http://ninerswire.usatoday.com/2016/11/25/will-jim-harbaugh-return-to-the-nfl-in-2017/
Will Jim Harbaugh return to the NFL in 2017?
Jim Harbaugh has never stayed at one coaching job for more than four seasons. He’s in his second year at Michigan, his alma mater, and seems happier than a pig in slop.
But people in NFL circles believe there’s a chance Harbaugh comes back to the NFL in 2017, despite turning around a Wolverines program fighting for a spot in the college football playoff. A win Saturday over fierce rival second-ranked Ohio State could have Michigan, ranked third, thinking national championship.
The NFL’s Career Development Advisory panel put Harbaugh on its yearly list of recommended coaching candidates prior to 2017,
according to Pro Football Talk.
Per a source with knowledge of the list, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh is on the preliminary list. Other candidates on the preliminary list include Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, Cowboys offensive coordinator Scott Linehan, Cardinals offensive coordinator Harold Goodwin, Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, and Dolphins defensive coordinator Vance Joseph.
Harbaugh’s presence on the list will raise eyebrows; there’s no reason to think he’ll be heading back to the NFL, and Michigan fans surely will bristle at the perception that he could be lured away. As the source explained it, Harbaugh is on the list because he’s a good coach, he is proving at Michigan that he wins wherever he goes, and he was a winner during his time with the 49ers.
It seems inevitable Harbaugh will come back to the NFL after becoming the first coach in league history to go to the conference title game in his first three seasons with San Francisco from 2011 to 2013.
But leaving Michigan after only two years seems unlikely, even for Harbaugh, who has a well-known history of clashing with his superiors. Michigan seems like the perfect job for Captain Khaki, where he can cycle through players every few seasons – rather than grating on NFL players who stick around longer.
Our money’s on Harbaugh staying at Michigan for four seasons. He’ll enter 2018, his fourth year, with championship-or-bust expectations that will lead to all sorts of blame-gaming when the Wolverines fail to make the college football playoff or a post-New Years bowl game.
Then Harbaugh will jump ship to the NFL and coach the
Rams, who will be trying to make a post-Jeff Fisher splash, as they move into their new $2.6-billion stadium in 2019. After all, how could he pass up the chance to troll Jed York and get crushed two times a year by the Seahawks?
