Michigan Football: Jim Harbaugh is (almost) a great coach

Jim Harbaugh has established himself as a really good Michigan football coach. What’s preventing him from taking the next step to greatness?

As a Michigan State alum who grew up as a Chicago Bears fan, I’ve followed Jim Harbaugh’s career closely for as long as I can remember.

Now that he’s the head football coach at Michigan, my feelings toward him have turned a little bit sour, but it wasn’t always like that. There was a long stretch of time where I considered him to be a top coach in professional football. I mean, after all, he took a 49ers team with Colin Kaepernick at the helm to the Super Bowl.

I’ve always respected him as a coach.

As a Bears fan, I was taught to appreciate him in certain ways that most football fans can’t. He’s not the most likable person and people often mistake these feelings for thinking he’s a bad coach. Make no mistake, Harbaugh is a very good college football coach.

If I made rankings for every season since he took the Michigan job, Harbaugh would be in the top 15 each time.

There isn’t a program out there who would be upset with having a guy like that as their head coach. No program other than Michigan, that is. A program whose shoes might just be a little too big for him to fill.