Report: Harbaugh Remains
After a moribund 24 hours, Schefter dropped a Schef-Bomb.
Jim Harbaugh called Michigan to inform the school that, despite interviewing with the Vikings today, he will be returning to school for the 2022 season, sources tell ESPN. Michigan was, in the words of one source, “elated” to get Harbaugh’s decision.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 3, 2022
According to multiple reports, Harbaugh left Ann Arbor with goodbyes and expected to take the Vikings head coaching job if offered. Apparently it wasn’t offered, or else the meeting convinced Harbaugh that Minnesota’s situation is a worse bet than coming back to Michigan and beating Ohio State again.
Michigan will happily have him back, and resume their search for a defensive coordinator. With Harbaugh’s interest in returning to the NFL established, preparing (or hiring) a coach-in-waiting might not be a terrible idea.
February 2nd, 2022 at 7:45 PM ^
Jim Harbaugh loves Michigan, Let the man be who he is, and appreciate everything he does for the school and his players
February 2nd, 2022 at 8:01 PM ^
Absolutely! Let's help him make this a good decision by showing full support, through wins and losses.
Welcome back Coach!
February 2nd, 2022 at 8:21 PM ^
I hope is the fan base here learns one thing it’s to stop listening to Chris Balas. That clown was wrong again as last night he said it was a done deal and today JH would be introduced as the Vikings head coach. That guy throws shit against the wall daily and occasionally something sticks and he tries to pass himself off as an insider. Now after saying that it’s good to have coach back and wanting to stay for ever
February 2nd, 2022 at 8:24 PM ^
He's definitely not perfect. I remember when he was talking a whole bunch of shit this summer about how people would be so scared of covid and that we'd be lucky to hit 90k at our home games this past year.
February 3rd, 2022 at 9:25 AM ^
Balas is a tool. Always has been.
February 3rd, 2022 at 10:16 AM ^
He wasn't wrong. Harbaugh thought the job was his and was going to sign. The Vikings when Harbaugh got there told him that this is a legit Interview and you are not guaranteed the job. So when Harbaugh wasn't offered the job he decided to go back to Michigan. It is all out in the reports. CB got info from someone who had their information wrong is what I am guessing and that Harbaugh was leaving because at the time he thought the job was his. I don't follow Chris B. At all and have no idea about what he reports and doesn't but I understand why he reported that. Harbaugh was gone but because Harbaugh messed up thinking the job was his which it wasn't they were going to do a full search. Yes Harbaugh messed up he wouldn't be telling be bye and interview on national signing day. Even though this. New signing day doesn't mean much. So Warde needs to make a buyout clause that he owes Michigan money if he goes back to NFL. We now need a coach in waiting preparing for the day Harbaugh leaves again. If what he told Wills dad is true his dream is to win a Super Bowl and doesn't mention a College Championship. Also I should mention there were false reports put out there about Harbaugh and the NFL but I also think no one will know what really went on except Jim and his wife. Was it handled bad by Jim for the Michigan football program yes unless everyone knew exactly what was going on inside the program. Also regrading the media they are pretty much saying it looks bad to recruiting and nothing good is coming out of it as the look for Harbaugh. He is back now and time to move forward what is done is done and he needs to probably need to make some kind of reassurances to the team and coaches and anyone involved in the football program.
February 3rd, 2022 at 12:07 PM ^
It is all out in the reports.
And of course these reports are totally reliable?
February 3rd, 2022 at 12:16 PM ^
Well I tend to believe what Adam S. has to say. He is regraded as the most trust worthy source in the media. His phone is filled with thousands of numbers that he has two to three phones. I hate what Paul Big ears says and he is just piling on shit. But I do believe Adam and Angelique.
February 3rd, 2022 at 1:22 PM ^
All I know, is that you know nothing.
February 2nd, 2022 at 8:40 PM ^
What? This take is kinda delusional…
Let’s frame this in (perhaps) a more simple way. What if a girl friend left someone to “test the market” and then calls to inform she is coming home.. Are we supposed to be “elated”? Especially when said girl friend didn’t put out in 6 out of 7 years of the relationship… LOL
February 2nd, 2022 at 8:43 PM ^
didn’t put out in 6 out of 7 years
GTFO with this bullshit. He inherited a 5-7 team . . . 46-42 from 2008-14. Stop acting like he could just snap his fingers and be on level with OSU.
February 2nd, 2022 at 8:49 PM ^
Yeah but he couldn’t even consistently get the best of MSU/Wisky/PSU, let alone OSU.. and don’t even mention the bowl game record…
February 2nd, 2022 at 10:09 PM ^
Your posting history shows you should have been banned long ago. I’m guessing you are a Sparty pretending to be a UM fan. Sad.
