Report: Harbaugh Remains
After a moribund 24 hours, Schefter dropped a Schef-Bomb.
Jim Harbaugh called Michigan to inform the school that, despite interviewing with the Vikings today, he will be returning to school for the 2022 season, sources tell ESPN. Michigan was, in the words of one source, “elated” to get Harbaugh’s decision.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 3, 2022
According to multiple reports, Harbaugh left Ann Arbor with goodbyes and expected to take the Vikings head coaching job if offered. Apparently it wasn’t offered, or else the meeting convinced Harbaugh that Minnesota’s situation is a worse bet than coming back to Michigan and beating Ohio State again.
Michigan will happily have him back, and resume their search for a defensive coordinator. With Harbaugh’s interest in returning to the NFL established, preparing (or hiring) a coach-in-waiting might not be a terrible idea.
February 3rd, 2022 at 10:32 AM ^
Does he live Michigan more then getting a Super Bowl the ln the answer is No. He was going to take the job with the Vikings if offered and thought the interview was pretty much a formal hiring process. Same stuff every year that probably does lose us a few recruits is other coaches can say Harbaugh is not going to stay at Michigan. Now do I hope this changes yes and I hope Harbaugh meant it when he said he will be at Michigan as long as they have him but I would get a coach in waiting and when that person is ready let them take over and let Jim chase his dream. It is kinda of hard to just say I won't chase my dream anymore when you can possibly get it. It isn't an unrealistic one which is why it would be hard to keep that dream at bay.
February 3rd, 2022 at 3:18 PM ^
Seriously. I'm getting annoyed at the tone coming from the staff here regarding Harbaugh. I hope they can see that they very well may have contributed to Harbaugh's decision to entertain going back to the NFL with the constant sniping, and snide remarks. This is a very, very widely read website, and clearly the premier Michigan Athletics related site. They influence how people both think, and converse about this kind of thing. It's very clear, in my mind at least. I'm not directing this at any one particular staff writer, from what I've seen it is all of them in different forms. Even this piece here (and I love Seth, btw, but nobody is beyond reproach), making the concrete comment that Harbaugh has confirmed his interest in the NFL... has he? It seems to me that most people just don't seem to understand how someone like JH thinks, which should be pretty obvious today... but humans are human.
My read on this is that this was just complicated. I do think he would have left, but for a lot of reasons. I don't think this will be an annual thing now. It wasn't before, except for bullshit negative recruiting by other coaches/fanbases/etc. I think he figured if he could get his ideal situation in the NFL, given the fact that our fanbase flat out does not appreciate what we have, he would have left for that. But now the math changes. He's not a stupid man. He knows this will be used against him. Time will tell, but I think we will all see him put 100% into this program, as he always has, and now that he has decided to stay put, I think that's just what he will do. For at least another 3-4 years. But we will see.
I just wish people would stop making absolute statements, when these things have been consistently proven to be wrong. And stop throwing subtle shade at JH (this is directed at everyone who does these things, you know who you are). Appreciate what the hell we have, the best damn coach Michigan has seen since at LEAST Lloyd Carr, but I think he's better than Carr ever was, in a hundred ways.
Go Blue.
February 2nd, 2022 at 7:45 PM ^
He is just a few hours away from being beloved again. Simple framing, a few quotes, and something about actions speaking louder than words. We will all be eating out of his hand by Friday.
February 2nd, 2022 at 8:26 PM ^
I agree, and I'm happy he's back despite everything. But I'll further predict that in a year or two, the same people who blamed Warde for offering less than a Mel-type deal will be bellyaching that 2021 was an anomaly and isn't it awful this new contract locks us into a guy with a 9-3 ceiling.
To be clear, I think it's great he's back and I don't think 9-3 is his ceiling. But some people have unrealistic expectations after this season and they're going to be the first to jump back off the bandwagon at the first sign of trouble.
February 2nd, 2022 at 8:27 PM ^
Your mistake is listening to those people.
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:00 PM ^
Listening to people you disagree with is how you earn the right to an opinion
February 2nd, 2022 at 10:49 PM ^
Everyone has the right to an opinion. Listening to people you disagree with is how you improve the quality of your opinions to the point where others will choose to listen to them.
