What does the immediate future for Jim Harbaugh look like?
Yahoo Sports’ Jason Fitz joined Jessica Kleinschmidt on the Short and to the Point podcast to talk about that, detailing that the NFL may not be a foregone conclusion.
After Harbaugh led the Wolverines to a 34-13 victory in the College Football Playoff National Championship against the Washington Huskies, attention almost immediately shifted to the future of Harbaugh.
Harbaugh, the subject of at least one active NCAA investigation completed his ninth season at his alma mater with the National Championship victory, which is much longer than most people expected him to stick around in the first place.
The idea was that Harbaugh, who took the San Francisco 49ers to Super Bowl XLVII where they lost to the Baltimore Ravens, coached by John Harbaugh, would be back in the NFL sooner or later.
Multiple NFL teams are reportedly interested in Harbaugh to fill their coaching vacancy. He interviewed with the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday.
Is it a foregone conclusion that he’s leaving Ann Arbor, though?
Yahoo Sports’ Jason Fitz joined Jessica Kleinschmidt on the Short and to the Point podcast this week and had an interesting perspective about Harbaugh’s future.
“Look at the NFL, and your standard contract is around six years and an incredibly high-paid coach would be looking at about $15 million. You’re talking about $90 million. I had people I trust in Houston [National Championship weekend] give me anywhere from 10 years, $125 million to 10 years, $140 million [for Michigan’s contract offer to Harbaugh]. So you’re telling me, that a family man with seven kids who lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan is going to move somewhere where he has less security, and in order to do that he’s going to leave roughly $50 million on the table? I can’t find that math,” Fitz explained.
He continued his point by bringing up how Nick Saban’s retirement from Alabama led to a lot of top-tier coaches getting raises so as to not leave their jobs for Alabama. “If you’re Harbaugh you say, ‘If Mike Norvell at Florida State is worth $10 million, then I’m worth $18 million.’ Michigan’s going to do it if they have to, because they don’t want to start this whole process over. I think he’s using all of this as leverage to get essentially a lifetime deal with Michigan.”
Fitz then mentioned how he feels that Harbaugh has used the sign-stealing scandal to his advantage, saying, “Somehow through controversy he became an even more popular figure to his players, even more beloved by the boosters. If the NCAA comes in and suspends him for a year, he’s going to become even bigger as a golden God to college football.”
He certainly makes an interesting point. While it’s felt like Harbaugh was NFL-bound for most of the season, the only thing for sure about Jim Harbaugh is that nothing’s for sure.
Short and to the Point with Jessica Kleinschmidt is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.
