Harbaugh plans to sign with the Vikings (Per Chris Balas at ON3/TheWolverine

I guess if you want to coach in the NFL you'll take whatever job you can get.  Still seems like a weird choice but he knows what he wants.

Wish him luck.  Crazy time.

We could hire The Michigan Money Cannon (TM) as next head coach. That should help with NIL also, I'd think.

I think they've probably identified a couple of guys outside the program (hopefully there has been some backchannel communication), and if those fall through, it will be Gattis.

Gattis is unproven as a HC, but he will bring continuity and will, likely, prevent any major exodus of players...but Michigan isn't going to go through a long hiring process on this one imo

Its a challenge at this point in the calendar year... but I am guessing that Harbaugh will provide a decision by Friday.

This isn’t fun. I think that most of us wanted Harbaugh back, but we can’t act like this is the end of the world. Harbaugh set the bar at one B1G championship in seven years with losing records against our rivals (multiple embarrassing losses). The timing sucks, but there is absolutely a chance that we hire a better coach. College football has seen tons of coaches with better success than Harbaugh. Hopefully Warde can get the job done.

So if he leaves who's he taking with him? Jay Harbaugh? Matt Weiss? George Helow?

Harbaugh's departure from Michigan totally takes the shine off beating OSU.  It might be a business, but he's a quitter. He should have stayed in the NFL.  

"It's just getting started."

Laying on a handfull of weiners

Sort of off topic, but should we be concerned about the stuff emerging about Rhule if Balas says he’s the lead candidate to replace Jim?

Same site that said Wisconsin had a shot at Caleb Williams so I’ll hang up and see who the Vikings really hire 

This is surely the denial part of my grief but the Vikings interview with Patrick Graham went over 9 hours today.  If Harbaugh to Minnesota is fait accomplit, why spend 9 hours with Graham today?  It's not due to the Flores lawsuit news today as they've already interviewed Raheem Morris.

We've already read that Vikings ownership is less on board with Harbaugh than their GM is, maybe the Harbaugh interview is less of a formality than is being reported.  Maybe Jim's agent is orchestrating all of this...what a better way to buy multiple years of love from a perceived fickle fanbase than making us think he's out the door only to heroically be return at the last second.

Or again maybe I'm in denial

Man. I always said i couldn't see Jim leaving without beating OSU. I didn't think he'd literally leave the second he did it. I also wish if he was so set on leaving he'd just have done us a favor and resigned immediately after the season. I know it'd be a personal risk but it sucks he put that risk on us instead, when it's much easier to find an NFL job in February than a college coach.

If Gattis is the dude, and I don't really see what other options we have besides the hail Mary options, I think this sets us back another half decade, because I don't think Gattis has shown enough to warrant our HC spot. 

We fell in love with Jim.  For all the obvious reasons.  He wasn't great but he wasn't terrible.  Let him move on.  Let's find another coach.

Go Blue!

I look forward to the day that I get hired before I interview.  

I wonder how Sarah feels about moving to Minnesota.

Weird how all the reports are about what Harbaugh wants, or what Harbaugh expects. Have any reports said that the Vikings have chosen him? 

I wonder how deep Warde is into looking for a replacement and how that works? If you know Harbaugh is actively even just listening you have to be out there thinking about this. Reviewing your internal guys and thinking about external applicants. 

This will likely be the single biggest decision in Warde's career. I also wonder if Harbaugh feels more "free" to go because he is thinking his replacement and the coaches are on the staff right now to continue the 2021 success? That is the vibe I'm sort of getting. Does Harbaugh thinking of Gattis as "coach in waiting" and does he feel extra comfortable leaving UM for that reason? Almost the feeling of it is time for him to leave because he wants to be in the NFL and it's just time for the young guys to take over?

I don't know man...just words...who knows. 

Sadface.

Who will replace him?

I had visions of a 1990's repeat - where we beat them nearly every year

Double sadface.

If we Occam's Razor this, it comes out easy.

Jim finally beat OSU / won the Big Ten while also seeing how far behind the super-elites the Michigan program, with its highly restrictive transfer-credit policies severely limiting undergrad transfers and its seeming unwillingness to get into the murky, mucky end of NIL, will continue to be going forward. Most likely he figured that he hit Michigan's ceiling. Time to go do something else, I guess. 

<< Note that Brian Kelly probably felt the same way, leaving for the SEC from ND >>

The only real dick move this offseason was the statement "This is only the beginning" or whatever his exact words were. That is very disingenuous.