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:04 PM ^
Add the two years prior (2006-2008) when Lloyd Carr retired on the job from recruiting. 10 years of a program lost at sea. Surprising he was able to rebuild a championship level program in 7 years.
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:32 PM ^
Meh, Michigan was three points away from beating OSU and making it to the championship in 2006. Maybe recruiting was falling off at the tail end, but this narrative that Lloyd called it in for a decade flies in the face of history.
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:44 PM ^
Carr almost single-handedly tanked the program on his way out.
February 2nd, 2022 at 10:21 PM ^
I hear that, and then I remember that we won some big bowl games at the end of his tenure and still had a fair amount of NFL talent in the roster. I feel like a very black and white picture is painted of the carr years. The story is more nuanced than that.
February 3rd, 2022 at 3:49 AM ^
No way. Lloyd Carr record at Michigan 122 - 40 over 13 years - that's an average of over 9 wins per season 3 losses. 2006 - classic game of all time against OSU a day after Bo dies, coulda should won that game. In the year he retires - we beat the defending National Championship team Florida with Tebow. I don't get all the people that don't appreciate what Lloyd did for Michigan. 5 Big 10 titles, 1 national title. How many NFL players did his program produce, not only that but of what quality were the players - how about the GOAT of all time. Or better yet how many years did Michigan's players that went to NFL play in total. And by trailing off at the end of his career - he had 6 players drafted in 2007.
play. https://mgoblue.com/news/2008/4/19/lloyd_carr_and_the_national_football_league_draft.aspx
February 3rd, 2022 at 5:34 AM ^
History be damned! That's the narrative that this websites proprietor has been pumping forever and it will remain the narrative.
If only Lloyd Carr and Jim Harbaugh really cared about winning, or UofM football, or the university we would have like a hundred more MNCs
February 2nd, 2022 at 10:39 PM ^
After inheriting that 5-7 team, Harbaugh had a better winning percentage over his first 6 full seasons than Lloyd Carr had over his last 6 seasons. Not that the fan base wasn’t trying to run Carr out of town at the end but at the very least he has the team back at the standard that Carr had it at.
Now someone will say “yes but Carr beat Ohio State consistently” and yes you are correct and beating Ohio State is very very important and Jim needs to do it more. But Harbaugh is also not losing to App State. In fact, excluding the COVID year, he has won VIRTUALLY EVERY SINGLE GAME against teams they should beat. Under Harbaugh they have lost just 7 games to teams that aren’t MSU, OSU or a bowl game. All 7 of those games were on the road and all 7 were to teams that were ranked at the end of the regular season. He has set a high floor for this program. Last year he showed signs of raising the ceiling
February 2nd, 2022 at 11:12 PM ^
Lloyd Carr started 5-1 against OSU and finished 1-6 against them for a total record of 6-7.
Carr’s last 7 years basically equals Harbaugh’s first 7 years.
February 2nd, 2022 at 11:57 PM ^
So the next few years are going to include a Natty and beating up on Ohio State Every year? I’ll take it!
February 2nd, 2022 at 8:46 PM ^
You and Harbaugh are not lovers. He is hired to complete a task for an organization for which you have a rooting interest.
February 2nd, 2022 at 8:51 PM ^
Just a general analogy my friend! Also meant to be a little humor mixed with some truth….
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:00 PM ^
Your analogy was as if your wife came to my place and got wore out for a weekend, then went home to you, at which point you started to compare our weekend tryst to Matt Rhule commenting on the Michigan job while being employed by the Carolina Panthers.
It’s analogies all the way down, pal.
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:20 PM ^
Reader71 might be my favorite poster today. Colorfully putting this troll in his place.
February 3rd, 2022 at 1:00 AM ^
Ha ha ha. You said "your wife" and "anal..." In the same sentence.
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:14 PM ^
Well it lacked both
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:26 PM ^
Ha ha love this reply!!! Go Blue ??〽️??
February 2nd, 2022 at 11:40 PM ^
He might be my lover, you don’t know
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:00 PM ^
Bad analogy. What are you telling us about your life?
February 2nd, 2022 at 10:18 PM ^
Sounds like you are talking from experience...LOL
February 3rd, 2022 at 12:11 AM ^
Wowsers. That is some wonderful neanderthal thinking. You're equating not beating Ohio State with "not putting out," I guess? As in, any single year we don't beat Ohio State is equal to a year of your girlfriend withholding sex from you? And ... even though her inability to "put out," makes her unhappy, and there's no doubt she wants to sleep with you, and tries to sleep with you, but for some reason (yeast infection? childhood trauma?) is unable?
Maybe that reaction is why she's testing the waters. :-)
In any event, I'm not sure the analogy works as well as you think it does.
