Michigan fans spent all of January riding the roller coaster that is the Jim Harbaugh saga.
Staff members, players, and recruits have, too.
According to a Michigan signee's parent who was on campus over the weekend, Jim Harbaugh & linebackers coach George Helow assured them the head coach wasn't leaving Michigan. In fact, the parent strongly opposed any reports it was happening given Harbaugh's language as recently as Sunday. This was not a quick conversation, either. The family spent "a lot" of time with the head coach during the visit.
Additionally, strong university sources indicated to TMBR that the contract was all but complete. All Harbaugh needed to do was sign it. As we now know, the delay in this contract wasn't a question of Harbaugh's needs (beyond his own pay) being met but instead so he could interview with the NFL. That's not sourced information as much as it is a clear observation.
Up until this week, the tune from Schembechler Hall was consistent. Sources confirmed that Harbaugh was 100-percent dedicated to his position during the month of January, despite the rumors and any outside dialogue we now know he was having with the NFL.
Harbaugh has been recruiting on- and off-campus. Michigan is making scholarship offers left and right. Harbaugh even made a staff hire in Mike Elston and has actively been a leader in the defensive coordinator search. Tea leaves, sources, you name it ... everything looked like Harbaugh was sticking around as usual.
Fast forward to Tuesday morning and the tune inside Schembechler sounded different. The staff knew it was getting a few days off after signing day. What it didn't know is that it would fall on the same day as Harbaugh's interview in Minnesota. The staff as a whole didn't learn about this, at least publicly, until Monday night. That means Tuesday was the first day in the office with Harbaugh's NFL interest being the elephant in the room.
A consistent dialogue among staff members leaving Schembechler today was that the head coach would be leaving Michigan for the NFL.
The problem with reporting on the Harbaugh situation is the lack of information from his camp, it's tight and silent. That same issue impacts his staff as the vast majority of employees in the building today walked into work having no clue what was going to happen with their head coach this week.
Before today, it was treated like any other year in that nobody had a definitive answer but they all fully believed this thing would iron out and Harbaugh would stick around. That same thought process echoed true in the athletic department. The contract was on the table and as far as U-M knew, Harbaugh would inevitably sign it.
The element of the unknown with Jim Harbaugh's process throughout the month has kept the department, players, and coaches alike in a similar mindset. Nobody among them seriously thought he would leave, but nobody among them truly had the answer. Numerous sources thought this whole thing was to get more contractual improvements. New tight end commit Andrew Rappleyea went on record saying he believes Harbaugh is using this to get more leverage in his contract for assistants, NIL, etc. As recently as Tuesday morning, a signee's parent echoed that same sentiment.
Despite everything, here we are, waiting on the edge of our seats for some sort of formality.
Michigan as a program has not been informed that Harbaugh is leaving. The team and staff, as of Tuesday night, still plan to go about their vacations that being tomorrow.
Meanwhile, NFL media is reporting that this thing isn't done yet and the Vikings haven't offered him a position. He flies out tomorrow, and due to this historic snowstorm that's shut down schools for the week, I wonder if he's able to get there. I also wonder if he gets there before it hits if he gets home, or if he even wants to.
We're working on confirming reports of Harbaugh's intentions to leave but given the consistency surrounding media outlets and its information, to say Harbaugh is officially leaving would be incorrect. Unless he got a contract from Minnesota before his interview, nothing is crossed and dotted. Given that the Vikings hosted Patrick Graham for a 9-hour interview today, I find that hard to believe.
That being said, the element of the unknown still remains. The expectation among the staff is that if Harbaugh is offered by Minnesota, he will accept it, but, to make a decision without a contract seems impossible.
Stay tuned as we keep you all posted on this situation. Similar to our approach with recruiting, we would rather post fewer repetitive updates and give you solid and confirmed information that either differentiates or confirms any of our previous reporting. When we confirm, the board will know first.
Staff members, players, and recruits have, too.
According to a Michigan signee's parent who was on campus over the weekend, Jim Harbaugh & linebackers coach George Helow assured them the head coach wasn't leaving Michigan. In fact, the parent strongly opposed any reports it was happening given Harbaugh's language as recently as Sunday. This was not a quick conversation, either. The family spent "a lot" of time with the head coach during the visit.
Additionally, strong university sources indicated to TMBR that the contract was all but complete. All Harbaugh needed to do was sign it. As we now know, the delay in this contract wasn't a question of Harbaugh's needs (beyond his own pay) being met but instead so he could interview with the NFL. That's not sourced information as much as it is a clear observation.
Up until this week, the tune from Schembechler Hall was consistent. Sources confirmed that Harbaugh was 100-percent dedicated to his position during the month of January, despite the rumors and any outside dialogue we now know he was having with the NFL.
Harbaugh has been recruiting on- and off-campus. Michigan is making scholarship offers left and right. Harbaugh even made a staff hire in Mike Elston and has actively been a leader in the defensive coordinator search. Tea leaves, sources, you name it ... everything looked like Harbaugh was sticking around as usual.
Fast forward to Tuesday morning and the tune inside Schembechler sounded different. The staff knew it was getting a few days off after signing day. What it didn't know is that it would fall on the same day as Harbaugh's interview in Minnesota. The staff as a whole didn't learn about this, at least publicly, until Monday night. That means Tuesday was the first day in the office with Harbaugh's NFL interest being the elephant in the room.
A consistent dialogue among staff members leaving Schembechler today was that the head coach would be leaving Michigan for the NFL.
The problem with reporting on the Harbaugh situation is the lack of information from his camp, it's tight and silent. That same issue impacts his staff as the vast majority of employees in the building today walked into work having no clue what was going to happen with their head coach this week.
Before today, it was treated like any other year in that nobody had a definitive answer but they all fully believed this thing would iron out and Harbaugh would stick around. That same thought process echoed true in the athletic department. The contract was on the table and as far as U-M knew, Harbaugh would inevitably sign it.
The element of the unknown with Jim Harbaugh's process throughout the month has kept the department, players, and coaches alike in a similar mindset. Nobody among them seriously thought he would leave, but nobody among them truly had the answer. Numerous sources thought this whole thing was to get more contractual improvements. New tight end commit Andrew Rappleyea went on record saying he believes Harbaugh is using this to get more leverage in his contract for assistants, NIL, etc. As recently as Tuesday morning, a signee's parent echoed that same sentiment.
Despite everything, here we are, waiting on the edge of our seats for some sort of formality.
Michigan as a program has not been informed that Harbaugh is leaving. The team and staff, as of Tuesday night, still plan to go about their vacations that being tomorrow.
Meanwhile, NFL media is reporting that this thing isn't done yet and the Vikings haven't offered him a position. He flies out tomorrow, and due to this historic snowstorm that's shut down schools for the week, I wonder if he's able to get there. I also wonder if he gets there before it hits if he gets home, or if he even wants to.
We're working on confirming reports of Harbaugh's intentions to leave but given the consistency surrounding media outlets and its information, to say Harbaugh is officially leaving would be incorrect. Unless he got a contract from Minnesota before his interview, nothing is crossed and dotted. Given that the Vikings hosted Patrick Graham for a 9-hour interview today, I find that hard to believe.
That being said, the element of the unknown still remains. The expectation among the staff is that if Harbaugh is offered by Minnesota, he will accept it, but, to make a decision without a contract seems impossible.
Stay tuned as we keep you all posted on this situation. Similar to our approach with recruiting, we would rather post fewer repetitive updates and give you solid and confirmed information that either differentiates or confirms any of our previous reporting. When we confirm, the board will know first.
