Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan legacy? Wins, controversy and an unforgettable nine years
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Ryan McGee, ESPN Senior Writer
Legacy.
These days, that word feels like it carries a different meaning when it comes to the lexicon of college football. OK, during these strangest of college football times, every word feels like it carries an altered definition from the one it was assigned oh so many years ago. Like, I dunno, 2019?
As Jim Harbaugh departs the college game for the NFL Cinematic Universe, completing his trilogy of transitions from campus to the big leagues — Michigan to the Chicago Bears as a QB in 1987, Stanford to the San Francisco 49ers as a head coach in 2011 and now Michigan to the Los Angeles Chargers, also as head coach — we find ourselves tasked with characterizing the legacy of a decidedly different sort of college football character.
Earlier this month, that was an easy task when it came to Nick Saban (the GOAT!) and even Jerry Kill (the scrappy program reviver!). But when it comes to the Michigan Man who just left Michigan, it’s not that simple. Nothing about Jim Harbaugh ever is.
He is as befuddling as he is beloved. Misunderstood by at least as many people as he is revered. If the college football world were a Facebook page, we would all — Wolverines and otherwise — have to click on the relationship status line that reads, “It’s complicated.”
I’m willing to wager that most people reading these words right now might think Harbaugh’s tenure in Ann Arbor was a relatively short one. But it was not. He spent nine full seasons on the sidelines of The Big House. That is three times longer than his first head-coaching stint at San Diego and more than twice as long as his four year terms on The Farm and up the road with the Niners.
Those same people might believe he struggled mightily during the first half of his near-decade at Michigan. Again, he did not. His teams posted three 10-3 records and averaged more than nine wins per year over his first five seasons, earning five straight New Year’s bowl berths.
That perception of failure comes from that handful of games in which Harbaugh did struggle, the 18 losses that countered those 48 wins, most of which came in the only games anyone dressed in blue truly cares about, a pile of defeats against Michigan State and Ohio State and a 1-4 record in those postseason games through 2019. His 2020 pandemic season brought an abysmal and abbreviated 2-4 mark.
But the three years since represent what might very well be the greatest multiple-season run in the Wolverines’ 145-year history: a record of 40-3 with three straight wins over Ohio State, three consecutive Big Ten championships, three College Football Playoff appearances in a row and, this year, and the program’s first unanimous national title since 1948.
All of that time, all nine years, was punctuated with a seemingly endless litany of stories that felt bizarre as they happened; but with the benefit of even some short hindsight, we can now view them as images of a man with willingness to buck the college football system.
Call it pioneering. Call it wild. Just as long as you wind up calling it all unique.
Since June 2015, his first year on the job, our brains have been seared with the vision of shirtless 51-year-old Harbaugh slinging passes during his coaching staff’s “Summer Swarm” barnstorming football camp tour. But what you might have forgotten since is the mission behind that road trip, holding workouts in Florida, California, Pennsylvania and — gulp — Alabama. His QB skins game was held in Prattville, about 90 minutes from Tuscaloosa. Even now, the Yellowhammer State message boards are crimson with anger.
It was two years later that he led his team into Rome. The one in Italy — not the ones in Alabama or Ohio — where Harbaugh sang opera and gifted Pope Francis with a maize and blue helmet.
There is no word to describe the inner beauty that shines through the eyes of our Holy Father and his words… “Pray for me” pic.twitter.com/doUpeajuRp
— Coach Harbaugh (@CoachJim4UM) April 26, 2017
In the years that followed, the Wolverines walked alongside their coach onto the beaches of Normandy and through the streets of Paris and South Africa. The trips were pricey (the tabs were picked up by Michigan donors) and were criticized by non-Wolverines as grandstanding. But at worst, they were unconventional, and as Harbaugh himself pointed out, college basketball programs had made similar trips for decades.
Then, as we all remember, there were the wacky recruiting tales. Harbaugh mimicking DJ Khaled’s “How’s business? Boomin’!” to try to lure a California defensive back. Harbaugh climbing a tree in a recruit’s front yard to prove his own NFL-honed upper-body strength. Harbaugh sleeping on the couch of top-ranked kicker Quinn Nordin so they could have a conversation the moment the recruiting dead period ended at midnight that night, only the first of a slew of sleepovers he’d planned for that winter.
And we haven’t even mentioned the khakis.
