Michigan will likely be in the market for a new head football coach now that Brady Hoke is struggling for the third straight season.
Speculation has been that the Wolverines will have interest in Jim Harbaugh, who is in the final year of his contract with the San Francisco 49ers. Though that may be the case, a report says Michigan actually prefer John Harbaugh to Jim.
Here’s what NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported on Sunday.
Speculation looms about #Michigan & Jim Harbaugh… but sources tell me #Michigan prefers #Ravens coach John Harbaugh over Jim at this point.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 28, 2014
Earlier in the week, NFL.com’s Gil Brandt even suggested the possibility of the school pursuing John.
If Brady Hoke gets fired, don't be surprised if a Harbaugh is Michigan's replacement. John, not Jim. John graduated from HS in Ann Arbor.
— Gil Brandt (@Gil_Brandt) September 23, 2014
The reasons why Michigan would prefer John to Jim make sense: John beat his brother in the Super Bowl and therefore could be considered more established. John has also been the head coach of the Ravens for seven straight seasons, while Jim has coached at three different places since 2006. The stability John appears to offer is appealing.
The obvious issue is whether or not Michigan could get John Harbaugh.
John is under contract through the 2017 season and is making more money with Baltimore than he likely would in college. He frequently wins and his team is doing well this season. Why would he have any motivation to leave?
Jim, contrarily, seems to love new challenges and might embrace the opportunity to become the next coach at his alma mater and return them to prominence. The problem with that scenario, in my opinion, is that Jim might not want to leave the NFL without winning a Super Bowl first. He might stick with San Francisco to try winning it all or he might look to go elsewhere for that.
Ultimately, I think there is a very good chance Jim Harbaugh ends up at Michigan. John is a dream that is highly unlikely to ever happen.
