Kirk Herbstreit unleashes frenzy of tough questions on Michigan, Jim Harbaugh

ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit sounded off his opinion on the Jim Harbaugh drama involving the Minnesota Vikings and Michigan Wolverines. Ultimately, Harbaugh decided he was going to stay in Ann Arbor when most believed he would have taken the opportunity to rejoin the NFL.

“How in the world does he go as far as he went with the Vikings?” Herbstreit said on the Pat McAfee Show Monday morning. “I don’t know if he turned it down? They turned it down? Whatever happened, and now you’ve got to go back into that meeting room where they say ‘who’s got it better than us?'”

Herbstreit is referring to the traditional Michigan Wolverines mantra and chant said before games.

Harbaugh’s interview with the Vikings last week drew criticism due to the timing, as their Wednesday interview took place during National Signing Day. Reportedly, conversations between Harbaugh and the Vikings went well initially and led to the Vikings requesting a formal interview.

Every sign pointed toward the Michigan headman heading to Minnesota for another stint in the NFL. ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg said this could have been due to financial reasons. He stated that if Harbaugh was to stay with the Wolverines instead of accepting the Minnesota Vikings’ job, he would enjoy a “nice contract.”

Herbstreit couldn’t understand why Harbaugh would create tension in the program with all the success the head last season. The beat Ohio State in the Big House and followed that up one week later by clinching at B1G Championship with a win over Iowa, not to mention a College Football Playoff berth the next month.

“They had a ton of momentum,” Herbstreit said.

The shock of the entire situation was felt from the top to the bottom of the Wolverine program. 2021 Broyles award-winning coach Josh Gattis seemingly slighted the Michigan program on his way out of the door before taking the Miami offensive coordinator position Sunday.

“I don’t fault him for looking at potentially going to another job. In fact, I guess the way it was handled clearly did not work out that good and then on the way out the door, the Broyles Award winner takes some shots with the text that he sent out to some of the players about basically ‘hey, here’s here’s a quick life lesson for you, if you feel like you’re not wanted or respected at your current job, he can move on.'”

Here is Gattis’ quote:

“Unfortunately the past few weeks has told a different story to me about the very little appreciation I have here from administration,” Gattis said, via ESPN’s Tom VanHaaren. “In life I would never advise anyone to be where they are not wanted…”

With the loss of one of the top OC’s in the country, Harbaugh will have to win back the fans, his players and colleagues after a month that nearly everyone believed he had one foot out the door.

“I mean, for all that momentum that they created there, it seems like they’re almost having to start all over again,” Herbstreit said.