Real reason behind Jim Harbaugh's decision to squat on recruiting visit emerges

Jim Harbaugh is in a weird situation with the Michigan Wolverines. Despite ending the losing streak against the Ohio State Buckeyes and making the College Football Playoff, his future is in doubt thanks to NFL rumors.

Even so, recruiting never stops in the college football world. If Harbaugh works it out with Michigan, he cannot afford to fall behind during the 2023 cycle, especially to their rivals down south.

Harbaugh went down to Florida this past week to Jesuit High School in Tampa, FL. During the trip, a photo of the head coach squatting in the weight room was released by the Tigers’ Twitter account.

For college coaches such as Michigan's Jim Harbaugh, life on the road recruiting can make it difficult to get in a daily workout.

So today in the Oliva Weight Room at Jesuit, Harbaugh worked some squats into his visit.#AMDG l #GoTigers l #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/KeoftiJP4s

— Jesuit Tigers Football (@JesuitTigers_FB) January 20, 2022

It was later revealed Harbaugh did 20 reps despite being in a button-down and pants. Why that number? Because Jesuit head coach told Harbaugh that Ohio State head coach Ryan Day had done 16 in the same weight room the previous day.

Yes, the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry means a lot more than just wins and losses in their Big Ten matchups. Harbaugh pumping out more squats than Day adds another tick in the win column this season for the Wolverines over the Buckeyes.

Latest on Jim Harbaugh to the NFL

The Jim Harbaugh/NFL speculation continues, and reports are coming in from all over. One of them came from ESPN’s Dan Graziano on Friday, and he shed more light on the situation.

Graziano, speaking on “Get Up,” spoke about the link between Harbaugh and the Las Vegas Raiders. He also provided more insight on things at Michigan, including a potential new contract for the Wolverines head coach.

“The Las Vegas Raiders and Jim Harbaugh have kind of been connected in rumors and speculation, etc., for the last month or so,” Graziano said. “My understanding on where this stands, Harbaugh has had contract talks with Michigan, that there is an offer on the table that he could take but hasn’t yet, and that he remains intrigued by the idea of returning to the NFL where he was very successful with the 49ers and doing so as the coach of the Raiders.

“Look, everybody I’ve talked to have said the same thing: ‘It is very hard to predict Jim Harbaugh.’ But there’s real interest both ways, the question is whether it results in him getting the Raiders job or whether they decide it’s not the right time and they look elsewhere. But this is the spot to watch for Jim Harbaugh if he’s coming back into the NFL this year.”