It must be really hard on Jim Harbaugh right now. Having to choose between becoming the highest paid football coach in the world and pursuing another NFL job can be a lot of pressure. Actually, I would love to have those options. Who wouldn’t? Oh and by the way, he would get to coach at his alma mater if he decides to accept that truck full of cash that Michigan is offering him. And you know what…..he deserves it.
Jim Harbaugh is one of the top five coaches in the country right now and is better than Nick Saban. Yes, I said it Bama fan. Harbaugh is better than your guy, who is currently the best paid coach in football. Harbaugh had great success in college and had he been at Alabama or LSU, he could have won a couple of NCAA Titles like Saban. And let’s not forget the failure that Nick Saban was in the NFL. He didn’t take long to get the hell out of the NFL after seeing how tough it was. Harbaugh never missed a beat once he went from college to pro coach, making the NFC Title game in his first three years. He also made it to one Super Bowl and if not for two fumbled punts he would have made it to two big shows. Harbaugh > Saban.
What I believe will happen is that Jim Harbaugh will seek another NFL gig. It is more logical and better for his personal life to go back to Michigan. He would be a football deity there for as long as he wished to stay. That is the healthy choice for him and his family. But this guy, like any high achiever, is driven. You can see it in his crazy eyes and on his resume. He has had success everywhere he has been and has reveled in it. From running up the score against USC while coaching Stanford, to being an active player coach in 49ers’ practices over the years. What he hasn’t done is win a Super Bowl. He wants that to happen very badly and the fact that he lost to his brother in the Super Bowl he did reach has to bother him.
If Harbaugh chooses not to take all that cash from Michigan, I think he may end up back there someday anyway. They will need him eventually. Unless they get lucky with a coach, should Harbaugh turn them down, the school will likely be waiting on him in the future. They have fallen on pretty hard times in the past few years and it may take a personality as strong as a Jim Harbaugh to get the program back on track.
For selfish reasons, I hope the coach will stay in the NFL when his time is ended with the Niners. They are crazy for letting him go, which seems like a formality at this point. Even if I hated an employee, I think I would do almost anything to keep them on board if they were having the success that Harbaugh has had with the San Francisco franchise. Niners ownership doesn’t feel the same way apparently.
I would love for the Atlanta Falcons to snatch this coach up for next year. My home team needs a guy like him. They have had two awful years back to back after looking promising in 2011 and 2012. I would hate to start the system over, but it looks like the team is stuck in a losing rut once again with Mike Smith and something has to change. It may not be the right move for Atlanta to get rid of Smith, but that is another debate. If Arthur Blank does let Smith go, I know any thinking Atlanta fan would welcome Jim Harbaugh in with open arms. We don’t care if the guy is crazy or hard to get along with. He knows how to win football games. We’ll take that.