The only reason I think he stays is that next year is probably his best shot at a national championship. The team this year took advantage of a weak schedule and also played above its talent level but had some pretty clear holes. Next years team will be the most talented on paper Harbaugh has had at Michigan. Third year in the program JJ is his best QB, Edwards is a step down from a 1-2 punch of Corum and Edwards but is still a very good RB, the offensive line will likely take a small step back but not a big one, the WR's losing Bell hurts but the room is a year older and overall more physically talented and another year of development of Loveland is better than the version we got this year.

The bigger change is on defense though, where additional development on the inside from the young guys and Jenkins coming back makes the DT group just as good, guys like Moore and Eyobi getting an offseason and other year in the program plus the transfer improve the organic pass rush, getting NHG and an offseason for Rolder makes the linebacker group actually pretty solid and we aren't losing any of the top 3 safeties. All you have to do is convince Turner to come back and the defense is just another year older, deeper, and just as if not more talented across the board with a second year in the same system.

Add in another charmin soft schedule and it would be a pretty big failure to have any more than 1 loss going into a home game against OSU at the end of the year.

He just needs to make up his damn mind.  If he drags this out and leaves, I will actively root against his success in the NFL.  Yes, I know that my rooting interests only have a slight impact on wins/losses, but I will do my part.  

It's not his flirtation with the NFL that's annoying.  that's fine. Chase your dreams and get paid. It's that his doublespeak is in direct conflict with how he talks about Michigan being a family and a special place and all his promises.  It puts his character into question because you don't sabotage your special beloved family. No one forced him to say all that shit. His current job is to maximize the success of Michigan. He's not doing that. If Warde Manual wasn't such a spineless putz He'd make Harbaugh shit or get off the pot, but he's beholden to Jim because he's a "Michigan Man" and beat OSU twice in 8 years and won a single bowl game 8 years ago with Hoke's [clap, clap, clap] players. Fucking ridiculous. It's clear Michigan has no interest in joining modern day college football, NIL, etc. due to delusions of grandeur and it's "what Bo would want" or some stupid shit that literally only tired fat 70 year olds think and are too tone deaf to realize recruits don't give a flying jumping Jesus fuck about "transformational" experiences whatever that even means. Even that would be fine if they were just transparent about how they want to operate and not feed us some bullshit contrived facade of whatever this half baked nonsense is. Here is the hard truth. Football is secondary to maintaining a certain image and brand which is Michigan is an academic institution first that happens to have a football team and that team has very rich traditions that we're going to honor to a fault even if it doesn't maximize success on the field. We will not acquiesce to simply keep up with the rest of College Football. If outside entities wanna try and sprinkle in some NIL stuff that's cute and we won't stop them too much. If our Michigan Man head Coach wants to string us along that's fine. We owe it to him and will honor the Michigan Man until he makes his decision. See that's not so hard. Fan happiness (you know, paying customers) is just relative to the expectations that are set. Stanford, Northwestern, Note Dame, fans don't expect to be Bama level dynasties. Our fans do because of the way Michigan markets itself. We're wayyyyy more Stanford than Bama. Just embrace it instead of instilling false hope and high expectations.

I figure people have the right to change their minds about career direction any time they feel they need to do so, without having to make explanations or excuses. I've done it myself.

There are lots of reasons minds change, money being the most obvious, or more family time, or 'Gee, I'm just feeling like I don't want to do this any more, and can't take another year of it'.

I sincerely hope Harbaugh stays; he's obviously one of the best coaches in the sport. And if he goes, I wish him well.

"But you'll still freak out, right?"

"Only if I skip my meds."

Call me crazy, but I choose to believe what Coach said explicitly about next season, versus what people who benefit from stirring shit up have to say might potentially could theoretically happen, if maybe...

Ideally, were it his intention to go back to the NFL, he'd have lined up a successor on staff and spent a year pointing to that guy.

Harbaugh has said publicly that he thinks that Sherrone Moore is ready for a head coach job.  He might mean at Michigan . . .  

We need a committed Coach Harbaugh in Ann Arbor. This deja vu bullshit is now a cliche and I hope he leaves just so we can move on and hire someone who wants to coach at Michigan. 

It sucks that he doesn’t want to coach for his alma mater and be satisfied slapping OSU every year. 

In the wake of reasonably credible (albeit unnamed) sources saying that Harbaugh is listening for opportunities, my inkle is that he's gone. In the meantime I'm choosing to naively take him at his word that he's actually staying and I'll remain optimistic until he declares otherwise.

To those who say that Moore or someone else on the current staff could seamlessly take over and keep the engine running, I say not so fast. They are unproven at the HC level and the Michigan job comes with inordinate pressure. Next year may go well because the current roster is in good shape but recruiting is a constant battle.

Personally I don't hold it against Harbaugh that he's looking around, that's his right and most of us professionals believe that we owe it to ourselves to consider our options rather than being completely closed to them. But IMHO Michigan football will be much stronger if Harbaugh stays compared with if we hire someone else because he leaves.

Who's the agent?  

I can only guess some of this is Harbaugh’s agent driving up the contract offer from Michigan. Just talked to a staff member after they left today. Still recruiting the same as always and Harbaugh is telling guys he’ll be coaching Michigan. Again, I really don’t think Harbaugh is the kind to go back on his word to his staff, team, and recruits. Jim’s son liking posts is just a cherry on top for me. He’s getting a kick out of the “insiders”

It takes 30 seconds to make a statement that he is staying.  So make it.

When you are in his position, you can expect to have to make these kinds of statements after the last game of the season is played.  So put it on your calendar and make the statement. 

It's part of the job, annoying or not.  There are a lot of annoying things that are part of the job that you just suck it up and do.  This is one of the easiest.

