Many believe Jim Harbaugh will once again flirt with NFL teams after the college football season ends, and the Chicago Bears have been mentioned as a potential suitor. One NFL insider says there is a specific reason Harbaugh would not make sense as the head coach in Chicago.
Jordan Schultz of Bleacher Report said Tuesday that it would “stun” him if there was mutual interest between Harbaugh and the Bears. Former Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren is the CEO and president of the Bears, which some have cited as a factor that could help lure Harbaugh to Chicago. Schultz believes Warren’s role with the Bears would be a deterrent for Harbaugh.
“They do not have a good relationship. It can be said that they have a terrible relationship,” Schultz said. “Both guys have been pretty critical of one another. … Considering that Kevin Warren is currently the president of the Bears, that’s a fractured relationship that, to me, has no ability to be repaired. I really don’t see a scenario where Harbaugh and the Bears are able to find common ground and have him coach that team. I just don’t see it. In fact, it would stun me if that happened.”
Jim Harbaugh to the #Bears? I don't see it. Here's why:
🎥: @BleacherReport @brgridiron pic.twitter.com/kfSCdyjl4U
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) December 5, 2023
Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer raised a similar point back in October. Breer said Harbaugh and Warren do not have a “warm and cuddly” relationship and mentioned how Harbaugh was unhappy when Warren played a role in the 2020 Big Ten season being canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Of course, Harbaugh also played for the Bears. The former quarterback was drafted by the team in the first round in 1987 and spent the first seven years of his NFL career in Chicago. Breer noted that Harbaugh still has great respect for the organization.
Harbaugh is supposedly considered a legitimate candidate for at least one NFL job, but this will be the third consecutive year that speculation about him leaving Michigan has run rampant. History says he will be back with the Wolverines in 2024, though the NCAA’s ongoing investigation does add a new element to the rumors this year.
