Urban Meyer and Jim Harbaugh have ushered in a new chapter to The Game and the everlasting rivalry between Ohio State and Michigan.
It's an exciting new era for both teams — and there's a lot to cover. Thankfully, two new books profile each coach and their respective careers to get fans primed for the next matchup on Nov. 25.
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Angelique Chengelis, Michigan football beat writer for the Detroit News since 1992, wrote "Michigan Man: Jim Harbaugh and the Rebirth of Wolverines Football," to give readers a first-hand account of Harbaugh's 2016 season, his second in Ann Arbor. The Wolverines finished 10-3 for the second straight season and reached the Orange Bowl.
Chengelis balances Harbaugh the entertainer and Harbaugh the football coach. The book goes in depth into that season, which helped reestablish Michigan as a true national title contender. Chengelis told Sporting News the intent of the book was to show why Harbaugh was “the best fit to lift Michigan football out of the doldrums.”
On the other side of the rivalry, Ben Axelrod — who has covered Ohio State football since 2009 — wrote "Urban Meyer vs. College Football: The Case for College Football’s Greatest Coach." It's a book that raises the question: Could Meyer be remembered as the best to ever coach the game?
"The basis of the book is that with what he's accomplished between his three national titles and having the highest winning percentage of any coach to have coached as long as he has, Urban Meyer is now in a position where one could consider him the greatest coach in college football history,” Axelrod told SN.
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Axelrod compares Meyer, who is 63-7 at Ohio State and 167-30 overall, to several other historic coaches. It's an interesting read, given Meyer's impact on college football through stops at Utah, Florida and Ohio State.
"The book doesn't advocate for Meyer, so much as it lays the argument for his legacy out and compares it to others' throughout the sport's history," Axelrod said.
Regardless of what side of the rivalry you're on, Chengelis and Axelrod have provided intriguing material that should take readers deeper into the rivalry than ever before — and serve as excellent reading material before the next installment of The Game.
"Urban Meyer vs. College Football: The Case for College Football’s Greatest Coach" is available here.
"Michigan Man: Jim Harbaugh and the Rebirth of Wolverines Football" is available here.
