Michigan HC Jim Harbaugh reportedly interviewing with the Vikings

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Dave H said:
Michigan made the offer, but they likely don't want him back. This is a clear sign he is leaving either now or in the next couple years. He hasn't been successful enough to let that go even if he is a Michigan Man.

That is BTW why some of us said he would never truly be successful there. First chance he gets he will look to get out. He seems to enjoy the pros more and Michigan is always going to struggle to beat Ohio state which is why the first time he beats them is basically the end of his tenure there.

If neither Miami or Minnesota hire him he will obviously go back, but any good will he had will be burned away and everyone will know he has one foot out the door. And if he has a backslide, then it gets real contentious.

If he is taking the steps to interview (not just take the call) that means he wants the job. If he wants to be in the NFL that means he isn't all that interested in staying at Michigan. His days are numbered and neither Michigan nor him want to do this every year.
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Well, if he does become the Vikings coach he better beat the Packers a lot more than once every seven years.
 

Gophers_4life said:
Would Ohio State former player and coach Luke Fickell dare take that job?? I have to think no.

Matt Campbell on the other hand, for sure.


But if he's getting a look, I don't see why Fleck wouldn't also. :(
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PJ won't go to Michigan, he has said many times that he wants to build his own legacy, he can't do that at Michigan
 


Gophers_4life said:
The Feb signing day is kind of a relic now. Seems like a lot of the bustle has been moved up to Dec signing day?
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Agreed but the optics are still really bad to be interviewing for an NFL job on what is still an important day in the college football calendar.

He certainly could end up going back to Michigan but it sure feels like he is heading to the NFL.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Agreed but the optics are still really bad to be interviewing for an NFL job on what is still an important day in the college football calendar.

He certainly could end up going back to Michigan but it sure feels like he is heading to the NFL.
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Yeah even if it is ceremonial, that will follow him if he stays there.
 



nsmike said:
PJ won't go to Michigan, he has said many times that he wants to build his own legacy, he can't do that at Michigan
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i disagree. he has a much better chance of winning multiple titles at michigan than at minnesota. he has a much better chance of becoming a legend at michigan than at minnesota. he has a much better chance of recruiting the guys he wants at michigan than at minnesota. he has a much better chance to feed his burning desire to be the best at michigan than at minnesota.

this is fleck's coaching style: institute a philosophy and recruit players and coaches who buy into that philosophy. people will say that top recruits are not committing to a philosophy, and that may be true of many, but there will be plenty of 4 and 5 star players who want that type of thing.

i've said this before. people who say a driven and motivated human being like fleck will not move on to a helmet school because it is easier to "build a legacy" at a lesser school, or there is too much pressure, or that his culture cannot take the place of the established culture, or he will be overshadowed but previous legends, do not understand what it is like to be in the top one percent of the type a personalities who burn with a passion to excel at everything they do with no understanding of failure. they will simply do.
 

He will go where he can make the most money. He would be teaching grade school if he was not a coach.
 

Glen Mason chimes in per Shama. If anyone knows the "risk" of publicly going after a job while having a college job it's Mase in Your Face:

University of Michigan head football coach Jim Harbaugh will interview in Minnesota Wednesday for the Vikings’ job to replace Mike Zimmer. That meeting became public news earlier in the week and indicates how serious Harbaugh is about the Vikings.

“Serious? I don’t know why if you’re the head coach at Michigan—I don’t know why you would do it (the interview) unless you had the job.”

Those words are from former University of Minnesota head coach Glen Mason who spoke with Sports Headliners this morning. Mason spent 19 seasons successfully leading programs at Kansas and Minnesota and was an authoritative voice for years on the Big Ten Network. He said Harbaugh’s interest in the Vikings comes with “ramifications” back in Ann Arbor—involving colleagues and bosses, the Wolverines’ fan base and high school recruits (Wednesday is college football National Signing Day).

All of it sends a message.

To Mason, the interview indicates “you want the job, you want to leave Michigan.” Harbaugh reportedly had an exploratory phone interview with the Vikings’ leadership last Saturday. It’s more than a good guess the conversation and details that followed have been so favorable Harbaugh is willing to risk his reputation with the Michigan job to travel here tomorrow.

Perhaps to sign an already agreed upon deal with the Vikings.

“Jim Harbaugh is a pretty smart guy,” Mason said. “You wouldn’t think that he would leave himself vulnerable there (at Michigan) unless he thought he was at least going to be offered the job. Why would you take that risk?”

 




Tommyboy said:
He will go where he can make the most money. He would be teaching grade school if he was not a coach.
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Something tells me PJ wouldn't have stayed in education for long. Probably would have been a realtor or something like that.
 





Word said:
Something tells me PJ wouldn't have stayed in education for long. Probably would have been a realtor or something like that.
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He is literally in education
 

Some guy said:
He is literally in education
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Ok - K-12 education (or "grade school" as Tommyboy said in his post and what we were referring to). Better?
 


Some guy said:
Well it is accurate now so yeah
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I think you missed the grade school part of tommyboys post. So my post was accurate in reference to the post I was replying to.
 

