Coach Harbaugh
Jim Harbaugh
Is Coach Jim Harbaugh just looking for more love from the University of Michigan or is he serious about returning to the NFL as a coach?
Just as reports that he was leaving U-M died down, new ones surface about talks with the Minnesota Vikings to fill the head coach vacancy.
On Saturday, he had exploratory discussions with the Vikings, but not a formal interview, ESPN reports:
Harbaugh has emerged as a candidate in part because of a strong relationship with new Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, with whom Harbaugh overlapped while he was head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. Adofo-Mensah was in San Francisco's front office in research and development and worked with Harbaugh in 2013 and 2014.
A source told ESPN's Courtney Cronin that the relationship between Adofo-Mensah and Harbaugh is one of the primary drivers of the franchise's interest in Harbaugh.
Harbaugh, 58, got a steep pay cut in 2021, going from about $8 million a year to $3.4 million, plus bonuses. He said any bonuses would go toward people in the athletic department who had pay reductions due to budget concerns.
Some have speculated that his flirtation with the NFL is Harbaugh's way of trying to get more money and respect from the university.
Harbaugh coached for the San Francisco 49ers before coming to Michigan in 2015.
-- Allan Lengel
