Reputable Rumor: Harbaugh has signed another contract extension

Submitted by Sinsoftheschafer on

Ok.  Pretty sure I'm going to be rightfully pilloried for this post (fastest post ever to -1000 points, etc.), but I thought it was worth adding to the discussion...

I have a source who is extremely well connected within the Stanford Administration.  He was chatting with the University president recently and relayed this to piece of news:

Stanford has been acutely aware of the RR situation and was not willing to watch its hot young coach get poached.  As such, they offered JH a contract extension this week (on top of the one he signed last year).   Harbaugh signed the extension this week.  The extension likely has a much higher buyout clause than previous one.  This story has not leaked to the press and may not for a while.  Stanford, as a private institution, is not required to report on any dealings with its employees.

I doubt this has anything to do with RR's job status.  I read it as Stanford simply being proactive in protecting its coach.  What I do think it means is that JH is highly unlikely to come to Michigan.

I recognize that alot of people will think this is useless rumor mongering.  Take it FWIW, but I think its plausible that Stanford (which frankly has much deeper pockets overall than Michigan) was not going to simply let another coach walk away after one good season.

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1464

December 5th, 2010 at 9:49 PM ^

I, for one, won't -1 you.  People who are full of shit are usually pretty transparent. 

Either you're taking the time to carefully craft that you are not full of shit to throw us all off of the trail, thereby advancing your plot to try to win back the Michigan administration for RR and his crew and aggrandize yourself to a bunch of strangers on a message board.

Or... you actually have insight.

Occam's Razor provides the rest.

(Plus, my friend, who works as a waiter in a restaurant TOTALLY backs up the story...)

Joined: 06/21/2010

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MGoRob

December 5th, 2010 at 9:50 PM ^

Even so, if its his dream job, I still say he leaves irregardless if offered the Michigan job.  Obvious this is speculation, but perhaps this was more to curtail any NFL jump rather than a Michigan jump.  Like Urbran Meyer at Utah, he may have had a clause put in for his dream job.  Although, again I'm only speculating that Mich would be a dream job for him (many assume it is, but he's never said so outright)

Joined: 03/14/2010

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UMAmaizinBlue

December 5th, 2010 at 9:56 PM ^

Please don't take this the wrong way, but this is just one of my biggest pet peeves and it kind of grinds on my mind like nails on a chalkboard would offend my ears:

 

"Irregardless" is not a words. Regardless is the only form of that word. Okay, that is all. Again, not a personal attack, just a pet peeve. 

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imdwalrus

December 6th, 2010 at 1:20 AM ^

By that standard, I would expect to see "rediculous" added any day now.

Eh, those aren't quite the same thing - one's a misspelling, the other is an entirely new (albeit somewhat made-up) word.  "Irregardless" takes a real word and real prefix and combines them, and is widespread enough to warrant (possibly) inclusion.

Joined: 10/31/2009

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The Harbaughnger

December 6th, 2010 at 9:14 AM ^

Either way, my problem with 'irregardless' is that if you think through it logically, it suggests the opposite meaning of regardless.

The prefix 'ir' means 'not' or implies 'the opposite of'.

So taken literally, if I tack 'ir' on the front of 'regardless', what I am communicating is 'not regardless'- ironic considering the way it is used.

It would be like saying 'unselfish' really means 'selfish'.

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Blueisgood

December 5th, 2010 at 9:51 PM ^

I'm not going to bust this guys balls for posting a rumor. He may be right. I've seen just as many true rumors, as I have false rumors. Are the posters who are going to bust his balls give credit where credit is due, if this ends up being true? My guess is no. Either way Harbaugh is not the coach of M, so I could give two shits about what Stanford does. RR is our coach and I hope he is Michigan's coach for many years to come. Good luck RR and the boys. Beat up MSU.

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swamyblue

December 5th, 2010 at 9:52 PM ^

Someone next to me suggested I use this image...I laughed!  Alot!  Cause I had to do it...

