Reputable Rumor: Harbaugh has signed another contract extension
Ok. Pretty sure I'm going to be rightfully pilloried for this post (fastest post ever to -1000 points, etc.), but I thought it was worth adding to the discussion...
I have a source who is extremely well connected within the Stanford Administration. He was chatting with the University president recently and relayed this to piece of news:
Stanford has been acutely aware of the RR situation and was not willing to watch its hot young coach get poached. As such, they offered JH a contract extension this week (on top of the one he signed last year). Harbaugh signed the extension this week. The extension likely has a much higher buyout clause than previous one. This story has not leaked to the press and may not for a while. Stanford, as a private institution, is not required to report on any dealings with its employees.
I doubt this has anything to do with RR's job status. I read it as Stanford simply being proactive in protecting its coach. What I do think it means is that JH is highly unlikely to come to Michigan.
I recognize that alot of people will think this is useless rumor mongering. Take it FWIW, but I think its plausible that Stanford (which frankly has much deeper pockets overall than Michigan) was not going to simply let another coach walk away after one good season.
December 5th, 2010 at 9:44 PM ^
I recognize that alot of people will think this is useless rumor mongering.
Gee, you think?
December 5th, 2010 at 10:42 PM ^
Apparently, this is more than rumor.
http://www.greenwichtime.com/sports/article/Stanford-hopeful-Harbaugh-will-stay-862523.php
December 5th, 2010 at 10:44 PM ^
Here's a link (different source):
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/12/05/sports/s191…
Everyone can decide on their own...
December 5th, 2010 at 10:59 PM ^
for the source. It doesn't really tell me much except Stanford may offer an extension. Harbaugh said he is happy at Stanford. I am happy eating jelly beans, but I am even more happy eating cookies and cream ice cream. Happy is about as ambiguous as you can get in coach speak. The only other thing besides being happy is being sad. He isn't sad about going to the Orange Bowl and being 12-1.
December 5th, 2010 at 11:00 PM ^
Of course Stanford was going to offer Harbaugh an extension and raise. Stanford just had one of their best seasons in school history. But if Harbaugh has not signed it yet, he is still in play. I don't think this changes anything right now.
And remember, Rodriguez had signed an extension the year before leaving WVU for Michigan.
December 5th, 2010 at 11:05 PM ^
Harbaugh would be stupid to not sign an extension and a raise. He doesn't have a gurantee that he is going to be offered NFL or the Michigan job yet. As long as his buyout isn't raised, why not.
December 5th, 2010 at 11:16 PM ^
Sure he may not have an offer, but why not wait. It's not like Stanford is going to say sign or be fired.
Although, a raise is nice to have. After thinking about it, I have no idea. Starting to over think this whole thing.
December 5th, 2010 at 11:16 PM ^
The Stanford AD will design the offer to expire in one week (or some other limited time frame before Jan 1).
December 6th, 2010 at 9:16 AM ^
Harbaugh starts calling up NFL teams. Or demands an extension and raise to stay. It's not like the President is working from a position of power. Particularly if he wins the bowl game.
December 6th, 2010 at 10:07 AM ^
Is that standard? It seems like a great way to foster ill-will between you and coach you are hoping to retain.
December 5th, 2010 at 11:31 PM ^
And .... another link:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/football/ncaa/12/05/stanford.harb…
December 6th, 2010 at 1:08 AM ^
and it's often unnecessarily snide.
Go away for a while please.
(directed at David from Wyoming)
December 6th, 2010 at 10:28 AM ^
Good don't want him. We already have our coach.
December 5th, 2010 at 9:46 PM ^
in before mushroom cloud
December 6th, 2010 at 1:40 AM ^
CC:
DB: JH > RR bc
RR O#6 + D#109: AVG = 57, UM 7-5,
#16(2011/2012) > #16(2010), CB#29(2011) > AMSHG
OC >300 lbs, DC yrs > 60 + W% @SU ≈0
DN = +UM / DFP = -UM / DFP: RR != MM
hwvr.
