SEARCHBITS XXIV: HOLDING PATTERN Comment Count

Brian

harbaugh-six-flags[1]

Harbaugh in a light moment with Michigan State offensive coordinator Jim Bollman

NOT MUCH MOVEMENT TODAY. Been waiting to see if anything major would come in, either publicly or privately. Nothing has. At this point that's a good thing: the closer we get to the 28th without a major shift in how things are going, the better. Everyone thinks it's happening.

BUT A COUPLE OF MEATY TIPS. A couple of additional circumstantial bits I've got:

  • The wife of a current 49ers assistant coach stating that Michigan fans are going to be "real happy about something as soon as the season's over."
  • John Elway, who tried to hire Harbaugh in 2011, telling some business associates that Harbaugh to Michigan is "pretty much" a done deal.
  • More player grapevine stuff indicating that Harbaugh will announce for Michigan as soon as the 49ers season is over.

I enjoy the first two bits a lot because they have nothing to do with a potential echo chamber amongst the Michigan side of things. Neither of these sources is direct or established with me, but both had specifically credible paths to the people in the know. There's been positive stuff I've heard that I appreciate but doesn't move the needle much; these two tips are substantial ones.

NO PHIN ZONE. Miami Herald reporter David Neal:

(His account isn't verified but he's legit.) The Dolphins sticking with Philbin is good news for Michigan; announcing it now is better. Ross could well wait to make that determination until after the season, when Harbaugh is loose. Saying it now preserves our canary. It also implies that there's no reason to wait to see if he's available.

ANOTHER NFL GUY REVISING HIS POSITION. Like Adam Schefter before him, Ian Rapoport continued walking back his previously dismissive take on Harbaugh to Michigan:

"He is conflicted about Michigan," Rapoport said Saturday on NFL Network's NFL Total Access. "He is a little surprised, talking to people close to him, about how hard the Maize and Blue have pulled at him. But he also knows he wants to be an NFL coach. He does not want to leave the area and the Oakland Raiders do seem to be the top suitor for him."

The bit about how he's "surprised" at how hard the block M pulls at him feels like a bit of CYA. The Michigan end of this is not surprised at all, so doubtful Harbaugh is. In any case: Rapoport moves from NFL true believer to apostate.

TIMELINE. This will happen or not happen quickly after the 49ers season ends—Jay Glazer says within 48 hours. He also mentions the Bears as a possible landing spot.

THIS WAS PHOTOSHOPPED. It got me, so I tweeted it. I then noticed a lot more RTs of the original than my correction, so a reminder that this did not actually happen:

B5WQX5uCIAEAQog[1]

block M on playcard is not real

Well played, anonymous internet photoshop bandit.

PLAN C, FOR CUMONG. As a football guy who makes forays into soccer writing for the USMNT I've had a hard time taking Jason La Canfora seriously after he moonlighted as a World Cup guy for CBS. Guy described the USA's smash-and-grab win against Ghana as a new thing for the States instead of what they'd been doing for much of their existence. I realize now that I needed the Kermit sipping tea meme to exist last summer.

But anyway, La Canfora is one of the NFL reporters who has been claiming that the idea of Harbaugh to Michigan is ridiculous, because The Shield rules all, etc. This morning he put out an article about their non-Harbaugh options. The names:

Michigan has maintained a desire to land Harbaugh's brother, John, as well, sources said, but the Ravens coach has made it clear he has no interest in leaving Baltimore. Other NFL coaches on the school's radar include New Orleans' Sean Payton, Buffalo's Doug Marrone and Dallas' Jason Garrett (who is expected to sign an extension with the Cowboys shortly after the season).

That list could not be more transparently calculated to make agent friends. You have a guy with a massive contract who's missing the playoffs (Payton), a second-year guy who has seen considerable improvement but remains on the hot seat (Marrone), and a guy literally negotiating an extension right now (Garrett). Oh and John Harbaugh, who is included because Harbaugh.

La Canfora maintains that Michigan has little shot at Jim Harbaugh, a program alum with a dedication to Michigan that verges on insane, and then drops the names of three sitting NFL coaches with exactly zero connection to Michigan. This fails basic sanity checks. Relegate La Canfora to the ranks of those who witlessly parrot anything an agent tells them.

PLAN B. Nobody's talking about Gundy anymore as even a plan B, but there continue to be indications his working environment is unpleasant:

My football coach doesn’t want to play anybody any good, definitely, but jiminy Christmas, we looked pretty good against Florida State,” Holder said of the 2014 season opener, which the Cowboys lost 37-31. “Until we beat OU, that was the highlight of our season.”

I very seriously doubt we get to the point where this is relevant, but slow day.

HERE'S A WEIRD QUOTE. The SF Gate tracked down Jerry Hanlon:

"Would he be a good coach? Heck, Jimmy’s already proven himself,” said Hanlon, a Michigan assistant from 1969-91. “Would they like him around here? I’ve said, 'As far as I know, he’ll be welcome when he first comes in. How long it’s going to stay that way, I don’t know.’ But, really, I know a lot of people would like to see it.”

