College Football Elites, Part 2: Can classic blue bloods return to glory?
By Dante Pryor
- Conference titles: 42 (last in 2004)
- 10-plus win seasons: 29
- Consensus All-Americans: 83
- Heisman Trophy winners: 3
- NFL players: 388
Though the Wolverines are in the rare 900-win club, they are no longer amongst the college football elite. The Wolverines have not been a threat on the national scene since the 1990s. Michigan has not won a national title since 1997, and have not had a top-five finish since 1999. Their last conference title came in 2004.
The Wolverines’ run of mediocrity began after Lloyd Carr retired in 2007. Upon his retirement, the Wolverines did something no one thought possible: they hired outside of the Michigan family. They decided to hire Rich Rodriguez and his innovative spread offense. To say his three-year tenure in Ann Arbor was underwhelming would be an understatement. He lost players because he did not run a pro-style offense, and Rodriguez never fit in at Michigan. He left the Wolverines without defeating either the Michigan State Spartans nor the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Brady Hoke was hired to replace Rodriguez in 2011. His run began with a bang and ended with a flutter. In his first year, Hoke defeated Notre Dame and Ohio State on his way to an 11-win season. He never won more than eight games and ended his tenure with a 5-7 2014 season. Jim Harbaugh took over in 2015 and the program is in better condition than it has been in a long time.
The most important aspect of the program that has improved is recruiting. Hoke did put together two top 10 classes, but those were sandwiched between two classes outside the top 15. Rodriguez recruited well, but most of his top recruits were on offense. Harbaugh has consistently recruited in the top 15. This has paid off with three 10-win seasons in five years.
Harbaugh has the Wolverines on the cusp of elite status again, but he has one win against the top 10 and he has yet to beat the Buckeyes. Though Harbaugh and the Wolverines are recruiting better, they are not recruiting nearly at the level of Ohio State.