What A Difference A Year Makes

Last year, Jim Harbaugh was up against it, now, he's on the top of the Big Ten mountain.

"They just ought to go ahead and fire (Harbaugh) today and save the agony of waiting till November."

Those were Paul Finebaum's words just one year ago. I know, I know, it's Paul Finebaum, but the SEC slap wasn't the only one saying stuff like that. Hell, I was ready for Harbaugh to be gone immediately after the 2020 season. At the time, it was justified. Now, Harbaugh is at the top of the heap in the Big Ten Conference. 

Finebaum didn't stop there either. He went on and on about Harbaugh and ended up being dead wrong. Here's that entire article from one year ago.

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As the world of college continues to change and evolve, Paul Finebaum appears determined to remain the same.

On Friday, Finebaum continued his routine of bashing Jim Harbaugh at every opportunity. Appearing on an episode of Keyshawn, JWill and Zubin, Finebaum once again launched into tirade regarding Harbaugh's tenure at the University of Michigan.

“They just ought to go ahead and fire (Harbaugh) today and save the agony of waiting till November,” said Finebaum. “Michigan manages its football program like an art museum. They don't look at it the way the rest of us do, that you actually have to win and beat your rival. What they did was cut his contract and that will almost make it apparent that he'll probably lose his job after this year. And I know what we all said about Harbaugh five, six, seven years ago and when he was a Super Bowl coach and a championship coach in the NFL, but he's been an abject disaster in Michigan."

Don't hold back, Paul.

After suggesting that the University of Michigan should preemptively fire Jim Harbaugh now, Finebaum went on predict that 2021 will be Harbaugh's final year in Ann Arbor.

“He was the most heralded hire other than Urban Meyer of the last probably eight or nine years in college football. And I just, I'm not really sure what he's done and he shouldn't have been retained. He was, but the question wasn't should he have been retained, the question you asked me is will he be back next year and the answer is no.”

Though harsh, Finebaum's assessment of Harbaugh's tenure to date isn't all that inaccurate. In fact, most Michigan fans would likely agree with the general premise of the argument Finebaum is making - that Harbaugh's coaching career at Michigan has been a huge disappointment so far.

The problem, however, is that Finebaum's schtick of trashing Harbaugh has become borderline obsessive and odd. In an interview last week, he went as far as to say that Harbaugh makes him sick.

“I don’t know if you can come up with a vomit emoji very quickly in the spur of the moment, but he makes me sick because he shouldn’t be coaching,” Finebaum said when asked to describe Harbaugh. “Yeah, this guy should have been fired last year. If we do our job as poorly as Jim Harbaugh has done his, we’re gone - It’s not even a debate, it’s not even, ‘Hey, would you come into my office and let’s have a conversation.' It’s they throw you out in the parking lot.

“But somehow, some way, this guy, who I think is a complete fraud, is a major head coach. He’s making six or seven or eight million dollars a year although I think they cut his salary last year. He’s still there. He can’t beat his rival. He really quite frankly can’t beat even the middle of the pack in the Big Ten.”

With the kick off of the 2021 season just over one week away, it's a pretty safe bet that we'll be hearing plenty more from Mr. Finebaum on the topic of Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan Wolverines.

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Before last year, I was outspoken about Harbaugh. I criticized him and his shortcomings in a way that I thought was warranted, and I'm not going to take it back. In 2021, he made several key hires, helped his team develop a dominant identity and shaped a winning culture, and it paid off in a massive way. Before that, he was 0fer in some very key areas, but calling him an abject disaster and claiming that he makes one sick, is over the top, and Finebaum knows it. He's been revved up about Harbaugh ever since he got to Ann Arbor and last year his venom was at an all time high. Now, Harbaugh is smiling as his team prepares for what should be a really successful season and a realistic chance at repeating as Big Ten champs. 

Winning cures a lot of ills, and the 2021 season proved that. In the process of winning 12 games, Harbaugh and Michigan made Paul Finebaum look like a dunce, and U-M fans everywhere can rejoice in that almost as much as they did in the win over Ohio State, Big Ten title and College Football Playoff appearance.