Mariotti nails it:
https://jaymariotti.substack.com/p/we-l ... -regret-as
So greetings again to Jim Harbaugh, a cheater in triumph, three victories away from an undeserved national championship. Don’t stop at Michigan vs. Everybody. This is the sham of why a coach who doesn’t have to cheat, who has every built-in resource and initiative, executed a gonzo spying scam in so many other stadiums that Connor Stalions has become an all-time incorrigible imposter.
Yet here is Harbaugh, the most loathsome of the sport’s characters, pulling off a likely College Football Playoff berth because the selection committee is leaving the decision to a four-lettered cuss word. As long as the NCAA is in charge, so to speak, the illegal scheme could require months of investigative work even though recruiting analyst Stalions resigned and linebackers coach Chris Partridge was fired after allegedly participating in the destruction of computer evidence.
Imagine if Michigan plays Washington in the national semifinals and Georgia in the final — and we have no idea if the title banners will end up in a basement with the Fab Five of the 1990s. That’s possible thanks to Harbaugh, who missed the last three games and six of a dozen this year thanks to suspensions. He did light into the team Friday night, referring to old coach Bo Schembechler. “The whole mantra: the team, the team, the team. We are that team,” quarterback J.J. McCarthy said.
By Saturday afternoon, the Wolverines survived with a 12-0 record, including a 30-24 victory over anguished Ohio State. Otherwise, Harbaugh is treating this freak show like a fun-and-gun TV program.
“I go back to the ‘Ted Lasso’ show,” he said. “Believe! What comes out of that is believe, and I'm just so proud, so proud of our team. Despite that noise, our locker room is in one piece. And like Ted, for me, a locker room is a lot like my mom's bathing suits — I like to see them in one piece.”
He is making light of missteps that fall in line with his career of controversies. Never, ever will Harbaugh say he’s wrong. It’s world gravity, claiming, “What goes up must come down. The gravitational force of Earth is tremendous. So are some of the forces against a football team.” All of which eventually will lead him to the NFL while knowing his relationship with Dean Spanos, owner of the Los Angeles Chargers. Who else would have fallen into such a mess while continuing to keep his job at an esteemed Big Ten university, where the world’s future attorneys and businessmen angrily debate his case? He stayed away from the Big House and was seen only on a pregame videoboard indicating he couldn’t hear the crowd, this while 37-year-old interim head coach Sherrone Moore thanked him again amid the postgame revelry.
“Look at it. It’s what it is,” Moore said on the broadcast. “Michigan, I love you. The fans, the players — coach Harbaugh, I’ve got your back, baby. For you baby. Hey, it’s great to get you back.”
Got his back against what … the investigators? "You talk about The Team, The Team, The Team, but this team is the ultimate team,” Moore said. “This team is as good as any in the country and they've proved it every week.” If Harbaugh were smart, he’d leave Michigan, accept an NFL gig in December and let Moore and the players take over the postseason. But the egomania inside him is bigger than the sport itself. He must beat the NCAA and the Big Ten and win the championship. That’s how he thinks in a dishonest kingdom. He will take solace from his team overcoming a horrific injury — to offensive guard Zak Zinter — and watching the offense score 10 straight points. So will the students who jumped over the brick wall and mobbed the field.
But the rest of the country isn’t handling the story well, including Harbaugh’s comments that Michigan is “America’s Team.” How about the future of the losing coach, Ryan Day, who is 1-6 against top 5 CFP teams, 1-3 against Michigan and 54-1 against everyone else? He was disclaimed two years ago by Harbaugh, who said, “Some people are born on third base and act like they’ve hit a triple.” Might he consider the Jimbo Fisher-buyout money at Texas A&M? All because he can’t beat the Stalions-buoyed Harbaugh? “It's hard to describe. I'm just sick," Day said. “We're all disappointed. We know what this game means to so many people, so to come up short is certainly crushing. Not only because you invest your whole year in it, but you know at Ohio State what this game means. There's a locker room in there that's devastated.”
He is trashed by fans who bash his conservative playcalling, including former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett. “Ryan Day…. Love you bro but gotta go. This is why you’re paid millions. Cant get paid 9’ms and lose 3 straight,” wrote Clarett, mentioning Day’s extension from May 2022. “We live in a weird world. Part of coaching is praise and criticism. It comes with the space. That 9 million dollar salary comes with expectations and judgement. We are all fans. Everyone isn’t and won’t be so patient.”
They aren’t cool with his decision to reject McCarthy, who dearly wanted to sign with Ohio State while sticking with Kyle McCord, who threw the interception ending the game. McCarthy has made it clear Day ‘’lied to” him. Replacing Urban Meyer — no, he’s not returning — rocked the roller coaster. Meyer ruled Harbaugh. Day loses three straight years.
Nor are they cool with Michigan receiver Roman Wilson, who said of the Buckeyes, “They’re not tough. They didn’t want it how I wanted it.”
Also, there is no guarantee that Michigan and Ohio State will be playing two days after Thanksgiving in the realigned Big Ten. So much for 119 years. With Washington, Oregon, USC and UCLA, the conference is an 18-teamer, and the new boys might not be sold on continuing to market the Midwestern behemoths.
For now, we wait on Harbaugh, who will coach against Iowa next weekend in a blowout conference title game. After that, the NFL will pile on and not care about Stalions — the Chargers, the Raiders, the Bears. And media observers will have to hear out Michigan alums such as Desmond Howard and Charles Woodson. Before the game, Howard called out ESPN colleague Pete Thamel — who has broken many Harbaugh/Michigan stories — and wondered why he wasn’t reporting inside The Big House, where fans apparently wanted to take him down.
“What are we, Week 13 now? So we’ve been doing this 12, 13 weeks,” Howard said. “He’s always been in the crowd giving his reports. What the hell’s Pete in the stadium for? That kind of just threw me all off. Put your big boy pants on and do it in the crowd like you have been doing. I was surprised by that.”
“Come on, man,” host Rece Davis said. “He’s gotten, from the lunatic fringe, some threats, that’s taken care of, that’s all.”
“We got security, he’ll be OK,” Howard said. “The guys are nice out here. They’re nice out here. They’re not going to do anything. He’ll be OK. (Put your) big-boy pants on.”
The big-boy pants are worn by those who don’t cheat.
The censorship king from out of state.