KD6-3.7 said:
i disagree. he has a much better chance of winning multiple titles at michigan than at minnesota. he has a much better chance of becoming a legend at michigan than at minnesota. he has a much better chance of recruiting the guys he wants at michigan than at minnesota. he has a much better chance to feed his burning desire to be the best at michigan than at minnesota.

this is fleck's coaching style: institute a philosophy and recruit players and coaches who buy into that philosophy. people will say that top recruits are not committing to a philosophy, and that may be true of many, but there will be plenty of 4 and 5 star players who want that type of thing.

i've said this before. people who say a driven and motivated human being like fleck will not move on to a helmet school because it is easier to "build a legacy" at a lesser school, or there is too much pressure, or that his culture cannot take the place of the established culture, or he will be overshadowed but previous legends, do not understand what it is like to be in the top one percent of the type a personalities who burn with a passion to excel at everything they do with no understanding of failure. they will simply do.
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I agree with what you said, but isn't it ironic that he'd actually be a more accomplished man if he achieved his dreams at Minnesota than Michigan. Twice as remarkable and twice as difficult would make him twice the coach. "Born on third, thinks he hit a triple".
 

Word said:
I think you missed the grade school part of tommyboys post. So my post was accurate in reference to the post I was replying to.
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There are a lot of 6th grade teachers who leave grade school teaching who are still in education. You said education. Not teaching: not grade school. Not 6th grade. So that’s why I read it that way.

I merely pointed out he literally is in education still for other readers.


people trying to bash the guy by calling him a used car salesman (not you) in the context of the conversation so I just thought I would point out that he is still in education while others are mocking him by calling him a teacher. Most of coaching is teaching. He works for a university.
 

BleedGopher said:
Glen Mason chimes in per Shama. If anyone knows the "risk" of publicly going after a job while having a college job it's Mase in Your Face:

University of Michigan head football coach Jim Harbaugh will interview in Minnesota Wednesday for the Vikings’ job to replace Mike Zimmer. That meeting became public news earlier in the week and indicates how serious Harbaugh is about the Vikings.

“Serious? I don’t know why if you’re the head coach at Michigan—I don’t know why you would do it (the interview) unless you had the job.”

Those words are from former University of Minnesota head coach Glen Mason who spoke with Sports Headliners this morning. Mason spent 19 seasons successfully leading programs at Kansas and Minnesota and was an authoritative voice for years on the Big Ten Network. He said Harbaugh’s interest in the Vikings comes with “ramifications” back in Ann Arbor—involving colleagues and bosses, the Wolverines’ fan base and high school recruits (Wednesday is college football National Signing Day).

All of it sends a message.

To Mason, the interview indicates “you want the job, you want to leave Michigan.” Harbaugh reportedly had an exploratory phone interview with the Vikings’ leadership last Saturday. It’s more than a good guess the conversation and details that followed have been so favorable Harbaugh is willing to risk his reputation with the Michigan job to travel here tomorrow.

Perhaps to sign an already agreed upon deal with the Vikings.

“Jim Harbaugh is a pretty smart guy,” Mason said. “You wouldn’t think that he would leave himself vulnerable there (at Michigan) unless he thought he was at least going to be offered the job. Why would you take that risk?”

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I hope Glen appreciates the irony of his take.
 


One sticking point could be money. I've heard 'football' people opine that Harbaugh may want a John Gruden-level contract - $10 mill for 10 years. I cannot see the Wilfs shoveling out that much cash for a HC - especially when they are paying Zimmer another $14 mill or so to not coach for the next two years.

but, as others have said, if the Vikes make him an offer that he can live with, he'll take the job.

then, the question becomes what type of system he wants to run, and who he brings in as OC and DC.

and of course, Michigan will be looking for a new HC, which could create a domino effect in the coaching ranks.
 

Harbaugh is a really good coach and it sounds like he'd want to hire Fangio, so that's strong leadership on both sides of the ball. I wonder if Harbaugh is a little too "old school" in some respects, but there's no question that for all his quirks, he's a top-drawer football guy.
 

Another reason why Harbaugh likely wants out of college football. NIL has quickly gotten out of control.

 


GopherWeatherGuy said:
Another reason why Harbaugh likely wants out of college football. NIL has quickly gotten out of control.

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What is out of control about it though? If players can get paid for their talents, good for them. Capitalism at its finest.
 

Allshade said:
Did Mason do the same thing? Can't remember.
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He let it be known that he was interested in the Ohio State job when it opened up. He might have interviewed for it, but Tressel got it. It did not sit well with Gopher fans as Mason didn't apologize for it. It was sort of the beginning of the end as he also seemed more surly after that.
 
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Mulligan said:
He let it be known that he was interested in the Ohio State job when it opened up. He might have interviewed for it, but Tressel got it. It did not sit well with Gopher fans as Mason didn't apologize for it. It was sort of the beginning of the end as he also seemed more surly after that.
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It killed recruiting for a while too. Michigan hasn't done much of anything recruiting-wise since Early Signing Day. BTW, National Signing Day is tomorrow while Harbaugh interviews with the Vikings.
 
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Mulligan said:
He let it be known that he was interested in the Ohio State job when it opened up. He might have interviewed for it, but Tressel got it. It did not sit well with Gopher fans as Mason didn't apologize for it. It was sort of the beginning of the end as he also seemed more surly after that.
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I see. Thanks.
 


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