February 3rd, 2022 at 8:02 AM ^
differentiating opinions from facts is a lost art.
the reason people can't listen to and respect those they disagree with is because they feel that their opinion is Right and those who have differing opinions are wrong. Opinions are points of view, preferences, they aren't right or wrong......
In my opinion pistachio ice cream is the best, the color blue is my favorite and bourbon is the superior whiskey.
Stepping off the soap box now and getting back to work.
February 2nd, 2022 at 8:49 PM ^
Do you honestly think that with JJ at helm that 9 wins is our ceiling ?
February 2nd, 2022 at 8:53 PM ^
Recent evidence might suggest otherwise ?
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:02 PM ^
Were three sentences too much to read?
February 2nd, 2022 at 8:55 PM ^
Well 9-3 isn’t the ceiling. It’s 12-2
February 2nd, 2022 at 10:20 PM ^
A/k/a #3 team in the country.
February 2nd, 2022 at 8:59 PM ^
If it’s 2023 and we’ve gone through two quiet off seasons with no more of this horseshit, I’ll start believing in him again. A good press conference isn’t going to do a damn thing for me.
February 3rd, 2022 at 3:20 PM ^
That is your own problem to work out, not his. Look at yourself.
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:12 PM ^
By Friday??? What about tonight?
February 2nd, 2022 at 11:23 PM ^
I think he is beloved again (see ‘within a few hours’), but has to give a quote to have us eating out of his hand by Friday. Just my prediction - And the first half has proven correct!
February 2nd, 2022 at 10:24 PM ^
I’m pleasantly surprised. I’ll admit I bitched a lot about how this went down, and I didn’t think he could or would come back after all of the uncertainty and rumors, but if he’s 100% bought in going forward, then welcome back and Go Blue!
February 3rd, 2022 at 2:30 AM ^
Of course he's 100% bought in...can't imagine Harbaugh at anything less w anything he does.
February 3rd, 2022 at 9:35 AM ^
I don't get this. While I think he is far and away the best coach for UM next year, the mere fact that he interviewed for another position shows he is not 100% committed to Michigan.
February 2nd, 2022 at 7:46 PM ^
LFG!!!!!
”This feels like a beginning”
Lets Roll!
February 2nd, 2022 at 7:46 PM ^
chiro chiro chirp, bitches!
February 2nd, 2022 at 7:56 PM ^
2 chiropractors, a bird, and some female dogs?
okay
February 2nd, 2022 at 8:00 PM ^
Our sacrificial offering, maybe?
I thought it used to be some doves, maybe a lamb or two, a goat...
naw!!! No GOATS!!!
February 2nd, 2022 at 7:48 PM ^
Nothing like trying to land an NFL gig 2 years in a row and not get any offers.
February 2nd, 2022 at 7:50 PM ^
Nothing like fuck you
February 2nd, 2022 at 7:55 PM ^
He has a point. The NFL has relegated him to stuck being our coach. Last year was amazing but you get a sense that "nothing better" is why he is here. Not optimal.
February 2nd, 2022 at 8:24 PM ^
You could say the same thing about the AD attitude toward JH - it works both ways.
In the end it’s like how that BTO classic goes, “Any lovin’s good lovin’, so I took what I could get!”
so in the meantime, "You ain't seen nothin' yet!"
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:02 PM ^
Sure it works both ways, still means we need a coach-in-waiting.
February 2nd, 2022 at 8:43 PM ^
It can also all depend on how you frame "nothing better"
There are a bunch of people who love being negative that say that means he's only at UM because he couldnt get a better job and UM was the best he can do. But...
Maybe JH is at UM because he had an itch to scratch, looked around, and figured out that there is "nothing better" than being the HC at UM.
February 2nd, 2022 at 8:47 PM ^
Framing.
The more you know.
February 2nd, 2022 at 10:03 PM ^
Maybe…except that all of his actions in the last few weeks made it look like he’d take any NFL offer sent his way before signing his renegotiated contract at M. I’m not sure how you could come to any other conclusion. I don’t fault him for it, he could definitely get another college gig, but I think we can say for sure that if he had an NFL offer, he’d be gone. So is he still our coach because no one wanted him as their HC in the NFL? Yes. I’m not sure how this is debated. Does that mean he’s a bad coach? Of course not.
