5 College Football head coaches with something to prove in 2022
Here are five college football head coaches, including Michigan football’s Jim Harbaugh, with something to prove heading into the 2022 season.
The 2021 college football season was historic for a number of reasons, not the least of which was Georgia winning its first national championship in 40 years.
A big part of that was head coach Kirby Smart getting the Nick-Saban monkey off his back and finally beating his former boss. The Bulldogs had gotten close many times but it didn’t happen until last season’s College Football Playoff and the national championship game.
Smart’s story was very similar to that of Jim Harbaugh’s. Harbaugh had returned Michigan to respectability but hadn’t defeated Ohio State or won a Big Ten championship.
That changed in 2021. Jim Harbaugh and Michigan beat the Buckeyes, won 12 games, won the Big Ten, and reached the College Football Playoff, only to be blown out by Georgia.
Yet, both Harbaugh and Smart have things to prove heading into next season and this post will look at five high-profile college football coaches who have something to prove heading into the 2022 season.
Jim Harbaugh has to prove he can do it again
After dancing with the NFL and nearly leaving for the Vikings, Harbaugh says he is staying at Michigan football as long as it will have him. We’ll see if that ends up being true but he signed a new extension through 2026 and he did say in December “This is just the beginning.”
The Wolverines lose some key players such as Aidan Hutchinson, David Ojabo, and Daxton Hill to the NFL draft but the offense should be loaded and five-star QB J.J. McCarthy is special.
So with a new contract and expectations raised again, Harbaugh has to prove that last season wasn’t a fluke for him or Michigan football.
That doesn’t necessarily mean beating Ohio State again. But the Wolverines can’t lose to Michigan State and Mel Tucker for a third straight year and anything less than a 10-1 record going into Columbus next November will qualify as a disappointment.
But if Jim Harbaugh really wanted to silence his doubters, winning a game in the Shoe, something Michigan football hasn’t done since 2000, would certainly do the trick.