Jim Harbaugh says he has a plan for Michigan. Here’s what needs to happen

A deal that took almost a year to do, and that should have been closed before, is closed.

Jim Harbaugh, who earned the nickname “Captain Comeback” more than two decades ago and set up his incredible coaching acumen at Ann Arbor in December 2014, will be around for a while longer. That’s if he can figure it out in a timely manner.

Harbaugh signed a four-year extension on Friday that serves more as a new five-year contract, with the language and all, replacing the original agreement he signed more than six years ago that made him one of the most popular college football coaches well-paid in the country.

The new pact, which ensures that Harbaugh earns more than $ 4 million a year, no longer allows him to claim that. Instead, he will have to win more games and take home championships, both in the Big Ten and in the College Football Playoff, to almost recover the $ 8 million he was supposed to raise in 2021.

It was a fiscally prudent move by Michigan and its athletic director, Warde Manuel, who was caught between a rock and a difficult situation, having to negotiate an extension of the contract for his football coach in the midst of a global pandemic. The school’s athletic department is suffering financially, while its football team is emerging from its worst season in the Harbaugh era, ending with a record of only 2-4 and the dismissal of defensive coordinator Don Brown.

More: Jim Harbaugh’s new contract: 5 years, $ 21 million, huge incentives to win

But what Manuel found was the right balance, providing Harbaugh with the right financial package to stay in while swinging big incentives in front of him to try to reverse that situation. Will it work? Only time will tell. And if it doesn’t, the value of the Michigan acquisition (starting at $ 4 million in 2021 and decreasing by $ 1 million each year thereafter) is small enough to justify a quick change – preferably in better economic conditions.

In the official Friday afternoon announcement, while Michigan received strong social media criticism from its fan base and dedicated supporters, Harbaugh thanked Manuel, school president Mark Schlissel and his board of conductors for staying with him by offering comments frank about the state of the football program.

“In the past few weeks, Warde and I have had discussions that have been honest, open, insightful and constructive to move our football program forward,” said Harbaugh in a statement. “Discussions that I hope to continue in the coming months and years. We have a plan. “

“There is work to be done and challenges to be faced,” continued Harbaugh. “These challenges are being faced as we continue to strive to achieve excellence in the classroom and championships in the field, a message that I hope will be seen in the language of our signed contract.”

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As noted above, Harbaugh’s new deal doesn’t offer much in the way of an increase. If he lasts five years, his guaranteed salary will increase by about $ 426,000, an 8% increase in the cost of living. This is small compared to the two originals from both parties, which included two separate 10% salary increases, plus an addendum that provided Harbaugh with a $ 2 million life insurance credit line.

This new deal is heavily focused on incentives, placing Harbaugh’s responsibility to win – and win very quickly. It is an appropriate request given the schedule – Harbaugh’s had six years to get there, with more than enough money and resources to do so, just to get to a part of the Big Ten East Division title in 2018. The Wolverines appeared led in in the right direction under Harbaugh, who invaded the scene in 2015 and won 10 games, including a Florida rout in the Citrus Bowl. Michigan continued with a regular season of 10 wins in 2016 and came a game away from playing for the Big Ten championship, but a disputed call in overtime led to a devastating defeat for the state of Ohio. Harbaugh’s teams haven’t been very close since, despite an average of nine wins over the next three seasons. The gap between Michigan and the second best team in the east, the state of Ohio, widened with no signs of much change.

Which brings up the obvious question here: What can Harbaugh do to change that? It is a complicated and nuanced problem that will not be solved overnight. It will require a fundamental change in both approach and staff, and he seems destined to fix it on the defensive side with Brown’s recent dismissal, whose vaunted man-to-man defense was celebrated during Michigan’s early successful years and criticized the the last two, when statistical achievements began to fall, as well as recruitment victories. Whoever Harbaugh wants to replace Brown, and recent reports suggest that Baltimore Ravens linebackers coach Mike Macdonald may be the guy, he will need to design a defense that is capable of keeping up with the best. It is not an easy task, given the pace at which college football teams score today, but a mixture of speed, athleticism and size will be needed. Anything less and the results – unbalanced losses to the states of Ohio and the world’s Wisconsins, like this year – will continue.

Offensively, Harbaugh is in an interesting situation. He has given coordinator Josh Gattis two years to install his system and develop his play-call tricks. Sure, you can point to an abbreviated season and major shutdowns as an obstacle to progress in 2020, but the players Gattis wants are here. Gattis helped recruit Giles Jackson, Mike Sainristil and Roman Wilson. Ronnie Bell fits the system well. Running back AJ Henning is a guy that Gattis had an integral part in the landing. The excuse of not having staff is no longer valid.

Related: Jim Harbaugh signed contract extension with Michigan

Which brings us to the position of defender, one of the main reasons why Harbaugh has been in Michigan for six years without any hardware to show. He took everything he could from the graduate transfer Jake Rudock in his first year, but has since given up, when you put things in perspective. Wilton Speight proved to be promising, got hurt and moved on. John O’Korn’s transfer never went well. He failed to develop Brandon Peters. Shea Patterson never responded to the hype – nor to her recruitment ranking. And as things stand at the moment, the jury remains on two other quarterbacks recruited by Harbaugh, Joe Milton and Cade McNamara. And where does five-star signer JJ McCarthy fit into all of this? Harbaugh was reluctant to play as a young defender from the start, preferring to make them college defenders. Could he change course for McCarthy? Maybe McCarthy will end up winning the job anyway. But the main point here is that Harbaugh needs a better game as a defender for all of this to work. After the dust settles on the coaches’ carousel and Michigan has its defensive coordinator and team in place, the defender should be priority # 1. Perhaps that means that Harbaugh is dedicated to training the position.

Finally, recruiting remains the lifeblood of a successful program – and Michigan is in a rut. Yes, he continues to recruit well, winning the top 10 classes most years, while the gap between the Wolverines’ obvious path to the Big Ten championship game and the College Football Playoff – Ohio State – continues to bridge them. It’s a catch-22, right? Winning attracts the best talent, and the best talent wins games. Until Michigan can compete with OSU and occasionally win a game, the road to regularly recruiting Buckeyes is incredibly narrow. That’s why talent development is so important, especially on the defensive side. Whoever Harbaugh ends up hiring for his defense team must be the right mix of recruiters – coaches willing to go the extra mile, explore and master talent-rich areas – and talent developers.

Michigan has produced some good ones over the years under Harbaugh. Jabrill Peppers. Maurice Hurst. Chase Winovich. Devin Bush. Kwity Paye. Names that the team can still point out and say to a recruit: ‘This could be you someday.’ But they don’t come with the regularity that Wolverines need to compete at the highest level. A concise and clear recruitment plan needs to be developed on the defensive side of the ball for this to work.

As for whether Harbaugh will still be here in 2025, the end of his new deal has yet to be seen. Many factors will play a role – from the progress (and success) that Michigan shows over the next two years to the rest of the Big Ten East, a division that appears to be heading for a change with the reintroduction of Greg Schiano into Rutgers, the rise of Tom Allen in Indiana and a Michigan state team already in reconstruction mode (and finding success in doing so) under the command of first year coach Mel Tucker. Meanwhile, the state of Ohio continues to function, with no sign of slowing down.

Harbaugh is well aware of the twists and turns, but history shows that he has never been in this situation before as a football coach. Which makes the coming year crucial for its reputation and for Michigan, whose “blue blood” status in the eyes of college football traditionalists has been eroding for years.