Jim Harbaugh and the NFL: If not now, then when?
HOUSTON — In College Football it is Championship Monday, the night to crown a national champ.
In the NFL, it’s called Black Monday, the day after the regular-season finales when struggling franchises tend to fire their coaches.
In that crucible sits Jim Harbaugh, who will lead his college team, Michigan, into the title game against Washington at 7:30 p.m. ET just as any number of NFL clubs fire their current head coach with at least the hope that he might want to take the job.
We’ve seen the coaching carousel attempt to overshadow game action before. And we’ve seen pro teams covet college coaches before, even if it usually ends in failure.
We’ve never seen anything quite like this; one man in the middle of it all.
Not that he is going to discuss it.
“The future? I hope to have one,” Harbaugh said here Sunday. “Hope there's a tomorrow. Hope there's a day after tomorrow. I hope there's a next week, next month. I hope [there is] a next year. Hope to have a future.”
Harbaugh most certainly has a future.
He can stay at Michigan, his alma mater, which over the past eight seasons he has turned from struggling enterprise to the brink of a national championship. He has a new contract waiting for his signature that will pay him about $11 million per year, according to industry sources.
Or he can talk to the NFL, where multiple reports have the Los Angeles Chargers as particularly interested in speaking with him. Las Vegas could also jump in, even though interim coach Antonio Pierce may have done enough to secure the job. There will likely be others.
Harbaugh doesn’t carry the same risk as most college coaches, who tend to flame out in the NFL. He played quarterback for 14 years in the league and in 2011 jumped from Stanford to the San Francisco 49ers, who he led to a 44-19-1 record over four seasons. That includes three NFC championship game appearances and one trip to the Super Bowl — a 34-31 loss to Baltimore, which is coached by his brother, John.
Jim Harbaugh could even benefit from a new NFL rule that prohibits currently employed assistant coaches from talking with teams until after the divisional round of the playoffs on Jan. 21. He can speak to whomever he wants whenever he wants.
Does he want it though?
While multiple sources around Harbaugh believe he does, there is a prevailing unpredictability about a man who has never acted in a conventional manner.
“It’s Jim, in the end, who knows,” said one confidant.
Two years ago, after leading Michigan to its first ever college playoff appearance, Harbaugh sought out the Minnesota Vikings job, even flying to Minneapolis to interview. When he was turned down, he vowed that would be the end of his NFL interest.
However, a year ago he spoke with Denver, and multiple sources believe he could have had the Broncos job. Instead, he turned it down. The prospect of coaching what he believed was a loaded returning roster and national championship team at Michigan was too appealing.
It’s not believed that what happens Monday night will influence this choice this time. A championship would certainly provide a bookend to leave. Part of his motivation in returning to Ann Arbor was to restore a program that from 2008-14 had gone just 46-42 overall and 24-32 in the Big Ten. With three straight league titles — and three victories over Ohio State — that has been accomplished. A national title would go beyond even that — Harbaugh’s coach and mentor, Bo Schembechler, never won one.
That said, Harbaugh is prone to emotion, and the goodwill and nostalgia of a title could also keep him in Ann Arbor, sources close to him said.
And there is an appreciation to the Michigan administration that has stood firmly behind him in the face of multiple NCAA investigations and incidents.
One case involves a Level I charge against Harbaugh for not being forthcoming when questioned about a series of Level II violations. Michigan self-imposed a three-game suspension of the coach to start the 2023 season, but the NCAA is seeking additional punishment.
A second case involves an advanced scouting operation designed to aid in the stealing of opposing signals operated by ex-staffer, Connor Stalions. Harbaugh hasn’t been directly implicated in that one, although the Big Ten sat him for the final three games of the season already.
The NFL offers an escape from that headache, and Harbaugh has long called winning the Super Bowl the “ultimate” accomplishment. Falling so short with the Niners has grinded on him — San Francisco reached the Baltimore 5-yard line on its final drive.
Finally, there is the timing. At age 60, Harbaugh is at a prime age to move back to the NFL. While Bill Belichick and Pete Carroll coached this season in their 70s, it’s reasonable to wonder if not now for Harbaugh, then when?
The Chargers, specifically, could offer a chance to coach a top-line quarterback in Justin Herbert, a key to NFL success. If Harbaugh wants to do this, what better opportunity is reasonably going to come along? If he wants to stay in college, then he should commit to that and double down on his advocacy for revenue sharing with athletes.
Right now, perhaps no one knows exactly what's in the future for Harbaugh, including Harbaugh himself. He hired an NFL agent, Don Yee, to test the waters, but someone still has to offer a job that is superior to the one he has at Michigan.
"I'll gladly talk about the future next week," Harbaugh said.
In the meantime, everyone will be talking about him on Monday.
