Jim Harbaugh

Ever since the Michigan Wolverines’ great 2021 season ended with a loss to the Georgia Bulldogs in the College Football Playoff semifinals, there has been a lot of speculation about Jim Harbaugh’s future.

Harbaugh, who said recently he’d coach at Michigan for free because he loves it so much, said after the game that he sees this past season as a “beginning” for the program. However, that hasn’t stopped the speculation from running rampant, especially as a franchise like the Las Vegas Raiders is looking for a coach to make a big splash with.

Harbaugh, for all his faults, saw huge success in his short stint with the San Francisco 49ers (44-19-1 and a Super Bowl appearance). So why wouldn’t an NFL franchise want to throw a bunch of money at him now and see if he can replicate it?

According to The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman, the rumblings are getting louder that it might actually happen.

“I think it’s real,” one source told Feldman this week when asked about Harbaugh being interested in heading back to the NFL. Along with the Raiders, the Chicago Bears could present an intriguing opportunity for him, presuming they do fire Matt Nagy.

We’re certainly at the point where no one believes a college head coach when they say they’re staying somewhere, so there’s going to be more smoke about this until all the NFL head coaching jobs are officially taken. But until then, the speculation is getting a lot of people talking on social media, especially with the reminder that Harbaugh took a big pay cut this year.

We’ll see if there’s a fire where this smoke is coming from, or if we’ll hear some kind of new extension (a year after his last extension) soon enough.

[The Athletic]

About Sean Keeley

Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Editorial Strategy Director for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.