Says a lot about the recent history of the program that Hanlon would be wary about how long Harbaugh's honeymoon would last even before he's locked down.

ON MEETINGS. Rapoport reports that Michigan and Harbaugh have not yet met face to face, which I also think is true. True in an official sense, anyway. Harbaugh meets Michigan face to face whenever Charles Woodson's on the opposite sideline or he gets a phone call. Hackett not so much.

Rivals is buzzing about a seemingly unnecessary step to make that meeting happen, with high tech whatnot going back and forth on planes to set up a "face to face" meeting that doesn't require anyone to leave town. Have you heard of Face Time, guys? I hope the sophisticated HD camera setup is really just an intern with an iPad. But anyway: some form of official face to face meeting is happening in the near future, possibly tomorrow.

Meanwhile, a clarification on an earlier statement: I said that the 23rd and 30th were potentially important days because they were dates Hackett was scheduled to meet with the players. Those "meetings" are conference calls; the team is obviously scattered to the four winds until January.

BEST GIFT EVER. Eight dollar khakis FTW.

ETC.: Pro wrestlers hope Harbaugh stays in San Francisco. So there's that. Harbaugh postgame presser. John Kryk on the search.

Comments

Carolina Wolverine

December 21st, 2014 at 7:48 PM ^

Atlanta will keep Smith, Dolphins are going to keep Philbin, I wouldn't be surprised if the Raiders keep their Coach, at least they'll probably keep Reggie McKenzie. I don't see Harbaugh going anywhere where he will be hassled by management, that eliminates Chicago. That leaves the Jets and Michigan. The Jets are a Wild Card in this whole thing, but they're a major reclamation project and would have to give up a draft pick or two to get him. I'm optimistic.

TheVictors

December 21st, 2014 at 8:24 PM ^

The CBS crew showed a graphic of season stats and Sparano and suggested he may be brought back based on team's performance under him.

So dipshits at CBS thought enough to prepare the graphic and script out a few talking points.

I think the Harbaugh-Raiders angle has always been based on flaky circumstantial evidence anyways --

'wants to stay in Bay'
'wants to stick it to SF'
'was seen talking to Al Davis offspring'

The Raiders are the biggest dumpster fire in sports. The stadium is shit, the owning family destroyed the team over decades and they suck. Oakland isn't paradise and the team might be in LA or Texas or god knows where. And Harbaugh lives a good 2-hours from Oaktown in Bay Area traffic.

I'd say there's a yet-to-be-named NFL team that will surface in the next week that is more serious than Oakland really is.

Boom Goes the …

December 21st, 2014 at 8:31 PM ^

article has a heck of a quote from Jack Harbaugh in there.  Have seen that he is supposedly pushing Jimmy to A2 but had not seen any quote until:

{After Notre Dame fired Charlie Weis late in 2009, officials reportedly approached Harbaugh while he was at Stanford to sound out his interest. Here’s what Jack Harbaugh, himself an assistant of Schembechler’s from 1973-79, told AnnArbor.com about his son:

“I think he’s very, very happy at Stanford, and Stanford is where he wants to be. But I would say this, that still Michigan is the place that he loves, the place that for him was his foundation.

“It’s where (he was educated) and his associations with Bo and the other coaches on the staff, that’s the place that he will always call home.”}

Sounds promising for sure

CoachBP6

December 21st, 2014 at 8:37 PM ^

If Harbaugh wants GM duties, I don't believe Oakland will be a player. As a long time raider fan I can say that almost all fans are quite happy with reggie mckenzie. Mckenzie has done a nice job with draft picks and free agency acquisitions save MJD. I sincerely doubt that Davis would dump him for a coach with zero GM experience. Let us hope.

Magnum P.I.

December 21st, 2014 at 9:15 PM ^

The Schefter and Rapoport reporting is just shameless horseshit. Ascribing vague emotions to Harbaugh like "love" and "surprise" and "conflicted" that are completely meaningless and unfalsifiable. There's so blatantly working a narrative to get themselves out of the massive hole they dug themselves into. I wish there were consequences for shitbirds like them.

mGrowOld

December 21st, 2014 at 9:26 PM ^

Me too.  But the sad reality is the following:

1. He stays in the NFL in which case they crow loudly about how right they were and how they knew it all along.

2. He takes the Michigan job in which case the Michigan fans are euphoric and dont give a shit that they were wrong and the rest of the country has moved on to the hot topic and promptly forgets anything they said or wrote within 15 minutes of his announcement.

I think once you get annoited as an insider it's always "heads I win - tails you lose"

NateVolk

December 21st, 2014 at 9:30 PM ^

Shefter piled on the embarrassingly bad work he's done on this story with his made-up anectdotes about Michigan not giving IPads to players and being cheap on support staff.

