It’s that time of year again, but…
So the annual Harbaugh to the NFL clickbait has started.
I am pretty sure I saw video of Harbaugh declaring simply that he will be coaching Michigan in 2023. Does anyone here have that clip? My recollection is that he had a blue shirt with horizontal stripes.
January 2nd, 2023 at 2:07 PM ^
Feldman's tweet/story from five minutes ago seems concerning.
Headline - "Sources close to Jim Harbaugh believe it’s a ‘done deal’ if he gets NFL offer"
https://twitter.com/BruceFeldmanCFB/status/1609987650320232449?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
January 2nd, 2023 at 3:13 PM ^
Jim Harbaugh called Michigan to inform the school that, despite interviewing with the Minnesota Vikings on Wednesday, he will be returning to the school for the 2022 season, the football coach told the Detroit Free Press.
Harbaugh said he told athletic director Warde Manuel that this would not be a recurring issue and that he would be staying at Michigan as long as the school wants him.
"I called Warde and I asked him if he wanted me to be the head coach. And he said, 'Yes, 100 percent.' And I said, 'OK then. That's what I want to do,'" Harbaugh told the Free Press late Thursday night. "And I told him, 'Warde, this will not be a reoccurring theme every year. This was a one time thing.'"
He later added: "I told Warde, 'From here on out, I'm working at the pleasure of the University of Michigan, because that's, in my heart, where I want to be."
January 2nd, 2023 at 3:20 PM ^
This is good and fine, but then Jim Harbaugh needs to get in front of a mic and tell everyone his intentions.
I know he already did, but he needs to keep doing it to make these reporters look like fools and let the recruits know.
January 2nd, 2023 at 3:24 PM ^
If you believe everything coaches say is true, you're a sucker. Harbaugh's quote about Warde was about him chasing a job -- which is what he did last year. Now Harbaugh may have a team chasing him. If Feldman reported this, it's probably true. He has a direct line to Harbaugh. They are friendly. No way he reports this without confirmation.
January 2nd, 2023 at 3:30 PM ^
right.... and jim told feldman this, via direct line to him, because they're buddies and he figured it would be better for the news to be released by the athletic.....
i'm guessing you have a direct line to either Jim or Warde, since you know exactly the context of his quote.... LOL
if you think this must be true because it was reported by a reporter citing 'anonymous sources close to jim harbaugh' you might be the sucker.... is oakland still in play? he's going to the Bears, its a done deal! or don't you remember those reports, from sources close to Jim?
January 2nd, 2023 at 4:05 PM ^
That's true. According to the MGoPodcast, Feldman has gotten a lot of access to Harbaugh's program. It's cool because it means things like Mazi and DJ Turner on the freaks list, but sucks when BF reports potential bad news.
January 2nd, 2023 at 2:09 PM ^
Feldman just reported this.
January 2nd, 2023 at 2:12 PM ^
Who takes over?
Sherrone Moore?
If Harbaugh really wants to check out his options every off season despite saying it was a done deal last offseason, then let him go.
Problem is there’s no seasoned coach to take over for him unless Michigan wants to gamble on a person on the staff already.
January 2nd, 2023 at 2:21 PM ^
He has said Sherrone is more than ready to ban HC. Shades of him leaving Stanford to Shaw
January 2nd, 2023 at 3:01 PM ^
Great but the university’s job is to perform a comprehensive coaching search. Moore might indeed be a phenomenal head coach but he’s never actually been one before. JH still doesn’t even know how to do clock management after 20 years of coaching, so excuse me if I’m not ok with just handing the keys over to whomever he says without a full evaluation. His job isn’t to decide our next coach if it comes to that.
January 2nd, 2023 at 3:16 PM ^
A search in January? Coaching carousel is dead. I think it would pretty obviously be Moore.
January 3rd, 2023 at 10:44 AM ^
That worked out...
January 2nd, 2023 at 2:42 PM ^
Agreed, I'd be incredibly disappointed in JH if he bailed after repeatedly saying he's coming back, but he wouldn't be the first college coach to do something similar. He has every right to pursue the best job for him and if that's the NFL so be it. But while I greatly appreciate the work he's done at UM and will even if he leaves, if he flirts with the NFL this offseason I think we should consider letting him walk and moving on even without a job in hand. Can't do this every year.
The fact that he talked up Sherrone Moore so heavily before the Fiesta Bowl makes me believe that he is angling for Moore to be his successor. At first I thought it was to make him appealing to other HC jobs, but now it make more sense.
January 2nd, 2023 at 3:02 PM ^
Also interesting to note that Moore has not interviewed at other places like you’d think a rising star like him would.
