Report: Jim Harbaugh To Turn Down Michigan Job
(Will Brinson/cbssports.com) -- Sure, it seems like we've been talking a lot about Jim Harbaugh these days, but he's so damn hot right now. And given his refusal to speak about future jobs on Monday night, it sure does seem like he's not hanging around Stanford (at least he's not lying about staying though).
However, the Detroit Free Press now reports that Harbaugh is "highly unlikely" to accept the job at Michigan. That means one of two things: he's either coming back to Stanford or he's heading to one of five NFL teams who desperately covet him.
This would mean, based on what we think we saw last night, that Harbaugh is headed to the NFL. The timing would be perfect, too. A slew of teams --the Broncos (John Elway, Stanford alum, now runs things), the 49ers (Harbaugh and likely GM Baalki share an agent), the Raiders (Harbaugh and Al Davis are boys somehow), and the Panthers (he'd probably get to coach Andrew Luck again) -- all stand out as viable locations for the hottest name in coaching.
That doesn't include the Dolphins -- who sent a team of "ownership scouts" to the Orange Bowl Monday night, the Browns or the Bengals. (Have we covered everyone sufficiently? If not, check out our coaching tracker for all the latest.)
Anyway, look, Andrew Luck should go pro. He can get too much money and the timing's too right. And Harbaugh should follow suit in jumping ship from Stanford, because, really, there's not a whole lot of room to grow outside of a national championship.
If Michigan's out the window, then it's NFL time.
