Brinson: Would Jim Harbaugh Leave Michigan To Coach Andrew Luck's Colts?
BOSTON (CBS) -- Every week, CBSSports.com's Will Brinson joins Toucher & Rich to discuss the latest happenings around the NFL, but on Tuesday, the conversation veered into the college game.
Going off a discussion on the Colts' fake punt, the conversation ended up focusing on Chuck Pagano, and whether he might be fired.
"You haven't even begun to outsmart Bill Belichick. You've only begun to look like a moron. It's even worse maybe, if the play is pulled off, because you blew your one shot [with the illegal formation]," Brinson said.
Brinson said that while Pagano is immensely likable as a person, the coach is still going to have to either upset the Patriots in the playoffs or take the Colts to the Super Bowl in order to save his own job.
Brinson noted that some big names could be alluring to Colts owner Jim Irsay, including the former college coach of the current young quarterback.
"It seems like Jim Irsay wants a big name to come in and coach Andrew Luck, and it seems like there's going to be some options out there for him to make some noise, whether Sean Payton's out [in New Orleans], whether Jim Harbaugh is a name that would be even remotely interested, who knows?"
This caught Fred Toucher quite by surprise, as he does not believe Harbaugh would leave Michigan after just one year.
"Harbaugh is from Ann Arbor," Fred said. "His father coached at Michigan. Jim played at Michigan. He comes back as a savior. There is no way in the world that Jim Harbaugh is leaving that job. He's going to come to his alma mater and go, 'Eh, it was a fun run'?"
Brinson noted that he's not saying it's going to happen, but, that's a phone call that Harbaugh would have to answer.
"Don't forget, Harbaugh played in Indy too. He was the last quarterback to play before Peyton Manning came in there and took over. There's a little circle of life thing here. If Irsay calls Jim Harbaugh, then Jim Harbaugh is not not answering that call. Even if it's to parlay a raise from Michigan, he's taking the call."
Brinson added: "I don't believe the Michigan truthers that say Harbaugh is there for life, that Harbaugh has found his home, that this guy -- the only time he's been in a place professionally for more than three years was when someone drafted him -- is suddenly just going to settle down somewhere for three years and not turn into a loony tune. He built Stanford into a national power and on the cusp of winning a national title. He didn't hang around there. If the right NFL job opens up with the opportunity to win a Super Bowl, I don't buy all this stuff from college football people. If Nick Saban thought he could win in the NFL, he would take an NFL job. Everybody wants to win the Super Bowl. Nick Saban knows he can't win, so he's not going to try to go back and screw it up again. And I think Jim Harbaugh believes he can win, because he got really close with Colin Kaepernick."
As fun as the Harbaugh speculation may be, Brinson noted many times that it's not a likely scenario.
"The more logical name for the Colts position is Sean Payton," Brinson said. "He makes more sense."
Listen to the full discussion below:
