Jim Harbaugh Is The Premier Coach In The Big Ten

Since his dreadful 2020 season, Michigan and Jim Harbaugh have reached new heights. Publications have voted Harbaugh the best coach in the conference.

CBS Sports came out with its newest ranking of Big Ten head coaches. To no surprise, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh was ranked at the top -- followed by Ohio State coach Ryan Day. Last season, the publication had Harbaugh at second behind Day, but after Michigan dominated Ohio State for the second time in a row, Harbaugh is now considered 'the best'. 

CBS Sports isn't the only publication to rank Harbaugh as the best coach in the Big Ten. Sites like On3, Sporting News, and PFF all have him ranked as the best coach in the conference as well as a top-five coach in all of football. The crew with CBS Sports has Harbaugh as the 4th-best coach in college football heading into the season. 

So how did the Wolverines and Harbaugh get to this point? Just a few short years ago, pundits and fans were calling for his head as the head coach at Michigan. After all, Harbaugh was brought in to save the program, and a 2-4 2020 season looked like the ship may have sunk.

But it's what he did after that season, on top of a massive pay reduction, to show exactly why Michigan wanted Harbaugh as its head coach back in 2015. Harbaugh let go of long-time defensive coordinator Don Brown and other assistant coaches were on the move. Harbaugh brought in young, innovative minds on the staff like Mike MacDonald, Steve Clinkscale, Mike Hart, Ron Bellamy, and others who helped pave the way for recruiting success and a culture shift. 

Michigan began to focus more on beating rival Ohio State and during each practice in that 2021 season, time was set aside just for that. During that 2021 season Michigan not only beat the Buckeyes, but Harbaugh led Michigan to its first-ever College Football Playoff -- where the Wolverines were blasted by Georgia. But after the major turnaround from Michigan, Jim Harbaugh won the AP Coach of the Year in 2021.

The Wolverines maintained that same culture heading into 2022 and put a bigger emphasis on winning and getting back to the CFP. We all know the story, the Wolverines went on to have an undefeated season -- beat Ohio State in The 'Shoe -- and once again lost in the CFP semifinals to TCU. But after tearing through the Big Ten schedule, Harbaugh went home with another medal after being named the Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2022. 

During his eight-year tenure at Michigan, Harbaugh has compiled a 74-25 record. It took the Michigan coach six seasons before he could defeat his archrival, but he got the job done and he got it done emphatically the past two seasons. 

Even as a long-time coach, Harbaugh was able to change his philosophy, let the assistant coaches do their thing, and ultimately got Michigan back to where it wanted to be. 

The final thing Harbaugh needs to do to get even higher on the ranking list is to win in the postseason. He has one bowl win to his name at Michigan. The 2023-24 Michigan team has the makings of being a really good one and this feels like it's Harbaugh's time to get the Wolverines to the national championship -- maybe even bring home the hardware at the end.