And beer taste good on Sunday's.  Oh what fun it is to ride...

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mtzlblk

December 5th, 2010 at 11:43 PM ^

Endowments are endowments and are managed for the very long term.

Athletic budgets are different and are more managed for year-to-year. or 5-10 year horizons.

Stanford has a different approach to their athletic budget and are less revenue focused supporting many more non-revenue generating programs, so to believe they have a blank check to keep Harbaugh when they have an 11-1 team and a significantly empty stadium (even after reducing the number of seats significantly), is not realistic.

As for dipping into the endownment or it's contribution to Stanford's general fund, I guess that is possible. However given that a huge part of the dust-up over Harbaugh's bathroom-gate was that even though Standord has a large endowment, that doesn't mean they don't manage their current expenditures wisely and they had been looking at faculty/staff furloughs and possibly lay-offs, not to mention some changes in the rules surrounding tenure and such. I know a private donor gave the $$ for the bathroom, but it still ruffled a lot of feathers at Stanford that the donor would give the money for those purposes and not to support more scholarly pursuits.  That says to me that it is highly unlikely Stanford could outspend Michigan in keeping JH if it came down to purely a $$ decision.

Lloyd Carr would never have spent $70,000 on a bathroom if the U was facing any type of hardship with regard to academics. Actually, I don't think he would have period, but that's just me.

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mtzlblk

December 6th, 2010 at 12:29 AM ^

In this day and age, for someone to take a well-deserved pay raise and distribute it to his staff rather than bank it himself, is just exactly what the michigan University and football program are all about. Quite simply, being better. It is why a 9-3 Lloyd Carr team would/will always be better than a 11-0 SEC/OSU/MSU/Alabama team becuase no matter the W & L's there was substance.

Sadly, it seems like most people on here have lost sight of the fact that it is not W's that define the M football program, there is just more to it than that. W's are merely a byproduct of the poise, character and dedication that everyone associated with the program has and still has.

There is more to the equation than 7-5, or 9-3 or 11-0.  If M was about nothing more than the number of W's we get, then we may as well just join the SEC and bring in a coach that oversigns recruits, because the W's will be all that you have left.

I said this before on another thread, but I will say it again here, slighlty modified for context:

I woulds rather lose with RR or Lloyd Carr and this group of players than win with anyone else.

Joined: 01/20/2009

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Knight

December 5th, 2010 at 9:56 PM ^

I heard that he was going to be signing an extension this past week, but after not seeing anything official announced figured it was just a rumor.

Stanford has a bright future with Harbaugh, but not quite as bright as Michigan has with Rich Rod.

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RSTJ

December 5th, 2010 at 10:12 PM ^

I'm combining all of my thoughts into one post ... I have no bone to pick with Harbaugh vs. RR.  Everything below is hypothetical and isn't the intent of my argument.

you don't think it's in any way plausible that DB is waiting til after January 3rd to save money on firing RR (if he intended too)?

As the former CEO of dominos and the fact that  every athletic program struggles to break even, do you really think he's in the position to blow 1.5 mil on whatever he wants.  As fans this all seems completely ridiculous that he'd dick around with a program for a few weeks, but as a BUSINESS, the most logical action is to minimize losses.  If we decide to go another direction with the football program, it's going to take a few years to get back to where we want to be.  One recruiting class isn't the biggest problem in the world, and really we're talking a half dozen recruits that may or may not fit into a new coaches system. 3 weeks isn't equal to 1.5 mil. And trying to implement a new program in 3 weeks is ridiculous as well.

Second, someone above said UM is enormously wealthy (since i started writing this apparently he checked his figures, so i guess i can stop talking about this now).

Third, to the OP.  I, personally, don't beieve it.  I trust your source has heard rumors, but I can't fathom harbaugh would sign a new contract at Stanford unless it had 0 effect on the existing buyouts.  Going to the NFL is an option for him, UM, another program that's significantly better than stanford, etc.

Fourth, irregardless really bothered me too. It took me about 5 minutes to process that sentence.  pet peeve for me as well.

