The way to approach this

The damage is done. You make great points, but why have a coach that has/will have one foot out the door. UM gave him a long leash imo to get to the top. He didn’t except for one year and jumps at an opportunity. I don’t really have ill will towards him, but he doubled down with everything he’s said about Michigan only to jump ship at the sooner opportunity. Just time to move on with all this silliness 

I agree with Steve Clark's take on WTKA this morning with Sam.  Celebrate Jim for everything he did for us, throw a parade for him, but also clean out his office and hire the next coach (easy only if it's an internal candidate).  Jim wants to move on and that's okay, but so should Michigan football to put us in the best position.

If he comes back, we might be in this situation next year."  So?  If we are, it just means that we had a really good 2022 season.  There are far worse problems to have.

I'm not sure this is true. We could go .500 and the NFL interest would probably be just as intense. The NFL seems to be interested in Harbaugh regardless, as if they view college football as almost a different sport than the NFL.

Thanks for this post - and I like the approach.  Put another way, give the man some grace around here because he’s earned it.

Since we're all bringing something unique and new to the conversation.... does howard need to shake up his bench coaches? If he's not the x's and o's guy, and clearly the defensive effort and training is a total failutre... can we go overpay that guy who left years ago who fixed our Defense under beilein?

Its been a few years, but we used to NEVER foul, always get back, and were elite defensively.. under an offensive guru... so wtf.  Howard needs new blood ... because if its not them.. its him.

Now, a word from our sponsor.

Rational take JM Blue.  Also note fwiw he would probably have to tell someone he would take the job or an NFL job to even get an interview at this point in his career.  Does not mean with absolute certainty that he would accept once offered.

Send his ass to the NFL. Michigan has no openings available for him on the football program any longer.

I am hoping that whoever takes over for Harbaugh ends up winning the NC next year and says, "Thank you Coach Harbaugh for it was you that allowed me to start on third base to win this National Championship."

I'm loving this never ending stream of "look at how much more sophisticated I am than all of you emotional jerks."  How many more times today do you think we'll all get lectured.

Harbaugh wants to be elsewhere, is setting fire to the progress he made this past year, and has the worlds worst timing all wrapped up in an inability to make a decision.

It's time to cut him loose.  He may think he can come back without doing major damage control(if the damage can even be repaired), but that's not the case at all.

I want Dave Aranda. Fuckel would make the Rivalry straight fire ? if he came in and bashed OSU and was the next Bo. Not happening in this universe where we don't get nice things though.

I agree with this commentary completely. There must be a certain motivation to return to pro coaching whether we learn what it is speculating that it impacts his personal feelings about his love for the program and school seem deeply misplaced.

Here’s the way to approach this. 
 

Don’t take anything too seriously in life.  

For me, it's not the leaving; it's the timing of the leaving. I never assumed he'd stay forever. But to leave now.....after seven years of trying to get to the mountaintop, and then getting a glimpse of it, to then say, "Ok, see ya!" is at best odd, and at worst, dickish. 

You're pretty naive if you think there'll be no negative consequences (especially regarding recruiting) with continuous NFL flirtations.

Harbaugh is dragging the University and Wolverine Nation through a pile of crap. His relationship with both is damaged whether he leaves or stays. For a man who made it seem that the University and the job meant the world to him, he's not acting like it. He's acting like just another money-hungry, ego-driven, coach-for-hire. Disappointing. 

I know it's not a place for nuance but I understand all that you said and am simultaneously rationally upset with him because of HOW this is playing out.  There is a significant risk that he is completely hanging his team and program out to dry by going about it in this way. The timing of this is brutal and can/will have big ramifications on the trajectory of the program from a continuity standpoint, etc. To do this after the season we just had and to have been out there stating "this is just the beginning" is really brutal.  If he truly wanted to pursue the NFL there was a way to say I've done my tour here and now I'm on to pursue this next opportunity without holding the entire program hostage, just my $0.02.

JFC. So much cope.

Sarah is going to hate it here.

Agree 100%. Well said. Love my school and Jim is one of us. I hope he succeeds everywhere he goes - here or anywhere else. 

Part of me hopes he leaves just to piss off all the so-called fans who turned on him during the last few years, then wanted him to stay after the great season this year. F-off. Who needs fans like that?

Personally at this point. IF I am warde, offer is already off the table and I am looking for my next coach.  Lets put it this way.  Your Married, your wife tells you I am going to start dating other men to see if something out there is better, if I can't find it maybe Ill be back, but odds are if it is not this year, next year Ill be gone.

No Thanks onto the next one.  The relationship is over the minute that occurs.  Thank you for your services Jim, but go ahead Bye bye offer is off the table.  

Of course you shouldn't take it personally. I'm not. I don't know the man, I don't talk to him, don't work with him. I'm (perhaps unfortunately) emotionally invested in the outcomes of Michigan football which he can affect, and that is basically the full extent of our actual affiliation.

But because of that I solely look at it through the lens of - how does this affect Michigan football's success? I don't really feel one way or another about Harbaugh trying to find another job. It's certainly pretty normal in the larger scheme of things.

However, because I view it solely through the lens of Michigan's success, I'm by no means convinced that him staying at this point would be hugely beneficial. Head coach of a football team is a pretty unique position which is part spokesperson, part CEO, part headmaster. What all those roles have in common is that perception is reality. A large % all your value is derived from how other people perceive you.

It would be naive and completely out of touch with reality to believe there is no negative impact on that when the person holding this job is publicly known to be on their way out if a better opportunity arrives and is only there because no such opportunity presented itself so far.

I don't take it personally.   But this hurts recruiting and that hurts the program.  At some point he isn't worth the hassle from a program standpoint, not a feelings standpoint. 

cautiously, from behind..... that's how I try approaching most touchy situations I encounter.

He’s still a big part of the program and got Michigan to its highest level in quite some time. He achieved at a pretty high level for half his time here and definitely competed hard. I’m disappointed he’s moving on but at the same time we’ve had a lot of good moments and also there’s room for growth. Maybe Gattis is a wunderkid and will take this program to the highest of highs built off of the success that Harbaugh built. Kudos to Coach Harbaugh and good luck on his next endeavor. May we all have much future success.