Opinion: Jim Harbaugh's NFL soap opera was nothing but smoke and noise for Michigan football
It’s Jim Harbaugh’s bizarro world. We just live in it. And it has turned into an exhausting, twisted, never-ending soap opera.
Will he get fired … or won’t he? Will he take a pay cut … or won’t he? Will he jump to the NFL… or won’t he? Will he sign an extension… or won’t he? Does he really have the audacity to interview with the Minnesota Vikings on national signing day… and then return to Ann Arbor?
It’s always something with Harbaugh, usually something over the top and strange.
And now… drum roll please.
The white smoke has appeared over the skies of Minnesota – and now it’s clear -- all of this was nothing but smoke and noise. Harbaugh is staying at Michigan football.
At 7:24 p.m. Wednesday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter broke the news: “Jim Harbaugh called Michigan to inform the school that, despite interviewing with the Vikings today, he will be returning to school for the 2022 season, sources tell ESPN. Michigan was, in the words of one source, 'elated' to get Harbaugh’s decision.”
Then, Schefter followed up with a tweet that I found even more interesting: “Jim Harbaugh told (Michigan athletic director) Warde Manuel that this would not be a re-occurring issue and he would stay at Michigan as long as it wants him, per sources.”
Pardon me if I roll my eyes. Listen, Harbaugh might believe that, at least right now. He might believe it with every ounce of his being. With an enthusiasm unknown to mankind ... blah, blah, blah.
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But this is a guy with a long track record of, well, constantly moving on. He's a builder, not a sustainer. On the day he was introduced as Michigan’s new coach, Harbaugh admitted as much.
"I've coached now at the University of San Diego,” he said in December 2014. “I've coached at Stanford University, at the 49ers for four years. I look at it like I'm going to construct a home or as a construction architect. I think of myself as more of a construction guy. You build a home, and hopefully it's a great cathedral. Then afterwards, they go tell you to build another one. 'There's some dirt down there, go build another home.' I feel like that again. I'm at that point where even though you've done well and built some pretty nice homes, you have to do it again, and you have to prove it again.”
He did, though, add this caveat: “But I would really like to live in one permanently.”
And again, I believe he believed that when he said it.
Believed it in his core.
Until, well, he didn’t.
Until he felt he had to prove himself some more. Until that construction bug hit him with a bad case of the seven-year itch.
Until he saw a new patch of dirt in the NFL that needed another cathedral.
That is Jim Harbaugh.
He has a contract extension from Michigan sitting on his table. He was coming off a College Football Playoff berth. And he jetted off to Minnesota.
Because that’s who he is.
You don’t think that urge will hit again?
Even if he doesn’t realize it right now?
Schefter's tweet didn't say Harbaugh turned down the job.
It said he was returning.
Building, he can do
There is no question that Michigan has improved since Harbaugh arrived.
Think back to when he was hired. The Wolverines were coming off seven years combined of Rich Rodriguez and Brady Hoke. In Hoke’s final season, the Wolverines were coming off a 5-7 season, and one of only four Big Ten teams not in a bowl game. At that moment, Ohio State was getting ready to play in a CFP semifinal.
There is no question the program has improved under Harbaugh.
The Wolverines now are coming off a tremendously successful 12-2 season, which included beating Ohio State for the first time under Harbaugh, winning the Big Ten for the first time in 17 years and reaching the CFP for the first time.
And what did Harbaugh do?
He made it known that he was interested in the NFL. He started looking for a new patch of dirt to build something.
That’s who he is.
That’s a pretty ballsy thing for a guy who has such a complicated legacy at Michigan: The program is in a better place than when he arrived. That much is obvious. But he was never the savior that many expected.
There has been no "Ten Year War" with Ohio State — just five straight losses before beating the Buckeyes in their down year.
There has been no run on Big Ten championships — just a single crown in the last seven years, the same as Michigan State and Penn State, while Ohio State has four.
There has been no dominance over the Spartans — Harbaugh has yet to beat MSU coach Mel Tucker.
There has been little success in bowl games – Harbaugh has a 1-5 bowl record, the second worst in school history.
There was no national title — just a blowout against Georgia. Yes, Michigan is coming off a CFP appearance. Give Harbaugh credit for that. He did a fantastic job last season after getting humbled with a pay cut. But he failed to lift this program to the elite level — and by elite, I’m talking Georgia-level.
Harbaugh has a 61-24 record at Michigan — a .718 winning percentage, which ranks 11th in school history, according to Sports Reference.
For this, he has been compensated like no other football coach in Michigan history. He has made $50 million in his seven years, according to Paste BN. So what has Michigan gotten for that money?
Harbaugh has injected juice and life back into the program; and, by all accounts, he runs a clean program.
You could argue that Michigan is on the right track, that things have turned.
But you can just as easily argue that Michigan will have a hard time repeating last year’s success.
Did you see Ohio State in the Rose Bowl? The Buckeyes have some serious talent returning next year.
Yes, Michigan has high-end talent on offense in Donovan Edwards and J.J. McCarthy shows promise.
But Michigan also has serious concerns on defense. The Wolverines have lost two stud defensive linemen and a stud defensive back. Oh, and someone else. Someone significant — its freakin’ defensive coordinator.
I think it would be ill-advised to assume Michigan is going to take a step forward next year. Or even stay at the same level.
More likely, it will take a step back.
To be clear, Harbaugh has a lot of work left to do.
Money talks
College football has changed dramatically in the past seven years. This is not the same job that Harbaugh took back then. Everything is different in the age of NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) and the transfer portal.
But something else has changed: coaching salaries.
With the big bucks being thrown around to college football coaches — yes, Harbaugh can thank Mat Ishbia for raising the bar for everybody — Harbaugh is about to get a massive raise.
I’m sure he’ll sign an extension soon, and he deserves it in the current marketplace, coming off such a great year.
But still, I have one last question.
After the reports that he had already said goodbye to some in the Michigan program.
After the reports that he told recruits that he was considering leaving.
After all the twists and turns of this never-ending soap opera.
How in the world can he walk back into Schembechler Hall?
It’s Harbaugh, silly. Nothing phases him. He puts the bizarre into "bizarro world."
So after all this drama ... nothing has changed.