“Jim Harbaugh” and “Smart” in the same title? Get right out of town!

It’s been a while since we’ve talked Michigan Football ’round these parts. But when “Crazy Jim” speaks, something interesting/embarrassing/incoherent/out-of-touch (etc.) usually comes out.

Well, technically he didn’t speak, which was probably for the best. But he did pen a beautiful, thoughtful, introspective “Open Letter to the Football Community” outlining some suggestions to the NFL, NFLPA, and NCAA about how to improve the college-to-pro transition, and empower student-athletes in the process.

The deets

Jim Harbaugh is advocating for changes to the current system, which requires players to be three years removed from high school in order to be eligible for the NFL Draft. He thinks it should be entirely up to the player to decide if and when to test the draft waters. If a player goes undrafted and does not sign a UDFA contract in the NFL, that player should then be able to return to his college team the following season, so long as they do not receive payment from an agent. 

There are other suggestions included in Harbaugh’s letter as well. He advocates for the elimination of “Redshirting”, which often leads to manipulating a player’s game eligibility, and installing a one-size-fits-all five-year maximum tenure. He also doubles-down on his previously proposed “one-time transfer” rule, which would remove the one-year ineligibility penalty for players who transfer to another school without cause or unique circumstances. And last, but certainly not least, Harbaugh wants players who choose to turn pro early to have the remainder of their education paid for, whether that be concurrent with their pro careers or after they retire from professional football.

All of these ideas are reasonable and come with their own sets of pros, cons, questions, and logistical issues. Are 19-year-old kids physically ready to play in the NFL? Will NCAA Football become one-and-done 2.0 a la college basketball but on a much more massive scale? Will transferring become the collegiate version of free agency, with “testing the market” becoming a normal part of the process for every player. Does the world need more rich, powerful, and influential teenagers running around?

These are the debates you can, and surely will find in the coming days across the sports debate landscape if any of those topics tickle your fancy. For me…not all that interested in the above questions. So much of this is a matter of perspective, and each individual’s circumstances are different. Besides, unless the NFL and Players Association hop on a Zoom call and redo the new 10-year Collective Bargaining Agreement they just signed back in February, the three-years-out-of-high-school rule ain’t changing for at least the next decade.

What I am interested in is the fact that Jim Harbaugh has become one of the most high-profile voices in support of player empowerment, and how that might affect Michigan football going forward.

OK, maybe a little debate won’t hurt

The skeptic and cynic in me (my go-to personality traits) has me wondering how this can be spun so that it helps Harbaugh, because, at surface level, many of these potential changes could negatively impact Michigan. Despite their well documented big-game struggles (need a refresher, you masochist? Click here…or here…or here…or here…), Michigan is still a second-tier recruiting powerhouse – that block M still holds considerable weight. They bring in as many high-profile recruits on a consistent basis as any school not named Alabama, Ohio State, or Georgia (among others). Many of Michigan’s 4-5 star players would no doubt be one-or-two-and-done candidates in Harbaugh’s proposed revision.

Now, there is an argument to be made that the schools listed above would be hurt the most under Harbaugh’s changes. But they are also 5-star recruiting factories that can just as easily churn out the next batch of Heisman Trophy candidates. I’m not sure this would actually be an advantage for schools like Michigan, but it’s easy to see why Harbaugh might view this as his way to finally compete with the big boys.

But based on recent history, leaving early might actually be the smart play for some of Michigan’s top recruits from a developmental standpoint. Offensive skill players, in particular, haven’t shown much growth under Harbaugh. Shea Patterson and Donovan Peoples-Jones, Michigan’s most recent 5-star draft entrants, went undrafted and No. 187 overall, respectively, in the 2020 NFL Draft. In fact, a grand total of zero offensive skill players have gone on to be selected in the top-100 on Harbaugh’s watch at Michigan. You’d think a former Pro Bowl NFL QB would have more success with these types of players.

Speaking of transfers, I wonder what Michigan Basketball Head Coach Juwan Howard thinks of Harbaugh’s idea to make transferring a more accessible and viable route for college athletes? Howard’s roster has been absolutely rocked by player transfers in the past month alone, and all of those players will be ineligible for their new teams in the 2020-21 season. Can you imagine what a new penalty-free system would look like? Of course, if coaches are allowed to take new jobs every season, why can’t a player do the same?

There we go sinking down deep into tired debate show tropes. Time to claw out of the quicksand (actually, just hold still until someone comes to rescue us) and talk about why opening up this discussion was a heady play. 

Smarty pants

There is one common theme among all of these proposals: giving players more agency over their future. Whether you or I agree with all, some, or none of Harbaugh’s opinions is irrelevant. What is more important is that virtually all players – past, present, and future – will support what Jim Harbaugh is suggesting. 

Harbaugh is taking a smart, albeit easy, stance here. After all, he isn’t the one who has to figure out all the fine-print behind these proposals. Many of these changes would open up all manner of Pandora’s Boxes (did Pandora have more than one box?), and create scheduling conflicts, legal issues, and any manner of unforeseen circumstances that could be difficult to navigate. But Harbaugh has put his very annoying face at the forefront of a discussion many student-athletes want to have, and that could make plenty of players and their families opt to choose Michigan as their future college destination. 

And when those players get there, they just might be willing to run through a brick wall for a coach that they know is fighting for their best interests, seemingly at the expense of his own (though running through brick walls may cause an increase in concussions, a discussion for another day).

This is also an ideal time to float out this topic of conversation, with the nation clamoring for anything sports amid the COVID-19 pandemic. With all the talk of MLB bubbles, MMA islands, and NBA cruise ships, people are going to digest and overanalyze any sports topic that comes across the timeline. ESPN’s bottom line showed all of the Harbaugh letter’s bullet points after its release on Thursday, which never would have happened in a typical news cycle. 

I am far from a Jim Harbaugh supporter. I think his tenure as head coach at Michigan has been thoroughly disappointing, and his chronically underachieving rosters (relative to their level of talent), combined with embarrassing performances in “The Game” leave me wanting much more from the face of Michigan football. That being said, I’m not going to let my biases cloud my judgment. Credit is due here, regardless of the underlying motivations. There is zero chance that all of Harbaugh’s proposed changes will be implemented any time in the near future, but Harbaugh deserves applause for simply using his platform to go to bat for student-athletes around the country. 

In a world where divisiveness, controversy, and personal agendas are the soup du jour, it’s hard to argue against the spirit of Harbaugh’s ideal college football landscape. This simple act in support of player freedom, protection, and education is exactly the type of low-risk, high-reward decision-making you want from a leader of a program. His stance is already receiving critical acclaim on a national level.

Even if this doesn’t result in more kids choosing to don the Maize and Blue and suit up for Jim Harbaugh, the positive PR that will come from this is something that his football program desperately needs, given the shine that has faded from his star in recent years. 

Michigan hasn’t been the “Leaders” or “Best” on the field under Jim Harbaugh, but this was a smart move from a man who isn’t exactly synonymous with the word. Well played. 

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