As Clear As Mud

Over the past few years, "Harbaugh to the NFL" has become as much a part of the college football post-season as Dr. Pepper. During the early stretch of Harbaugh's Michigan tenure, it was mostly about his failures. The typical Michigan fan, at that time, would have paid to help him move. But as Michigan's fortunes have improved -- back-to-back wins over Ohio State and spots in the College Football Playoffs -- so, too, have Harbaugh's NFL prospects improved.

After flirting with the Minnesota Vikings last year -- depending on who you talk to, it was either an interview he didn't get, or a nice conversation -- the rumor mill has started again. Harbaugh has been attached to the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers in recent days. Amidst all this swirl, though, one voice was absent. The one voice that could put to rest all the speculation.

On Wednesday, the Coach finally spoke:

“Although no one knows the future, I think I will be coaching Michigan next year.”

Thanks, Jim, that certainly settles matters. Or, read another way: "If no NFL team offers me a job, I will be back in Ann Arbor."

While this idle speculation is mostly fun and games for the media, it doesn't come without a cost. Harbaugh returning to Michigan is all well and good, but one group appears to be considerably less enthusiastic about the coach's constant waffling: top recruits. 

Nothing says "Come join our football program" quite like the constant rumors that the coach recruiting you will soon be working on Sundays instead. Is it a coincidence that coming off their best season in decades and another appearance in the CFP that Michigan's ranking for the 2023 Recruiting Class has plummeted to #17? 

For the 2023 class, not a single 5-star prospect decided to commit to the next 3 to 4 years under maybe? Coach Harbaugh. If the coach can't commit, how can you blame a recruit? You can bet Nick Saban is selling Nick Saban as much as he's selling Alabama. What is Harbaugh's answer in those living rooms when the "Are you going to the NFL" question inevitably arises? 

This is not to say that Harbaugh's equivocation is the sole reason for Michigan's recruiting struggles. In the immediate term, Michigan's haul of the 4th-ranked group of transfers will boost the 2023 team even more than some talented freshmen. But it would be nicer to have both.

Jim Harbaugh is gonna Jim Harbaugh, and that applies to any team that employs him. For years, it seemed like Michigan only got the nonsense part. Now they have the success, too. Unfortunately, it just seems harder to buy into the rah-rah-Michigan-Man act when his true desire seems to be a return to "the league where they play... for pay."

You could have turned your sets off there...

We all know what happened, so I don't need to debase myself here by typing it out. Besides, I might just vomit on the keyboard. At this point, though, I'm not really sure what to do. I honestly never expected anything like this to happen so I have no back-up plans.

My first reaction was disbelief, so much so that I'm not even sure if it was real. But my next thought surprised me. Even for me, it came off as a tad melodramatic. Yet as I sit here writing, I don't see another alternative: I'm pretty sure I've watched my last NFL game.

What happened on Sunday night is the NFL equivalent of rain falling upwards, mice eating cats or the Earth orbiting the moon. There's no logic to explain how it played out. Not a single iota of sense to the end result. It's as if the NFL spun a big wheel and picked the winner at random.

So if a sport, on the whole, cannot be governed by logic, cannot ensure that over the course of time the reasonable outcome will occur, than how can I invest myself in it? I can't. I know what I know to be true, so that if the complete opposite comes to pass, then there's nothing left in it for me.

And that's the last time I'm going to comment on that. So give me fall Saturdays. Go Michigan. My TV won't be going on come Sunday.