But while we were all cracking jokes about the coach’s quirkiness, all of those goofy stories proved to be building blocks for what was to come. The barnstorming into the Deep South and out West? This year’s national championship roster included eight players from Georgia, seven from Florida, five from Tennessee and at least one representative from Louisiana, South Carolina and even one from Alabama. Those overseas trips resulted in days of live coverage on SportsCenter and, in the words of assistant coach Mike Hart, “So many recruits asking us, ‘Where are we going next year?”‘ And as for those kooky social-media-saturating tales from the recruiting trail, Harbaugh’s inaugural 2015 Michigan haul was ranked 40th by ESPN. But 2019, it was up to eighth, having finally made a run through the SEC talent blockade. The next year’s group included Blake Corum, Roman Wilson and the core of this year’s CFP-winning roster.
Then again, that class came with an accompanying NCAA investigation into recruiting violations that ran afoul of the restrictions implemented because of the pandemic. This is also the part where Harbaugh critics will remind us of his two separate three-game suspensions this season, with investigations ongoing into both the recruiting violations and, of course, the sign-stealing mess that doesn’t show any, ahem, signs of going away anytime soon. Even now, after the man who was CEO of the program accused of implementing a way-too-nuanced signal-deciphering network, has packed up his khakis and headed back to the pros, the cloud hangs over the program.
So, we find ourselves once again staring at that trisyllabic word that, these days, carries so much more heft and complication than its six little letters would suggest.
Legacy.
If you rise and fall each day humming “Hail to the Victors,” then the Jim Harbaugh legacy might very well be simple to you. He came home pledging to return his alma mater to college football’s top rung and he did just that. There’s a big ol’ silver-and-gold trophy they just put in Schembechler Hall to prove it. But the reality is there won’t be a period at the end of his block-M chapter until the investigators are done and their final reports are read aloud. When that will happen, no one knows. When it does, it might all prove to be much ado about nothing. But it could also go in a very different, very destructive direction.
Then, and only then, will we truly know what the Jim Harbaugh legacy will be. All we know for certain right now is that he will not be in Ann Arbor when that happens.
See? Complicated.
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Michael Rothstein
The Trump administration’s 2026 fiscal budget request to Congress eliminates major federal funding for traumatic brain injury (TBI) research and education, potentially undercutting efforts to address head injuries in sports, particularly at the high school and youth levels.
The White House’s proposed budget, released Friday, includes eliminating the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention umbrella agency responsible for TBI research, including the $8.25 million marked for brain injury research and public education about the dangers of concussions. The CDC is facing $3.59 billion in budget cuts.
Although the president proposes the federal budget, it is up to Congress to approve a final budget bill, so the TBI program could be restored or moved to a different agency. The White House did not respond to an ESPN request for comment.
The budget proposal comes after the CDC on April 1 placed all five staffers devoted to administering the government’s main traumatic brain injury program on paid administrative leave, CDC employees told ESPN. Paid administrative leave means the workers are still government employees.
The budget cuts would “roll back decades of progress,” said Dr. Owen Perlman, a brain injury specialist and board member of the Brain Injury Association of America.
Among the items targeted is Heads Up, a concussion-prevention program for youth and high school coaches, athletic trainers and other sports officials. The CDC staffers put on leave administered the program. Forty-five states participate in the program to varying degrees, a CDC official said, asking not to be identified.
Staffers interviewed by ESPN declined to speak on the record, citing fears of administration retribution.
“We’re really worried about the hundreds of thousands of coaches who have to take this training,” the CDC official said. “This is really built in, and we’ve lost the whole team” behind the program.
Some Heads Up training is part of coaches’ and other sports officials’ state compliance requirements. The CDC official said hundreds of email queries are arriving every week asking how to comply as the federal program shuts down. The Heads Up website says more than 10 million people have participated in its online training programs.
Congress first approved TBI research funding in 1996. Legislation to keep the program going expired at the end of 2024, and a House bill to renew it has yet to advance out of committee.
In a 2018 CDC survey, 12% of adult respondents reported experiencing a head injury in the previous 12 months, including but not limited to sports-related activities. A follow-up study was being prepared when the staffers were placed on leave. The research data was part of a program to measure TBI prevalence and boost prevention, care and recovery efforts.
The Heads Up website remained active Monday but offered no clues regarding the program’s endangered status.
“In the last month, I don’t think the public has felt an impact,” a laid-off CDC employee said. “But when those websites, trainings and materials get pulled down or when they can’t be updated, I think that’s when the public will feel it.”
