Michigan Football: The latest on the Jim Harbaugh situation

The latest rumors and reporting on Michigan football head coach Jim Harbaugh and his flirtation with the NFL. 

I’m sure you’re sick of reading about Jim Harbaugh, just like I’m getting sick of writing about Jim Harbaugh and whether or not he will leave Michigan football for the NFL.

The prevailing thought about Harbaugh throughout this process was that he would return to the Wolverines. At times though, it has felt like a 50/50 proposition.

John Bacon, a well-known author who has lots of insider knowledge about Michigan football, recently said he thought there was a 70/30 chance Harbaugh returned.

Yet, others have put the percentages lower, and just about every reporter/analyst has agreed that the longer this drags on, the less likely it is that Harbaugh returns.

What’s the latest?

Nick Baumgardner of the Athletic, who has covered Michigan athletics as well as anyone over the past decade, hasn’t touched much on Jim Harbaugh yet but offered this thread on Twitter on Monday night with his latest information.

So again, it sounds like Michigan has met Harbaugh’s demands — whatever they were. The question is where does Harbaugh want to be?

A new report over the weekend said that he still wanted to win a Super Bowl and that was part of the reason why he had this interest in the NFL.

That’s understandable. He came close with the 49ers and his brother (who beat him in the Super Bowl) already has a championship ring. Jim doesn’t. He was close as a player and reached the AFC title game in 1995.

He did win the Big Ten title this past season but after getting blown out by Georgia, maybe it’s fair to ask if Michigan is capable of winning a national title, even at its best?

Jumbo Elliott played with Harbaugh and he tweeted that a “birdie” was telling him that the Giants and Raiders were of interest to Harbaugh.

If the Giants are interested in Harbaugh, they certainly aren’t showing it. They are attempting to interview Brian Flores, formerly of the Dolphins and Brian Daboll of the Bills.

The Raiders did fire their GM Mike Mayock and it’s possible they could offer Harbaugh a lot of money and as much control as he wants. That’s what got Pete Carroll to Seattle. Carroll didn’t run the personnel department but he basically chose who did.

So Harbaugh would be looking for something similar. Does he really believe Derek Carr is the quarterback to win him a Super Bowl?

That seems pretty foolish. In fact, I would argue that no team with the ability to hire Harbaugh has anything close to what a super-bowl-winning quarterback is.

Carr is solid but he’s never won a playoff game and got the Raiders there only once. Justin Fields looked terrible in year one and Daniel Jones doesn’t look like anything special either.

As EJ Holland of The Wolverine reported, Harbaugh is out on the road recruiting and everything seems to be business as usual. That’s also Jim Harbaugh. That’s who he is.

I have never taken the recruiting as a true sign that he will be back. And even the hire of Mike Elston seems like less of a sure thing in terms of Jim returning. That hire now tells us that if Harbaugh does leave for the NFL, Michigan football will likely be hiring in-house.

Chris Balas of the Wolverine had a Monday night update too (subscription required), but it’s mostly, nobody knows what Harbaugh is going to do, although Balas reported about the in-house hire if he leaves.

The other day, I wrote that this saga had to end soon. The Raiders and other NFL teams can make their move so a decision should be imminent. But the longer it goes, the more I’m starting to worry that we have seen Harbaugh coach his last game with Michigan football.