From the signs that Paul Finebaum is getting, this could well be the last year as head coach of Michigan football for head coach Jim Harbaugh. The ESPN analyst believes that Harbaugh, one of the best coaches in the Big Ten, is NFL-bound at the end of this season.
Speaking on ESPN on Friday, Finebaum said that the recent allegations that Michigan had been stealing the play call signs of opponents are likely to propel Harbaugh back to the NFL. Harbaugh currently has Michigan as the consensus second-ranked team in the nation (including the USA TODAY Coaches US LBM poll) and coming off consecutive College Football Playoff appearances.
The ongoing investigation centers on a Michigan assistant stealing the signs of opponents. The whole situation and allegations against Harbaugh appears sketchy at best. But it might be enough to drive Harbaugh from the Big Ten back to the NFL.
Finebaum called it a “grey area” in football’s rules but admitted that it might be a tipping point for the Wolverines head coach this offseason.
“Considering that Jim Harbaugh has really proven all of the critics and skeptics wrong by the run to the playoffs the last couple of years and possibly again this year, I think he’s going to leave college football and go back to the NFL,” Finebaum told Mike Greenberg on Friday.
“I think he’s had enough of what the sport is really all about the way it’s operated. And the sin line that the NCAA uses to go after people clearly he is in their crosshairs. And I think he’s going to look around like he has the last two seasons. And if he gets the offer he wants, he is going to depart college football at the end of the season.”
Michigan is currently 7-0 (4-0 Big Ten) and faces rival Michigan State on Saturday.
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Harbaugh missed the first three games of the season for a self-imposed sanction stemming from minor recruiting violations. He returned in the fourth week of the season in-time for the start of the Big Ten football schedule.
There is no word on a timetable for the NCAA’s investigation into these allegations.