Everybody knew it was coming. If you didn’t, then you were a bit naive. Following the unfortunate end of Michigan’s season in the College Football Playoff against Georgia, word has emerged that head coach Jim Harbaugh is considering a return to the NFL. This obviously isn’t the first time this sort of speculation has happened. Experts have believed he would return for years.
Most are already calling this little more than a leverage ploy by Harbaugh’s camp to earn a pay raise from the program. He took a pay cut last year after a 2-4 finish in the Covid-shortened season. This season he went 12-2, beat Ohio State, and won the Big Ten championship for the first time in 17 years. It is safe to say his stock has been restored. Bruce Feldman of The Athletic reported that Harbaugh is indeed eyeing the NFL and it’s not a simple play for money.
“And now, The Athletic is hearing rumblings, both from the NFL side and at Michigan, that Harbaugh might be tempted to leave the Wolverines to return to the NFL. “I think it’s real,” said one source this week when asked about the possibility of Harbaugh being interested in heading back to the NFL.”
Feldman mentioned two teams as possible landing spots.
The Las Vegas Raiders and Chicago Bears. It isn’t hard to see the connections. Harbaugh’s first NFL coaching job was with the Raiders in the early 2000s. He is reportedly friends with owner Mark Davis. As for the Bears, he was their quarterback from 1987 to 1993. Harbaugh has a deep fondness for the organization. Some even went so far as to say it is his NFL dream job. NFL insider Benjamin Allbright added fuel to the fire by saying two teams after “very” interested in him.
Talk about this on the insider segment for Broncos pre game this past week.
2 teams very interested in Harbaugh. https://t.co/aWcm6Qs6uI
— Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) January 4, 2022
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That leaves the obvious question. Are the Bears one of those teams? According to a source, the short answer is yes. George McCaskey is intrigued by Harbaugh and what he could do for the franchise. No doubt having grand visions of what he accomplished in four years at San Francisco. Three NFC championship appearances and a Super Bowl berth. If that weren’t enough, the head coach is also familiar with Justin Fields having worked against him back in 2019.
Jim Harbaugh situation could prove complicated
The last time he was in the NFL, he had an ugly falling out in San Francisco. Much of it came from a power struggle with 49ers then-GM Trent Baalke. Harbaugh later accused him of micromanaging the entire football operation and refusing to give the coaches any sort of meaningful say in personnel decisions. That experience likely still haunts him and is not one he’d want to repeat. This is why many believe Harbaugh will demand significant say over the roster if he does return.
That could prove problematic from the Bears’ perspective. In their long history, only two head coaches have had final say over the roster. One was George Halas, who also owned the team. The other was Dave Wannstedt, and he only had it for one year. Otherwise, the ultimate decision-making power has rested with the GM. It is difficult to envision McCaskey granting Jim Harbaugh that amount of sway.
Then again, this ownership can be unpredictable.
The bottom line is the man is on the shortlist of coaches the Bears plan to look at. He isn’t the only one. There are other notable names involved and it’s possible more will be added if the Bears end up hiring a new GM to replace Ryan Pace. Harbaugh is not a foregone conclusion for this team but he is definitely worth keeping an eye on.
