Michigan football was reportedly set to make Jim Harbaugh the highest-paid coach in college football. And it wasn’t enough.
Apparently literally, as well as figuratively.
Harbaugh said on Sunday on CBS that he went back to the NFL because you can’t win a Lombardi Trophy at the college level. Considering he’s coming off a national championship with the Wolverines, it stood to reason he’d want to seek out another career milestone by chasing a Super Bowl.
But according to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, his new team, the Los Angeles Chargers — a franchise known for being stingy — apparently outbid Michigan for the legendary head coach.
The Chargers, stung by the perception that they’re cheap, apparently broke the bank to get Jim Harbaugh back in the NFL.
Per multiple sources, it’s believed the former Michigan coach will receive an average salary of $16 million per year from his new team.
Harbaugh’s deal, based on prior reports, covers five years. If it’s all guaranteed, that’s an $80 million commitment.
Michigan was set to pay around $12 million per year to retain Harbaugh while also including an escalator clause that would have continued to keep him as the highest-paid coach at the college level. But the maize and blue could not compete with the amount that the Chargers reportedly offered.
This may soften the blow for Wolverines fans who had hoped he stayed, or it very well could make them angrier that Michigan did not find a way to match.