Jim Harbaugh in line at Michigan?

A red flag is flying at full mast in Ann Arbor. Ask yourself this question: Is there anything Rich Rodriguez has done at Michigan — not in the past at West Virginia or Tulane or Glenville State — to suggest he is going to lead the Wolverines to the upper rung of college football, let alone atop the Big Ten again? Sure. Logic dictates Rodriguez will not lose his position following this season, that he will get a third year. The person who hired him, athletic director Bill Martin, has one more year before he retires. The person who approved Rodriguez’s appointment as head coach, university president Mary Sue Coleman, has said publicly she will be patient with Rodriguez. There is a difference, however, between being patient and banging their collective heads into a brick wall. There is also the matter of waiting — and how much further it sets a program behind when a change is eventually made. You also might lose the ideal coaching candidate for the position. And for Michigan, that label is starting to fit former Michigan quarterback Jim Harbaugh. Anybody in Ann Arbor notice what Harbaugh is doing at Stanford? Last week, his team defeated Oregon, a week after Oregon crushed Southern California. Stanford is 6-3, and earlier in Harbaugh’s stint pulled off one of the biggest upsets in college football history when it beat USC on the road as a six-touchdown underdog. Harbaugh inherited a no-win situation at Stanford — a combination of high standards academically when it comes to recruiting, to tremendous competition in the Pac 10, to apathy. Harbaugh has won anyway. – The Morning Sun

Job Security For Michigan Coach Rich Rodriguez

After reaching a bowl game for 33 straight seasons, Michigan is in danger of missing out for the second straight year. But university president Mary Sue Coleman is adamant that the school will be patient with second-year coach Rich Rodriguez. “I don’t think it’s fair to coaches to bring them in and say, ‘We’re going to give you three years,’” she said in an interview on Friday, citing a recent example. “When [former men's basketball coach] Tommy Amaker came in, we stuck with him for six years. It just wasn’t going to work; it wasn’t the right fit. But it wasn’t a rushed decision.” – Wall Street Journal