ESPN panelist insists Jim Harbaugh is going to the NFL, for real this time
Usually, when the Jim Harbaugh to the NFL rumors start happening, they’re somewhere around early signing day in December. However, this year, for whatever reason, the national media has decided to wait about 48 hours before the Michigan football 2023 season kicks off.
A panel on ESPN’s morning show, ‘Get Up,’ was discussing Jim Harbaugh to the NFL, once again, led by former Louisville wide receiver Harry Douglas. Douglas conveniently decided to act like the year is 2015 instead of 2023 in projecting that Harbaugh prefers to be in the pro ranks instead of at his college football alma mater.
“His heart is in the National Football League, and I will watch a situation (being) the Cleveland Browns — that’s a situation I will watch,” Douglas said. “When you watch a Jim Harbaugh football team, they’re gonna be physical, they will have offensive linemen, they’re gonna have a D-line, they’re gonna be tough, they’re gonna have running backs, and they’re gonna have tight ends. They’re gonna have an athletic quarterback — that’s what they have in J.J. McCarthy, that’s what he had in Colin Kaepernick and Alex Smith when he was with the San Francisco 49ers when he won coach of the year in his rookie season. He’s had a ton of success in the National Football League.
“So, if Kevin Stefanski and the Cleveland Browns don’t get it together this year, we already know that ownership and Jimmy Haslam will do anything to get who they want, don’t be surprised.”
Could Jim Harbaugh leave after this season? Absolutely. Though he pledged to new University of Michigan president Santa J. Ono that he intends to be in Ann Arbor for the long haul, he’s intimated that multiple times and has looked at the NFL each of the past two offseasons. He wasn’t offered a job in 2022 but reportedly was offered the Denver Broncos job in 2023 and turned it down.
With Harbaugh’s Michigan-imposed three-game suspension, certainly, he could feel sour grapes and decide to move on. If he wins a national championship in 2023, he could also decide his work in Ann Arbor is finished and try to win a Super Bowl. However, every offseason since he arrived in Dec. 2014, except from 2020-21, there have been media pundits who have insisted that Harbaugh’s tenure at Michigan will be short-lived and that he’ll bolt for the NFL. Here we are in his ninth season at Michigan, and he hasn’t bolted.
And the Browns? Really? He’s going to go to Ohio and be in the same division as his brother, John, the coach of the Baltimore Ravens? All of this seems beyond far-fetched, even for the usual talking heads.
But sure, he will this time, you guys. For sure.
