Joel Klatt sees Michigan's defense of Jim Harbaugh as plan for long haul

Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt is a firm believer that Jim Harbaugh will stay at Michigan past the 2023 season. Amid the sign stealing allegations and the NCAA investigations, Harbaugh, won’t go back to the NFL or leave Michigan.

Why? With the way the administration and university is defending its head coach, Harbaugh could definitely stay after this fall. Notably, this is just Klatt’s take on the entire situation.

But it opens up an interesting conversation about Harbaugh’s future amid a lot of noise.

“This is as an outside observer that understands, I’ve observed this program and the people in it very closely for the last three years from the time that they wanted to move on and reduced his pay, you know, after COVID, until now,” Klatt said on The Herd. “And I will tell you like there is just a huge part of me that believes that he has told the powers that be at Michigan, I’m staying and that’s why they’re digging their heels in for him and supporting him.”

Klatt pointed at Michigan’s adaptation to more of a player’s program over the last few years and a lot of recent success under Harbaugh as reason to why he’ll stay.

“This is a program that has totally, you know, changed in a lot of ways over the last couple of years,” Klatt said. “And one of those being it’s a really player-led team, that these players take an immense amount of pride in not only their coach but their program … 

“I do believe that there’s some thought that the way that they are defending him will increase the chances that he stays. That he has expressed interest in being there and this is where he wants to be. This is where he felt his family wanted to be and so because of those factors, Michigan has dug their heels in even further.”

Klatt said since the attention is about Harbaugh staying at Michigan more so than the NFL, it makes sense why Michigan’s brass is defending him amid the backlash.

“If there were a 51% chance, a 52% chance that he was gone at the end of this year, I don’t know if President Santa Ono is doing what he’s doing,” Klatt said.”I don’t know if they’re taking (that position) as an institution, the posture that they’re taking against the Big Ten unless they know that this is for the long haul.”