Michigan Football Will Improve With Experience and Proven Coach

Michigan showed regression each year under former head coach Brady Hoke. Last year the team dropped below the .500 mark for just the third time since 1967. The program has had a long, proud tradition and decided that Jim Harbaugh is the right guy to bring them back.

Harbaugh spent the last four seasons with the San Francisco 49ers. He led the team to one Super Bowl and two other NFC Championship games but left town after a rocky season last year. He also has prior head coaching experience at the college level with the University of San Diego and Stanford. Harbaugh has had success in every position he’s been in and Michigan hopes that it will translate to his alma mater.

There’s still a great deal of uncertainty at the quarterback position for the Wolverines with the departure of Devin Gardner. Junior Shane Morris and senior Iowa transfer Jake Rudock are still competing for the starting job this season. Rudock has more experience and had a pretty good statistical season with Iowa last year which likely makes him the front-runner. Experience at quarterback is always important with a new coaching staff.

Offensively, the receivers probably won’t be a great unit this year. Devin Funchess won’t be returning which means that Amara Darboh will be the most seasoned receiver on the staff. They also didn’t have a lot of production out of the running game last year which could be problematic. The defense on the other hand should be a pretty strong group. They’ll keep them in a lot of games and the offense should be good enough to win lower scoring games.

Prediction: The Wolverines will take a step forward this season under Harbaugh and should be in the national spotlight again very soon. I expect the team to win 7-8 games and return to a bowl game. I also expect Rudock to be named the starting quarterback, or at least get the majority of the snaps for the national opener against Utah this week. They play in the stronger division, though, so they’ll finish no higher than third in the East.

Jason Shawley is a Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com covering Big Ten Football. Follow him on Twitter @jshawls.