Jim Harbaugh Return to Michigan Has Some Similarities to LeBron Coming Home Narrative

Jim Harbaugh was introduced to the home Michigan basketball crowd today. That he spoke passionately about teamwork and community, and received a resounding ovation, surprised nobody. Harbaugh’s return to Michigan has been packaged in a manner that feels just a litttttttle bit like LeBron “coming home” to Cleveland. Though the official announcement trickled out over the course of a couple weeks rather than through a first-person essay in SI, the narrative has some similarities wherein great power and greater expectations are bestowed on a man to be the savior of a downtrodden franchise. All the right — and probably sincere! — things were said.

In natural exuberance, some went overboard. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, John U. Bacon opined that this is “probably” the most joyous the fan base has been since America defeated Japan in World War II, a stretch which has encompassed three national titles for the football program. (Without that level of hyperbole, our site’s Ty Duffy called the Harbaugh coup a “transformative hire.”)

There are obvious differences between LeBron and Harbaugh. One is a player and one is a coach. But LeBron, whose entourage feuded with Pat Riley on the way out of Miami, became the Cavs’ de facto coach and general manager with the move. First overall pick Andrew Wiggins was not-so-mysteriously left out of the young players LeBron said he was excited to play with in his SI letter, and shipped off to Minnesota for Kevin Love the second the move was legal. LeBron bypassed rookie head coach David Blatt to become the Cavs’ point guard, and there are already rumors that Blatt could be replaced. But what new man on the bench could command LeBron’s respect without ruffling feathers and making Cleveland sweat out that one-year opt out that we kept being told was a mere formality?

Nevertheless, it’s way too soon to paint LeBron’s return as a failure, just as it’s premature to anoint Michigan back into the national title picture for perpetuity because they landed Harbaugh. There will likely be success, but the head coach has not spent more than four years at any of his previous stops. Michigan fans have gotten what they wished for, but that does not necessarily entail smooth sailing.