Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh agrees to contract extension through 2026
Two weeks after Jim Harbaugh interviewed with the Minnesota Vikings, Michigan football and its head coach agreed to a revised contract.
The amended deal, which lengthens his term by a year and now runs through 2026, was consummated 13 months after Harbaugh signed an incentive-based extension that nearly halved his salary and slashed the university’s buyout obligation.
The dollar figures of Harbaugh’s new contract were not disclosed, but the agreement provides a bookend to a strange, protracted chapter that has unfolded in the wake of the program’s maiden voyage in the College Football Playoff this past season.
"I love Michigan Football, the University of Michigan and the Ann Arbor community," Harbaugh said in a released statement. "My family and I are excited to continue leading this football program, and we are thankful for the support that our athletic department and university administration have demonstrated toward the team. I appreciate all that our players, coaches and staff are doing to excel on and off the football field. My enthusiasm for tomorrow, the day after and every day following is as high as ever, and we are ready to get on the practice field and start preparations for the 2022 season."
Harbaugh spent January contemplating a return to the NFL, where he had achieved success during a four-year run with the San Francisco 49ers.
The Minnesota Vikings formally interviewed him after initially engaging in exploratory conversations with him on Jan. 29.
When Harbaugh visited Minnesota on national signing day, the assumption then was that he was as good as gone.
But Harbaugh left the Vikings’ headquarters without an offer and immediately called athletic director Warde Manuel.
“I asked him if he wanted me to be the head coach. And he said, ‘Yes, 100 percent,’” Harbaugh told the Free Press. “And I said, OK then. That’s what I want to do.'
“And I told him, ‘Warde, this will not be a reoccurring theme every year. This was a one-time thing.”
Since that episode, Harbaugh hired a new defensive coordinator, Jesse Minter, and reorganized his staff.
The Wolverines will now try to pick up where they left off last season, when Harbaugh reached the highest point since taking charge of his alma mater’s program in December 2014.
Last fall, Michigan underwent a major reboot after crashing to a 2-4 recording in 2020. With six new assistants on board, Harbaugh transformed the Wolverines into a contender. The defense experienced a revival under 34-year-old coordinator Mike Macdonald, who has since left. The offense became a force with a punishing ground attack that vaulted to the top of the Big Ten in rushing. By the time Michigan played Ohio State at the end of the regular season, everything had coalesced as the Wolverines defeated the Buckeyes for the first time since 2011. The following week, Michigan crushed Iowa to win its first conference title since 2004, earn its first berth in the CFP and achieve its highest victory total since it claimed a share of the national championship in 1997.
Everything seemed to be trending in the right direction.
But the momentum ebbed when the Wolverines suffered a resounding defeat in the national semifinal and Harbaugh’s flirtation with the NFL began.
Now that there is a resolution with Harbaugh’s contract, Michigan hopes its rise can continue.
“Jim has done a great job coaching and developing the young men in our football program,” Manuel said in a statement.. “Last season, Jim along with the staff and players delivered a memorable season that will remain with all of us for a long time. As Coach said, this is just the beginning … I have the utmost confidence in the direction of the program under Jim's leadership.”