I've read several articles this week about the apparent implosion of the TTUN football program under Harbaugh.  Here is one (hopefully the link works...this is my first forum post!):

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ncaafb/signs-of-michigan-footballs-coll...

Short contract/no extension, poor communication, etc. are obviously problems, but the article indicates issues with roster attrition and recruiting mismanagement.  So, it seems like they are in a death spiral now.  The gap with Ohio State is huge and getting bigger - to the extent that TTUN is no longer considered a national powerhouse (or even a BIG East powerhouse).  

It strikes me, though, that this could have been the scenario for Ohio State back in the Cooper era.  The pain of 2-10-1 still leads to angst on the day of The Game and I know that is true for many on this site.  But, even for all of those losses, Cooper seemed to always bring in top recruits.  To me, Cooper's recruiting was the beginning of the national recruiting power that we now expect for Ohio State.  

Why hasn't Harbaugh been able to do what Cooper did: bring in top recruits despite losing annually to his main rival? 

Is it because of the differences in today's college game vs. 20 years ago?  Is it because of the lack of quality wins against other teams like Sparty or in Bowl Games?  Do I have a misperception about TTUN recruiting vs. Ohio State's in the Meyer/Day era?  Is it just because Michigan sucks (yes, this is definitely a huge part of it)?  I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this.