(It also kills me that you seem to be implying we should want him gone. I was definitely disappointed the last few years before this one, but I'm not nearly foolish enough to think we would definitely do better now replacing him with someone else. Possibly? Sure, I guess -- but man, after this year, what's the likelihood of that? I'll stick with this known quality, thank you very much).
February 3rd, 2022 at 12:14 AM ^
Except he isn't your girlfriend. You can *LOVE* your job, but it is still a job. And if you don't occasionally see what is out there for your job, then you are doing yourself a disservice. Jim isn't sleeping with any of us, he doesn't owe the fanbase some weird fidelity thing.
Let's stop pretending that any of us were fucking Jim Harbaugh and he pulled some major violation of trust. He told RECRUITS he was doing this and the recruits still signed. Lets acknowledge that these future players will actually have a non imaginary relationship with Harbaugh and they didn't feel like he violated some oath with them.
February 3rd, 2022 at 8:35 AM ^
Don't you police my imagination. I'll pretend to be fucking whomever I damn well want./s
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:59 PM ^
When did he leave?! /s
February 2nd, 2022 at 8:28 PM ^
So thrilled he will be back. I heard some talking heads say that he would be better off in the NFL because he won't be able to beat the SEC. I can almost hear him say, "we beat Ohio State, now we're going to beat the SEC or die trying". That's my coach!
February 2nd, 2022 at 8:58 PM ^
If that's not a look of elation, I don't know what is!
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:01 PM ^
Yeah he loves michigan so much he came back after the vikings said no thanks ?
Look, it's great for the team he's back but now we know he's not here for life and we need to have our bases covered if an NFL team wants to scoop him up next year.
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:08 PM ^
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:52 PM ^
One would think a long term extension with a hefty buyout will follow.
Odds are, Harbaugh viewed this as a crossroads of his career. His next contract, whether it was the NFL or UM, was going to be his last. And with a low buyout and getting an advanced age (not many are going to consider a 60+ year old), this was his last chance and the perfect time to do it. He had to, in his mind, at least hear them out and give it some real thought and consideration.
We may never know how the interview went. We may never know if an offer was in place or what that offer was. We won’t know if the hangup was on Harbaugh’s end or Minnesota’s end.
February 3rd, 2022 at 6:45 AM ^
This has been my take from the get go. Harbaugh’s stock won’t be much higher than it is now. The man is 58 and I believe he needed to do this to satisfy himself completely. I’d have done the same thing honestly if my biggest life goal was winning a super bowl. Hell, I’m 42 and I’m still delusional enough to believe maybe if I can keep improving my game I can tryout for the NBA (99.9 percent joking here) Harbaugh has the 5th best winning percentage as a coach in NFL history - that’s gotta play into his mind. He can put those demons to rest and commit to Michigan while heartily like he would want to. I too expect a huge buyout in his contract. They only way he leaves again is if his stock is higher (Michigan starts winning national championships - I’m okay with this) or Michigan let’s him go due to poor performance (I’m also ok with this)
February 3rd, 2022 at 7:07 AM ^
Had to upvote for the NBA joke. My girlfriend and I have a running bit that the only reason I’m not there right now is because I have yet to “declare” for the draft. But once I declare that I’m eligible (and grow a foot, develop some coordination, get significantly stronger, improve my shot, alleviate the pain in my hip that won’t let me stay in a defensive stance for very long, etc…) I’m in!
February 3rd, 2022 at 7:57 AM ^
Being of Northern European decent and 5'8" tall..... I'm waiting for the right moment to identify as 7'2" and declare for the NBA draft.
February 3rd, 2022 at 1:17 PM ^
Putting demons to rest is huge -- and we all have them. People in their dream jobs *often* interview for other jobs because they become temporarily fixated on "what if" possibilities.
I don't know any facts about this situation that haven't been reported, but I strongly suspect that was the case here. Harbaugh thought he would want this and discovered that he didn't. And he probably realized soon into his interview that the Vikings (and the NFL generally) was no longer his best destiny. They probably realized that about him as well. These things are almost never as simple as Party A wants it with all his soul and Party B says no.
February 3rd, 2022 at 2:21 PM ^
Strongly agree. The take that Harbaugh went in eagerly wanting the job like some wet-behind-the-ears kid right out of college, and the Vikings talked to him and realized just based on one in-person conversation that he wasn't the guy they wanted is pretty simplistic and naive.
February 2nd, 2022 at 10:37 PM ^
So, does this mean we can go back to the mindset we had when, “Oakland is still in play” was a joke in these parts? I hope so. People are going to recruit against Michigan by saying that this is Harbaugh’s last season in Michigan until he retires, but people will tell an 18 year old anything.
I hope so.
February 3rd, 2022 at 3:45 AM ^
He's always said that yet he still took the vikings interview ?
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