Why Jay Harbaugh is going to be a head coach ‘sooner than later’
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — When it comes to assistant coaches on the Michigan football staff, no one has been more polarizing than Jay Harbaugh. At least that’s how it used to be.
Blasted as a nepotism hire when he first arrived, since he’s the son of head coach Jim Harbaugh, the younger Harbaugh has been on staff since 2015, first coaching tight ends in 2015-16, running backs from 2017-20, tight ends again in 2021, and now safeties in 2022. He also went from working on special teams along with former safeties coach Chris Partridge (who departed the program for Ole Miss after the 2019 season) to becoming the bona fide special teams coordinator in 2020. In 2021, Michigan football boasted the best special teams unit in the country.
When he oversaw running backs for the four years, that’s when he was mostly derided, even though he produced the first 1,000-yard rusher from the tailback position in nearly a decade when Karan Higdon toppled that mark in 2018. In 2016, he had a Mackey Award-winner in Jake Butt. In 2021, he had the Lou Groza-winner in Jake Moody.
In other words, Jay Harbaugh keeps cranking out hits.
This past year was perhaps the first since he arrived in Ann Arbor that he wasn’t seen as a weak link on the field by the more vocal element of the fan base. He never deserved the derision he received, but now he’s starting to get outright recognition.
Now Michigan has a first-year on-field assistant in Grant Newsome, who is taking over the tight end duties. When it comes to who he leans on, yes, he goes to Sherrone Moore, who he worked with last year with the offensive line, Newsome’s native position. But when it comes to Jay Harbaugh, Newsome recognizes that he might be the best assistant when it comes to pure football acumen.
“Obviously, having Sherrone, who’s been a mentor in this profession has been huge for me. Especially the fact that he’s coached the position. But also Jay Harbaugh is huge,” Newsome said. “I tell it to anybody who will listen that Jay is incredibly smart. I’d say he’s the smartest coach in the building, which is not a knock to anyone else, I think there’s a lot of really incredible coaches in the building, but I think the world of Jay. Having him a couple doors down, being able to bounce ideas off of him — I think everybody goes to Jay for one thing or another just because of how smart he is, how talented he is and just being a great person as well.”
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Thus far, we’ve seen Harbaugh coach two field-specific positions as well as special teams. While his production at running back wasn’t as emphatic as what he’s been able to do with the tight ends, the fact that Jim Harbaugh is confident enough to move him to safeties — the other side of the ball — speaks to his track record.
Newsome envisions a situation where Jay Harbaugh continues to accumulate knowledge before a team finally recognizes that he could lead the charge entirely.
“I think it’s the combination of he connects with players really well, he’s extremely, extremely smart. There’s really not a lot of things he can’t do,” Newsome said. “I think he’s going to end up coaching all 11 positions before he’s done. But he’s awesome. He’s an incredible coordinator and I think he’s going to be and incredible head coach sooner, rather than later.”
To listen to Jay Harbaugh speak during media availabilities, it’s no surprise he’s so well-thought of inside of the building. He’s a tactician, fully aware of what has transpired on the field as well as what needs to happen to increase production. He speaks matter-of-factly, yet heavy in jargon, but he does so in a way that makes even the most intricate of football concepts easily digestible.
A student of the game at-large, Jay Harbaugh is often looking to the NFL for ideas, as he also does across the sport. In 2016, when Michigan lined up in an odd ‘train’ formation, with 10 players initially all behind center before fanning out, Jim Harbaugh relayed that it was Jay Harbaugh’s idea, one he got from scouring older games.
For Newsome, Jay Harbaugh’s trajectory is one to aspire to — not just with the positions he’s coached, but more so what he’s learned and how he imparts that to those he’s coaching.
“He’s crazy, crazy smart in terms of Xs and Os, scheme. Just to be able to go between different worlds, I think he’s extremely smart on the offensive side of the ball, and he can also be, in my opinion, the best special teams coordinator in the nation,” Newsome said. “Then also to be able to go over to defense and contribute on that side, you’ve gotta be Xs and Os smart, especially to do it at such a high level. But also, he does an amazing job of recognizing what connects with the players and what clicks with the players and putting it in terms they understand and using methods and teaching tools that may seem outside the box. But when you actually think about it, see it in action, you go, ‘Wow, that’s really, really, really smart.’ I cannot say enough good things about Jay.”
