Harbaugh's 2021 Contract - He's definitely making the most of it!
For those of us who have forgotten how Jim is getting paid this year, here is a link to a quick refresher. He stands to earn another $1M bonus next weekend if he can beat Iowa, and the staff is picking up some nice extra money with every win.
I think Warde Manual is looking like a genius for crafting this deal, but with coaching clowns like Franklin and Tucker signing huge contracts that pay them more than Harbaugh would get if he wins the National Championship, I anticipate a huge contract extension to be on the near horizon.
Go Blue! Beat Iowa!
https://www.sportscasting.com/jim-harbaugh-make-history-some-serious-cash-upset-win-ohio-state/
November 29th, 2021 at 10:25 AM ^
I was thinking about this yesterday.
If James Franklin is getting a 10-year, $75 million contract for going 7-5 and coming in 4th in the Big Ten East, and Mel Tucker is getting a 10-year, $95 million contract for going 10-2 and coming in 3rd in the Big Ten East, shouldn't Harbaugh get a new 10-year, $135 million contract for going 11-1 and winning the Big Ten East? :-D
November 29th, 2021 at 10:46 AM ^
I think the incentive-shaped contract has been great, and it's genuinely exciting to see him get financially rewarded, incrementally, for what I think is first and foremost a labor of love and honor for him.
I'd actually love to see him restructured to 6M base with incentives that get him to 9 if winning the B1G and 11 if winning the CFP.
November 29th, 2021 at 10:25 AM ^
What I'd love to see is for us to consistently have the highest paid assistants in the country. I feel like people know that's a massive part of winning but the titles seem to get in the way. If we have "head coach candidate" quality assistants and are paying them boatloads of money to just do what they do best, it seems like a win-win.
November 29th, 2021 at 10:46 AM ^
More money for assistants does not guarantee success. Wasn't Don Brown one of the highest-paid DC's in the country? Also, it's ridiculous with assistant coaches going to be amongst the highest-paid state employees everywhere. More money for these guys ultimately means we all end up watching more and more shitty commercials on increasingly more-expensive cable and streaming packages.
JH needs to consistently identify and recruit promising coaching candidates who are hungry for success so they can move up and get "paid" elsewhere.
November 29th, 2021 at 11:08 AM ^
I do not think the goal would be getting "lifetime" coordinators ala Bud Foster or Brent Venables - rather it would be keeping a coordinator and/or position coach that extra year or so until a better job or internal promotion comes available and reaping the benefits in the interim.
Also Don Brown WAS one of the best DC's in the country. His defenses stymied the run-spread OSU offense better than just about anyone. The issue was OSU changed their offense to much more of a passing-based spread and Brown was unable or unwilling to change.
BTW not disputing the concept of overpaid coaches and hyper-inflation of salaries but it is worth noting that exactly ZERO of MI tax money goes toward M coaching salaries.
November 29th, 2021 at 10:26 AM ^
Ha! I guess incentives work. Who knew?
November 29th, 2021 at 10:31 AM ^
Based on the Tucker & Franklin deals, Harbaugh should just be given a University of Michigan debit card with an unlimited balance.
November 29th, 2021 at 10:32 AM ^
I think people nationally are looking at the contract too much as the motivator and not enough at the staff revamp Harbaugh did in the offseason. Beyond that, I can't explain how Harbaugh went from leading to a lifeless program last year to suddenly being 2015 Harbaugh again and putting a steel resolve in the mind of this team. That transformation has been remarkable and no one saw it coming
November 29th, 2021 at 10:42 AM ^
I have zero evidence for this, and it really could be any number of things, but his attitude/energy/etc. looks like he had some therapy. His body language was not great for a few years there (losing to OSU in a couple close games and getting blown out a couple others can do that to a man...) and after last year something changed. Whether it was seeing a therapist, just having a lot of good conversations with friends, hiring young assistants, or something else entirely who knows, but the transformation looked like how I felt after working through some stuff and getting a few mental tools from a psychologist.
