Michigan HC Jim Harbaugh Reportedly Would Return To NFL To Coach Raiders
Another offseason, another Jim Harbaugh returning to the NFL rumor.
This time, however, there are specifics on what it would take for the Michigan head coach to make the jump back to professional football. The Athletic's Bruce Feldman reports that Harbaugh, 58, could be tempted to return to the NFL to coach the Raiders.
“I think it’s real,” a source told Feldman.
As Feldman notes, nobody could have expected this 12 months ago. Harbaugh's Wolverines, coming off a 2-4 pandemic shortened season, appeared to be on a downward slope. Harbaugh even took a pay cut to be extended through the 2025 season.
All he did in 2021 was guide Michigan to a 12-2 record, its first Big Ten title in 17 years, beat Ohio State for the first time since 2011 and make the College Football Playoff. Harbaugh's stock appears to be at an all-time high, with the Raiders likely in the hunt for a head coach in the offseason.
Interim head coach Rich Bisaccia has filled in admirably after Jon Gruden's resignation, with Las Vegas on a three-game win streak and in the playoffs with a win over the Chargers Sunday. There is a mutual connection, as Harbaugh and Raiders owner Mark Davis are close friends.
Unlike Matt Rhule and Urban Meyer in previous years, Harbaugh's leap would come with plenty of prior NFL experience. In four seasons as 49ers head coach (2011-14), Harbaugh went 44-19-1, appearing in three NFC Championship games and Super Bowl XLVII, a 34-31 loss to the Ravens.
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