Getty Image / Chris Coduto
Michigan’s football season came to a surprising end last Saturday.
The team lost in the College Football Playoff semifinals for a second consecutive year.
Shortly after suffering the surprising defeat at the hands of the TCU Horned Frogs, rumors began to circulate about the possibility of head coach Jim Harbaugh leaving the program to take a job in the NFL.
He was quickly linked to a couple of vacant head coaching jobs and now it seems like he may have a pretty good shot at landing one of them.
According to NFL insider Tom Pelissero, Harbaugh is currently one of the top candidates to be the head coach of the Denver Broncos.
From @gmfb: More on Jim Harbaugh’s interview with the #Broncos, plus where things stand as the #Texans and #Panthers ramp up their searches. @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/eyABzf4Me4
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 10, 2023
While Harbaugh’s last two season have both ended in disappointment, the years as a whole were both wildly successful. When he took over the Michigan football program, they hadn’t won a Big 10 title since 2004. They’ve now won 2 in a row. They hadn’t beaten rival Ohio State since 2011. He’s done that twice in a row.
When Harbaugh took over the program, they hadn’t had a top 5 finish in years. Now they’ve had 2 top 3 finishes in a row for the first time since the 40s.
All of that makes him a pretty appealing option for NFL franchises already, but we’ve also seen him have quite a bit success at the NFL level.
Before taking over at Michigan, Jim Harbaugh spent 4 years as the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. He led the team to the playoffs to the NFC Championship Game in each of his first 3 seasons and even made a Super Bowl appearance. His worst season as an NFL head coach saw him reach a record of 8-8.
With how much of a mess the Denver Broncos were this season, Harbaugh’s dependability should be very appealing for the franchise.