Wisconsin Football: 3 overreactions from win over Michigan in Week 4

1. Wisconsin officially put Jim Harbaugh on the hot seat

I know, I know, some kid in a small town outside Ann Arbor is building a lemonade stand to defray the cost of Jim Harbaugh’s $15 million buyout to fire him this season. However, Harbaugh is not on the hot seat — yet. If they get boat raced against Ohio State again, that’s a different conversation. Let me defend Harbaugh for a moment — eek.

This is year five of the Harbaugh regime, and in his first four years he’s won 10 games three of those four years with his worst season being 2017 when he finished 8-5. The last coach to have as good a four-year stretch at Michigan was LLoyd Carr 20 years ago. Carr won 10 or more games in three of four years from 1996-99. In other words, this is one of the more successful runs in Ann Arbor in a long time.

There’s this rumor about a lifetime contract for Harbaugh, and that just might be a rumor, however, athletic director Warde Manuel has said he wants Harbaugh to retire at Michigan, and as long as there are 100,000 people at the Big House every Saturday, he will have the support of the Wolverines’ brass even if he doesn’t have the fans’ support.

Finally, there’s that nasty buyout of $15 million dollars. Harbaugh is set to make $7 million dollars this season, and about the same next.

So, you have to ask yourself two questions if you’re Michigan: Can I say with confidence I can find a better fit for Michigan than Harbaugh? If so, is he worth the $22-25 million dollars I have to pay for Harbaugh not to coach, and for a new coach?

Sometimes economics out weigh scoreboard results; this might be one of those times.