ESPN insider Pete Thamel shares latest on Jim Harbaugh NFL rumors

It did not take long, but Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh is expected to get serious NFL consideration once again. Now that the Wolverines are done for the year following the team’s 51-45 loss to TCU in the College Football Playoff semifinals, Harbaugh could get some looks, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Harbaugh and the Minnesota Vikings could not come to an agreement and mutually decided it was better for the coach to return to Ann Arbor and the Vikings ultimately landed on Kevin O’Connell last year.

But it seems like a year after Harbaugh said it would be an annual thing, Thamel reported the NFL interest did not halt.

“One year after interviewing for and failing to get the Minnesota Vikings job, Jim Harbaugh said his annual dance with the NFL had ended,” Thamel said on College GameDay. “Quote, ‘This will not be a recurring theme,’ he said last year. ‘This was a one-time thing.’ Rece, we’ll find out in the next few weeks whether that’s the reality. Harbaugh won nearly 70% of his NFL games in San Francisco. He’s No. 6 all-time in NFL history by win percentage. Combine that with going 25-3 the last two years at Michigan and Jim Harbaugh has never been hotter in NFL circles. 

“He’s expected to be linked to the jobs in Indianapolis, where he was a star player, and also in Denver, and maybe even in the conversation for the Carolina Panthers job. It appears Harbaugh is back on the floor for his annual dance.”

Former Georgia linebacker and current ESPN analyst David Pollack explained why there could be an emphasis for college coaches to get to the pros amid a wild time in college football.

“I think there’s a big push for college coaches to get to the NFL now. With NIL, with the wild, wild west, with recruiting 24/7, there’s a lot that goes into your job,” Pollack said. “I think college coaches are more likely now than ever to jump to the NFL. I think it makes sense. And I’m not just talking about Harbaugh. We’re going to hear Ryan Day’s name, we’ll probably hear Kirby Smart’s name. We’re probably going to hear all these guys’ names, because there’s a lot that goes into that college job now that (you) didn’t have to deal with back in the day that, honestly, ain’t real fun.”

Harbaugh was the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers from 2011-14. In those four seasons, Harbaugh went 44-19-1 and made the playoffs three times. In his second season with the 49ers, Harbaugh took them to the Super Bowl where they would come up just shy of the win against the Baltimore Ravens.

Now through eight seasons at Michigan, Harbaugh is 74-25 with two Big Ten titles and two playoff appearances, but is 1-6 in bowl games.