JH, O#16 + D#24: AVG = 20, SU 11-1
SU = #5 U n US > UM #29 U n US ∴ HC@SU < HC@UM
RR= $$, JH11 <'11=$$$$$, JH>'11 = $$$$$-1.5$
MSC : "NSFMF - MBB HC TA = 6yrs"
RR: "YMRMFSCA: ME"
JH: "YMRMFSCA: BO"
UMHC2011 = ?????
UM v. MSU @JAX1:30pm 1/01 ∴CC != < 1/02/11
P.S.
1MD @DPZ = $5.55
2282 S Mn. St. AA, MI 48104
December 6th, 2010 at 6:56 PM ^
The anguish of this great fanbase summed up in as few characters as possible. Well done, Nick.
December 5th, 2010 at 9:52 PM ^
"well gaaaaadzooks sarge"
-grandpa enis
December 5th, 2010 at 10:20 PM ^
I must be sick and twisted because this actually makes me laugh every time I see it. I think it is subliminal because I see my second favorite writer. Love me some Hunter S.
December 5th, 2010 at 11:04 PM ^
I chuckle. I don't know why. I also hear the word DOOOOOOOM in my head.
December 6th, 2010 at 10:35 AM ^
I watch this every time it is posted on a thread.... I really need to become more self-disciplined...
December 5th, 2010 at 9:47 PM ^
OP must be a waiter.
December 5th, 2010 at 9:48 PM ^
but I think its plausible that Stanford (which frankly has much deeper pockets overall than Michigan) was not going to simply let another coach walk away after one good season.I'm not going to get into the useless rumormongering aspect of this post, but is the notion that Stanford "has deeper pockets" even true? I know Stanford has a much larger endowment, but is that money willing to put that much money into its football coach? My understanding is that Stanford's athletic department - like that of most universities that don't have a huge revenue driving football team like we do - is in the red. I have no idea if any aspect of your post is true, but I'm not convinced that they'd be willing to outspend anybody to retain Harbaugh's services.
December 5th, 2010 at 10:04 PM ^
Michigan athletic department has much deeper pockets than Stanford, and it is not close. Stanford's athletic program is struggling to stay in the black and had to make several cuts last year.
http://articles.sfgate.com/2009-01-21/sports/17198126_1_salary-cuts-staff-cuts-dick-gould
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2009/march4/athletics-staff-reduction-030409.html
University endowment plays a small role in funding athletics. The endowment supports the entire university. Football revenues and donations drive athletic funds. Stanford will never match Michigan in that respect. Check out this article's key quote:
Part of Stanford's problem has been the football program's inability to fill Stanford Stadium.
"If we could consistently draw bigger crowds, we could solve a lot of our problems," Bowlsby said. Coach Jim Harbaugh "has done a great job, we had a great recruiting class, and we think we'll be a fun team to watch. But you can't bank on those revenues, especially in a soft economy."
http://articles.sfgate.com/2009-02-26/sports/17188844_1_staff-cuts-endowment-staff-members
December 5th, 2010 at 9:58 PM ^
December 5th, 2010 at 10:08 PM ^
December 5th, 2010 at 10:00 PM ^
Who are not friends with the President, but do follow Stanford football, have been worried about the opposite problem: that Stanford doesn't care about football, and that the administration has indicated that they aren't willing to pay up to retain Harbaugh.
I guess we'll see who's right.
December 6th, 2010 at 10:12 AM ^
I call bullshit on you having friends there--there are no communists in Palo Alto.
December 6th, 2010 at 7:28 PM ^
As long as John Arrillaga is alive, Stanford will have deep pockets and funding for football. Arrillaga was the brains behind Jimbo's private crapper.
Arrillaga's wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Arrillaga
December 5th, 2010 at 10:03 PM ^
Stanford does put out 35 varsity sports (Michigan plays 25 by comparison), most if not all of which lose money (as non-revenue sports are prone to do). Not sure if they have access to the general fund (which I'm pretty sure Michigan does not) but they don't seem to have a problem investing in no-name sports if it means a SEARS Trophy (I don't know what they call that award now) every year.
