Joel Klatt weighs if Jim Harbaugh would return to NFL if he wins national championship at Michigan

Jim Harbaugh almost accomplished everything he could at the NFL and college level as a head coach.

The only things missing for the Michigan head coach? A Super Bowl and a national championship. So what if he wins the latter this year with the Wolverines?

Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt weighed if Harbaugh would finally feel the biggest pull to return to the NFL if he won it all in Ann Arbor this year.

“The thing is, is that every NFL opening, I think he’s going to be in the top three names on the list,” Klatt said on The Herd. “I don’t think that just a simple answer will do. No. 1 is, he is a very competitive person, very. And he has succeeded everywhere he’s been including the NFL, obviously, look at what San Francisco was when he was there. You know, three straight NFC Championship games, a loss late in a Super Bowl. 

“And that’s the element as a competitive guy. Do you think in the back of his mind, he thinks to himself like ‘Man, we were that close to winning a Super Bowl with Colin Kaepernick as a quarterback. I wonder if the competitive juices would get him to go. Now, I don’t want to see him leave college football because I love college football.”

Harbaugh is 76-25 at Michigan and 134-52 overall at the college level. He’s made the College Football Playoff two years in a row with two Big Ten championships.

So if he wins it all for his alma mater, is there more reason to stay for life? Or get out and try for the other biggest prize in football?

“The dynamic with him and his leadership at Michigan is interesting,” Klatt said. “I believe that there is some tension and it’s the reason why the President had to jump in and do the new contract. I just know that there’s some tension and by the way, it has seeped into this self-imposed suspension at the beginning of this year … Of course (Harbaugh didn’t want to do it). His players had a ‘Free Harbaugh’ shirt on.”

While Harbaugh’s relationship with the Michigan administration is up for debate and speculation, there’s no question there’s some sort of NFL pull. He recently interviewed for the Minnesota Vikings opening before the 2022 season, although the job ultimately went to Kevin O’Connell.

Harbaugh went 44-19-1 in four seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, including three straight NFC Championship games and a Super Bowl appearance.