McElwain is strange hire
What does Harbaugh see in failed Florida coach?
Two Februarys ago, Jim Harbaugh brought in wrestling legend Ric Flair to fire up the Michigan faithful.
This past weekend, he brought in Jim McElwain.
The only people yelling “Woo!” now are Ohio State fans.
McElwain spent the past three years in Gainesville auditioning for the title of “College Football’s Most Overrated Coach.” He will be in charge of wide receivers at Michigan, so there’s only so much harm he can do.
But neither McElwain nor his new boss were supposed to be in this position, and his hiring is a symptom of larger problems in Ann Arbor.
Harbaugh was hailed as the Wolverines’ $9-million-a-year savior from the NFL. Instead of walking on Lake Michigan and delivering Urban Meyer’s head on a platter, Michigan is 9-8 in its past 17 games.
The coach who almost won a Super Bowl with the 49ers was last spotted in Tampa getting schooled in the Outback Bowl by ... wait for it ... Will Muschamp.
But give credit where it’s due. From satellite camps to slumber parties with recruits to 2016’s “Signing With the Stars” extravaganza featuring Flair, Tom Brady and other Wolverine royalty, Harbaugh has led the universe in generating hype.
He took his team to Italy last year for spring break. Harbaugh gave Pope Francis a Michigan helmet and said the Holy Father gave him some marching orders.
I’m guessing they weren’t “Hire Jim McElwain!”
What is Harbaugh thinking?
That’s always been a guessing game. It is safe to say Harbaugh and McElwain have more in common than their first names.
They are both oddballs, bridge-burners and smugly self-confident.
Remember McElwain’s introductory press conference at Florida, where he boasted he could “win with my dog Claribelle” playing quarterback?
The high point of his resume is three years as Alabama’s offensive coordinator. History has shown that Nick Saban could hire Claribelle for that job and win national titles.
McElwain parlayed his Bama stint into jobs at Colorado State and Florida, where he proved woefully unprepared to run a bigtime program.
While defense carried UF to two titles in the depleted SEC East, McElwain’s offense really did go to the dogs. Behind the scenes, he alienated administrators by griping over facilities and had a romantic encounter with a shark.
OK, that was just a Mac clone. But McElwain was daffy enough that posing naked on top of a shark didn’t seem out of character.
By the time he started hallucinating over death threats, Florida was thrilled to see Coach Mac go. That psychological profile might be what clicked with Harbaugh.
He probably liked it when McElwain said the Gators would beat the heck out of Michigan in last year’s opener. The Wolverines beat the heck out of Florida, but it turned out to be the high point of the season.
Like UF, Michigan’s problems run deeper than the inability to complete a pass. Its recruiting class dropped from No. 5 in last year’s 247Sports composite rankings to No. 21 this year.
Nine assistant coaches have left in three seasons. Harbaugh’s staff seems to be getting as tired of his shtick as recruits.
I was among the many who thought he’d revive Michigan, but he’s 3-6 against Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan State. And those programs keep trending up.
If you subjected Wolverine fans to a polygraph test, many would say they’d rather have James Franklin or — gads — the Urbanator running the show.
For the sake of Michigan’s collective sanity, I hope the McElwain reclamation project does some good. At least he is no longer the most overrated coach in America.
Until further notice, Harbaugh wears that crown.
Jim McElwain parlayed his stint as Alabama’s offensive coordinator into jobs at Colorado State and Florida, where he proved woefully unprepared to run a big-time program.