The Ohio State Buckeyes may present Jim Harbaugh with a “crossroads” in his career.
Jim Harbaugh, the head coach of the Michigan Wolverines, might potentially lose his job if the Wolverines lose to the Ohio State Buckeyes, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
One of the biggest games of the 2023 college football regular season, if not the most important, is already scheduled to take place between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Michigan Wolverines.
The bragging rights for this year’s matchup are in a whole other league than previous editions, even if one does not view it through the lens of the College Football Playoff or the Big Ten Championship.
Pete Thamel, an ESPN college football insider, claims that it might be even more significant than we initially thought.
especially for Jim Harbaugh, the head coach of Michigan.
According to Thamel, “I think the most interesting part of the stakes of this game, that makes it so unique amid this historic rivalry, is that the real stakes are it could send Jim Harbaugh back to the sideline,” during an appearance on ESPN’s Monday Blitz. “Obviously, Michigan would advance to its third consecutive College Football Playoff appearance if it wins this game and plays against Iowa in the Big Ten title game. Jim Harbaugh’s coaching career would be in jeopardy if Ohio State prevailed in Ann Arbour.”
Put another way, even though Harbaugh won’t be on the sidelines, it sounds a lot like if Ohio State defeats the Wolverines at Michigan Stadium on Saturday, it might be his final meeting in the rivalry.
Naturally, Harbaugh is already under scrutiny due to the pending NCAA investigation into his team’s alleged sign-stealing incident, which surfaced last month and led to a three-game Big Ten suspension.
Not to mention, in his seven seasons in Ann Arbour, Harbaugh is just 2-5 against the Buckeyes outside of the last two seasons.
Does that imply that if Harbaugh loses, Michigan will fire him? Not invariably. If Michigan loses, a number of things could happen, according to Thamel.
“It’s not outlandish to say that he could be facing a suspension for the first half of next season from the games,” Thamel said. Is that what he wants to do? Over the past two years, he has shown interest in the NFL. Is Michigan interested in doing that? Six of the 12 games this year have already seen them without their head coach. Thus, if the clock strikes zero and Ohio State is ahead on the scoreboard, they will be staring at a really interesting crossroads.”
On Saturday at noon ET, Michigan and Ohio State will play their first game in Ann Arbour.