I don't think they would have any trouble giving Harbaugh another million or two a year (which would put him in as good a tax bracket as Rodriguez) if it meant he would stick around.
December 5th, 2010 at 10:10 PM ^
This is a Stanford blogger's perspective. It's an interesting read.
At the risk of speaking heresy, what I take away from this is not immediately that Stanford should triple Harbaugh’s salary, but rather that Stanford should think about what it means to become a football powerhouse.
December 5th, 2010 at 10:14 PM ^
Stanford has a $15 billion endowment. The dividends, interest, or whatever they are earning on that capital could easily cover a significant pay raise for Harbaugh. The only question is whether or not the people running Stanford will authorize that type of expenditure.
December 6th, 2010 at 1:14 AM ^
that endowment was practically cut in half. Fell victim to the investment crisis along with some of the Ivy League schools.
That's beside the point. Their fan base (what there is of it) has responded poorly to the team's success. Also, much of the Stanford community screamed bloody murder the last time proposal of a raise/extension came up for Harbaugh... Not exactly an ideal environment to coach in.
December 5th, 2010 at 9:48 PM ^
Harbaugh, unless he's a moron, would wait until January 10th to sign said contract in order to do due diligence for himself and his family in order to make sure an amazing offer didn't appear. why in the hell would he do that without knowing what Michigan had to offer?
i call this story FALSE
December 5th, 2010 at 9:55 PM ^
Agreed. Unless DB has already talked to him extensively, which I find very unlikely.
December 5th, 2010 at 10:29 PM ^
Why is it unlikely?
December 5th, 2010 at 11:21 PM ^
if you mean Stanford: tampering
if you mean the offer not being higher from M: desperation exists
December 6th, 2010 at 8:21 AM ^
DB has probably not talked to Harbaugh directly at least regarding the coaching position at the University of Michigan. That said Brandon could have been talking to Harbaugh's lawyer, agent or mutual friend to gauge interest. That most likely has occurred.
December 5th, 2010 at 10:21 PM ^
A lot of coaches have different buyout exceptions written into their contracts. I think the rumor was that Urban Meyer has/had a provision written in to allow him to jump to Notre Dame when he accepted the Florida job. As a private school, Stanford doesn't have to disclose its deals, but if Harbaugh does see Michigan as a "dream job," it's in there. He's got a ton of leverage right now, and could have pushed an extension while adding in a Michigan or NFL exception to his buyout.
Just adding useless speculation.
December 5th, 2010 at 11:24 PM ^
would be a no shit element that would not protect Stanford from anything. it would make zero sense to extend him with that clause. it would only make sense to extend him with a huge buyout and no exception
December 6th, 2010 at 12:31 AM ^
Stanford could just be trying to sweeten its own pot for him. There are some really nice advantages to the Bay Area and another $500K might push him to stay regardless.
Anyways, that's why these threads are ultimately awful for everyone. Getting worked up about hypotheticals is why I don't follow recruiting closely and why I shouldn't read these posts either.
December 5th, 2010 at 9:48 PM ^
Understood that as a private institution they don't have to report on dealings with employees...but why would they not make the head football coach's contract extension public?
December 5th, 2010 at 10:01 PM ^
That many Stanford faculty members would resent so much money going to a football coach, and give the administration a hard time about it.
December 5th, 2010 at 10:10 PM ^
Regardless of whether or not it hits the news, Stanford faculty will know what he's making.
December 5th, 2010 at 10:43 PM ^
It would seem that they could announce that he has signed a contract extension (to put rumors of him leaving to rest) without actually disclosing the pay.
December 6th, 2010 at 8:27 AM ^
the extention will not stop an NFL or a Michigan from looking at Harbaugh as their next coach. I will assume that the buyout will be in the $4M-$5M range, which will preclude some schools without a lot of money like Miami (YTM) from looking at him. A $5M buyout didn't stop us the last time.
All this does is narrow the number of potential suitors for Harbaugh.
December 6th, 2010 at 1:17 AM ^
that they would, and in fact, already have.