January 2nd, 2023 at 5:02 PM ^
Biff Poggi would be a better choice
January 2nd, 2023 at 3:05 PM ^
But while I greatly appreciate the work he's done at UM and will even if he leaves, if he flirts with the NFL this offseason I think we should consider letting him walk and moving on even without a job in hand. Can't do this every year.
I can understand feeling like that, but does it really make sense to fire someone who just took you to the playoffs two years in a row and gave no indication whatsoever that he was checked out? Does it hurt recruiting? Yes. Is it annoying and potentially harmful to morale? Yes. But even with those elements weighing in favor of a firing, is that the better choice? I think better the devil you know.
January 2nd, 2023 at 3:25 PM ^
Yeah I don't think they would straight up fire him. More of a "mutual parting" that allows Harbaugh to pursue his goal of coaching in the NFL again and winning a Super Bowl.
I see what you are saying though, especially with regard to next years team. Is JJ going to transfer if JH leaves? Probably not, but if Harbaugh does not land an NFL job it makes some sense to let him come back to see if he can finish the job. But it will have an affect in the long term to have Harbaugh one foot out the door every year. You can salvage things if JH makes one attempt to land an NFL job by saying its a one time thing and he's committed blah blah blah. But happening a second year in a row is unsalvagable. He can come back and say "this time I'm totally staying" but its going to fall on deaf ears.
January 2nd, 2023 at 4:20 PM ^
I think the mutual parting approach would only be announced if it became clear that Harbaugh had an offer and was poised to take it. The middle ground, a la last year, where he doesn't have an offer but is obviously interviewing is more what I'm talking about. If he does that again and doesn't have a firm offer, I think Harbaugh refuses to walk away and I also doubt Warde would fire him. They may make some public statements and even monkey with the contract, but I agree it would fall on deaf ears.
January 2nd, 2023 at 3:09 PM ^
you're exactly right. we can't do this every year. the damage to staff continuity and recruiting that it does simply isn't sustainable year after year, especially when keeping up with the Joneses is more important, and more difficult, than ever.
if he wants to flirt with the NFL again, that's his prerogative. But if that's the case, Michigan should say "Thanks Coach" and let him go. At a certain point it's just not fair to the current team, the program, or its future.
January 2nd, 2023 at 4:08 PM ^
At least this is funny:
January 2nd, 2023 at 2:09 PM ^
He said that, but he also said nothing is certain and he can’t predict the future or something similar.
January 2nd, 2023 at 2:09 PM ^
Yeah that’s the part people keep forgetting.
January 2nd, 2023 at 2:10 PM ^
Not that it says much more than the tweet, but:
https://theathletic.com/4052023/2023/01/02/jim-harbaugh-nfl-michigan/
January 2nd, 2023 at 2:13 PM ^
He’s not going anywhere. Stop!
seriously, get a hold of yourselves. Harbaugh is a man of his word. He said he’s done with the NFL and he staying here.
January 2nd, 2023 at 2:23 PM ^
If he leaves he’s never coming back no reason to be honest.
January 2nd, 2023 at 2:39 PM ^
I don't think it's a matter of honesty.
I'm sure he believed what he said when he said it....but things CAN change (not saying they will, but it would hardly be some ultra egregious event, if he went back on that).
January 2nd, 2023 at 2:45 PM ^
I'd be annoyed if its the Broncos. What about that situation says "this is a great place to rejoin the NFL"? At least with the Colts they don't have a aging QB locked into a long term deal and I believe have all of their future first round picks after this season. The Broncos situation seems like a disaster. If he goes there he was just looking for an excuse to bolt imo.
January 2nd, 2023 at 2:48 PM ^
Loves a build or rebuild. See San Diego, Stanford, 49ers, Michigan.
January 2nd, 2023 at 3:05 PM ^
One thing to be a rebuild and another to have to raise a franchise from the grave. Russell Wilson’s contract is a giant weight weighing down the organization. Not having a first round pick for the next 3 drafts hurts the ability to get cheap talent to offset that contract. Maybe Hackett really is just a garbage coach and Russ will be better in the future than he is this year but he has to be above average for them to be able to do much the next 3 seasons IMO. Unless they tell JH that he has 4 years to rebuild the team, I think he’s setting himself up for failure.
January 2nd, 2023 at 3:37 PM ^
Given Denver's draft and contract situation, their next coach needs six years . . . as the next three would just be go get the heck out of these contracts and gets picks. They are deader than dead.
January 2nd, 2023 at 7:49 PM ^
If he believes it, it's not a lie! -George Kastanza
January 2nd, 2023 at 2:42 PM ^
Cumong XM you know the denizens of this board all too well. Addicted to their BPONE.
