Jim Harbaugh coached as many of Michigan football’s 12 regular season games in 2023 as those he did not. The 59-year-old spent exactly half of the year suspended.
That does not mean he won’t get paid a massive bonus for winning a college football game multiple college football games he did not coach.
Per his contract with the university, Harbaugh will get paid an additional $500,000 on top of his annual salary for finishing atop the Big Ten East and reaching the conference championship game. Not bad!
Jim Harbaugh is getting paid!
Harbaugh, who served a university-imposed three-game suspension to begin the year, was suspended again during the final three games. The punishment came down from the Big Ten after an investigation into the school’s ongoing sign-stealing scandal.
Here is how it went down:
- vs. UNLV — Win, 35-7 — SUSPENDED
- vs. Bowling Green — Win, 31-6 — SUSPENDED
- vs. Rutgers — Win, 31-7 — SUSPENDED
- at Nebraska — Win, 45-7
- at Minnesota — Win, 52-10
- vs. Indiana — Win, 52-7
- at Michigan State — Win, 49-0
- vs. Purdue — Win, 43-13
- at Penn State — Win, 24-15 — SUSPENDED
- at Maryland — Win, 31-24 — SUSPENDED
- vs. Ohio State — Win, 30-24 — SUSPENDED
Even though Harbaugh was not on the sideline for half of the games, his bonus is guaranteed.
The contract states that if the team reaches a specific performance goal and Harbaugh “remains employed as head coach at the time of the applicable game,” the bonus is valid. It also says that Harbaugh “will have earned and fully vested in any of the performance payments […] at the time that the relevant game is played.”
Nowhere in the contract does it say that Jim Harbaugh must be on the sideline to get the bonus. There is no language to keep him from cashing-in during a suspension.
When asked about its intentions with Harbaugh’s contract, Michigan said that it plans to honor the terms of the agreement. The Wolverines are going to pay up the $500,000!