CC: Is it a bad sign that the $49 million offer was leaked?

Does anyone else feel like we're recruiting a 5-star high schooler like Da'Shawn Hand?  Everything seems like it should be favoring UM, but yet it just seems like for some reason or another it's never gonna happen grr.

The longer this drags out, the less like Harbaugh comes to Michigan.

meaning it has gained "credibility" in a lot of people's minds. Similar news has been floating around for about 2 weeks now from sources deemed by most as "not credible." I am not putting a negative spin on it.

All of the NFL was saying no way and all I kept seeing on here was everyone saying ''YES". What has changed? This has been on Mgoblog for at least a week with the offer it was laid out days ago.

The only difference is now, the espn is saying ooops it is possible.

LET'S GO WITH THAT IT is so much better than them saying yesterday that it was not possible.

Harbaugh is coming home!

is that it is for current players and this class's recruits.  Perhaps the vibe on the recruiting trail and among the current players was getting antsy.  If Harbaugh committed to come here and wanted it kept quiet, but players and recruits were getting antsy, both Harbaugh and UM might have agreed to leak it together.  Otherwise, UM leaking it (which seem to be what happened) is a bad thing.  Harbaugh's agent leaking it (which does not seem to be what happened), would be even worse.  If Harbaugh is primarily motivated by money, I think we lose.

Maybe I'm naive (and somewhere in the back of my head, I know I am), but I'd like to think Harbaugh has enough respect for his alma mater to not string us along as leverage. He doesn't need to do that. He's going to get paid handsomely wherever he goes, so I really don't think his decision will come down to money and trying to see what kind of green he can get out of other teams.

It's all just going to come down to whether or not he feels comfortable in the NFL anymore. I know I'm biased, but if his style doesn't work with one team (a team that's been to 3 NFC title games and 1 Super Bowl in 4 years, mind you), I really doubt its going to work well with others.

I'm glad an offer of that magnitude was made. In regards to the question, I'm not worried the offer was leaked. In this day and age, nothing is truly private or secret. Something would be leaked out eventually. Whenever a hire is made, I'm sure we will all know before an official announcement is made.

We are going to be one jaded MF-ing fan base if he turns us down.

This is a good thing for a number of reasons.  First, it says that the offer is out there are it's his to turn down.  If he does, he wants to be in the NFL and there's nothing Michigan could have done to change that.  If he ends up taking it in 2 weeks, recruits and everyone know today that he could be the guy and that Michigan is dead serious about being a national contender as soon as possible.  Any recruit looking around could be missing out on playing for national championships at Michigan under Harbaugh in the next 4 years.  

The other thing it does is put other coach's agents on alert.  If the deal falls through, I'm sure that there are other very successful head coaches interested in the Michigan job who have agents that will be contacting Michigan.  Chip Kelly makes 6.5M/yr.  Going to Michigan would be a nice raise.  Same thing for Stoops, Mora Jr, etc. At 8M per year, the place to be right now is Michigan. Period.

One last point that I think is important.  Florida just paid 5M to get Jim McElwain from Colorado St. Plus McElwain himself owes 2M. No buyout on Harbaugh means that we can offer extra money per year, making the 8M / yr easier to swallow. Plus, Hoke was paid 4.1M, so this is only a 3.9M /year increase. At 100,000 tickets for 7 home games, that's an increase of $4.50 a ticket.

No, it's not necessarily a bad sign that it was leaked.  Here is my take.

You all are losing sight of what Harbaugh has told his team and the media: there is still a lot to play for in this season.  Harbaugh is not the type of guy to say that, and then walk out on his team.  He really means shit like that, and he will finish the season focused on that goal. He is going to finish the year, and ONLY THEN is he is going to make a decision.   

It is not likely that either he or Michigan leaked this.  I would bet that someone in the 49ers caught wind of it and leaked it.  Part of their attempt to put together a trade.  The 49ers are in worse shape if they wait until 12/28 to try to do a deal; only the 49ers benefit from the information being out, as potential trade counterparts can factor it in to deliberations. 

Could go either way but as an optomist, I'm taking this as a positive for Michigan. There's too much smoke for this to not work out in UM's favor. I think it could be a reality check to all the "national" football writers who were stuck in their own arrogance that this was even possible. Now that the number is actually out there, people need to take Michigan seriously because Harbaugh is. 

Could this be a ploy by the AD to reduce the number of good NFL opportunities Harbaugh will have?  I don't think Harbaugh will rush a decision until he sees all the NFL offers out there, and I don't think Hackett has a guts to force Harbaugh to make a decision on Michigan before the NFL offers come in (we are, unfortunately, that desperate). 

So could the AD release this to put all NFL teams on notice that if they want Harbaugh, they will likely have to match $8 million / year (making him the highest paid coach in football), plus give up draft picks to the 49ers?  I don't see why the 49ers would just fire him when they can get draft picks if they trade him to another NFL team.  That would mean a NFL team would have to swallow $8 million / year + draft picks.  The only team I can see doing that is the Jets due to desperation (I don't see the Giants, Bears or Falcons willing to go that far).

No way JH would do that to us. Fuck anybody that says he would either.

CC: Hurley?

people can perceive whatever they want from it for all I care. With the 49ers and Michigan fallout happening at the same time, the stars are aligned to bring Harbaugh to AA.

with no shenanigans. (Is that spelled correctly?)

Didn't Sam or somebody report the exact same thing in like Monday? This is just getting mainstream attention now, but all agents and GMs would have known a few days ago.

The "leak" has been out for a while now.

I believe the formal offer wasn't made until today, ie Harbaugh speaking directly to Hackett. I suspect Hackett is forcing Harbaugh to show his hand, and may be the source of the rumors. With the playoff possibilities for the 49ers over, there really isn't a good argument for waiting for the season to be over. Remember, for the next two weeks we are the only ones who can negotiate with Harbaugh. Once the season is over the NFL teams in the market for a new coach can get in the mix, albeit with the 49ers as an interested party. It would be good to get Jim sewn up before that could happen. If JH insists on waiting, we really haven't lost anything, but it does suggest that he is ambivalent about coaching our team. In short, I think this is a masterful play by Hackett, not a sign that he isn't coming. If $8 mill/yr doesn't flush him out, nothing we can offer will, and we may as well get on to the next candidate. FWIW, at $8 mill/year, I think guys like Bob Stoops come into play, despite their previous exclamations about their undying loyalty for their current job.

I think Michigan has absolutely nothing to gain from leaking this information.

Even if it was a done deal, it's just wrong.  Don't like it.

Here's to hoping for the best!

I have a hard time believing that if it was leaked from his side they would've announced it today. The season doesn't end for two more weeks, if his agent had his say he would do it around that time when other teams could match or offer more

I think Harbaugh has already made up his mind and no NFL offer will change that. What people in the NFL don't understand is that there has never been a situation like this before. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Jim to be the saviour at his alma mater. On top of that, he's only 50 and there's plenty of time to go back to the NFL(Carroll was 58 when he went to Seattle).

No way JH would do that to us ...& fuck anybody that says he would.

If it was leaked it was leaked on purpose.

Harbaugh may be doing something horrible like leveraging it, but then we can all know what is what and move on.

I think he comes home personally, but if not at least there will be no more chase.

I'm perfectly calm, Dude.

Counterpoint to OP

What message does this send to every other high quality coach in America? i.e. Bob Stoops.