November 29th, 2021 at 10:50 AM ^
You know, I hadn't really considered that, but it wouldn't surprise me.
Jim has never faced football failure before. He was a star quarterback all through his early life and the NFL. Yeah he wasn't an all-pro NFL QB but he was a regular starter for most of his career.
Then he got into coaching, and what did he do? Win. And win and win and win. Everything he touched turned to gold. Until he got to Michigan.
His coaching "failures" at Michigan are really the first big bump in the road of a life that has always brought him success. That kind of thing can shake your faith in yourself and send you to a dark place.
Also, COVID has made a LOT of people do some serious self-evaluation and change priorities about what is really important to them and how they want to do things.
He has seemed to have a completely different attitude this year about a lot of things. I wouldn't be shocked if he got some therapy to get his mindset back.
December 1st, 2021 at 10:38 AM ^
Harbaugh was "Captain Comeback" in the NFL, remember?
I think has been highly motivated by having his back against the wall. He even said so. It kicked him into another gear. He is even down to his playing weight.
For a guy as competitive as he is, having his career and reputation on the line is the ultimate competition to win.
November 29th, 2021 at 11:07 AM ^
I think the change came from the bottom up, not the top down. Having a team that wanted to put in the extra work instead of being coaxed to do the minimum was the difference.
November 29th, 2021 at 1:39 PM ^
I think the 2020 season was just very, very weird in a lot of ways and wasn’t a great measuring stick of our program. That was a very young team that badly needed a spring ball and normal summer and didn’t get it. Then came the opt-outs and injuries.
I do think the staff changes have helped but we were probably going to rebound even without them (just probably not all the way to 11-1).
November 29th, 2021 at 11:00 AM ^
To save people some clicks, here is the summary of incentives from the article:
- $50,000 for Big Ten Coach of the Year
- $75,000 for National Coach of the Year
- $150,000 for Meeting Academic Progress goals
- $200,000 for a New Year’s Six Bowl Game
- $500,000 for an outright Division Championship
- $500,000 for a berth in the College Football Playoff
- $1 million for a Big Ten Championship
- $1 million for a National Championship
Amazing that he has a shot at hitting every single one of these.
November 29th, 2021 at 11:03 AM ^
Did we win an "outright" divisional championship? I thought we tied OSU but win the tiebreaker? So the MSU loss cost him $500K. :)
Also, we're all hoping he doesn't get the 200K for the New Year's Bowl. :)
November 29th, 2021 at 11:33 AM ^
Good points...I don't know the contractual definition of "outright". Take it a step further...the MSU refs cost him $500k. I think he should sue! That is a significant monetary loss for which there is video evidence he is in the right.
November 29th, 2021 at 2:21 PM ^
Did we win an "outright" divisional championship?
My guess is yes. While the wording is definitely sloppy, I interpret that to mean "qualified for the B1G Championship Game," to distinguish from situations like 2018 where we were technically East Division co-champions but lost the tie-breaker and thus didn't go to Indy. First, it would seem like a pretty weird distinction to make, particularly since the goal is really just getting to Indy as opposed to being sole division champion. I totally get not giving a bonus for being a tie-breaker-losing co-champion, which truly is meaningless in the grand scheme of things, but it feels weird not having a bonus for making the game in general. And second, while a sole division championship is certainly an accomplishment worth celebrating (as it denotes a better record), that's already accounted for in other bonuses, like making the CFP.
But regardless, I hope the AD has enough sense to just give it to Harbaugh regardless of the technical definition of "outright" at the end of the day. Especially after a season like this, there's no sense in pissing him off and denying him the bonus because he wasn't sole champion of the B1G East...
November 29th, 2021 at 11:02 AM ^
assuming I'm adding this up correctly -- he's already made 1.35 mil in incentives and with a win Saturday can add another 1.5 million.
November 29th, 2021 at 11:21 AM ^
I said this in a similar thread, but a $1 million bonus for winning the National Championship seems low. Give the man $5 million if he brings home a Natty!!!