Turmoil in Ann Arbor

That Team up North may have gotten the recent win, but Ohio State is in a much better situation for the future after the beginning of the offseason

February 6th | Adam Bloom

Jim Harbaugh’s team up north was on top of the world just a short while ago. They had finally broken the decade long losing spell to Ohio State, won a Big Ten championship, and made it to the playoff. Less than two months later, the program has more questions about its future than answers. Let's take a look at the very quick fall from grace.

Harbaugh had been connected to NFL jobs ever since vacancies started to open and candidates were being discussed. After lots of speculation, it appeared for a brief moment that Jim would be staying at his alma mater. Then Harbaugh was rumored to be taking the Minnesota Vikings Head Coaching job. Jim gave his coaching staff a week off to look at their best options, and went to Minnesota on national signing day to reportedly take the job. As suddenly as the rumors that harbaugh was going to the Vikings appeared, reports came out that the all but done deal wasn’t happening, and that Harbaugh would be staying at the college level. Now Harbaugh has created questions within the program about his long term commitment to ttun, and whether that’s where all of his focus is.

In addition to the problems caused by Harbaugh’s near departure, ttun lost both their offensive and defensive coordinators in a month. After putting up a great defensive showing in 2021 that produced a Heisman finalist DE in Aiden Hutchinson, Mike Macdonald left Harbaugh and the Wolverines for Jim’s brother and the Baltimore Ravens. A few weeks later, offensive coordinator Josh Gattis shockingly left ttun for the exact same position at Miami (FL). Leaving a team coming off of a Big Ten championship and playoff appearance to go to a struggling ACC team for the same job title points to the only possible explanation: that there’s trouble brewing in Harbaugh’s program. Gattis sent a text to a group of ttun players that all but confirms this fact, writing “Unfortunately the past few weeks has told a different story to me about the very little appreciation I have here from administration. In life I would never advise anyone to be where they are not wanted.” Clearly Harbaugh’s near departure for the NFL, or some other combination of issues within the program are causing turmoil that spells trouble for the Wolverines.

Jim Harbaugh had the chance to make a real culture change at ttun. He was coming off his most successful season, and was as close as he’s ever been to bringing his school back to yearly national relevance. To go and throw away all of that progress by attempting to leave for the NFL, ditching the school on national signing day, giving his coaches the prior week off, and losing both coordinators (including one who expressed clear frustration with the program), is a shocking fall from grace for the former Wolverine Quarterback. That team up North may have found recent success, but Ohio State’s aggressive offseason towards improvement sets the two schools apart. The Wolverine’s may be coming off as the winner of the last meeting between the two, but it’s clear that OSU is much better off than their rival to the North.

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