Michigan Football: All the Jim Harbaugh talk is head spinning

After a report that Jim Harbaugh would take the Las Vegas Raiders job, a key question is if the Raiders are interested in Michigan football’s head coach? 

Are you as sick of the Jim Harbaugh drama as I am? I’m sure all Michigan football fans would agree that we would like to see this end, and soon.

But who knows when that will happen?

The Jim Harbaugh to the NFL rumors have now dragged on for nearly three weeks and on Wednesday night, there was a new bit of information as Bruce Feldman of The Athletic reported, citing sources within Michigan football, that if offered the Raiders job, Harbaugh would accept.

Feldman was the one who first reported Harbaugh’s interest in the Raiders and the NFL. But other reporters, also for The Athletic such as Vic Tarfur who covers the Raiders, have said this NFL noise is coming from outside the organization. He also raised doubt about the Raiders’ interest in Jim.

We have all assumed that Davis wanted to replace John Gruden with Jim Harbaugh and give him all the same power. But Davis is going about hiring a general manager first, so this could drag on for a while because if that’s the path, the GM will want to hire the head coach.

And you wonder if Harbaugh would really be interested in that situation? You need a general manager. It’s too much to have a coach try to control all aspects of personnel too. But Harbaugh didn’t have the best luck with the front office in San Francisco or ownership, to be frank.

Yet, he’s got strong ties to the Davis family, so maybe that wouldn’t be a concern. I just know I’m getting really sick of all the rumors and reports.

Sure, it might just be better to ignore it, but with Harbaugh, that’s just about impossible. Anytime anyone says anything about him, it makes news.

At some point, Jim Harbaugh needs to decide what he wants to do — coach in the NFL or coach Michigan football. It’s really that simple. He shouldn’t stay just because he can’t get the NFL job he wants.

But if he truly does want to leave, I wouldn’t blame him. In fact, I would still thank him for an incredible seven years and as I have written previously, for saving Michigan football. Which he did.

Jim Harbaugh delivered a Big Ten title and a win over Ohio State and still, the Wolverines didn’t back up the truck with an offer he couldn’t refuse. That was Warde Manuel’s mistake and now we are stuck in this game of chicken.

Will Harbaugh blink and sign his new contract offer from Michigan? Or will he continue to hold the program hostage and act like nothing is going on?

Either way, a resolution needs to come sooner rather than later. The problem is the only man with the power to end all this is Jim Harbaugh and he seems content to let it play out.