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Moving on from Jim Harbaugh would be costly for Michigan football


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The final stretch of the season yielded disappointment — another crushing loss to Ohio State and one more defeat in a bowl game.

But Jim Harbaugh’s future with Michigan football seemed secure last January. He was 47-18 heading into the penultimate year of his contract and until this point made the Wolverines relevant on the national stage. Only months before, athletic director Warde Manuel reiterated his desire for Harbaugh to remain at his alma mater until the coach retired.

So, where was the extension that would keep Harbaugh in Ann Arbor for the foreseeable future? In July, Harbaugh revealed that contract negotiations were underway before the onset of a global pandemic caused those discussions to be tabled indefinitely.  

“I think there’s bigger fish to fry — for our athletic director, for our administration, for me as a coach,” Harbaugh said then. “It hasn’t been on the top of the priority list. I would expect something, (that) there will be an announcement some time.”

But it has yet to happen and now Harbaugh’s status with the school is unclear entering Saturday's annual rivalry game against Ohio State. The Wolverines have slogged through this truncated Big Ten season with a 2-4 record and were upset by Michigan State, beaten by Indiana for the first time 33 years and suffered the most lopsided home defeat since 1935 during an ugly affair against Wisconsin.

The struggles on the field have been exacerbated by the financial troubles off it. Reduced revenues, particularly from the pandemic-related loss of ticket sales inside Michigan Stadium in 2020, led to the layoffs of 21 athletic department employees and salary reductions for others, including Manuel, Harbaugh and basketball coach Juwan Howard. In October, Manuel predicted that Michigan’s deficit would reach $80 million even with the return of football.

The cost of firing Harbaugh would only cause that number to swell. But by how much? The Free Press and USA Today Sports calculated the buyout figure based on the scenario of terminating him the day after the final game of the season on Dec. 20 and retaining his staff through Jan. 10 — the expiration date attached to the contracts of six assistant coaches. Under this scenario, Michigan would have to pay out as much as $10.775 million to clean house and start anew. Harbaugh would be owed around $6.4 million for the remainder of a deal that is set to end three days after the final game of the 2021 season is played. Five of his assistants — offensive coordinator Josh Gattis, defensive coordinator Don Brown, linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary, safeties coach Bob Shoop and director of strength and conditioning Ben Herbert — would be due $4.375 million because their pacts with the school don’t dissolve until 2022.

Meanwhile the contracts for offensive line coach Ed Warinner, quarterbacks coach Ben McDaniels, tight ends coach Sherrone Moore, running backs coach Jay Harbaugh, defensive line coach Shaun Nua and cornerbacks coach Mike Zordich would be off the books after Jan. 10, the date their deals are set to expire.

If the Wolverines make a regime change, Harbaugh and his assistants each have provisions in their contracts requiring them to make timely and reasonable efforts to find another job upon being terminated by U-M. The amount paid to the coaches by a new employer would offset some of the money Michigan would owe in a buyout situation.

Such a scenario would provide the athletic department some financial relief but not nearly enough to offset the cost of hiring a new head coach and staff. This year, approximately $14 million was invested in Harbaugh, his 10 on-field assistants and Herbert. Even more money would be allocated toward new personnel in support roles.

As Manuel and Michigan’s administration take inventory of the football program, and weigh the cost/benefit of giving Harbaugh a contract extension, they must assess whether the university stands to lose more by retaining Harbaugh than letting him go. 

“If the powers that be decide there is a problem,” Wolverines offensive lineman Andrew Stueber said after their latest loss, “then so be it.”

But whatever move they make it will be fraught with major implications that affect the results on the field and the bottom line. It’s the price they’ll pay for not resolving Harbaugh’s future in the offseason.

Contact Rainer Sabin at rsabin@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @RainerSabin. Read more on the Michigan Wolverines, Michigan State Spartans and sign up for our Big Ten newsletter.