Every single year that Jim Harbaugh has coached Michigan football, there have been rumors that he might dash to the NFL. Except for 2020, when the Wolverines were 2-4. But last year, there was some juice to the rumors, as Harbaugh interviewed with the Minnesota Vikings before ultimately returning to Ann Arbor.
Well, those rumors are circulating again, one day after Michigan won the Big Ten and on the day that it was named the 2-seed in the College Football Playoff. On Sunday evening, when Harbaugh met with reporters via Zoom as part of the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl introductory press conference, he responded to the NFL.com report that he was being vetted for a return to the league, saying that unless Michigan decides to part ways with him, he’s not going anywhere.
“Well, it’s a lot of that time of the year type of speculation but I think no man knows the future,” Harbaugh said. “We’ve done a good job and people are pleased with the job that we’ve done here at Michigan. They’re gonna be very happy to learn that we’ll be back enthusiastically coaching the Wolverines in 2023. And for those people that don’t approve of the job we’ve done or would rather see somebody else coaching here, I think they’ll be most likely disappointed to learn and we’ll be back coaching the Wolverines in 2023.”
See the 2022 Big Ten Championship game program here
[lawrence-related id=66328,66326,66315]
Is Harbaugh getting ahead of the curve this time around due to recruiting?
After the Wolverines made their first incursion into the College Football Playoff a year ago, and after the first Big Ten Championship the team has had since 2004, the 2023 class hasn’t exactly reflected the success on the field. There has been talk that’s in part due to Harbaugh’s NFL flirtation a year ago, but that’s inconclusive, due to the changing landscape with NIL.
As far as the current timing, Harbaugh turned back and asked: why aren’t other great coaches in the Big Ten subject to similar rumors?
“It’s like I said, I mean, it’s really biblical,” Harbaugh said. “No man knows the future. I can’t make any vows of what’s going to happen and what’s not going to happen and if you don’t mind, I’ll ask you a question: I mean, there’s tremendous coaches right here in our league. Ryan Day. Greg Schiano, Bret Bielema. Jeff Brohm — I could go on and on. PJ Fleck. I mean, I think they deserve, with the job that they’ve done, to be asked the same question.”
For now, we can put these rumors to rest — that is, until the next time an NFL reporter insists that Harbaugh is set to leave Ann Arbor.
[listicle id=66323]
[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbzardvge799bm2 player_id=01f5k5y2jb3twsvdg4 image=https://wolverineswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]