While we're talking about Harbaugh and player development and such... it's pretty well documented that the vast majority of people who have played for him hate his guts. At Stanford, it worked out because most of the kids at Stanford he inherited were there because they put education above all and also didn't really have great alternative options during their recruitment.
Doug Baldwin... the best skill player on that 12-1 team... had filled out papers to transfer to Vandy because he hated Harbaugh that much. He was talked out of it at the 11th hour by his mother who urged he play his senior year and graduate.
Richard Sherman doesn't like Harbaugh, at all. Off the record, he absolutely hates the guy. It goes back to Harbaugh trying to convince Sherman to play through an injury and not get surgery. Sherman went and got the surgery... what did Harbaugh do? Stuck him at the very bottom of the depth chart for WRs coming into the next year. People forget that Sherman started off at as a WR at Stanford and led the team in receiving as a freshman in 2006. In fact, Sherman was a freshman All-American WR. The entire reason Sherman switched to CB was that Harbaugh punished him for getting surgery in '08 and not playing through injury. This would be like Kelly sticking Mike Floyd at the bottom of the depth chart because Floyd decided he couldn't play through an injury and needed to get surgery. How do you think a move like this goes over at a major football school with media attention? I'll give you a hint... really, really badly. So then Sherman... who had spent 3 years at WR including a dominant freshman season when he was healthy... switches to CB because Harbaugh has made it clear he's not going to play him on O, but the defensive coaches manage their personnel and are willing to give him a fair shot. The rest is history. Oh, except the part where Harbaugh *allegedly* bad-mouthed both he and Baldwin to NFL scouts.
What happens at Michigan when you recruit 4 and 5 star guys with egos? What happens when things start going poorly? What happens when there is actual media exposure? It has serious potential for cataclysmic failure. There's a reason why Harbaugh was forced out by the 49ers after incredible on-field results, and a reason why there was so little interest from other NFL teams. There is a reason why many players hate him.
Will the school and players tolerate his antics if he's going 12-0? sure. But at 8-4? Reallllly doubt it.