February 2nd, 2022 at 11:23 PM ^
All his actions? Or all the reports based on insider info. Info that was repeatedly false.
February 3rd, 2022 at 5:08 AM ^
What actions might that be? Quietly doing his job? Hiring assistants? Hitting the recruiting trail? That’s really all HE has done.
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:40 PM ^
Nick Saban
Urban Meyer
Bob Stoops
Kirby Smart
Dabo Swinney
Pretty much every college coach other than Pete Carroll and pre-2020 Harbaugh shares this quality. And honestly Harbaugh's probably one year away from exiting that group again. Time will tell on that, but yours is a bad take.
February 3rd, 2022 at 3:21 PM ^
How in the fuck do you think you still know anything at all? You guys have been proven wrong at literally every turn, yet here you are, just shifting the argument. Unreal.
February 2nd, 2022 at 8:04 PM ^
Such a simple response, yet so perfect.
February 2nd, 2022 at 8:09 PM ^
Fascinating to me how many posters were sitting in on the interview today and can share the whole story in what was discussed and how decisions were made.
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:03 PM ^
Lol, some of you have a weird personal attachment to this guy for whatever reason.
February 2nd, 2022 at 7:56 PM ^
Nothing like constantly bitching about everything and being wrong all the time . . .
February 3rd, 2022 at 3:22 PM ^
Won't stop a thing. Can't fix stupid.
February 2nd, 2022 at 8:43 PM ^
If the NFL doesn’t want to hire the coach who has the highest winning percentage of any active NFL coach and instead wants to hire obvious failures like Rhule and Urban Meyer, let them. Michigan wins that deal
February 2nd, 2022 at 8:59 PM ^
Except that it seems that the Vikings did offer him. I went to a bunch of Vikings blogs and that's at least what they are saying: the Vikings "swung and missed" at Harbaugh and "he opted to stay at Michigan." That makes this feel a lot better than if he didn't get an offer and therefore came back.
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:21 PM ^
Except that it seems like the Vikings maybe didnt offer him. That's what the reports are saying lately....
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:52 PM ^
Depends on point of view. This report makes it sound like there was a lengthy discussion and Jim decided to go back to Michigan. They swung and missed.
I've been looking at some Vikings forums and the fans were pretty invested in Harbaugh
February 2nd, 2022 at 10:09 PM ^
Swung and missed? This sounds like an organization doing JH a solid so that it doesn’t sound like he wasn’t wanted. Kinda like when someone gets the opportunity to resign before they get fired.
Every action JH has taken in his search for an NFL gig would absolutely contradict being offered the job and not taking it.
February 2nd, 2022 at 8:59 PM ^
Except that it seems that the Vikings did offer him. I went to a bunch of Vikings blogs and that's at least what they are saying: the Vikings "swung and missed" at Harbaugh and "he opted to stay at Michigan." That makes this feel a lot better than if he didn't get an offer and therefore came back.
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:05 PM ^
Yeah. I think the NFL owners are idiots. Whenever I hear an interview with someone who played for Harbaugh, they love him. LOVE him. He's a real players coach.
One of the Vikings podcasts had an interview with Alex Boone who played for OSU and then for the 49ers. He could not say enough good things about Harbaugh.
Podcast is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se608z9H_H0&t=1099s
February 2nd, 2022 at 7:48 PM ^
At this point being Feb 2, I am glad to have him back. I still expect to go through this again next season though which is the unfortunate part of this whole journey. You better believe negative recruiting will be taking place because at this point I don’t think a recruit can be confident that Harbaugh will be back each year which makes getting the next coach in waiting hired ASAP.
February 2nd, 2022 at 8:52 PM ^
Keep in mind, Harbaugh apparently told recruits himself that he would look around for NFL offers. We still signed a strong class.
If there are rumors next year, he can put them to rest by saying: "If I were looking around, you'd be the first to know. Just ask [recruit from the 2022 class]."
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