Jim Harbaugh’s lawyer, Tom Mars, responds to Detroit Free Press over contract report

Reports of Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh’s lawyer, Tom Mars, was in Ann Arbor earlier this month to discuss Harbaugh’s contract extension are untrue, according to Mars himself.

The lawyer responded to the report from the Detroit Free Press on X, calling out the Detroit Free Press and blaming them for an alleged inaccurate report.

“In a story that should have been headlined “What we thought we knew, but didn’t …,” @freep relied on two sources to report that I was in Ann Arbor on Oct. 13 to discuss Coach Harbaugh’s contract with the “U-M brass.” In fact, I haven’t been anywhere near Ann Arbor this year. SMH,” Mars wrote on X.

The report that Mars is referring is as followed:

“According to both sources, Harbaugh’s lawyer, Tom Mars, was in Ann Arbor on Oct. 13 and met with U-M brass at that time. During that meeting, progress was made on a potential contract extension and a ballpark figure was reached. But it is incorrect to say an offer was rescinded, since no formal document or contract was ever extended in the first place.”

Pete Thamel addresses next steps in Michigan investigation

ESPN insider Pete Thamel spoke on Monday Blitz on Monday afternoon and added that he doesn’t believe Harbaugh’s contract was necessarily pulled, but he also doesn’t expect the Wolverines and Harbaugh to come to a long-term agreement anytime soon.

“We’ll start with Jim Harbaugh’s contract – while he did say, and sources confirmed to me that perhaps the reporting of the offer being rescinded was a little bit strong — it’s also highly unlikely that Michigan and Jim Harbaugh are going to agree to any kind of deal in the near future,” Thamel said.

As Thamel pointed out, there are three ongoing investigations at Michigan at the moment. With all of these investigations taking place, Thamel explained what’s next for Michigan and Jim Harbaugh and if the Big Ten could get involved.

“That’s a lot of traffic to deal with if they’re going to give a historic contract to a head coach,” Thamel said.

“Shifting to the Big Ten and what could happen to Harbaugh in the near future, as of right now, it’s unlikely for the Big Ten to take any imminent action against Harbaugh or Michigan, even though they technically have the authority to do so. Some of this has to do with process. While there’s certainly a lot of evidence that has emerged publicly, there’s not an established fact set yet for the Big Ten to act on.”

On3’s Matt Connolly contributed to this report.