Jim Harbaugh's exhausting journey at Michigan comes to an end, even if the story's not done

Let me take you back in time — nine years and 25 days, to be exact.

Because to understand the ending of this story, to fully grasp the perspective of this moment — the depth of the struggles, the incredible highs, as well as the messy complications and unresolved legacy as Jim Harbaugh leaves Michigan to coach the Los Angeles Chargers — you have to remember where it started.

Harbaugh was introduced as Michigan’s coach on Dec. 30, 2014, by Jim Hackett, the interim athletic director.

That seems like a lifetime ago.

And maybe it was.

After Hackett gave some brief remarks, Harbaugh walked to the podium with a can of Diet Coke in his left hand.  “Thank you very much,” he said, his voice hoarse. “Apologize for my voice. They dumped Gatorade over me Sunday after our ballgame, and I’ve lost my vocal cords a little bit.”

To many, Harbaugh was considered the savior for Michigan football — a former star quarterback from football royalty who was coming home, a successful NFL coach and winner who was replacing Brady Hoke, who had gone 12-13 over his final two seasons.

“I don’t know if anybody saw me trip on the way in,” Harbaugh began.

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“Anybody see that? A lesser athlete would have gone down.”

Everybody laughed.

But it would serve as a stinging metaphor for years, as the Wolverines kept tripping, unable to find their footing under Harbaugh, losing against their rivals and in bowls — the only two measurements that really mean anything in Ann Arbor. Harbaugh began his tenure by losing five straight to Ohio State (and was a 28-point underdog when Michigan canceled the 2020 edition of The Game because of COVID-19 issues). He shuffled his coaching staff several times, failed to develop a quarterback and couldn’t get it quite right.

A lesser coach would have gone down when the Wolverines tripped through a forgettable 2-4 record in 2020 — the pandemic-shortened season. But Michigan stuck with Harbaugh through all of it — his yearly tease with the NFL and all his quirks, although athletic director Warde Manuel did halve his salary.

“Jim was a great coach before COVID, and I wasn't gonna judge him on playing six games with opt-outs,” Manuel told me walking through confetti after Michigan’s national title over Washington in Houston.

Yes, we’ll get to that in a moment.

“I wasn't going to sit there and have judgment on my coaches during that period,” Manuel said. “Because it was so tumultuous. There was so many roller coaster rides, ups and downs, and I believed in him, and the rest speaks for itself.”

A wild ride with Harbaugh

Everything Harbaugh did seemed bigger and bolder than anyone else. He created headlines darn near every time he jumped out of bed.

For his satellite camps.

For all his wild, quirky comments.

For those exotic trips.

I was with him in Rome, as he walked the streets like a Pied Piper, taking his team to the opera and the Coliseum and meeting the Pope.

Of course, he did. Harbaugh met the Pope. Because, well, that was Jim.

But still, he didn’t win.

Not enough.

And certainly not as fast as most expected.

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He got it right

But the last three years?

On the field, it has been pure magic.

Harbaugh finally got his coaching staff right. He filled it with young energetic coaches, a talented up-and-coming offensive coordinator (and head coach in waiting?) Sherrone Moore; and an NFL-ready defensive coordinator, Jesse Minter, seemingly on loan from the Baltimore Ravens — thanks, bro.

Harbaugh found and developed his quarterback — J.J. McCarthy, a tough, team-first leader cut from his own image. Harbaugh built up the trenches, paired up some running backs, got the culture right and suddenly, all the pieces were in place. Michigan advanced to the College Football Playoff for three straight years, a first for a team from the Big Ten.

Over three seasons, the Wolverines won 40 games and lost three (for a .930 winning percentage), finishing in the top three in the polls for three straight years — the greatest stretch in the school’s modern era.

And yes, they won the national title, beating Washington.

After celebrating in the locker room, Harbaugh came through a door, headed toward an interview room and cracked open a Diet Coke; and it seemed so fitting to me. Like the completion of a circle.

The final step of his mission — all he needed was an NFL owner to hire him.

“Our guys have never flinched, though, and never rejected the moment,” Harbaugh said. “There’s a time to live. There’s a time to die. But there’s never a time to reject the moment. That’s one thing you can say about every single Michigan football team that I’ve coached since I’ve been here. The guys have always given it their best and had at it. And this team, Team 144, you know how I feel about them, I think. They are the team. Great.”

Harbaugh had finished what he started, lifting the Wolverines back into college football’s elite, even as controversy swirled in the background. As the Wolverines celebrated, the NCAA had charged Michigan with low-level recruiting violations during the COVID-19 dead period but Harbaugh with a high-level charge of misleading investigators, and the NCAA had launched another investigation into an allegedly improper in-person scouting and sign-stealing scheme.

“People asked how we dealt with the distractions, and that was one of the ways we dealt with it,” Harbaugh said. “We knew we were innocent. We stood tall, upright and innocent.”

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How that will play out is unclear, but the on-field accomplishments are irrefutable: The Wolverines finished 15-0, joining Clemson (2018), LSU (2019) and Georgia (2022) as the only 15-victory teams since the late 1800s.

“This wasn’t a dream,” Harbaugh said. “That was real. We’re national champs.”

Harbaugh’s legacy at Michigan is unresolved — in some ways, the final chapter that has yet to be written. Because of two NCAA investigations that have yet to be completed or released.

“For the fans, the players, and for me personally, we are sad to hear of Jim’s departure,” Michigan president Santa Ono said in a statement. “His drive and ambition turned our program around, delivered our first national championship in a quarter century and maintained Michigan as the all-time winningest team in the history of college football.”

Harbaugh leaves Michigan with a ready-made coach in Moore, who did a fantastic job when Harbaugh was suspended.

But he leaves Michigan at a wild time. A tremendous amount of talent has left the program, at the same time that Ohio State just keeps adding more.

In the end, it has been an exhausting nine-year journey.

The early struggles. His annual flirtation with the NFL. His strange news conferences. The wake of headlines that seemed to follow him like a shadow. The constant uncertainty.

The nine years of Harbaugh will be remembered as a time with incredible lows, incredible highs and a swirl of unresolved controversy.

But in the end, there’s no debate about one slice of the story: Jim Harbaugh was a tremendous coach. He’s a winner, who lifted Michigan to the mountaintop.

But man, everything else?

Just exhausting.

Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @seideljeff.

To read his recent columns, go to freep.com/sports/jeff-seidel.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Jim Harbaugh's exhausting journey at Michigan football comes to an end