Jim Harbaugh holds all the cards, but here's why he shouldn’t leave Michigan for NFL
Here we go again — again.
With the kind regularity we should now expect for such unfailingly reliable events like the sun rising, rain being wet and voting for speaker of the House of Representatives, Jim Harbaugh is drawing interest once again from the NFL.
It feels like from the moment Harbaugh was hired to coach Michigan football in late 2014, there has been talk about him returning to the NFL. Most of the time, it’s been little more than rumors.
Last year, we found out it was more than that. This year, it feels like it’s more than that again for one simple reason: Harbaugh has become a proven winner with a red-hot resume, which means he’s holding all the cards.
Last year’s run to the College Football Playoff is no longer an anomaly. The fact he did it with two different quarterbacks suggests to NFL owners that he knows how to identify the right quarterback and win big with him. He proved it years earlier with the San Francisco 49ers and reaffirmed his capability this year. It’s simply too coveted a skill set for the NFL to pass up.
This is why Harbaugh holds all the cards right now, when it comes to handling interest from NFL teams and possibly parlaying that into a better situation at Michigan. If he takes an NFL job and bombs, he would still have his pick of college jobs. That’s an incredible amount of leverage.
But let’s back up. Didn’t Harbaugh sort of promise he wouldn’t flirt with the NFL after his interview with the Minnesota Vikings went sideways last year? Indeed, he told the Detroit Free Press in February, shortly after the Vikings job fell through, that he told athletic director Warde Manuel "this will not be a reoccurring theme every year. This was a one-time thing."
So let’s be clear about that statement. Harbaugh could be keeping his word, because we don’t know how one-sided these "discussions," if you will, with the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos have been. Perhaps they’ve been a mere courtesy response from Harbaugh’s side. But perhaps more.
The most definitive report has come from Queen City News, a Fox-television affiliate in Charlotte, which reported late Tuesday that Harbaugh didn’t interview for the Panthers job, but had "only a conversation about the position" with owner David Tepper. Harbaugh then told the TV station, "Although no one knows the future, I think I will be coaching Michigan next year."
On Monday, the Athletic reported "multiple sources" close to Harbaugh expect him to leave Michigan if an NFL franchise offers him a coaching job. This is a little hard to swallow on its face, because not all offers are created equal.
One would think a key component to any offer Harbaugh might accept would be having complete team control. He didn’t have that with the 49ers and left after he lost a power struggle with then-general manager Trent Baalke. Harbaugh has a strong personality and I’m sure he learned a big lesson about the perils of sharing power.
This almost feels like people in Harbaugh’s camp are trying to drive up his price — in the NFL or at Michigan. How could you know he’ll jump at any NFL offer? Besides that, why would he?
Sure, there’s that Super Bowl thing. Harbaugh lost to his brother’s Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl XLVII, and it gnawed at him for years.
"There was a pull to the NFL because I got that close to the Super Bowl," he told the Free Press last year, "but this was the time (to try and return). And this is the last time. Now let’s go chase college football’s greatest prize."
Does it still gnaw at him? Does it kill him that his brother, John, will always have bragging rights?
Could it be about the money? Probably not. He signed a contract extension with Michigan last year through 2026 that pays him an average of $8.34 million. Not many NFL coaches make too much more than that, though Bill Belichick tops out at around $20 million a year. Harbaugh's brother, John, reportedly earns $12 million a year, so maybe the salary Harbaugh is looking for is something in the ballpark of $12,000,001.
I can’t blame Harbaugh or his camp for trying to leverage the excellence he has achieved en route to a 25-3 record in two seasons that have included two CFP appearances, two Big Ten titles and two soul-cleansing shellackings of Ohio State.
Only Harbaugh knows what’s in his heart and the aching that lives within it over present discomfort or the past’s unfulfilled dreams. But I know this. Harbaugh’s legacy is tied to Michigan, not the NFL. He’s 59 and maybe he can follow Pete Carroll’s path, return to the NFL to win a Super Bowl and coach into his 70s. But it’s unlikely.
For better or worse, Harbaugh has redefined football at this football school. His early shenanigans and the torrid pace of his recent winning has upended the block M, turning into a W on the field, in donation coffers and among those who measure academic esteem.
It’s hard to measure what that’s worth. NFL teams are trying to do that very thing right now. Perhaps Michigan should, too.
Contact Carlos Monarrez: cmonarrez@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @cmonarrez.