Joined: 02/27/2010

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bluenyc

December 5th, 2010 at 10:45 PM ^

http://www.annarbor.com/sports/athletic-department-projects-revenues-to…

This article says that the AD for 2010 will have a budget surplus of $16 million.  I know they are just projections, but are they usually on target?  I saw some of the surplus for the past years seem smaller. 

If projections are correct(no idea), is $1.5 million that big of a deal.  It's not just the commits that are at issue, but it's the other possible recruits that are turned off.  And losing a recruiting class can turn out to be a problem.  Is it worth $1.5 million?

I have no idea why DB is waiting, maybe because he said so.  There might be other reasons, but IMHO, I don't think it due to saving $1.5 million.

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tenerson

December 5th, 2010 at 11:19 PM ^

The one question I have on the assumption he is waiting just to save money is this:

 

Do the violations incurred by this staff give reasonable cause for termination and therefor void the buyout? I don't know for sure if they were serious enough or not. If anyone could answer that would be great.

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mtzlblk

December 6th, 2010 at 12:45 AM ^

to say there is no limit on what we would spend to get Harbaugh isn't really true, I can surely name an amount which is too much.

IF Harbaugh signed an extension (big IF) for a buyout, one would have to believe Stanford would want it to be for a number that would be at least somewhat prohibitive in M trying to get him and not just a token increase.

Were Harbaugh to sign an extension at this juncture, at the same time if he was in any way discussing another opportunity at Michigan, that would be an extremely unethical thing to do and would be tantamount to writing a huge check to Stanford with M's money.

Can you imagine the cries of 'low character' had RR signed a new contract at WVU with a huge buyout amount during the same month he was negoatiating to take the job at Michigan? People are still all over him just because the university tried to reduce the amount to be paid for his buyout, imagine if he had tripled it right before coming on board?

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Wolverrrrrrroudy

December 6th, 2010 at 8:22 AM ^

This should have really no impact on Harbaugh's decision.  Whoever comes knocking will have to pay the new price of entry.

This really isn't too suprising.  Even if I planned to leave my current job, if they came in with a pay raise I would certainly accept especially if I didn't have the other offer in writing.

 

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griesecheeks

December 5th, 2010 at 9:59 PM ^

I mean, even if it's true, it's not really news... This would be stanford making sure they get a little more back if Harbaugh jumps somewhere... and if Jim does leave, it's for the NFL or his alma mater, in which case, he'll likely be more than compensated over time for the hit he takes from the Stanford buyout. Worst case scenario for JH? He has a longer guaranteed job at Stanford.

anyway, who knows if it's true, but I seriously doubt this would stop Harbaugh from jumping to another job if it presents itself.

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griesecheeks

December 5th, 2010 at 11:48 PM ^

job security. without knowing details, there's gotta be some kind of financial benefit for him to do something like this. Theoretically, stanford opened its wallet at least a little bit in offering an extension. Therefor, IF, and this is, of course a big if, considering it's nothing more than a rumor right now, this happened, it probably guarantees Harbaugh some more money, while also increasing the buyout. Of course he wouldn't sign an extension that did nothing for his salary. 

It goes back to: if Harbaugh is offered a Pro or Michigan job, it will probably be worth it for him regardless of the buyout to make the jump.

This is all hypothetical anyway. I don't think anyone's going anywhere unless we lose 56-0 to Miss St, which, not happening.

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UMICH1606

December 5th, 2010 at 10:15 PM ^

I have been hearing that Dave Brandon holds Brady Hoke in pretty high regard. I first heard about it a few months ago and didn't really think anything of it, and would have never considered him a serious candidate for the job. Well, the Dave Brandon having a man crush on Brady Hoke thing started picking up steam on a premium over the weekend out of the blue, so it is probably something to keep in mind.

I guess I really don't know what to think about it except I am hoping that it's not really true. I don't doubt that Brady Hoke is a good football coach, but that would be a ballsy hire.

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