Harbaugh is not naive.  If he lets this keep dragging out, it is going to hurt recruiting and retention badly.  If he does want to stay, he is starting to sabotage himself.

Given all of that, if he won't make a statement in the next day or two, it's because he is leaving.

I think he thought he'd be able to avoid these questions until January 10, when he intended for his season to be over, and when Black Monday would've already passed, leaving a clearer view of his options.

Still, I think the agent part is key. If Harbaugh gets his desired salary or some other as yet unknown contingency as part of his new deal, then everything settles down quickly. Jim Harbaugh is a proud man. He did what he felt was the right thing for the program by taking a pay cut and giving away his bonuses. There's something he wants for himself now in return. It's Warde's job to figure out what it is, and his agent's job to make it happen.

That being said, the program is in good shape for Moore, much better shape than what even Freeman inherited in South Bend.

Yes or no

Stay or go

Loud or pianissimo

We don't know.

Maybe when he talks about college football. 2 of the last 3 losses had blatant overturns of td's in 1 score games? Maybe he's done with that shit. For someone who is as competitive to be burned multiple times by replay can change your mind on where you are?

His assurances were necessary to do his job—

I wish people would stop vilifying Harbaugh over his comments - especially with the team's performance the past few years. He's a famous alum who's job requires public trust, passion and belief all the while interfacing with the media regularly. If he did believe his comments when he said them, it's not out of the ordinary nor unforgiveable if his feelings change.

If he has been intentionally lying or never convinced of his own convictions, well this simply sounds like the majority of Americans trying to advance & enjoy their careers.

Coach Harbaugh was brought here to restore UM Football and it appears he has. Even if you were fully convinced we would win championships under Jim, well, he got fairly close to that too.

I'm very grateful for what he has done, especially the past couple of years. I think he leaves the program in good shape. But, I'm ready to see him go. Whether this is an agent's contract negotiation strategy (eh, seems unlikely to me, but what do I know) or his inability to get the NFL out of his system, the football program needs some stability. Ironically, the only way for it to get stability is for Harbaugh to leave. Having this "will he/won't he"dance every year is just too demoralizing and likely disruptive, especially if it takes until after the superb owl to resolve. His departure might even help with recruiting -- having a former head coach in the NFL is not a universally bad thing. 

So, go please. Thank you for making Michigan a destination for football again and for all you did. 

The funny thing about this stuff is that it’s never really about the money.  Give me $2 mil, and I am living comfortably forever.  What can you do with $50 mil that you can’t do with $20?

It’s about ego and perceived worth - “I must be better because I make more money” or some variation on the theme.

I’d like to think that with enough money to be comfortable, I’d focus on stuff like having the best team/teammates, and other intangibles that really make life worth living.  This would be doubly true if I were a star athlete - a guy can dream!

I don't think, realistically, there's an internal candidate they'd promote.  They can get an established guy and I assume they'd do so.

I also say this with due respect for the reporters and connected people but all last year we heard about this team and that source and it mostly turned into half truths and speculation.  And even the premise of the Athletic article assumes a lot - that Harbaugh interviewed for a job, that they offered, and then that he accepted.  And yeah, if he interviews at a place and they offer of course he'd take it; he's not interviewing just to stroke his ego.  

Harbaugh is going to leave, and it may be this year.  But he's not the type of guy to cloak and dagger his way through it, and so if he said he's not going to the NFL and is telling recruits the same I'm inclined to believe his public actions over a bunch of private conversations that he's apparently having with a dozen different people who then talk to reporters in Charlotte and Denver.

I think he's genuinely conflicted.  It's not an either/or between Michigan and the NFL: he likes both of them, a lot.  I think he felt misled by the Vikings last year and when he said he was 100% committed to Michigan, he genuinely meant it - at the time.  But as great as it's been leading his alma mater to the CFP, he also still has that Super Bowl itch to scratch.  And at age 59, he may feel a sense of urgency.  But he also feels a need to honor his word, and not go back on the promises he's made here.

So we end up in a situation where insiders can argue, with justification, that he could either stay or go.

At any rate, boy, I sure wish the Niners would have pulled out that Super Bowl 10 years ago.  Harbaugh would have climbed the NFL mountain, and all that would be left would be doing the same at Michigan.

First off he has every right to leave … but what I don’t appreciate is him lying last year saying it was a one off and he was done with the NFL … and wtf has changed so much in college football in one year that he is so horrified with it now ? … and he knew all about NIL last year and Michigans reluctance to pay for play millions … so stop with the bullshit lies … say you’ve wanted out and we thank you for your coaching time here , especially the last two unforgettable years !!!! 

Thanks Seth. Good to be able to count on you to put all the reporting around these situations in context and to offer some perspective 

Hold on, didn’t he sign another extension after last season?

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/33305830/coach-jim-har…

With all this smoke, it's pretty clear that I need to modify my position on Harbaugh-to-NFL. He clearly has some kind of interest.

That said, I'd like him to stay one more year, keeping stuff together, and making another run with JJ and Donovan. But, it appears that if he has interest (and he seemingly does), then he's going to jump at the right offer now.

Now is the key phrase -- if he's going to go, I say go, and go soon. Hemming and hawing and delaying like last year hurts the program.

It wouldn't be the worst off-season to leave -- if JJ and others stay, then we'll have a boatload of talent for the new guy to work with.

I think Harbaugh is a great coach but if the Broncos pay him as much as Belichek …that’s fucking dumb on their part.  Denver will be better next year in part because they almost could not possibly be worse given their roster; but you’re only paying 20M for SuperBowls and Harbaugh has been to one of those in his whole career.  He hasn’t coached in the NFL for almost a decade.  He’s nearly 60.  If they wanna make him the highest paid coach in the NFL, go ahead.