January 2nd, 2023 at 2:46 PM ^
It might be true, but give me a minute cause I have to look up the definition of denizens….
Kidding aside, I took a ton of crud last year when I maintaion Harbagh would not leave. I think there is even less of a chance, though admittedly it’s always a nonzero possibility, that he is entertaining any offers at all. Harbaugh stays.
January 2nd, 2023 at 2:55 PM ^
Well that’s the problem. Until he comes out and specifically addresses these rumors, he might as well be leaving in the minds of recruits and other coaches recruiting against us. If he wants out, just leave and try not to tank the program by dragging this out again.
January 2nd, 2023 at 4:11 PM ^
January 2nd, 2023 at 3:00 PM ^
I think you're totally correct this time, but he wasn't in Minnesota last year just to visit Mall of America with the fam.
January 2nd, 2023 at 3:32 PM ^
Denizens? I'm guessing they're closely related to jive turkeys, they prefer to dine on hater-tots and wash them down with haterade......
was i close?
January 2nd, 2023 at 2:57 PM ^
Not that I disagree with you entirely, but we cannot be naive here. I’m willing to take Harbaugh’s word for it, since he has never really demonstrated a propensity to lie to anyone, but you would be wise to accept that he may still feel that NFL “itch”. If he does end up leaving, then good luck to him and thanks for getting this program back to the Big Ten mountaintop. But I also won’t be surprised and start yelling about how he “lied to all of us”. He’s a human and humans wants and dreams change throughout life. I think he truly wanted to go back to the NFL last off-season and so if that opportunity is available to him again this year you probably don’t want to be making declarative statements about where he’ll be coaching next season.
January 2nd, 2023 at 3:25 PM ^
One other thing I think many people are forgetting is that last year when he came back he made a very definitive statement that he was done with any flirtation with the NFL. Combine that with his denial of this year, and you don’t have to sit there and try to parse out every comma and period. I’m not talking to you JD, but to many others who are handwringing.
January 2nd, 2023 at 4:37 PM ^
Yes he did make that statement about being done with the NFL search, but didn’t he also say in that very statement that he couldn’t control the future and he didn’t know 100% for certain what might happen? Again, I choose to believe that he’ll stay because he has said multiple times that he’s staying put. However, I know he may change his mind when/if he gets a real job offer from an NFL team that he would be interested in coaching.
January 2nd, 2023 at 6:26 PM ^
If his staying is reliant upon not getting offered NFL jobs then he’s gone at some point. At the time of stating his intentions to remain at Michigan it also just happens to be during a period in which no jobs are available anymore. The hiring cycle was done. So him saying he’s staying for ‘23 but also can’t see the future is essentially saying that if I get offered an NFL gig this time I might actually take it. This has to stop. Either he needs to really hammer it in he’s not going anywhere and a contract reflecting that needs to be drawn up, or it needs to end now. If the guy has no intention of leaving now would be a really good time to come out and say it.
January 2nd, 2023 at 3:24 PM ^
Yes and Nick Saban was NOT going to leave Miami to be the coach at Alabama
January 2nd, 2023 at 3:25 PM ^
Nick Saban is an absolute and utter mercenary. Harbaugh is a dramatically different personality make up and character.
January 2nd, 2023 at 3:34 PM ^
saban....satan..... they're closer than just one letter...
January 2nd, 2023 at 2:14 PM ^
I hope Warde has ready a list of potential head coaches. UM will need to move quickly.
January 2nd, 2023 at 2:40 PM ^
You can hope all you want but this is Warde we're talking about.
January 2nd, 2023 at 3:06 PM ^
Unfortunately this is very true. His go-to Rolodex of former Michigan football players that are currently coaching at a respectable level is very small.
I’d be ok with giving the job to Tom Brady though.
January 2nd, 2023 at 4:22 PM ^
Why do people always want former players who excelled (at playing), but have never coached?
January 2nd, 2023 at 2:15 PM ^
So for what it's worth, about a week after the 2021 win over OSU, some of you will recall that I had well-placed Harbaugh-adjacent (like, very well placed and very Harbaugh-adjacent) connection in Schembechler who told me that JH was taking any and all interviews with the NFL and was actively reaching out to teams to gauge interest and put his name in the mix.
I started posting about it right after the Georgia loss, well in advance of the any media reports about the Raiders, Dolphins, Vikings, others. Everything ended up being entirely spot on.
That same source is still in Schembechler Hall and still very Harbaugh-adjacent. The source has been 100% crickets about the NFL. Take it for what you will.
January 2nd, 2023 at 2:16 PM ^
Trust the flying beagle!