Getty Image / Maddie Meyer
After multiple offseasons of speculation, Michigan Head Football Coach and reigning national champion Jim Harbaugh has finally accepted an NFL head coaching job, this time with the Los Angeles Chargers.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter was first with the news.
This ends Harbaugh’s flirtation with NFL teams the last few offseasons, as he had been rumored to teams like the Minnesota Vikings, Denver Broncos, Atlanta Falcons, and Las Vegas Raiders in recent years.
Now, coming off of a perfect 15-0 season, a national championship, three straight Big Ten titles and three straight wins over arch rival Ohio State, the Michigan alum has decided that this is the perfect time to head back to the NFL.
Michigan and Jim Harbaugh are under NCAA investigation on two fronts for alleged rule violations. The first front relates to alleged recruiting violations that occurred during the dead period during the COVID pandemic. The violations themselves aren’t that severe, but he’s alleged to have lied to NCAA investigators. The NCAA does take lying to investigators pretty seriously. Michigan suspended him for the first three games of the season to try to get ahead of NCAA punishment, which has not been handed down yet.
The second front is, by far, the bigger story. Michigan is alleged to have acted out an elaborate sign-stealing scheme led by former program employee Connor Stalions the last few seasons. This was huge news when it broke in October of this past season, and led to Harbaugh being suspended for the final three games of the regular season by the Big Ten. The NCAA is investigating, obviously, and many want severe penalties to be handed down.
Those penalties could be a bowl ban, a stripping of the national championship and other games the Wolverines have won lately, a show-cause penalty for Harbaugh and his staff, among other things. There also could be minimal or no punishment, but severe punishment is definitely a possible outcome.
So, is Harbaugh trying to leave college football at just the right time, like Pete Carroll did at USC prior to the program getting hammered for NCAA violations, handicapping the program? That probably has something to do with the timing of his departure from Michigan.
But, he’s flirted with the NFL for several seasons, and I’m sure he wants to win a Super Bowl after coming so close previous. And, with the advent of NIL and no sit-out period for transfers, coaching in college is a complete headache, and the NFL is now the significantly less stressful job.
Jim Harbaugh was the coach of the San Francisco 49ers from 2011-2014, and took the team to the Super Bowl in his second season, losing to his brother, John, and the Baltimore Ravens. He was 44-19-1 in his four years in San Francisco.
The Ravens, who play this weekend against the Kansas City Chiefs to go back to the Super Bowl, are scheduled to play the Chargers next season in Los Angeles in what will be one of the most-anticipated NFL games of the season.