Bruce Feldman analyzes the potential impact of Jim Harbaugh, NFL rumors on Michigan program

Rumors continue to swirl connecting Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh to the NFL again. The Denver Broncos appear to be a suitor, even meeting with Harbaugh last week about the job — even though he reportedly told them he was planning to stay in Ann Arbor.

The Athletic and FOX Sports’ Bruce Feldman had more intel on the situation and the impact it could have on the Wolverines.

This is the second straight offseason rumors surrounded Harbaugh just before National Signing Day. Feldman said it could have a big ripple effect this time around, especially since he heard Denver mentioned terms when talking with Harbaugh.

“From what I had heard, late last week, this came down to — they seemed to be widely apart on the terms in terms of, like, the years and money,” Feldman said on The Audible podcast alongside Stewart Mandel. “I don’t know if Jim Harbaugh wanted a couple more years than the Broncos were willing to do. I had mentioned this to a source. We were talking about something else and this came up. I said, ‘I thought that was dead,’ and this person said, ‘I don’t think it’s dead until the Broncos have hired a new coach.’

“Here’s where I think this is kind of interesting is I think this has got to be hard for the Michigan players to have heard this now that it’s come out publicly. When I heard it, I was still pretty skeptical because we’ve heard this Jim Harbaugh-to-NFL dance before. But the fact that there were some terms involved leads me to believe it’s like, ‘Ooh.’ When you’re throwing out offers and saying, ‘Hey, this is what we think and this is what we want,’ who knows?”

Michigan is getting plenty of hype with the offseason off and running. The Wolverines could find themselves toward the top of the rankings with the amount of talent they have returning.

However, the big question mark right now is the head coach with so much noise, and Feldman said it’s worth watching how the players react.

“I think for the players, remember, there was the ‘one more year‘ fund,” Feldman said. “A lot of guys came back, most notably Blake Corum, where you think, ‘OK, you’re a running back, you’ve already kind of been banged up. It’s saying something that you decided to come back to Michigan for one more year.’ This team should be built to be a top-five team considering all they have coming back. The question is the head coach. I wonder how that sits with them, with some of those players. You probably have to swallow your patience a little bit on that. To me, this was like, ‘Oof. This is an interesting dynamic there.’

“Now, he filled out the quarterback coach hire. We talked about the issues around Matt Weiss, and he was pushed out. Now, Kirk Campbell gets promoted. He had been an OC at Old Dominion … and he’ll be the quarterback coach. I don’t know. Like I said, until the Broncos hire a new head coach, if I was the Michigan fans, I’d be like, ‘How much longer do we have to wait for this?'”