After he realized the offer was fact, he was resorting to "I can't believe it because (insert false irrelevant thing I made up)" to try to cover for his failure for weeks to go actually work the story.

DomIngerson

December 21st, 2014 at 9:44 PM ^

Theyre paid to be TV talking heads. Sometimes they have good info but their objective is to have new, interesting information 24/7. Even when there is none.

Picture yourself as Schefter, you have a full day of appearing on First Take, Cowherd SportsCenter. If you don't have some interesting shit to say you're not invited back.

Using assumptions and "educated guesses" that are inconclusive is smart so there's always a way to back-track.

They're kind of like paid actors when you think about it.




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Njia

December 21st, 2014 at 10:32 PM ^

Balas is reiterating his "50/50" likelihood that Harbaugh takes the job, which seems to contradict all of the reports yesterday that indicated, "Oh, yeah, man. He's definitely, most assuredly, without a doubt coming! The deal is DONE! Woo!"

If that were the case, then why only a "50/50" confidence level? Because I don't think anything is actually "done". As in, no signed agreements, etc.

I believe the term d'art from Wall Street is "irrational exhuberance." Balas seems to be backing away from a sense of inevitability.

The Crowned One, on the other hand, is saying that the lips are sealed among people who were more willing to give clues and hints until yesterday. He said that this was expected and not to panic, because no one wants to be the one who spills the beans and puts the deal into jeopardy.

We'll see. Most people who aren't as closely observing the chimney of the Sistine Chapel for signs of white smoke are still broadly skeptical that Harbaugh comes to Michigan. Someone is going to be wrong and I hope it isn't us. 

samsoccer7

December 21st, 2014 at 11:34 PM ^

To be fair, Balas has basically been saying it's essentially 50/50 for a few days now at least. He's trying to temper expectations but other people have been posting pretty optimistic stuff. Regardless I doubt there has been much change but he's probably trying to just calm people down.

west2

December 21st, 2014 at 9:32 PM ^

is like a little kid waiting for Christmas Day to get here with the anticipation building. Hopefully tha red ryder bb gun will be under the tree when that day arrives. Amusing the parting shots from SF media about how long the honeymoon will last when he gets here. There is a difference, in SF he was a hired gun, in AA he will be a native son returning home so I would expect the attitude and patience to be much better and last longer than anywhere.

'07LesMilesMafia

December 21st, 2014 at 9:34 PM ^

ok putting the horse in front a bit here, but: what did hoke bring in that jim will get rid of? team###, ohio, legacy numbers, this is michigan? personally, i want it all gone.




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ilah17

December 21st, 2014 at 11:09 PM ^

Hm. I like the team ### thing, and it seems like the players do too. I was under the impression that DB did the legacy jerseys, not Coach Hoke. I wonder if the players like those too, or not? I don't think I've heard anything one way or the other.

The Immortal S…

December 22nd, 2014 at 10:17 AM ^

Definitley drop the legacy jersey thing.  Its a cheap marketing ploy to sell more jerseys.  And the part I dislike about it most is that it gets in the way of players having the chance to make their own hiostory with there own numbers.  What is Woodson (No.2) was compelled to wear one of thoise jerseys?  Would the No.2 have the same meaning?  Espcially to those of use that graduated that year and hold a special place for that 1997 squad. 

JFW

December 22nd, 2014 at 11:18 AM ^

I don't much care about some of that stuff. Some was silly to me (Ohio), others tacky (the Jerseys) but not mortally so.

Bottom line if we go 11-1 it's all endearing quirks.

The thing that killed me about the hoke era wasn't the errata, it was the lack of follow through.

Planting. Spike at MSU as part of a plan then winning is gamesmanship. Having no idea it happened and then getting your arse kicked is stupid and embarrassing.




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Kfojames

December 22nd, 2014 at 2:37 PM ^

Couldn't agree more! I mean yes when you've had a long continued sustained successful program like UM it gets a little tougher to keep numbers but #98 for a QB? C'mon! Let these guys blaze their own trail with their own success and legacy. It just makes you look like a Mickey Mouse gimmicky operation. Keep it simple Sally!

BlueHills

December 21st, 2014 at 9:52 PM ^

I think Harbaugh should, in addition to the money, be offered a triumphal procession into Ann Arbor down South U and State Street, on a golden chariot, to Schembechler Hall with an assistant coach whispering in his ear, "You are not a god."

He should then be taken to the Stadium, where the 40 whatever million should be brought to him in gold bullion, and deposited at his feet, as the crowds cheer!

Then he should order football games to commence, with Michigan playing sacrificial teams over and over again and winning each time.

That would be a fitting welcome for a conqueror. 

schreibee

December 21st, 2014 at 10:35 PM ^

Well the winning over and over against teams that often seemed little more than sacrificial part sounds kinda like Bo, at least that's what I recall from my childhood.

I can vividly remember going to a string of games that ended 55-0, 49-0, 56-3, 72-0...seems like that'd get boring, but I never thought it was. But I was just a kid, what'd I know?