In the proposed White House budget, the National Institutes of Health would retain an institute devoted to overall brain research, although the name would slightly change. The institute focuses on medical issues such as stroke and migraines, and it’s unclear whether TBI programs would be absorbed into it.
Hospitals and universities conducting TBI research funded by the CDC are bracing for potential funding cutbacks.
“We might not [get] the next year of renewal or the next wave of funding. And that’s sad and scary and impactful for all kinds of people, including myself in this project,” said Christine Baugh, an assistant professor at the University of Colorado’s School of Medicine who is studying how parents decide whether to let their children play contact sports and whether brain-injury awareness campaigns influence their decisions.
On April 23, the National Academy of Sciences received orders to cancel work on two TBI workshops, one of which analyzed the risks of repeated head impacts on children. Both workshops had already been held. One of the workshop organizers, Dr. Fred Rivara, a pediatrics professor at the University of Washington, told ESPN that the cancellation affected funding for publishing the information, and he called the potential cuts “tragic.”
“That’s a perfect example of how this change in, or devastation of, funding at the CDC is impacting people,” Rivara said. “They want to know, for sports: What about these repetitive impacts? Are they bad for kids? It’s a perfect example of the impact of this.”
Traumatic brain injuries have lifelong repercussions on a person’s physical, cognitive, emotional and behavioral health, Perlman said.
Even though some states fund TBI-treatment programs independently of the federal government, concerns are growing about a domino effect if Congress fails to renew funding.
“For many people with concussions or certainly moderate or severe brain injuries, there’s no endpoint,” Perlman said. “It’s a lifetime problem, and there needs to be lifetime funding for it.”
The first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs is complete. Eight of the teams that made the postseason bracket have moved on, and eight others have been eliminated.
Before the second-round series begin, ESPN’s experts have identified their picks for each matchup. Which four teams will move on to the conference finals?
More: Full schedule
Betting intel
Atlantic Division
John Buccigross: Panthers in seven
Ryan Callahan: Panthers in six
Cassie Campbell-Pascall: Panthers in six
Sachin Chandan: Panthers in six
Meghan Chayka: Panthers in six
Ryan S. Clark: Panthers in seven
Linda Cohn: Panthers in six
Rachel Doerrie: Panthers in six
Ray Ferraro: Panthers in six
Emily Kaplan: Panthers in seven
Tim Kavanagh: Maple Leafs in six
Peter Lawrence-Riddell: Panthers in six
Steve Levy: Panthers in six
Vince Masi: Panthers in six
Victoria Matiash: Panthers in six
Sean McDonough: Panthers in six
Mark Messier: Panthers in six
AJ Mleczko: Panthers in six
Arda Öcal: Maple Leafs in six
Kristen Shilton: Maple Leafs in seven
John Thoering: Panthers in six
Bob Wischusen: Panthers in six
Greg Wyshynski: Panthers in six
Consensus prediction: Panthers (20 of 23 picks)
Metropolitan Division
John Buccigross: Capitals in seven
Ryan Callahan: Capitals in seven
Cassie Campbell-Pascall: Capitals in six
Sachin Chandan: Capitals in six
Meghan Chayka: Hurricanes in six
Ryan S. Clark: Capitals in seven
Linda Cohn: Capitals in six
Rachel Doerrie: Capitals in six
Ray Ferraro: Capitals in seven
Emily Kaplan: Capitals in seven
Tim Kavanagh: Capitals in six
Peter Lawrence-Riddell: Hurricanes in seven
Steve Levy: Capitals in five
Vince Masi: Hurricanes in six
Victoria Matiash: Hurricanes in six
Sean McDonough: Capitals in seven
Mark Messier: Hurricanes in six
AJ Mleczko: Hurricanes in five
Mike Monaco: Hurricanes in six
Arda Öcal: Capitals in six
Kristen Shilton: Hurricanes in six
John Thoering: Capitals in seven
Bob Wischusen: Capitals in seven
Greg Wyshynski: Capitals in seven
Consensus prediction: Capitals (16 of 24 picks)
Central Division
John Buccigross: Stars in seven
Ryan Callahan: Stars in five
Sachin Chandan: Stars in six
Ryan S. Clark: Stars in seven
Linda Cohn: Jets in seven
Rachel Doerrie: Stars in six
Ray Ferraro: Stars in six
Emily Kaplan: Stars in six
Tim Kavanagh: Stars in seven
Peter Lawrence-Riddell: Stars in six
Steve Levy: Stars in seven
Vince Masi: Jets in seven
Victoria Matiash: Jets in seven
Sean McDonough: Stars in six
