I’m not trying to pick a fight (honestly
). I just think people often react with their heart and loyalty which then prevents any impartiality in these discussions.
Whether Harbaugh has also underperformed at Michigan is irrelevant to the evaluation of Franklin’s performance.
Since you brought it up, I looked up Harbaugh’s Big Ten coaching numbers. Overall, Harbaugh has been equal to just slightly better than Franklin by the numbers:
1. Head to head- 4-3 Harbaugh
2. Big Ten champs- 1-1
3. Playoff appearance- 1-0 Harbaugh
4. Bowl record- Franklin- 3-4, Harbaugh 1-5
5. Overall record (in B10)-
- 61-24 (.718) for Harbaugh
- 67-34 (.663) for Franklin.
6. Conference record (in B10)-
- 42-17 (,712) for Harbaugh
- 42-28 (.600) for Franklin.
7. Winning percentage against rivals (OSU, MSU, PSU/UM)-
- 8-12 (.400) for Harbaugh
- 7-17 (.292) for Franklin.
For years, everyone here has proclaimed Harbaugh to be a failure. But when Franklin’s numbers are put up against Harbaugh’s and are similar……. suddenly it’s not failure. It’s unrealistic expectations. Respectfully, the only difference appears to be the blue and white glasses being used to read the results.
Again, this has nothing to do with Franklin personally. Just about everyone agrees he has the right focus on academics and is a good ambassador for the university. We’re simply talking his performance on the field heading into year 9.