Everyone thinks Jim Harbaugh is leaving Michigan for the NFL. Here's where he could be headed.
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- Jim Harbaugh has coached the Michigan Wolverines to their first College Football Playoff title game.
- But after 9 years in Ann Arbor, Harbaugh is considering a return to the NFL, according to reports.
- Here's the latest on the head coach's prospects — and where he's most likely to land if he gos to the pros.
The Michigan Wolverines are 60 minutes of playing time away from their first potential title of the millennium.
But as the maize and blue prepare to compete in Monday's College Football Playoff National Championship game, their fearless leader is fielding questions about a potential future away from Ann Arbor.
Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh is connected to a number of vacant or soon-to-be-vacant head coaching spots in the NFL. The 60-year-old — who has coached the Wolverines for the last nine seasons — spent four years in the NFL before returning to his alma mater in 2015.
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Harbaugh has been linked to several open NFL positions over his near-decade in Michigan — and even interviewed for head coaching roles with the Minnesota Vikings and Denver Broncos over the past two years — but he's routinely denied any interest in returning to the pros. But now that he's on the cusp of summiting college football's highest mountaintop, Harbaugh may very well be ready to take the leap back to the pros.
A number of teams have already expressed interest in the former San Francisco 49ers head coach. He's been linked to a pair of openings on the West Coast; according to The Athletic, both the Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders have joined the sweepstakes. The Washington Commanders are also pursuing Harbaugh, per Bleacher Report's Jordan Schultz.
Nothing is confirmed, and Harbaugh is likely to field an incredibly lucrative offer to stay in Michigan long-term. But his actions suggest he may already have one foot out the door; Harbaugh hired Don Yee — an agent with considerable ties to the pros — just a week before the NFL's coaching carousel was set to begin.
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Plus, the head coach has been cagey about his intentions during recent media availabilities. Ahead of the Wolverines' blockbuster matchup against the Washington Huskies Monday night, Harbaugh answered questions about "the future" with evasive replies like "I hope to have one."
"I'll gladly talk about the future next week," Harbaugh said during a press conference on Saturday. "I hope to have one. How about that? A future? I hope to have one."