The thing that is going to make Jim Harbaugh so valuable when he comes back to the NFL is you know he is going to be laser-focused on winning a Super Bowl in the first year or two. It's going to be very much like the effect Parcells had when he came to the Jets. Whether that team gets lucky or not aside from the laser-focus will tell the tale.
If Ohio State loses I think he’s more likely to stay. He’s overtaken them as the 3rd best program in the country. If OSU wins tonight and plays a close National Championship I think he’s more inclined to leave. He very badly wants to be the first to win both. This year was really his best chance.
I think he will see a loss here as unfinished business. I don't think OSU is likely to come into the picture in the overall decision.
Winning a Nat Championship will get harder every year TCU just put Harbaughs dreams with Michigan to rest...and the Frogs may be good enough to trump OSU or Georgia ..who knows?? Tonight s games have been shockers since Mich and Geogia were highly favored smh
Jimmy Johnson, Barry Switzer, and Pete Carroll have all won college national championships and Super Bowls.
Harbaugh is going to come back for at least one more try. He's a Michigan man and I am sure winning a National Championship there is on his bucket list. Good timing for us if that happens since JD and Saleh are going to get another season most likely.
My two cents: A year ago I said I thought he was likely to leave after last year and I stand by that 100%.* He interviewed with Minnesota on National Signing Day. The timing of that is pretty effing significant. He was either (a) angling for a salary bump after taking a huge cut the year before, or (b) he was genuinely looking to coach in Minnesota but wasn't offered the job. He got the salary bump, but as college coaching contracts go, it wasn’t a long term extension and has a pretty low buyout. He’s also still only the fourth highest paid coach in the Big10, and soon to be the fifth when USC is formally onboard (we don’t know for sure what Lincoln Riley makes but it’s almost certainly in the top five nationally). Harbaugh isn’t even the highest paid coach in the State of Michigan, which must really fry his ass. A year ago he had clearly lost some of the early enthusiasm he had with recruiting. That really hasn’t changed, although he’s been one of the more successful coaches at working the transfer portal. But those aren’t kids whose parents he looked in the eye while he told them his vision for their child’s future. Add to that - his latest comments about jumping to the NFL were bizarre. Not the sort of thing you’d hear from a coach fixed on staying. Jim Harbaugh has accomplished as much as he could ever hope to at Michigan. Unless he wants to stay long-term, he’s as high on the all-time wins list as he’ll ever get. He brought UM to two straight playoff appearances and beat Ohio State in two straight years - a pretty nice jumping-off point. His stock is at its absolute highest. Add to all that two other factors. First, adding USC and UCLA will reduce the Big10 cupcake schedule, make winning a conference championship and recruiting on the West Coast (which UM has always done really well) a little tougher. Second, and maybe more importantly, UM fans are talking really negatively about his annual NFL flirtation. He either has to sign another extension and commit to UM for the foreseeable future or leave. Go or stay. Michigan fans won’t hate him for leaving in 2023, but he's risking his reputation in the history of UM football if he keeps dicking around with NFL teams after every season. If the rumors are true, he has interest from Carolina and Indianapolis. Maybe one or two more in a couple week. Of those two, I have to think Indy would be high on his list. There's been mention of Denver also, but that seems like it was just a suggestion of a "good fit" without any legs. If I were betting, I’d say an offer from Indy leaves a coaching position open in Michigan. Remember also, a year ago when the Harbaugh/NFL rumors started it was already late in the NFL hiring cycle. He interviewed in early February. A week later, all positions were filled. Minnesota was really the only open job at the time he interviewed, and by all accounts they passed on him. This year serious chatter has started much earlier, before the college and NFL seasons have even closed out. Seems like he (or the people around him) aren't letting coaching opportunities pass this time around without adding his name into the mix.
Adding to the drama…. Michigan football, Jim Harbaugh expected to receive allegations of misconduct from NCAA Ryan Ford and David Jesse Detroit Free Press January 5, 2023 If Jim Harbaugh is indeed staying with Michigan football for 2023, per his statement on Thursday afternoon, he’ll apparently have to deal with a Level I violation of NCAA regulations. The Free Press has confirmed that Michigan is expected to receive an official notice of allegations from the NCAA soon, charging the program with four Level II violations — those deemed “more than a minimal but less than a substantial or extensive recruiting, competitive or other advantage” according to a description adopted in 2019 — and Harbaugh himself with a Level I violation — a “severe breach of conduct” that “seriously undermine or threaten the integrity of college sports,” per the guidelines. (snip)
This seems like it's about the NCAA trying to flex its muscles and assert its relevance in an era when college athletics are Dodge City. UM self-reported recruiting violations during the COVID restricted period. Piddly shit. Tennessee and a handful of other schools self-reported the same thing and nothing big came from any of it. But Harbaugh withholding info or misleading NCAA investigators gives some NCAA empty-shirt something to do.
Can’t imagine the result would have been much different tonight if Georgia played Michigan, so Jim should be thankful to TCU for saving him the embarrassment.
It occurred to me as I was watching the timeline of the NCAA investigation that Jim Harbaugh really does not work well with others when his authority is challenged. If you're going to make him an offer it really needs to be as the Big Cheese because otherwise he will eventually butt heads with somebody in a similar position of authority and things will get rocky.
Michigan and their "Free Harbaugh," Centipede Formation, "Just a Cheeseburger," drama queen bullshit - versus - the boobs at the NCAA, craving relevance, praying for their phoney-baloney jobs and doing everything they can to ruin the product on the field. I can't for someone to lose this one. It's not even a fun battle.
Michigan trying to sign Harbaugh to a 5-yr 55-million-dollar extension. Jim Harbaugh in lucrative extension talks with Michigan (msn.com)
