just dreadfully bad. I don't think it's a stretch to say that's 0/9. That said, if you're the next person he taps to be the HC or GM, I don't think any of that matters to you. Unless you think of yourself as a failure, you think of yourself and your vision for the team as the one who will upend that trend and set the Jags back on track. Whether you're Matt Millen and Marty Mornhinweg or Kevin Colbert and Bill Cowher, if you're hired by an NFL org, you think you know the recipe for success in the NFL. With the NFL salary cap, you don't have to worry about becoming the Oakland Athletics. If anything, I think being hired by Khan may even be more attractive to some than being hired by someone like Jerry Jones, who you know is going to meddle and interfere and judge every step you make.

I liked Jim Schwartz. I think of the post 0-16 coaches, he is the one I most would have liked to see given one more year. I know putting him above Caldwell in that regard is probably a pretty hot take, but Schwartz was like Campbell in a lot of ways, his players always gave it 100% and left it on the field. There was never a game where I saw his team play to less than their ability. His last season we lost the last three games by a combined 6 points (one of them in OT) and an additional three games earlier in the season by four or less points. If 2 or 3 of those had been wins, we would have won the North. His teams were pretty undisciplined, but in hindsight I wonder if that had more to do with the players. Suh is still Suh eight years later, now with Bruce Arians. Titus Young was a problem back then too, and that turned out to be much larger than football.

I got Eberflus to the Bears right so I’m just going to hang my hat on that and ignore the rest. 🤠

Well I guess it’s a good thing I’m not paid for my opinion on sports then. I won’t lose sleep over forgetting about Kellen Mond lol

Ultimately it is. But if the choices are “trade me to the Broncos or I retire”, it makes more sense to do the former, especially when you’re a rebuilding team.

The Steelers organization doesn’t make many mistakes, but not forcing him out the door two years ago was a huge one.