There has been talk that Jim Harbaugh would be pursued by an NFL team this year, and now we know who that team is.
According to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, the New York Jets are planning to make a run at Harbaugh after the season ends. Florio says the Jets may plan to make Harbaugh a financial offer he can’t refuse. Harbaugh is currently earning $7 million per season at Michigan.
The pressure was on Harbaugh entering the college football season, his fourth at Michigan. After consecutive strong seasons to begin his career as the Wolverines’ head coach, Michigan slipped to 8-5 last season before rebounding to 10-2 this season and being part of the College Football Playoff conversation. That helped restore any lost confidence in his ability to coach a strong team.
A polarizing figure, Harbaugh has one of the best coaching resumes in football. He went 29-6 in three seasons at USD; 29-21 in four seasons at Stanford, helping restore the Cardinal program; and he’s 38-13 in four seasons at Michigan. He also instantly turned around a terrible 49ers team, going 44-19-1 and taking the team to a Super Bowl and two conference championship games.
Harbaugh may make a lot of noise and rub some people the wrong way, but there is no doubt about his ability to coach and succeed. He has built a consistent winner everywhere he has been, though one knock on him is how his teams struggled against other elite coaches (Pete Carroll owned him in the NFL and Urban Meyer went 4-0 against him in college). He is worth the Jets’ efforts for a pursuit, even if he’s already said he will return to Michigan next season.
