After a wild ride, will Jim Harbaugh and Michigan football reach their final destination?

HOUSTON — Soon after he and his Michigan football team touched down in this sprawling city last Friday, Jim Harbaugh talked about the value of quality rest. But as the weekend neared its end, he seemed resigned to his fate, knowing it was rather unlikely he’d get much shuteye on the eve of the Wolverines’ national title showdown with Washington at NRG Stadium on Monday.

“The night before a game, sometimes I don't always sleep great,” he volunteered.

It was easy to imagine Harbaugh tossing and turning in bed, wracked with nervous anticipation and consumed by thoughts of what it took to arrive at a point that could mark the end of his nine-year trek toward the summit of college football. It’s been a thrilling climb, rife with twists and turns, sudden downturns and rapid ascents, letdowns and surprises.

It began with great expectations, as Harbaugh was welcomed as a savior upon his ballyhooed return to Ann Arbor in December 2014. The program he inherited had descended into mediocrity, suffering at least six losses in five of the previous seven seasons. After watching Harbaugh guide the San Francisco 49ers to three consecutive conference championship game appearances and the cusp of a Super Bowl victory in February 2013, a desperate fan base assumed Harbaugh would instantly restore Michigan and then lead the Wolverines to titles galore.

“I make no guarantees,” he cautioned at his introductory news conference.

But Harbaugh soon made Michigan relevant again. He willed the Wolverines to 10 victories in his first season. He then duplicated the feat twice over the next three years. Behind a strong rushing offense and an attack-minded defense, Michigan had become reliably good again.

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But the Wolverines weren’t great. They had developed a vexing habit of losing to Ohio State and ceding the Big Ten East to their rivals, crashing before they could win anything of significance. By the time the Buckeyes trounced Michigan by 29 points in 2019 and claimed their eighth straight victory in the series, Harbaugh was no longer hailed as a conquering hero in Ann Arbor. Some now viewed him as a disappointment instead.

The unfavorable perception of Harbaugh was captured in a news conference after that demoralizing loss, when a reporter asked him why the chasm between Ohio State and Michigan was so wide.

“I'll answer your questions, not your insults,” Harbaugh fired back.

It was the kind of testy response made by an embattled coach who faced an uncomfortable truth.

“You don’t win that game and no matter what else you accomplish, it’s kind of too bad,” said ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit, a former Buckeyes quarterback. “And I think Jim was experiencing that early.”

But the worst was yet to come in a year when Michigan wouldn’t even face Ohio State. During a depressing autumn overshadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the Wolverines stumbled to a 2-4 record with bad losses to Indiana and a Michigan State team in transition. The embarrassing results led to Harbaugh absorbing a massive pay cut and prompted questions about his future in Ann Arbor.

It also sparked an awakening after Harbaugh determined Michigan had lost its way. A program that prided itself on controlling the ball finished among the bottom five teams in time of possession. An offense that always boasted a superior ground game averaged only 29 rush attempts per game — ranking in the lowest region of the Football Bowl Subdivision. A defense that used to hold opponents in check now conceded a whopping 34.5 points per game.

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So, Harbaugh overhauled his organization. He tore out the guts of his on-field staff, hiring a young brigade of high-energy assistants armed with new ideas. He brought back his rugged brand of football. He changed the defensive scheme. But first he laid out his vision for a revival in an email to the players. In his lengthy message, he summarized the current state of the program, described where he wanted it to go and outlined what it was going to take to get there.

“I read it and it brought fire within me,” fifth-year left guard Trevor Keegan recalled. “I could attest to that. I think some of the guys could as well.”

What came next was the resurrection of both Michigan and Harbaugh. The Wolverines surged into the polls and vaulted into the top ten in 2021. Then, they finally beat Ohio State on a snowy day in Ann Arbor and recalibrated the trajectory of Harbaugh’s tenure. As sixth-year linebacker Michael Barrett said earlier this week, “We finally got over that hump.”

Nothing has been the same since that November afternoon.

The Wolverines have leapfrogged the Buckeyes as the dominant team in the Big Ten, beating them each of the past two years and claiming the last three conference titles. Now, after winning their first College Football Playoff game against mighty Alabama at the Rose Bowl, they stand at the doorstep of Michigan’s first national championship since 1997.

“It’s awesome,” said Harbaugh’s son, Jay, who has been on staff since his father’s return to Ann Arbor. “I’m super happy for him and the whole team. It’s neat to see when you have a great plan and get really good people and stick to it and see that get us to that point with a chance to put an exclamation point on it.”

It has all the makings of a feel-good story, the kind that could be chronicled in a coffee-table book. But Harbaugh’s own troubles have complicated the narrative and flattened its inspirational arc.

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During Michigan’s march to a program-record 14 wins this year, Harbaugh missed six games after he was suspended twice — first by the school and later by the Big Ten. As Harbaugh has come under intense scrutiny, his program has become the subject of two separate NCAA probes. One is focused on impermissible recruiting and coaching activities. The other is tied to a cheating scandal that involved off-campus scouting and sign-stealing.

The investigations have cast a pall over his accomplishments during the past three seasons, when the Wolverines have gone 39-3. They have also led to uncomfortable questions for Harbaugh, who may face additional punishment in the coming year if he remains at Michigan. What comes next is uncertain as rumors swirl around his possible return to the NFL.

“I’ll gladly talk about the future next week,” Harbaugh said this past weekend.

For now, he’s focused on his immediate pursuit of glory, the championship he has long coveted and the crowning achievement of his coaching career.

“The blinders are on,” Harbaugh said, “and we see the finish line.”

If this is indeed the end of his remarkable journey, Harbaugh has arrived at the exact point that everyone assumed he’d reach when he returned to Michigan nine years ago. This was his destiny, as many Wolverines fans assumed once upon a time. Now, he’s 24 hours away from realizing it. But first he must endure a restless night before he takes the field for the game of his life.

Contact Rainer Sabin at rsabin@freepress.com. Follow him @RainerSabin.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: After a long climb, will Michigan football's Jim Harbaugh reach top?