It’s been a long time coming, but the NCAA threw a wrench into things. Now Michigan football is working on finishing extending head coach Jim Harbaugh. It was rumored that the extension was going to be done during bye week, but that was when the Connor Stalions saga started in earnest, thus putting Harbaugh’s contract extension on the backburner.
However, according to Sports Illustrated’s Richard Johnson, talks are moving in the right direction for the Wolverines keeping Harbaugh in the fold.
According to Johnson, Michigan is working to extend Harbaugh for five years, but the holding point is language keeping him from exploring NFL opportunities this offseason.
SOURCE: Michigan is working on a contract extension for Jim Harbaugh worth $11M per year/5 years. The main hurdle remaining is a commitment in writing from Harbaugh that he will not pursue an NFL job this cycle.
— Richard🇬🇾Johnson (human) (@RJ_cfb) December 7, 2023
If Michigan can get over that hurdle, then there’s no reason why the Wolverines won’t be able to keep things rolling. A returning Harbaugh could mean losing fewer players to the transfer portal this cycle (at the moment of this writing, the maize and blue are the only Power Five team that have zero entrants) while also attaining players who can help via the transfer portal.