As one of the most important days in the college football calendar draws closer, one of the nation's most prestigious programs will be away from its home base.
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh will be out of the state on Wednesday for National Signing Day, one of the biggest days of the year in college football.
Football will be front of mind, but not necessarily the brand that's played in Ann Arbor. Rather, Harbaugh will be one state over in Minnesota interviewing for the VIkings vacant head coaching position.
The #Vikings plan to fly in Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh for an interview Wednesday in Minnesota, per sources.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) February 1, 2022
The sides spoke Saturday to gauge Harbaugh’s interest in the head coaching job. Now, another big step towards Harbaugh potentially returning to the NFL.
Pelissero also reports that Harbaugh is one of four finalists for the Vikings' job.
#49ers DC DeMeco Ryans declined a second interview with the #Vikings, per source, opting to further his development in San Francisco.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) February 1, 2022
So four remain in Minnesota’s head coaching search: #Rams OC Kevin O’Connell and DC Raheem Morris, #Giants DC Patrick Graham and Jim Harbaugh. https://t.co/gNRjqHExYf
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If Harbaugh does take the Minnesota job, it'll mark a return to the NFL after seven seasons at his alma mater. The former Michigan quarterback has gone 61-24 with the maize and blue, leading them to a Big Ten title and College Football Playoff berth this season, which was one of the best in recent history for the Wolverines.
Despite his success at and ties to Michigan, Harbaugh's interest in the NFL isn't surprising. He's one of the very few coaches to go from college football to the NFL and replicate their success. He started his coaching career at FCS San Diego, where he went 29-6 with back-to-back 11 win seasons.
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Then, staying in California, he moved up to the FBS and Power 5 level and took over at Stanford from 2007-10 and went 29-21 with the Cardinal finishing the 2010 season ranked No. 4.
After that, he finally moved up yet another level and again stayed in California as he was named the head coach of the 49ers, where he went 13-3 his first season and made the NFC title game — a sign of things to come. He'd finish his tenure in the Bay Area with a record of 44-19 with three NFC title game appearances and one Super Bowl berth in four seasons before getting fired for going 8-8.
So Harbaugh's track record of success is there. So it makes sense that 11 days ago, The Athletic's Bruce Feldman reported if Harbaugh was offered the Raiders' job, he would've accepted. That job later went to former Patriots' OC Josh McDaniels.
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Harbaugh was also tied to the Bears' opening, though was apparently never formally interviewed for the position despite his playing for the Bears and being successful as a quarterback. One open job which Harbaugh likely won't end up with is down in Miami, as Dolphins' owner Stephen Ross is a Michigan alum, who previously declared he wouldn't be the one to take Harbaugh from Michigan.
So that leaves Houston, where Harbaugh's name hasn't been mentioned once for the opening, and Minnesota, where it has. To further make things interesting, Michigan currently has the eighth best recruiting class nationally according to 247 Sports' composite ranking, but that's only good for third in the Big Ten behind Ohio State (No. 4 nationally) and Penn State (No. 6).
Harbaugh's currently under contract to the Wolverines until 2025 after signing an extension in January 2021. The contract included a reduction in pay and saw him make $4 million in base salary in 2021, according to the Detroit Free-Press.
As reports swirl, some are trying to downplay Harbaugh's upcoming interview.
Just fyi, Michigan isn’t expecting any major news on signing day. What could be the entire class signed in December. Harbaugh interviewing *on NSD* in particular isn’t that big of a deal.
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) February 1, 2022
Big signings expected or not, it's bad optics to be interviewing for another job on National Signing Day.
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There's also the topic of Harbaugh's buyout at Michigan, which is relatively inexpensive. It started at $2 million in 2021, and reduces to $1.5 million in 2022. It will continue decreasing by $500,000 every year until 2025.
With NFL jobs becoming scarcer and the college football landscape remaining relatively stagnant, it's possible Harbaugh makes the jump back to the NFL. But regardless, it seems as though there'll be a lot of factors at play.