The Race For Michigan Football Coach Jim Harbaugh Is On

HOUSTON — After winning a National Championship, the program’s first since the 1997 season, Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh is about to be in high demand. Years ago, Harbaugh was one of the top NFL coaches, and with a lot happening, both good and bad, many believe that Harbaugh will be pursued by many teams from the league. After the title game on Monday, Michigan Athletic Director Warde Manuel explained how the pressure is likely on in keeping the 9th-year coach in Ann Arbor for years to come.

The race for Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh is on, and Warde Manuel knows it

Three full seasons into the current decade, Michigan football has a 40-3 overall record, three Big Ten titles, a perfect record against Ohio State and Penn State, three CFP berths, a National Championship, and more. With NFL interest in Jim Harbaugh perhaps at an all-time high, Michigan Athletic Director Warde Manuel is about to have a huge task in keeping the 60-year-old coach in Ann Arbor long-term.

“I understand why people in the pros would want to hire Jim Harbaugh and talk to him about being the coach,” Manuel said. “The man went to a Super Bowl. He won a (NFC) conference championship. He went back to (another) conference championship.

“… I am proud that Jim (Harbaugh) is our coach. It doesn’t matter with all the stuff that happened in the past. It really doesn’t matter what happens in the future. He’s always going to be somebody I’m proud of who coached the University of Michigan, who led this team,” Warde Manuel explained after the Wolverines 34-13 National Championship victory over Washington. “And if he decides that he wants another opportunity to coach in the pros, then I’m going to be happy for him, sad for us and we’re going to move on and find the next person to lead.

“But I want him to stay (with Michigan football). I’ve said it. I believe it,” Manuel added. “Three or four years ago when people wanted me to get rid of him, I didn’t — because I believed then, and I believe now.”

The pressure is on for all parties involved, now. On one hand, Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh has his alma mater playing better football than ever before — this year’s Wolverines are likely the best in school history. On the other, the NFL will be calling, and it’s largely up to Warde Manuel, U-M President Santa Ono, and the U-M Regents to keep Harbaugh in Ann Arbor next year and in seasons that follow.

We’ll see what happens going forward, but this much is true and will never not be true: Michigan football is back to being No. 1, and the 2024 Wolverines are National Champions whether anyone else likes it or not.

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