Mark Messier: Stars in six
Mike Monaco: Stars in six
Arda Öcal: Stars in six
Kristen Shilton: Stars in six
John Thoering: Stars in seven
Bob Wischusen: Jets in seven
Greg Wyshynski: Stars in six
Consensus prediction: Stars (17 of 21 picks)
Pacific Division
John Buccigross: Oilers in seven
Ryan Callahan: Golden Knights in six
Cassie Campbell-Pascall: Oilers in seven
Sachin Chandan: Oilers in seven
Meghan Chayka: Golden Knights in seven
Ryan S. Clark: Golden Knights in seven
Linda Cohn: Oilers in seven
Rachel Doerrie: Golden Knights in seven
Ray Ferraro: Golden Knights in seven
Emily Kaplan: Golden Knights in seven
Tim Kavanagh: Golden Knights in six
Peter Lawrence-Riddell: Golden Knights in six
Steve Levy: Golden Knights in seven
Vince Masi: Oilers in six
Victoria Matiash: Golden Knights in six
Sean McDonough: Golden Knights in seven
Mark Messier: Oilers in seven
AJ Mleczko: Golden Knights in six
Mike Monaco: Oilers in six
Arda Öcal: Oilers in six
Kristen Shilton: Oilers in seven
John Thoering: Golden Knights in seven
Bob Wischusen: Golden Knights in seven
Greg Wyshynski: Oilers in seven
Consensus prediction: Golden Knights (14 of 24 picks)
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Greg Wyshynski
The Los Angeles Kings will not bring back Rob Blake, the team’s general manager and vice president of hockey operations, after a fourth straight first-round playoff exit.
Blake didn’t have a contract beyond the 2024-25 season. The status of coach Jim Hiller, who has two years left on his contract after Blake elevated him to head coach this season, will be in the hands of the next general manager.
Blake, 55, was elevated to the job in April 2017 after serving as assistant general manager under Dean Lombardi beginning in 2013-14, the last time the Kings won the Stanley Cup.
In eight seasons as GM, Blake’s teams made the Stanley Cup playoffs five times. However, Los Angeles failed to advance past the first round each time, getting swept by the Vegas Golden Knights in 2018 and then being eliminated by the Edmonton Oilers for four straight postseasons, including the Kings’ Game 6 elimination last week.
The Kings had a .557 points percentage in the standings during his eight seasons as general manager, as Blake attempted to bridge the team’s two Stanley Cup championships in 2012 and 2014 to the next wave of stars like 22-year-old forward Quinton Byfield.
“On behalf of the entire organization, I would like to thank Rob for his dedication to the LA Kings and the passion he brought to his role,” Kings team president Luc Robitaille said in a statement. “Reaching this understanding wasn’t easy and I appreciate Rob’s partnership in always working toward what is best for the Kings. Rob deserves a great deal of credit and respect for elevating us to where we are today. He has been an important part of the Kings and will always be appreciated for what he has meant to this franchise.”
Blake’s tenure with the Kings saw them take big swings in acquiring key players, sometimes at a significant cost. In 2022, he shipped defenseman Brock Faber, a runner-up for rookie of the year last season, to the Minnesota Wild for winger Kevin Fiala, who tied with Adrian Kempe for the lead in goals this season for Los Angeles. He signed veteran forwards such as Phillip Danault and Warren Foegele as free agents and swung trades for players such as winger Viktor Arvidsson and defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov.
His most notorious trade was the one that sent three roster players to Winnipeg for center Pierre-Luc Dubois in 2023 and getting him on an 8-year, $68 million contract as the potential successor to franchise center Anze Kopitar. But Dubois was a one-and-done bust in Los Angeles and was flipped to the Washington Capitals for goalie Darcy Kuemper last offseason. Blake saved face on that one: Kuemper is a finalist for the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top regular-season goaltender. Blake also traded away franchise goalie Jonathan Quick and young defenseman Sean Durzi, now a steady hand for the Utah Hockey Club. Blake also traded draft assets to dump the contract of goalie Cal Petersen, whom the GM signed to a regrettable 3-year, $15 million deal.
In moving on from Blake, the Kings are also parting ways with a franchise icon. He spent 14 seasons of his Hall of Fame career with Los Angeles, and his No. 4 is retired with the team.
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