DMack

December 7th, 2023 at 9:49 PM ^

When will they realize that Harb is our guy. Almost all people who are great at something, are a little eccentric. This guy has built a program and system that works whether he's coaching the sideline or not. He's going to go down in history as one of the best to ever coach football. So what he had a couple of (minor) hiccups. Call it growing pains, but we can live with those. He doesn't strike me as the serial cheater type. For the most part, he runs a clean program, compared to the pay for play programs that use kids and teach them nothing about life or manhood. He loves the game, he loves these kids and UM would be crazy not to give him the lifetime deal that keeps him in the top 5, for as long as he wants to coach. Not sure anyone coaching, loves Michigan more and could do a better job, nor do I want to find out.     

djmagic

December 7th, 2023 at 12:16 PM ^

Maybe, or maybe he'll stay here and build a dynasty.

fwiw there are expected to be several NFL HC jobs available in the coming cycle.  how many of those orgs are considering him as a viable option, and how many of those orgs Harbaugh would consider working with, are obviously unknowns.

The Oracle 2

December 7th, 2023 at 12:27 PM ^

If the report is accurate, Harbaugh’s desires couldn’t be any more obvious. He wants to return to the NFL, but realizes if he doesn’t get an offer this off season, given his age and after all of his success, he’ll probably never get one. If that happens, he’ll sign the Michigan deal. But he’s going to take this last shot.

ZooWolverine

December 7th, 2023 at 1:53 PM ^

This.

I was hopeful that the new contract would signal Harbaugh staying here for a long time. Definitely disappointing if the rumor is true and we're not very clear that he's staying for the next year.

On the other hand, if looking every year and staying are part of the Harbaugh experience, after 3 years of Big Ten championships and playoffs, I guess I'm on board if that's just part of the experience. I mean, remember when he was hired and rivals all laughed that we'd be grumbling because he could never match our expectations for him and he'd be gone in 4 years anyways? Now he's the third longest tenured coach in the Big Ten. And whenever he decides to go, he'll be leaving Michigan in a much better place than when he started.

mGrowOld

December 7th, 2023 at 11:53 AM ^

Is he?  He has 26K followers and is based in Florida.

Harbaugh's dad doesnt know what he's going to do but a small-time writer in Florida does?  Color me VERY skeptical.  

Plus a clause saying he wont pursue an NFL HC this cycle only?  And no buy-out?  I call bullshit on this one.

EDIT: So Richard "aka Dick" Johnson broke this news over an hour ago.  Since then his story has been picked up and reposted by numerous other outlets yet not one Michigan insider is corroborating it nor is any of the national services chipping in. So far, it's just him.